FIRST YEAR AT UNI: COMPLETE

Sunday

Summer ball at Bournemouth University

Most of you will know that I started a degree in Communication and Media in September, and now my first year of university has come to an end. It's safe to say, it was nothing like I expected to be. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting but it was just an indescribable experience. From moving in university halls, to the last event which was the summer ball, everything just happened at a hundred miles per hour.

As soon as I'd moved in, there was a party at our flat for my flatmate Kitty, who has become one of my best friends, for her birthday. Straight away we were meeting so many new people and then after that we went clubbing as you do in fresher's week. My first year of university started as it meant to go on which was full on.

I have made so many new friends at university from all over the country, some from other countries and some friends that I didn't even expect to have. It's so different from being at home because I've lived in basically the same place my whole life where there isn't that many chances to make new friends as you kind of know everyone already. Obviously, I love my friends from home but it's nice to have made new ones as well.

Also, I got on with pretty much all of my flatmates in halls which was lucky and I know some people aren't that lucky, but no flat is perfect. There was sometimes fall outs about noise, the kitchen being messy, and food stealing but I think most flats have that. 90% of the time living there was such a laugh and I'll miss it but I'm looking forward to moving into a house with different people in September too because it will just be a different experience.

Living in university halls wasn't always easy, especially when you have to cook for yourself and are clueless in the kitchen like me. Even though a pasta sauce I made turned solid, I never got food poisoning so I see that as a success. All you need to know is how to cook noodles and pasta that is the ultimate student cuisine. My advice would just be to buy an already made pasta sauce that you just have to heat up or stir in.

Like any year, it has had lots of ups and downs. So many good things have happened like mainly getting the grades I want in my course. However, one very difficult thing to go through was one of my closest friends at university passing away. I have to say though, being surrounded by such good friends all the time made it a lot easier.

Overall, I would describe my experience of university so far as zero to a hundred. Not so much with coursework because I mainly did it before it was due and felt like I had all of my deadlines under control. However, with uni life, everything was just so full on which was a good thing for me because there was always something going on and something to do. That's probably why I didn't post on my blog as much.

I'd be interested to know about anyone else's experiences of university and I'm very happy with what I'm doing and can't wait for second year.

Bournemouth university students at Summer Ball



A WEEK IN SORRENTO

Beautiful Sorrento image

As some of you may know, last month I took a trip to Sorrento, Italy for a week. I'd like to start by saying I would fully recommend this to anyone who is looking for somewhere new to travel to. Our hotel wasn't actually in Sorrento itself, it was located just outside in a small town called Sant'Agnello which was about a 5 minute drive or a 45 minute walk to Sorrento.

Hotel in Sant Agnello Italy

The hotel we stayed in was very nice but I have to say it was quite outdated but this didn't matter much because most of the time we were out exploring. There was a swimming pool as shown but nobody really used this during our time there because it wasn't hot enough. The temperature while we were there ranged from around 14-18 degrees, which was perfect temperature to walk around in but it wasn't hot enough to sunbathe in (although, incidentally I did get sunburnt whilst the local Italians were wearing hats, scarves and gloves but I'll continue to forget about my unfortunate pale skin, and think about the highlights of my trip).

2017 BEST BITS

Tuesday

Happy new year everyone I hope you've all had the best Christmas and 2017. I know that 2017 was a huge year for me with so many changes and it was all very exciting so I thought I would share all of the excitement.

JANUARY:
- Passed my driving test on the 10th of January (after being terrible at it for 9 months).
-13th January: I got a car (Frankie the Ford Fiesta).
- On the 30th of January I went to the best concert I'd ever been to which was Drake.

Drake at the boy meets world tour

FEBRUARY:
- I saw Two Door Cinema Club live on the 7th.
- From the 13th of February until the 16th I went on a trip with college to Krakow, Poland. In this week I had the experience of going to Auschwitz, Birkenau concentration camp and Schindler's Factory.

Entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp

MARCH:
- In March I spent a lot of time with friends and did bits of photography for some A level coursework.
- Adam and I saw Circa Waves, one of my favourite bands in Bristol on the 27th.

Circa Waves band live in Bristol

APRIL:
- 3rd of April: MY 18TH BIRTHDAY - I had my first legal drink which was a cherry bakewell cocktail from the Cosy Club.
- 8th of April was my birthday party with all of my favourite people and my first night out.

Family photo for 18th Birthday

Best friends at 18th birthday

MAY:
- May mainly consisted of revision and also consisted of 2 different nights out.

Friends out night clubbing


JUNE:
- 1st of June, I went to Bristol zoo and then shopping in Bristol.
- Adam and I also went to Thorpe Park on the 22nd.
- 27th June: FINISHED COLLEGE/LAST EXAM
- 29th of June we went to bath.

Bristol Harbour


JULY:
-MORE COCKTAILS ON JULY 1ST.
-On the 7th of July I went to 2 parties in 1 day. The first was a pool party which was hilarious because the pool didn't actually get delivered on time, but we still had lots of fun with a home-made slip 'n' slide. The second was a royalty themed party in the evening where I wore a queen mask with very small eye holes so I was bumping into everything.
- 11th of July: AFTERNOON TEA (my first ever).
- July 20th was my favourite day out of the summer where we went to Cheddar Gorge. Those of you who know me know I love cheese! I was in my element seeing how it was made, tasting it and buying it.
-21st July: My second baby niece, Scarlett was born.
-24th of July I went to London for the day; went to the science museum and did some shopping.

Friends in beach fancy dress at pool party

Teenage girl holding baby niece

AUGUST:
- 7th of August I went on my family summer holiday to Cyprus where we stayed in a villa.
- 8th of August was karaoke night (me and mum sang No Scrubs by TLC).
- 11th of August was our night out in Ayia Napa.
- 12th of August we stayed in the villa and I organised a talent show which was one of the funniest things I'd seen.
- 14th of August we had a birthday and an anniversary to celebrate so we had nice tea and nice drinks.
- 17th of August: A LEVEL RESULTS DAY! I got BCC and went on a night out in Southampton on the night of results day.
Protaras Beach Cyprus

SEPTEMBER:
- Cocktails in Bath on 3rd of September
- 16th September: Moving in day at uni and first night out of fresher's week.
- 17th September: Lethal Bizzle in Bournemouth.
- 23rd September: Fresher's Fayre.
- 25th September: The official start of university.

3 university freshers in student halls


OCTOBER:
- More nights out and getting settled into uni.
- Big Halloween night out.

Night out at Aruba Bournemouth



NOVEMBER:
- Christmas shopping at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth on the 4th.
- 12th November: Meal at Casa Brasil.
- Ice skating in Bournemouth on the 21st (I cannot ice skate for my life I don't even know why I wanted to go but I'm glad I did it was so hilarious).
-25th November: More Christmas shopping in Southampton
-26th November: Mulled wine at the German Christmas market in Southampton
-27th November: Went to a care home with friends from my uni course to interview the residents for an assignment.

DECEMBER:
-10th December: Flat Christmas party in the day followed by a work Christmas party in the evening.
-14th December: Last uni night out of the year before the Christmas holidays.
-22nd December: Drinks with my friends from home then we somehow ended up on a weird night out in my home town.
-25th December: CHRISTMAS DAY (I had too much to eat/drink so I fell asleep on the sofa at 8pm AKA spending Christmas the right way).
-29th December: Day out in London and Winter Wonderland.
-31st December: NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY.

university friends at a party

university students at a party

friends out for drinks at the pub

mum and daughter at winter wonderland in London

I have had the most amazing year thanks to everyone who was a part of it. I will hopefully do a post like this at the end of this year too. I would love to hear about the best parts of your year and your plans/goals for next year.

Thank you so much for reading :) x