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. 

A reflection...

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful, fun filled Christmas and New Year, and are raring to go for the year ahead. 

I thought I'd take the opportunity to reflect upon the last year, as 2015 was truly an unforgettable one for sure. I started off 2015 a bit sceptical as the past three years hadn't been the greatest after suffering a few losses. However, I bounced back and made some amazing memories, and lived life to the fullest really. 

2015 was the year that I'd finish school and although I was sad to leave my little bubble of friends in my home town I couldn't wait for the next steps in my life to begin, and in my mums words "University has been the making of me". Which I suppose is quite true, I've learnt how to relax more and not get so agitated at the little things and just enjoy going out and having fun with my friends, instead of staying at home and getting stressed over the workload. Don't get me wrong, I always loved school and although, I found the last year very stressful I couldn't have wished for a better fourteen years where I met some amazing people who I will be friends with for the rest of my life, for sure. 

However, after living my life a bit more in the past three months I've come back home to my friends being able to enjoy it a bit more with them too, instead of being the 'old' uptight me who virtually rejected anything fun because I was too anxious. Despite this, the hard work that I put into my studies in the last four years of my time at school really did pay off and I managed to get the grades not only that I had dreamed of, but also the grades that I needed to get into Uni. However. I think you do always need to keep in mind that academic success isn't the key to every door in life, and there are many many other pathways that you can take, that sometimes schools forget to show you. 

In amongst all this change one thing remained constant, and that was my love for music. Of course 2015 bought many more gigs and enabled me to see my favourite band twice, and even get into the second row at the O2 arena (after a good 10 hour, freezing wait). Now those experiences I will never forget, with the freedom you feel being fully immersed within a crowd of people who love the same thing as you. As well as this I was lucky enough to see Kodaline, Port Isla, Jessie J, The Coronas and Hudson Taylor live too, which were all amazing, and I cannot wait to see Kodaline again this year, along with seeing Hozier as well later this month. 

This past year also bought two amazing holidays. One with five of my close friends from school, in Crete, and the other in Ireland with my parents. Both of these holidays were truly amazing, and were great experiences....different experiences.....but both great! 

My holiday with my friends was an eye opener to the stress that planning a holiday can bring, and the problems you can face when you arrive but we made the most of it and had a blast. Although, at the time I wasn't a massive party animal venturing into the town of Malia on a couple of nights out was a funny and interesting experience that you should probably do at least once in your life, just for a laugh really! We had many relaxing days by the pool, adventures out in the local town with a few too many cocktails and waffles in our favourite bar 'Akti', as well as having the opportunity to visit the beautiful Chrissi Island. Sharing this experience with some of my friends really taught us a lot about each other and probably bought us much closer than we were if anything! One of my friends even mad  a mini Vlog of clips from the week, which is a lovely thing to have which I can look back at in the future and reminisce about the good times that we shared. My mum is also so obsessed with the video and demands that I show all my family members every time they come round, which is quite sweet and amusing. 

As well as this my parents and I visited Ireland, in which none of us had ever been before so we were excited to explore some new places that we'd hears so much about. I think this holiday was the best holiday I've ever been on, and that's quite something to say when I've had quite a few amazing holidays in Florida, Portugal, Majorca and Greece. Visiting the city of Belfast was such an eye opener and taught me so much about the history of Northern Ireland, that I didn't really know too much about. My dad and I were truly fascinated by the stories that were shared with us, which I feel probably is one of the main factors that made this holiday so important to me. After travelling up the Giant's causeway coastal road  and viewing so many beautiful landmarks we travelled down to Dublin on the train. From being in Temple Bar pub and a musician singing 'Galway Girl', which made me feel like I was In 'P.S. I Love You', to exploring the Guinness Storehouse and  wandering up Grafton Street, we loved our time In Dublin and I really hope that I can return soon. We definitely will be returning to Ireland to continue exploring its beauty, most likely the West Coast after hearing of some amazing landmarks that are a 'must see'. 

The summer of 2015 was the first time that I had a full time job, and in all fairness I worked my socks off all summer, sometimes working eight hours a day, seven days a week. Which may not seem that bad to some people but as someone who wasn't used to working on their feet all day, dealing with customers, and just generally having to be nice all day every day, I did find it quite challenging. However, I feel that this experience really helped my confidence, and most of all made me believe in myself a bit more. I can now truly sympathise with waitresses when they're having to deal with aggravated customers or just generally having a busy day, as I know how tiring and frustrating it can be working in food retail. Although, getting paid at the end of the week was always a great feeling, knowing that I'd worked very hard for my own money, which I think my parents were very pleased that I could finally stop being so dependent on them when I wanted to go out! 

September last year bought the biggest change when I moved in with seven strangers, to a whole new town an hour and a half away from all my family. I can honestly say that moving away from home was one of the most stressful experiences of my life however, the benefits that I have gained from it make that stress so worthwhile. As  well as this It has made me more appreciative of my time with family when I come home, although the  many questions from family as to whether I have a boyfriend yet do get a bit tiring! 

I've excited to see what 2016 has to offer, and am hopeful that it will be just as great as 2015 was. 

Sorry that this post turned into a bit of a ramble, but sometimes I think its important to reflect upon your experiences so you can truly see how far you have come, and appreciate how lucky you are. I hope you enjoy reading my little '2015 story', and I wish you all the best for the next year! 

Thank you for reading ;)  

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

July 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015 

December 2015