Lots of people have been joining in with the #10yearchallenge on social media

A photo of yourself from 10 years ago and from now

10 years ago

2009

I was newly engaged to David

Living in Bodiam

Teaching Year 5 and Year 6 in a local village school

2009 is the year we started IVF

It was the year our family began

I have been thinking a lot about the past recently

I think it is a combination of me feeling that I am getting old

And a growing awareness that my children are getting older

They just keep on growing!

I wonder how they are going to be

What they will do

Where they will go

And how I will support them

Be there for them

Many moons ago

Long before children

I went to university

Edge Hill College

Ormskirk

Near Liverpool

It was my first

Unsuccessful

Time at university

I moved over to the college

Fresh from sixth form

In my fairly sheltered

Military secondary school

In Germany

I had no idea about life at University

But more than that I had no idea about life in the UK

And especially being so close to a city like Liverpool

My experience of UK at this time

Was limited to the odd visit home to the Medway Towns

Academically university at this time was not right for me

My English and Drama course took up a whole 8 hours of my entire week

Leaving every other minute of every other day free for me to roam the streets

Of the small town where the campus was

And to lose myself in the shops, bars and clubs of Liverpool

In 1996!

I spent a lot of money I did not have buying things I did not need

And doing things I should not have been doing

I had a wonderful time

I experienced A LOT of things

Had some amazing experiences on the Liverpool music scene

But it was a waste of time and money

And entering university so naive and vulnerable

Is something I do now regret

I wish I had waited

I wish I had better researched my course

I wish

I wish

I wish

But I made some good friends in Ormskirk

I did have a wonderful time

But it is one part of my life that did not really lead me to where I am today

In fact it was one of a few road blocks that I have negotiated along the way

I wonder if I would even recognise Liverpool now

I am guessing it will have changed immensely in the last 23 years

More coffee shops for sure

Cocktail bars?

24 hour supermarkets

Amazing shopping complexes

With restaurants and cinemas

Like the awe inspiring Liverpool ONE

But I am sure that the club and music scene will still be buzzing

Though never quite in the same way as it did in the 90s

Do you have any times in your life

That were wonderful

That you enjoyed

But were not really part of the plan?

Once Upon a Time in Liverpool was mine

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