On Work Experience

Happy Hump Day, guys! This week I'm working with a Communications firm to gain some work experience before starting my course. I just wanted to share my personal opinion on work experience as well as outlining some of the things you learn whilst on the job. I wish that my motto was 'think less do more' and I'm trying to live that way more and more by actively engaging in the careers that I might like to pursue in order to make informed decisions, amongst other decisions I'll need to make fairly soon.

#MondayMemories

So rather than the usual #MondayMotivation or #throwbackthursday, I want to offer up my own version in the form of #MondayMemories. 

I want to start attempting to document so many of the amazing memories that I have had during my time as an undergraduate and before I moved away from home. I find it so easy to forget some of the amazing opportunities I have had, especially when I'm struggling or worrying. By sharing those memories here I'm hoping it will remind me to be grateful and content with what I have. 

Without further ado, for my very first #MondayMemories, I would like to share photos from my graduation day last week. The weather was overcast and, yes, it rained all morning but, y'know, I made it. I completed my degree. I got to share the day with my family and with some of my closest friends who were graduating too, all of whom I am super proud of.

                                                                 

Summer Time

With the approach of August (it's tomorrow, eek!), I genuinely can't believe how quickly the summer is passing me by. This is potentially my final full summer in Falmouth which makes me incredibly sad because it feels as though I definitely haven't made the most of it. As a university student, I have had the longest breaks that I will probably ever have in my lifetime, and I spend most of them sleeping haha. 

One of my favourite summer activities is evenings at the beach. I went over to Gwithian a couple of days ago with my housemate for a walk and some swimming. Here are the accompanying photographs of our little adventure to the north coast. 

          

Gwithian is located across the bay from St Ives and is mainly pebbles when the tide is in...

           

...But when the tide is out it has miles of beautiful golden sands. 

           

We also got to watch the sun set while we were there. It was a really beautiful evening. 

Thanks for reading,

K xo

Graduation 2014

And so another year of graduations has drawn to a close... This year I worked the University of Exeter's Graduation day in Cornwall for the second year running. This year I managed to get this cheeky snapshot of Truro Cathedral in all its glory on Graduation. Stunning, right?!

        

It was a brilliant day with some fantastic speeches from the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the university and smiles all day from graduates and their families. A momentous occassion to complete their time in Cornwall. 

However, as I'm going into my third year now, attending graduation day was an unsettling wake-up call that this will be me this time next year. I really can't get over how quickly my time at university has flown, clearly I'm having fun! It's also very daunting to realise that this time next year I will be starting a job. To earn real money. For real life. No more government funding. Maybe a little bit more parental funding (please, dad!) if I'm lucky. It is scary to think that each year a whole bunch of students are pushed into the big wide world quite suddenly but it's also exciting to consider that from the moment I started my degree I was gaining skills and carving out my path in life. 

Congratulations to all Exeter graduates, especially those that have been so lovely to me over the past two years. You will be missed!

K xo

Turning 20

I saw someone post on twitter this morning that turning 20 counts as 'growing up'. WHAT?! Nobody informed me of this when I turned 20 last september and I know it's a little daunting not being a teenager anymore but I can't help but look forward to how much better my adult life is going to be in comparison to my teenage years.

These are the years of university, jobs, careers, parties, travels, engagements, weddings, maybe even children if you're quick enough haha. These are the years when independence actually means independence rather than living away from home but still getting your parents to pay the bills. Quite frankly I love the prospect of really making the decisions which build the rest of my life, I like being in control of that. 

Let's not lie though, it is difficult to be independent. I have experienced the difficulties of trying to find a part-time job at university, trying and constantly failing with budgeting, balancing working for money and working for my degree, and most of all the struggle of buying something you love but you just can't afford. These are the things which can really drag you down and make being independent much harder but we have to remember that these things take time. Time and mistakes are very good at making you learn and change your habits which is what your 20s are about. Make the mistakes and learn from them to develop into the person you are going to be. At the end of the day, you need the difficulties in life to really appreciate the best times. 

Enjoy turning 20 and take everything in your stride!

K xo

Welcome to 2014

Yes, we're well over half way through January but HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone's enjoying it and already making the most of it. January Blues have hit me hard but I'm trying to power through. Pretty photos make me feel better, like this one:

This is near where my boyfriend lives. We went for a lot of winter walks while I visited for a week over Christmas, most of them were soaking wet walks but this day was so beautiful. I love it when the weather's chilly but sunny. 

To look forward to the rest of the year, I've started planning some adventures for the coming months. I'm booked on to a university trip to Berlin at the end of March (expect a post on that one!), I'm so excited for it already. Me and my friends have also been in talks about heading to Amsterdam over the summer too. I definitely want to make this year my year of travelling. 

I also signed up for a career mentor through the University of Exeter and I had my induction to the scheme yesterday which was super exciting. I get to start emailing her next week! The scheme lasts for this year and I can ask for advice and guidance with CVs, applications, whether a masters degree would be helpful. It's such an amazing opportunity!

The first week back to uni has been hectic but exciting and I have plenty of other plans to post about this term so keep your eyes peeled. 

Thanks!

K xo

Procrastination Professionals

Usually, I take essays in my stride and just get on with them but as the nights draw in and we get closer to Christmas, I can't help but think about going home in just under a week's time. Obviously this daydream forgets that I have a deadline on monday for my second REAL second-year essay. The pressure is on.
 As all students do, myself and my housemates have been procrastinating this afternoon, as much as possible. We try not to but one of us starts watching a Youtube video or sees something funny on imgur and we all have to see it. 

Without further ado, here are some of our picks of the day for how to avoid your essay-writing/report/deadline stress and have a good laugh:

My choice - Jenna Marbles
One of my favourite Youtubers, Jenna Marbles. I have almost seen every video and with a new one every wednesday (or Thursday) I can't help but have a little snoop on her page every now and again. Here's a taster.

Laura's choice - Tickld
Always finding her giggling at pictures or videos from this website, it's a good choice. You don't need to sign up or make an account to get scanning through the pages of procrastination glory so no annoying emails, perfect! When a website wants to "spread laughter and cure boredom" and don't think it can be denied.
Take a look here. 


Millie's choice - Imgur
Millie loves this site. Similar to Tickld, it has a similar effect! Imgur is more image-based and tends to attract meme-style images. If she finds anything brilliant I usually get sent it on facebook and then continue browsing. Link is here. 


Whatever your procrastination tools, I wish you could luck with final deadlines and a brilliant christmas break. If there are any amazing things that you feel I need to know about, feel free to leave a comment (unless it's a cat video, I've seen ALL of those). This was just a quick post to procrastinate further and I'm fully aware that I may have missed some vital websites/videos/things.

K xo

 

Scary Second Year

So second year has hit me... hard.

The past few weeks have taught me that I need to learn to say 'no' a lot more or just be a lot less interested in everything that goes on around campus. I have to admit that I am ridiculously nosey. I have learned this through deciding at the end of first year that I'd like to be involved in society committees and have some responsibility for second year, fair enough. However, my first year self cleverly decided, along with taking awful notes all year and barely reading a single book, that I could manage a role on FOUR society committees. Really?

Okay, I love it. I love every society I'm involved in: Oxfam, the campus Jazz band, CSM Netball, and the English Society. I love the people, the events, the socialising, the meetings, the organising. I also love sleep... But that isn't possible right now.

I like to be busy and this seemed like the best way to stay as busy as I can for the rest of the year. I have made a plan to chill out society involvement around serious hand-ins and especially around my exams, just in case I actually want to revise this year (next joke, please). I would definitely advise first years to get as involved as possible while they still have the chance and their marks don't really matter as much. My involvement in societies during first year gave me so much experience and I met so many new people just by turning up to things, it wasn't hard. P.S. Society and Sport involvement looks AMAZING on a CV (not joking, you get experience doing something you love) and I'm definitely ahead of the employability game with my experience. Just need to sort my grades out now...

Thanks,

K xo

On Living Away from Home

For university, I decided to move over 300 miles south and live in a little place called Falmouth in Cornwall. It really is the most enchanting place but a stark contrast to Derby (where I was born and lived for all of my life until this point) and a huge decision to make at the age of 18. I chose to move away from most of my friends and my entire family, of course I'd see them all again but I knew that it would be very difficult to see them as often as I might like to. 

A week before I was due to move down to Cornwall I got cold feet and suddenly decided that I didn't want to leave my little bubble in Derby that I knew so well. It was the biggest upheaval of my entire life but I didn't realise until this point and started to panic a little. I was worried about not being able to cope with university life and not having the support around me that I was used to. 

As it goes, I moved to Cornwall. I've completed my first year of uni and can't wait to get back down there tomorrow after only a week at home. Now that I've tasted what another place can offer me I get bored of my hometown very quickly. I'll always come back to see my friends and family, I can't go THAT long without seeing them and I love a good catch up but I know now that they'll always be there to support me, no matter how far I go.

This year away has taught me that I am capable of doing things outside of my comfort zone and pushing those limits can open up a whole wealth of opportunities. Although living away from home has been hard at times (running out of money, missing home, etc.) it has been the best experience of my life. So to all those on the brink of university life, relish the feeling of the unknown and embrace the amazing experiences coming your way.

K xo

The Magic of Music

Recently I've really been suffering from exam stress. Now, I don't usually stress about exams; I was heading to house parties the week before my A levels were due to start and never had a meltdown in preparation for my final exams. However, university seems to have cracked me. With 4 3 hour long exams to prepare for, which all fall within 10 days, I have been seriously FREAKING OUT. I've tried doing all sorts to calm down a little; running, long showers, shopping, talking to old friends. Nothing seems to have done it quite so well as playing with my jazz band for a couple of hours this evening.

As previously mentioned, I enjoy my music. I think that the best kind of music is that which you create yourself. I love the social element to a band, chatting with different people, but also the amazing feeling that you get when you work together as a group on a piece and it sounds absolutely magnificent, it's really the best feeling and you get such a buzz from performances. The best part of music is that you don't have to play an instrument to get this feeling either, it comes from singing too! 

So, if you've never been in a band or a choir, I seriously recommend joining one. Especially at university! You meet the best people.

K xo