My ambition was to earn a degree in fine art. The first step to my new career was to return to the sixth form to embark on a one-year foundation course. So I applied to join the Bath and Wells College, located not far from my cousins’ farm.

I made an effort to settle into my new life in Somerset before the start of the new academic year. My first social event was a fund-raising afternoon in the village hall. I chatted to people I had met before at my cousins’ parties, played with strangers’ children, and shared the joy of the man sitting next to me when he won a free Sky television subscription in the raffle.