I have arrived!

Apologies for not posting sooner but these past 14 days have been a lovely, slightly manic, information filled, tea fuelled blur. But today us first years officially finished induction- thank The Lord! So today seems as good a day as any to jot down a few thoughts about vicar school so far.

Firstly, I had the best moving in day ever. We arrived, parked and began to unload the stuff into the hallway when a small troop of Cranmerites arrived to help me move in! They took all my things up the 3 (yes, THREE!) flights of stairs to my room! What could have been a really stressful and physically exhausting day for me and Dad was a dream (for us anyway, not sure how the helpers, Gareth, Toby, Nathan and Caitlin, feel about this). This is one of the the best examples I can give to show how friendly and generous Cranmer Hall is.

Another thing I've noticed is that theological college doesn't have the same 'every man for himself' vibe that Uni had. What I mean by this is that we no longer go into a bar or a shop and just buy drinks or whatever for ourselves. People are generous, happy to share, hold doors open for each other, clear each other's plates and say 'hello' in the corridor. This really helps to strengthen the community feel of the college.

That being said, living in University halls comes with it's challenges. Needless to say, the 6am fire drill in the rain was one of them!

But living in College means that I'm fully catered and the food here is absolutely wonderful! It's tasty, fresh and there are loads of options at every meal. There is just one problem... There's far too much of it! I suspect that I am now eating double the amount of food that I was eating when I was at home, and we Richards' are Hobbits when it comes to our love of food! Expect a blog on the difficulty of motivating oneself to exercise in the coming weeks. To add to the food issue, my room is probably a 4 minute walk away from most of my lectures. Like the food, this is very convenient but not especially good for my figure!

On my interview day back in February, I was struck by how many children and families of ordinands were around in College. I loved the dynamic that the children brought to my first stay at Cranmer and now that I've been here a couple of weeks I can really see how rich the community is because of them! One of my favourite times of the week has to be All Age worship where getting on for 20 children, their families and anyone else who wants to have a really fun and engaging service in the Chapel. This week we got given pegs that said 'you are God's child, he loves you ' on them to peg to each other! Whats not to love?!

Sometimes you land in a new place and it seems like all the tough moments up until that point were so worth it. Now, don't get me wrong, I really did love my time in London. But do I think it's easier to feel at home in some environments than others. I feel like I belong here because I can be who I am, wear what I want to wear and talk how I want to talk. There are so many different people around, and I feel no pressure to make myself like anyone else (apart from Jesus, of course!). I think that Cranmer Hall is the best place for me to be formed for the next phase of my life.