Blog: My preparations for university have begun – well, I would hope so with only 10 days before I go, writes Liam Thomas.

Books bought, iron, ironing board and kettle acquired, and lessons in how to iron and use a washing machine completed.

I’m off to a uni in Malvern, Worcestershire, for a degree in Theology and Performing Arts. I’m looking forward to it, but then there’s the thought that I’m leaving my comfort zone which is The Shire.

It could be quite a difficult time for me, as when I made the jump from GCSE to A Level I found out that I was dyslexic. I’ve been told that the jump in difficulty tends to make dyslexia show up more, so it should be interesting when I make the leap to degree level.

Theology and performing arts is an odd combination, but I think I’ll enjoy it, especially the practical side of the performing arts – I’m a bit of a thespian at heart.

I’ve always been into acting. I started about ten years ago (blimey, time does fly; it only seems like last year). I’d been thinking about doing this course for quite a while, but wasn’t 100 per cent sure.

So I said to myself that if I was to go I would need 10 different people to tell me that it was the right thing to do without me asking them. About a year after that, I’d had 12 different people. It’s a bit weird, I know, but it helped making a huge decision in my life a little easier.

Theology is something that I’ve recently become more interested in. I’ve been involved in a big way in my church, with the youth clubs, and sorting out the sound for the services. I enjoy being able to work with people in the community and to help them.

I feel that theology is something that would help me at church and make me better able to answer people’s questions. Theology and performing arts work well together because, for instance, I can perform my role better if I’m giving biblical stories while knowing the theological background to them.

To be honest with you, I’m really unsure about what I want to do when I finish and have a degree under my belt.

As for the money side of things, it’s costing me around £9,000 a year. That’s for tuition fees and full board accommodation. I’m having to get this through loans, so that means I will be leaving with £27,000 worth of debt. OUCH! But on the plus side, it’ll be less than if I took a gap year and started in September 2012.

The way the loan works is that, after applying, you get sent a letter telling you how much they will give you. This is your proof to the uni that you will be able to pay them.

My money for fees is made up of a loan and a grant. I will pay back the loan so long as I’m earning over £15,000 a year. If I waited until next year I wouldn’t have to pay it back until I was earning nearer to £22,000 a year.

The repayment rate ranges from £7 a month if I’m earning £16,000 a year, to £112 a month if I’m earning £30,000 a year. The interest I’ll have to pay is around 1.5 per cent. On the plus side I won’t need to worry about paying the grant back.

The uni is basically in the middle of nowhere, so all of the students have to stay on site in halls. That’s where I’ll be, too.

Thankfully the food is included in the accommodation price, meaning I won’t be surviving off Pot Noodles for three years. The food is actually quite a nice  full English breakfast every day – that’s my reason for getting up early. I’ve been told it won’t last, but I WILL prove them wrong!

I’ve been thinking about performing arts and acting quite a lot lately, it seems a strange choice for me as I’m quite a quiet and shy person, but when I get on stage I come out of myself and feel like a different person. You would expect an actor to be outgoing and confident – the complete opposite to me.

Wherever I go or move to in the future, Shropshire will remain my home. That’s the view of someone who was born a Manc – well, Salfordian to be precise! (We moved to the shire not long after the IRA bombing in 1996, but that’s another story…)