Summer starts here!

Wow, it has definitely been a while since I've posted but life has seemed a bit hectic with exam season having been and gone.
As I now have a long summer ahead of me I thought I'd share my thoughts on my recent trip to Amsterdam and Berlin, as well as officially finishing my first year of university, ending with Reading University's Summer Ball!

At the beginning of June my friend Olivia and I took a trip to the beautiful cities of Amsterdam and Berlin. Obviously planning and booking a holiday is always slightly stressful but one thing we could count on is that we'd definitely get on travelling together considering we've now lived together for nine months. 

We spent three days in Amsterdam staying at Cosmos Hostel just outside the city centre. Now we were both slightly sceptical because neither of us had ever stayed in a hostel before but we had such a great experience, that I'd defiantly do it again. Especially because of the cheaper nature of this type of accommodation compared to hotel rooms. 

After recommendations from family members we booked a guided walking tour with a company called Sandemans, who provide free walking tours which run based on contributions at the end of the tour depending on how much you enjoyed it. Both tour guides in Amsterdam and Berlin were amazing, and provided a great insight into the history of each city, which there is defiantly plenty of. 

In addition, to this we visited the Heineken Experience, Anne Frank House and the Amsterdam Ice Bar during our stay. All of which were great experiences. 

We then travelled from Amsterdam to Berlin, in which we spent two days staying in One eighty degree hostel, located in East Berlin. This hostel was much more modern than the one in Amsterdam and had a much more lively feel about it, with a pub crawl running from the reception every night.
During our stay we visited all the major sites such as the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Personally, learning about the World Wars is extremely interesting so being able to visit all these sights and learn more was a great opportunity for me.

Although, we only spent a few days in each city we managed to fit a lot of the sights into the short amount of time and had one of the best holidays. I cannot wait to be able to return to these beautiful cities at some point and maybe next time experience more of the nightlife side. 

After our trip we headed straight back to Reading from the airport ready for our university Summer Ball, which was the most amazing way to end one of the best years ever. This gave us a chance to see all of our uni friends one last time before the long three month break, and also get to see Everything Everything, Tough Love and Sub Focus perform in a huge festival tent on campus. The evening was filled with funny drinking games, classic squad photos and a hell of a lot of silly dancing. I couldn't have wished to spend this year with a better group of people, and I am so so lucky to have met so many nice people who I hope to continue to see throughout my time at university.
I now have a very long summer ahead of me full of exciting travels and festivals however, I cannot wait to start the next chapter of my university life in September. I am definitely going to miss all my uni friends over summer, as well as my halls but moving into our new house will defiantly be fun, as well as a new sense of responsibility.
Here's to another great summer!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this post! :) 

A year on....

I may be writing this blog post as a form of revision procrastination, and as a chance to escape the four walls of my uni room that are currently driving me insane. However, as I near the end of my first year at University I thought what better time to talk about my experience.

This time last year I was stressing over the pressure of A2 level exams, having at least one 'mental  breakdown' a week from the immense pressure I was putting on myself to get into university. This stress now seems very insignificant a year later as I am sitting my first university exams, wishing I had told my year thirteen self not to stress so much. Don't get me wrong A-Levels are extremely challenging and I would in no way want to do them again however, this past year I have learnt that as long as you try your best they are definitely not worth all the stress. 

Throughout my teenage years I was very reserved, maybe a little too reserved. Never speaking up for myself, always keeping quiet and going along with the crowd, which virtually meant that my social life was basically non-existent. Of course I spent time with my friends but whenever I was invited to parties or to sleep over friends house's I would decline due to this nagging anxiety and fear, which I have no idea where it came from. In addition, to this when everyone started turning eighteen and wanting to go out clubbing every weekend I shyed away from every opportunity, too scared to go out and let loose a bit, which now looking back I seriously regret. Which evidently left me isolated, spending every weekend at home, alone, either revising or spending my time on social media. Which at times is great but this seriously affected my moods and confidence. 

After receiving the a-level grades that I always wanted I was determined to make a change.  I was determined to get rid of this fear, and put myself out there a bit more and my god I have sure done that. I look back at those times I spent feeling so alone and isolated and wonder why I didn't just live a little. 

Now a year on I barely recognise the person I was a year ago and I am so so proud of myself for taking those scary steps. However, I definitely wouldn't have been able to do that without coming to university. This year has been one of the best experiences ever, and I would 100% recommend going to university to anyone. Not only because you get to study a subject you're interested in but also because of the social side. In my case throwing myself in the deep end and having to live with people I didn't know was the best thing for me to come out of my shell a bit. My past self would never believe me if I told them that at 19 I would be a major party animal (lol) and enjoying just going out and meeting tonnes of new people. One thing you learn is that (virtually) all uni students end up being major alcoholics during their time at uni, enjoying a wild night out as their break from the stress of uni work and exams, enjoy it while you can! (haha)

As summer approaches I wish I could relive this year all over again, and I am definitely going to be very jealous of all the new freshers as they arrive at university in September, with no idea of what a great time they're going to have. However, I am excited to start second year and everything that the next step will bring with it. I am again determined to meet as many new people as possible and push myself even further to become more confident. Although, I love being at home I have seriously learnt that independence is what I live for hence why I have made as many plans as possible during the four  month break, visiting all the new great people that I've met. No way I could spend four months at home again! 

 If I could give one piece of advice it would be to take chances while you have them, because you never know when you're going to get a chance like that again. 

"you have one life to love what you do"

Here's to new beginnings and self belief!

Thanks for reading :)

Exam Season

It's that time of year again, the dreaded exam season where students across the country begin to feel the pressure of the education system. This year it's slightly different for me as I am taking my first university exams, which is a little scary as they're so different from what I am used to at school. Being someone who gets extremely stressed over exams and revision I have found it quite hard to keep focused on my work and getting used to the style of exams to expect at university. However, after a long stressful chat to my parents I have realised that you can only do your best! I mean I can't be that awful at exams otherwise I wouldn't have gotten this far. 

I thought I'd share with you some of my exam preparation tips that I have used over the years to get me through this dreaded season! 

Firstly, the main thing that helps me at this time of year is to have something to look forward to. Be it a summer holiday after exams, or a revision break at the weekend doing something fun. Having an end goal after all the hard work really does motivate you and keep you focused on what is to come, which of course is extremely important when it comes to exams. 

It's also important to remember to actually get out of your study space and get a change of scenery. I defiantly know how easy it is to not leave the house for days on end during this time because there aren't enough hours in the day to do all the work. However, in most cases this really doesn't help your productivity. Even if its just a short walk to the shops, just getting outside and having some fresh air can really help. 

Always remember to drink plenty of water during exam season, not only to keep hydrated but to also improve brain function. In addition to this try and keep your revision snacks healthy, such as fruit because it is far too easy to get through a lot of junk food when your bored revising, which of course isn't too good for many reasons! Of course it's all about balance though so having a treat after you've finished your revision for the day might be a good thing.  

From the start of my GCSE exams in 2011 I have always used mind maps as a revision tool, which have been very effective for me having something stuck up on my bedroom wall to look at. Making these also makes revision slightly less boring as you can get creative and use different colours or drawings to help remember key facts. As well as this I always think it is a good idea to look at past papers and practice questions or topics that could come up with your notes. This way if a similar question comes up in the exam you will have already prepared an answer previously that you can try and remember the key points from. 

Finally, I think it is always helpful to make yourself a revision timetable so that you know what you are doing each day. Revision can sometimes feel never ending so having a set plan for the day can make the process a little less painful, and then at least you know you will have covered everything before the exam. 

I hope these tips are helpful and that your exams go well! 

Thanks for reading. 

Hozier and Kodaline

Another year brings many more gigs and so far I have managed to fit in two gigs in London around my busy university schedule.

 At the end of January I planned a trip home to see Hozier at the O2 Academy in Brixton. Now I've been a fan of Hozier for about a year and a half now and couldn't wait to see his album performed live. Obviously he did not disappoint with performances of 'Take me to church', 'From Eden' 'Cherry Wine' and many many more. Not only did I get to see Hozier but also his amazing support act Wyvern Lingo, who blew me away with their spectacular voices. 

I'd planned to see Kodaline in December last year but due to structural issues at Shepard's Bush Empire their gigs had to be rescheduled. However, to my delight they were rescheduled to the Roundhouse in Camden, which has to be one of my favourite music venues. 

After seeing Kodaline at the Roundhouse in February last year I was excited to see them again and compare how far they've come in this year. It was clear that they have had much success within the short time period just from the huge difference in stage design and lighting effects that they had this time round. Again they were absolutely amazing and put on a great show as always. 

Similarly, to Hozier they were accompanied by two great support acts Little Hours and Seafret who I definitely will be seeing again! 

I cant wait to see what other gigs this year brings, thank you for reading!

Confidence

Confidence is always something that I have particularly struggled with, whether it was in my abilities or just generally within myself. Of course everyone has moments where they may not feel that confident about something however, I feel as if I have let this hold me back quite a lot in my teenage years. Since coming to university in September my confidence has grown tremendously which is partly due to me having to rely on myself much more and finding out I can in fact do things on my own. However, it is also due to the people I've surrounded myself with, the new lifestyle that I have adopted and new attitudes that I've tried to develop. 

During my time at school I was never very confident with my achievements, always doubting myself and my capabilities, only to realise quite a lot of the time that I actually could do more than I thought I could. A huge factor in helping to build my confidence was the people that I had around me, especially one of my teachers that I think got a bit frustrated with my lack of self belief in the last year of school. Having someone that believed in me even when I didn't and predicting me grades that I thought would never be possible was in fact a huge driver for me and a great achievement when I actually did manage to get these grades. 

I've always been very self concious of my image and looks, which is probably very irrational because everyone is different, but sometimes you just cant help comparing yourself to others. Recently, I have come to learn that you're only as confident as you let yourself be, "you are confined only by the walls that you build yourself". One tip that I would give is to embrace your differences, try out new things and never, ever compare yourself to others. Even if its just buying a piece of clothing that you thought you couldn't pull off or a new shade of lipstick, you'll never know until you try it!

From all these experiences I've come to realise that having goals and ambitions are a huge help in building your confidence and self belief, even if they are difficult at times. The feeling that you get when you reach these is definitely worth it, and of course you may not always fully reach your potential but these experiences are ones that push you even more to get where you want to be in life. 

I am still desperately trying to improve my confidence because at times I still have those moments where I feel down about things, such as maybe not doing as well on a test as I could have, or not pushing myself to step outside of my comfort zone. However, I think it is always important to remember that no one is perfect and you need to take a moment to actually reflect and look back at how far you've come and how much you have achieved. I've come to realise that in fact having some time to yourself is a good thing, because overworking yourself and trying to do something every minute of every day may not actually be the best idea in the long run. The first step in self growth is to truly value and take care of yourself. 

Thank you for reading! I hope this gives you some 'food for thought' in trying to become more confident, or even just making sure you take time to think and relax.