HermioneSims corner
Here I am again with some introductory comments just before another big turning point for this story! In particular, I want to address two main points:
- Time management: university in TS4 is unmanageable in The Sims 4 with ageing on and normal or short lifespans, it would occupy way too much time in the already short young-adult age stage. So, just like I did in Gen 5, I arbitrarily decided to turn the ageing off for the whole save after the first week in college, to then re-activate it when Rowan will leave it. Also, I decided to go for 3-subjects-per-semester and four-semesters scheme, to give him some time for things other than studying (*However, Rowan demanded to point out that for him finish college in a much shorter time would not have been an issue*)
- To better understand Rowan's behaviour, I think it's better to have an idea of all the bonus traits he has cumulated up to this point. He has the happy toddler traits, two bonus traits for having completed two children aspiration (one was for sure the "Whiz Kid Aspiration", I'm not sure anymore about the second), and one bonus trait for having reached the highest level in the Boy Scouts. All these traits speed up the acquisition of new skills, so Rowan can skill up very, very quickly. In addition, he already gained enough aspiration points to buy the reward trait "Seldom Sleepy", so he barely needs to sleep half the time as other sims. Rowan has a bit of the habit of going around bragging about how gifted he is, and given this list of extra traits he's not so totally wrong about it (at least in the sims-world).
This said, are you ready for college?
From Rowan's diary
So I finally arrived in Britechester. Among lessons, seminars, study sessions and doing my homework (not to forget the soccer practice I'm obliged to participate in to maintain my scholarship), my days will truly be packed with activities. Luckily I didn't come here to sleep, all the opposite, so I'm pretty confident I'll manage to reconcile it all.
I decided to take a room in a dorm shared with other students, but I'm already quite perplexed by their behaviour. They're always playing around and being noisy, don't they have lectures and homework to do too? And how can they pass their final exams, I wonder?
???: Ouch...
There is only another sixamian in this dorm. I don't think I should be surprised given that we are in an ancient and illustrious institution next to Sim City, very well known for its very demanding criteria for study and work visas.
Apparently, her name is Juno, and it also looks like we've been assigned to the same room.
Juno: Welcome! You're Rowan, right? I read it on the door.
Rowan: Yes. While you are...
Juno: I'm Juno, nice to meet you!
Juno: I didn't expect to see other Sixamians, which part of New Sixam are you from?
Rowan: What? Actually, I was born in Sulani. My parents were from the central New Sixam region, but I can't say I've been there often.
Juno: Wow, Sulani! I'd love to go there, sooner or later, everyone says it's such a beautiful place!
Juno really talks a lot, and also seems to be making a significant contribution to the constant noise and mess around this dorm. However, it's not like I spend much time in there anyway, so it's generally quite easy for me to totally forget about her.
And she seems to be out a lot too. Needless to say, five minutes later she was already running out, from what she muttered I think she was heading towards some pub nearby.
I just don't get it, who would give priority to exploring the local pubs over the university library during their first day in college?
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So it started my college routine. The law major isn't easy at all, I can't afford to slack off.
I have so much to do here, how could I ever get bored?
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Juno: Look at this!
Juno often returns back to the dorm very late, systematically waking me up. Usually, then, she remains awake until even later to finish her homework for the next day, to then give up midway through and collapse in her bed, asleep.
I honestly don't know if she always has class after 11 am or if she simply doesn't manage to wake up in time, and I don't even feel like waking her up and asking. It's her business after all, if she's made it all the way to college she should also be able to set her schedule by herself, right?
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I was alone in the dorm room, as usually happens in the afternoon, and I was taking the opportunity to read the material we will cover during tomorrow's lecture. Suddenly a piece of paper peeked out from under the door, accompanied by an amused laugh and the noise of people running away in a disorderly manner. Shaking my head, I took the piece of paper and read it:
^Translation: "I'm not saying that there
aren't better roommates than me,
but at the very least I'm not Juno"
I was perplexed. Why would someone write that about Juno? She was always busy chatting with everyone, I expected her to be considered popular or something.
Thinking about it, however, I suspect to have received annoyed glares from the people I met more than once too. Unlike Sulani, this place doesn't seem as hospitable towards us sixamians, and it was at least plausible that Juno was also being treated that way just for that stupid reason. I also began to suspect that they had intentionally assigned us to the same room, as if they wanted to isolate us from the others.
I shook my head, the more I thought about it the more I saw that little piece of paper as a blatant example of racism against us, that's it.
This was exactly the kind of issue that needed to be addressed and debunked with convincing arguments, and I knew the perfect place where to deal with it.
???: Again, why should we admit you to the group?
Rowan: The point you raise could be an interesting topic for debate. Let us hear, please, what reasons do you have to support your statement? Why should a sixamian who has passed the admission tests with flying colours and who has won a considerable number of scholarships should be excluded from this debate group?
That's right, this university has a debate group. And if there's one thing I like doing (and that, modesty aside, I also think I am good at), that is debating topics I'm passionate about until I'm exhausted. It's just so much easier for me to express my ideas in a well-constructed monologue instead of in a messy conversation, and I don't have any intention of wasting this chance.
Some people turned up their noses a bit regarding my admission, if this university generally has a somewhat snobbish atmosphere, this club is bordering on elitist. However, no one could deny that I had done well. And then, by they way, I also think that this green uniform suits me a lot.
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It's afternoon Friday, which for me mostly means one thing: soccer match!
Soccer practice keeps me busy most evenings, but today I have to work even harder because we're about to play a game against another team from a nearby university. I don't mind taking part, it's not bad to keep doing some exercise now that I no longer have an ocean to swim in, and then the atmosphere sometimes reminds me a bit of that of the scout group. However, I cannot deny that this is a lot of hard work, and also that a stadium filled with students can be annoyingly noisy.
Tonight we were defeated, badly, and I even fell badly on my left wrist. The rest of the team went to a pub to spend there the rest of the night, but honestly I just wanted to ignore all this celebration and go back to my dorm, take a shower and go to sleep.
Or, at least, that was my initial plan.
Juno: Oh, sorry Rowan! We didn't think you'd be home so early, usually the soccer team always celebrates until late!
Rowan: (a little uncomfortable) ... I think I'll go away.
Apparently Juno also has a boyfriend, a guy named Francis. From what she later told me (not that I was interested in knowing so many details, mind you, my dear riary) he's a couple of years older and enrolled in I-can't-remember-which-major, they've been together since before moving from New Sixam to Britechester, and they say they're over the moon because they finally can spend all their free time together again.
And so now I risk finding them doing that stuff whenever I return back to my bedroom, how lucky of me...
At that point, I couldn't do much else than ignore them and go straight to the showers. After that, I decided to call my parents, as I had promised them to do.
Rowan: Of course I'm fine, I'm just a little tired because we just finished a very hard soccer match... What, do you want me to come over this weekend? Well...
I did a quick calculation in my head. On the one hand, I didn't plan to go back to my parents that weekend, but on the other hand I didn't even know if and when I would be able to go back to my room that night. Also taking into account the time zone, going away to Sulani for a while was probably not such a bad idea.
Rowan: Why not, I kind of miss the ocean.
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Alba: Hi darling, you're so pale! You're not going to spend all day indoors, are you?
Rowan: Of course I'm not, when it's not raining I also try to study outdoors, there are a lot of benches.
The atmosphere is so different between here and on campus, everything seems so much more... relaxing.
Olivier: So, how are you doing? Did you meet some other students already?
Alba: If your friends are curious to come and see Sulani, you can invite them whenever they want, there's plenty of space here!
Rowan: (a little annoyed) Yes, I know, you don't need to repeat it all the time…
Alba: Rather, Iris and River should arrive soon too. Actually, I think I'm hearing their voices already!
Rowan: Oh, okay.
Rowan: By the way, Iris, why do you and River continue to bring that friend of yours, Rick, every time you come here? Does he like Sulani this much?
Instead of answering, Iris stared at me perplexed for a few moments, and then she simply burst out laughing, as if I had just asked the stupidest question in the universe. She and River did this often, ever since we were children, they looked at me with that face instead of explaining things to me. I have to admit that this usually annoys me quite a lot.
Who knows what they don't want to explain to me, I just can't understand it...
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And so, also the weekend in Sulani passed quickly, and in no time I found myself back to the usual routine of studying, lectures and essays to write.
University life isn't quite what I imagined. Of course, the lectures and the seminars are stimulating and are teaching me a lot, and I think I'm already among the best students in my major. On the other hand, however, there are also so many things that leave me perplexed, and situations where I don't really know how to behave... But I'm just at the beginning, I still have plenty of time to figure things out.
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