Decisions, Decisions...It's too difficult!

I had a think about what I should write a blog post about this week and I decided a post about how I made my early decisions about university and what spurred me on to make the choices I did. I hope this post interests you all and gives you an idea of the reasons I chose the University of Bedfordshire.

One of the hardest decisions before I even knew if I had got into uni was what universities to put down as my firm and insurance choices.I picked both the University of Bedfordshire and another university just as close to where I live as Bedford is(about 40 minutes). I made this decision because at the time I did not feel ready to leave home, I am still unsure on whether this was the right choice for me but it's the one I chose so I've got to live with it. I'm still unsure because I don't know whether living here and paying as much money as I am to live here is actually more beneficial for me than if I were living at home..to be honest I would probably be much better off if I was still living at home. However, I'm not and I am very glad I decided to take the plunge and move away from home because now I've learnt that it's not for me for the full three years and it has helped me realise that I would actually thoroughly prefer to live at home for the remainder of my studies. I am not slating moving away from home at all, I just think that I've 'got the t-shirt' and in my opinion it's not worth missing home as much as I do. I am so glad I've had the experience though and I wouldn't change my decision of moving here, I would just change the people I was put with in the first place.

If I were choosing a university again I wouldn't change the University of Bedfordshire as a uni as it is fantastic and I love studying here. I might perhaps consider changing the location to somewhere a bit more lively, so a city uni, however this would be such a tossing and turning decision because I don't know if I would be ready to move to a big city on my own. I think my home sickness would kick in and I could feel worse than I did just 40 minutes down the road..
Thinking about it, I have definitely made the right decision for me in allowing myself to live the university lifestyle for a year, finding out it's not entirely for me and having the option to move back home and still carry on my studies. I think if you're like me and are not sure about staying close to home or moving away you should consider universities that will allow you the opportunity to start off living there for your first year and then if it's right for you carry on living wherever that may be or if not, move home and commute to university whenever you have lectures or seminars.At the end of the day most universities cut contact time even further as you progress through your course so you may not even have to travel to uni everyday which would be a bonus for anyone who decides to live at home.

Think carefully and for yourself. Don't pick a university just because someone else is, do what's right for you.

New Year!

So as you can all tell by the title of this post it is officially 2014 and I am looking forward to this year for a number of reasons:

1. A fresh start in my new flat at uni. I don't know if I've already mentioned to you all that I have moved flats due to nastiness in my old one and I am so excited to live with nice people after having to live with a flat full of girls who talk nothing but horrible things about each other. Plus I'm moving to the complete opposite side to where my old flat was so I will hopefully not have to bump into those girls again, or not very often anyway! 

   

   This image shows where I used to live and where I live now, couldn't be further away from the bad flat which is so good!
2. I have a lot of exciting things planned in terms of summer holidays etc.I know the summer is far away but at least it's 2014 now so my holiday doesn't 'seem' as far as it did when it was still 2013. Oh how the mind works haha!  

   

   Hopefully somewhere like this...Probably not though, student problems!

   3.  I am looking forward to being exam free after April, and I am also really excited for post exam celebrations back home with my friends!
   4.  I am excited to see what October brings in terms of starting my second year and getting a bit more stuck into teaching with placements and being able to choose subjects for myself rather than having them chosen for you, which is what happened in my first year. Second year sounds exciting although I can't quite believe how quick first year is going! I need more time to revise for my exams ahhhhh!

Until next week!

How to deal with being away from home..

I've got something a little bit different this week so I hope you like it. I figured that you didn't all just want work related posts and it will probably be interesting to do a more personal post every now and then because let's face it uni is not all about the studying, all be it a lot of it is, but everyone knows what freshers get up to don't they!

This is going to be a post quite close to my heart as I am not shy about the fact that I have struggled moving away from home and I'm not even that far away!

I think that the fact that I am close enough to get home if I really needed to is perhaps not the best move for me as I am always thinking I could just be at home instead of here living in halls. Perhaps if I had moved further away so that I can't just come home whenever I please would have been a better option as I'd of had to just deal with it and accept that I can't.

I knew I had always been a home girl at heart but I didn't realise just how much until I moved away from all of my home comforts and more importantly my family.

However, I do have some tips for you all about avoiding home sickness and just in general how to forget about the bad and focus on the good things whilst you're at university because there is nothing worse than being away from home and unhappy, probably my worst combination ever!!!

I found this picture online and thought it fitted this post down to a T. If things are getting to much, just start a new page.

1. Surround yourself with people who you actually like and are real friends, you can tell a fake friend a mile off. 
2. If you're unhappy, change what is making you so. I am in the process of moving flats because I am so unhappy with all but one of my current flat mates so I'm removing myself from the negative situation and will never have to even acknowledge my old flat mates ever again.Some people are just plain nasty, and unfortunately there's no changing people like that.
3. Let yourself go. Go out and just have a good time, you'll meet people trust me you won't be sitting alone in the corner. 
4. Budget yourself. Ok this may seem like a weird one, but if you run out of money and can't afford to go out and have a good time you'll probably regret not budgeting because no one wants to miss out do they!!

I think most people probably suffer a little when moving to university as it's such a huge change but once you're settled and you've had a wicked freshers fortnight you'll be back to normal in no time. 

Remember, just ENJOY IT while is lasts because it's going to go quickly I know it.