Too much free time on my hands & thoughts on 2014 so far..

So, the end of January isn't that far away now, (how did it get here so fast?!!) and I can honestly say the first month of 2014 has been great.

I moved back to uni about 3 weeks ago now, and surprisingly, I have barely actually been to any lectures. No, I haven't been skiving, it's time for that annoying inbetween semester stage - Semester 1 modules are all but complete, assignments are being handed back out and Semester 2 is just around the corner. I'm currently in 2 hours a week (and have been for the past two weeks) and I'm starting to want a full timetable again.

Don't get me wrong, having all this free time is lovely. Last week was spent frantically trying to pull together 2000 words on the western media and my stress levels were high. But this week, I've got too much free time on my hands. I was off work as well, which meant that my weekend was filled with season 1 of Prison Break, (I needed something to watch after completing Breaking Bad) and pizza. No alcohol though, I might add. (Saving that for Wednesday & Thursday!)

All this free time has given me time to do so many productive things... like shopping. I meant to go to the gym today, I really did, but somehow, I found myself in New Look trying on more than I could carry to the changing rooms. My student loan is still looking fresh in my bank and it would be rude to let it just sit there. So, I've had a good shop this week. However, I am loving the fact that I don't have any exams yet. All my flatmates are relatively stressed out as doomsday approaches and I'm sat here planning my next date outfit.

I'll soon be wishing for my empty timetable again in the forthcoming weeks,

until then,

Happy 2014!!

2013 - a reflection.

I feel like it's only me who actually enjoyed 2013. My facebook and twitter feeds are filled with 'good riddance to 2013's and 'can't wait for 2014, hated 2013's. I made so many memories with so many people this year and I achieved a lot. I had loads of new experiences and honestly, i'm actually quite sad to see it go.

Academically, I managed to pass my first year at uni, pass the 100wam NCTJ shorthand exam (something I never thought I'd do) and actually feel like a career in Journalism is the right way for me to go. It took a while, thinking that I could do it, and discovering that actually, I'm good at some parts of it too.

I've made so many new friends this year at uni, and I have so many memories with them that I'll never forget. There has been many great times - boys, dating, amazing nights out in Warwick and Preston, London, work experience at a real newspaper, becoming more confident.. I could go on forever! But also some downs - unnecessary arguments and fallings out, not being selfish enough and hurting myself instead! However, 2013 has also been a time for learning: life lessons like how to cook food other than boring student food, not to mix ANY drinks - stick to one drink only!! how to reduce the risks of a hangover (food before bed - preferably a greasy pizza!) and learning things about myself too.

Although 2013 has been a challenging year - and for the first time ever I was faced with some situations I'd never been in before - I've learnt one thing. Life is too short to please other people. So you might as well do what you want anyway, nobody thanks you for your selflessness in the end.

Happy new year to all, I hope 2014 is just as good as this year! :) 

2 weeks left and 2 deadlines to meet.. panic has hit.

Two weeks are left until Semester 1 is over. I have two assignments left to complete, and thank god. My list is slowly becoming more manageable and portfolios and essays are dwindling by the day.

It really is true what they say - you can't have all three things at uni : a social life, sleep and get good grades. You normally have to choose just two. For me, from October onwards, it's been sleep and good grades (hopefully!) Or I should correct it to sleep and endless hours of working.

I haven't been out for 6 whole Mondays and I am dying to go out!! I nearly caved and went out tonight, but my international journalism essay on South Africa beckons and I am nowhere near completion.The deadline is Friday, so you'd think I'd have more haste about me. But no, here I sit, writing blog posts again. In fairness, I have earned a break after tackling another 13 pointless law seminar questions that nobody bothers turning up to anymore. And those that do don't answer the questions anyway.

Although I am excited to go home for Christmas break and have three wonderful weeks of doing sweet fa, I certainly will miss uni. I was going to offer to do some overtime at work, but I feel like I've done that much overtime on my assignments that I deserve a long rest. Hopefully.

Looking back on Semester 1 now as it draws to a close, I can't say It's been all that bad, but not all that good either. There's been ups and certainly downs, but it's all part and parcel of this brilliant thing called uni life. Although there have been times I've wanted to go running home to my mum and bury my head in the sand and ignore what's going on, I've realised that people are going to judge you no matter what you do. So if you're doing something you enjoy doing, forget about everyone else.

Merry Christmas! 

Why second year is kicking my ass.

With just over three weeks left until Semester one of year 2 is over, I can well and truly say I don't know where time has gone.

I've spent most of second year worrying, worrying, worrying so far about how other people feel rather than how I feel, and certain relationships have suffered from that selfless state. Although it certainly would have been easier to take a step back and think about what I wanted rather than what other people wanted, I fear the outcome might have been the same. If there is one thing I will try and not do in 2014, that is to worry about other people. In the nicest way possible, I need stop always thinking of others and be selfish.

If there's one thing I don't get, it's immaturity at 19 and 20 years old. It's fine to have fun with friends and be immature and silly some of the time, but when it's taken to the next level and your immaturity is hurting someone elses feelings, that's when it's time to reassess what exactly it is you are doing.

Some people will never adopt the selfless state that I have and think of others. Instead it will always be me me me, I I I, self self self. Unfortunately, these people are not the type I like to associate with, and the sooner I realise this and stop worrying about them, the better.

Immature girls aside, deadlines are pouring out of my ears and my days are either spent in lectures, editing the student newspaper or worrying about the amount of work I have to do, rather than sitting down and actually getting on with it. Nights out have taken a back seat this month, and I'm not complaining. I haven't been on a night out for over a month now, and it actually feels so good to wake up hangover free every Tuesday. I dare say that when all my assignments are handed in, I'll be out again on Mondays and missing productive Tuesdays. Instead, I'll be wallowing in a bed of hungover self pity, convincing myself that next week I'll stay in.

However, if there is one less worry that I have playing on my mind, it is christmas shopping. I have officially started my christmas shopping and thank the lord for that. With just under one month to go until the big day, I feel that for once in my life, an abundance of shopping may just in fact, be acceptable.

Football bores me to tears.

I was made to watch a whole 30 minutes of football today and my god, was it painful.

Having never took an interest in a bunch of overpaid players kicking a ball around a field in all types of weather or caring in the slightest who is playing who, it was especially painful today to actually sit down and watch what so many people are obsessed with.

With a twitter feed full of updates and football related euphemisms all thanks to the Sports Journalists who I follow on my course, I usually gain involuntary knowledge on who's playing who and who isn't quite on point for that game. But, watching an actual match was awful.

Call me selfish for not delving into the multi-million (or billion?) pound industry that so many men seem to base their life on, but come on, cut me some slack.

I would rather stick pins in my eyes than watch any type of football again.

I think it's time for Breaking Bad. 

Looking forward to a fresh week.

I love Sundays after 3pm. I finish work and I travel back to uni to start another week of Journalism and I get all excited because I'm heading back to my own little independent life.

Fourteen months after gaining a place at my dream university and living here for over a year, nearly every Sunday when I walk from the train station to my student flat, I get all excited and happy that I'm here. You would think that the buzz would have faded by now, but every time I come back, I am so thankful that I actually got to go to my top university.

So today is Sunday, and like most other Sundays, my evenings are filled with work and too many cups of tea. Today, I have written a court report story, edited a youtube video competency test and I am about to start a news feature for this weeks student newspaper. Call me mad, but I love these Sunday nights.

Although I do wish I could spend every Sunday night in my pjs curled up watching Vampire Diaries or Breaking bad, I choose to procrastinate every Saturday evening, which results in me having to do all my work on the Sunday instead.

This week, I aim to be more motivated. Certain distractions have vanished recently, and now I am focused and ready. I want to go to the gym at least three times this week and get all my work done on time and have fewer late nights like I foresee this one to be.

 

Be careful what you wish for..

A wise popgroup once said, "Be careful what you wish for 'coz you just might get it" and right now, I couldn't understand this quote more if I tried.

Wishes don't always come true, and a lot of 'wishes' could be just happy coincidences that we perceive as our wish coming true. But lately, I can't help but wonder. What if wishes do come true?

Lots of people work hard for their wishes to come true, so perhaps it's the hard work element that makes your wishes come true. Or perhaps not. Some people are handed everything to them on a plate. They don't have to do anything, good things just happen to them. But Is that really their wishes coming true, or is it just that they are lucky?

Either way, and whatever you decide to believe, I have decided that wishes can come true. But when you get your wish, It's not always what you wanted it to be. Somehow you feel disappointed.

And then you wonder why you ever wanted it to be true at all.
 

Does it really matter what other people think?

Far too often I sit and wonder what people think about me.

I worry that they are judging my hair, clothes, makeup, how I look in general and how I act. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I get that, but what happens when their opinion is no longer just an opinion? What if its just that person being really rude and being nasty? That's when I start to get annoyed.
    For years and years I worried so much about what people thought and never really was myself. Since starting uni, I've met so many great people who, in the least cliche way possible, have made me into who I am today.
    I have noticed in myself, that I am so much more confident than I was this time twelve months ago. I always told myself that 'Today I would be more confident' or 'I am not going to worry about what they think today' and I never was able to just turn the worrying 'off'. But what I didn't realise, is that over time, I was making that change subconsciously.
   All at once, I was not bothered about speaking in class, which is something that has pretty much bothered me all my life. That doesn't mean that I love public speaking all of a sudden, because I have an individual presentation in two weeks time and I am scared for that, but I can honestly say that It isn't bothering me as much as I thought. That's when I knew that I had grown more confident.Not only have I become confident in myself, I am able to be confident around others - expressing my opinion, giving suggestions and actually contributing to discussions rather than just staying quiet.
    So, this brings me to my question or 'ponder' de jour :


Should we really care what other people think about us? Or should we just get on with our lives and do what the hell we want anyway?

After all, people are going to judge you, whether you do something good or bad.

Mountain of work but still find time for a beer.

Despite it only being week 5 of year 2, it feels like week 15. My work load has come thick and fast all at once, and I don't quite know what to do with myself. Online shopping has been my distraction, and although I should feel guilty, I don't. I still have enough student loan left (somehow!) to be buying new clothes, so it would be rude not to.

Sitting here on this dull, October Monday afternoon, life doesn't seem too bad. I have a ridiculous 5 hour gap from 11 until 4pm until my next lecture, so I'm making the most of it. I have tidied up, changed my bedding (yes, students do change their bedding!) and ploughed through some of my work. Today is a good day.

Despite the fact that I still have a little bit of work to get through today, I am off out tonight. It's Monday, and Monday madness at Squires can't be ignored. Tonight is geek night and It's fancy dress. Could there be any more reason for me to go out? I think not. This now means I have to do a mad scramble around my room for something that resembles a geeks outfit.

Away from fancy dress parties and a mountain of work, I am fast moving through 'Breaking Bad'. I feel like I should personally apologise to those who told me to watch Breaking Bad and I laughed in their face. If you haven't started to watch it, I suggest you do. Look at me! Recommending a show about a science teacher turn meth dealer!! Madness, I hear you cry. Genius, I say.

Back to classroom academia, as students, we are asked to find out what we like writing about and where our writing strengths lie. This worries me slightly, as I don't like review writing or features. The only thing I'm good at writing are hard/soft news stories in the pyramid style and writing to this blog.

But what would I class this style of writing as?

My point exactly.
 

Another post about second year..

I'm not sure how many times I can put '2nd year', 'Journalism year 2' or any other 2nd year Journalistic title without annoying myself, but SECOND YEAR IS GOING SO WELL and I want to blog about it. Again.

Two weeks in and I have already been briefed about the assignments to come, the lectures that student should not dare to miss and had a mad panic that my ten minute individual presentation is at the end of this month. Standard really.

Although I would like to say that my hardworking hat is firmly on and working, I have been having too much fun drinking. whoops. I need to sort myself out and actually get down to working hard. Initially, what this whole £30,000 debt is all about. Certainly not about £1.50 drinks Wednesdays and Monday Mayhems at Squires.

I have got more organised though (is this even possible?!) and I bought myself an academic diary to write down all the work I need to do outside of the lecture halls. Of which, there is enough. And yet, here I sit, writing a pointless blog post about how stupidly well second year is going.

On another note, I have actually stuck to what i said I was going to do and that is to try new things. - I signed up to do french classes on Monday, I have become Deputy News editor at the Universitys publication AND started to watch 'Breaking Bad'. (This is not including the Sambuca shots that I so daringly decided to try)

It seems to me that Uni life is what you make it and I am definitely trying to enjoy it. I say try like It's a hard thing, I bloody love it!! I have no idea what I will do when I graduate and actually have to stick a 9-5 job Monday to Friday.

It's a good job that that is 2 years away otherwise I might start going into mild panic.