FINISHED!

Hi Everyone, I hope you've all had a brilliant week... I certainly have!

I finally finished my final assignment which was my webfolio for my digital age unit, it's not due till the 25 of this month but I feel so relieved to have it done and submitted now, weight off my shoulders! Now all I have to think about is placement and going on holiday next month, yay!

Its scary to think that I am basically a third and final year student now (bearing in mind I get decent grades back). I have a lot of grades that I'm waiting for, as does everyone around this time of year I guess!

This year has been so different to my first year, for some reason I've felt less stressed out about deadlines, felt confident about what I'm handing in assignment wise pretty much every time and just in general been happier in the way I'm experiencing university life. I mean I guess this is all mainly down to the fact that I'm not commuting, going home to my own bed, a bath, my family and a home cooked dinner is bliss to me after last year which seemed like I was away for a lifetime. I appreciate everything so much more and university has stayed interesting for me as I'm not living and working in this same environment constantly. I love that I go to uni, have a good number of nights out with friends per term but am not obliged to have to go out every week if I don't want to, I'm lucky I've got good friends who let me crash at theirs otherwise I'd of missed out on a lot socially I reckon. I honestly enjoy going to my lectures this year because I travel about 35-40 minutes to get there I find myself engaging more and actually wanting to learn, whereas last year I missed a lot of lectures and found myself not listening more often than I should of.
Thursday's were quite tough at the start of this year as I had a three hour gap between lectures which isn't enough to go home but also long enough to get bored, but once the workload kicked in I was so grateful for these three hours in the library, I managed a good load of assignment work throughout the months.

Third year I know is going to be tough, I got my grade back for my research proposal assignment which I want to use for my dissertation but I didn't get as good as I'd hoped so I need to make sure I tweak this over the summer to make it a more worthy piece of work and a good starting point for my dissertation to go off. Although I've got a lot of work to do next year (well October) I am still so excited and I know I'll be more than ready to start back in October after having such a long summer break. In terms of blogging this week I will try and make a list of topics to post about as these weekly posts wont exactly be relevant any more, so maybe I'll post more about A-level life and exams as I know you're all going through this stage in your lives at the moment.

Well this was an interesting image to find, third year... yay?!

Revision was never my strong point so I truly feel for all of you taking exams, all I can say is I hope you're not too stressed and keep thinking about that post exam party! Ha!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Until next time,


M.

Accommodation thoughts...

Hi everyone! 

Hope you've all had a good week, this weeks post is as promised all about accommodation in particular these three bullet points:

• First year and how living in halls was for me
• What I think are the benefits of living in halls
• Tips for those of you that are thinking about living in student accommodation

Let's start this off with my experience of living in halls. So my thoughts were similar to most people who are heading off to uni "living in halls will be great, I'll have amazing flat mates" "I'll never be lonely or bored" etc. Just FYI this post is going to give you a very negative view of living in halls at first but I promise keep reading and you'll realise why I'm being so honest, it gets better is all I'll say.. 

I moved into my flat, I was the first one there which was difficult enough it felt like I was waiting a lifetime for my next flat mate to arrive, she arrived that evening and wasn't exactly welcoming or friendly. She sat in her room and barely came out and this was exactly how she carried on throughout the next couple of months. The next day my other three flat mates moved in, one was so lovely at first we got ready and went out to the first freshers event that night, this is actually the night I met one of my closest friends I've made at university, still to this day we are such good friends. After this everything kind of went briefly downhill in the living department(just to clarify university itself, the course, friends I'd met outside of my flat was all brilliant). My flat mates bar one were not as nice as they seemed and made it difficult to be in the flat, I wont lie it wasn't a good experience. 

HOWEVER...

The team at reception were brilliant, they managed to get me another room in a different flat within a week or two, I moved in just before Christmas break started and that changed my whole living experience. My new flat mates were so friendly and I got on so well with all of them as soon as I moved in, it made everything so much easier having a relaxed, welcoming living environment. 

I think the reason behind all of this is because I was put into a flat where they all had similar interests and I just didn't 'fit' into those interests.

Benefits.. 

• Being independent, not relying on my parents at first was hard but I am so thankful for this now. 
• Meeting new people, although my experience wasn't great first off, I ended up meeting some really great people in the end. 
• Managing work loads, not only having to manage my university assignments but I also had a part time job whilst I was in first year. 

I really did learn a lot from living in halls of residence for my first year and although it wasn't my cup of tea to live in student housing for my second year(I commute) I am so glad I lived in Bedford for a year. I would never have met some of the friends I have now otherwise and I feel like the experience wouldn't have been nearly as good. 

These are some pictures of the halls in Bedford. 

A few tips I would give those of you thinking about moving into student housing or halls of residence for your first year at university:

1. Meet your housemates if you're choosing to live in a student house, there is nothing worse than being stuck living with people you don't get on with and it would be ten times harder in student housing as you don't have people in the same situation next door. 
2. In terms of halls, if there are options to choose the type of flat mates you want to live with i.e. loud, quiet, party people etc.. do so. Make sure you're being honest with yourself and not just picking the party flats because you think thats what uni is all about.
3. Visit the halls/house you're going to apply for. Make sure its convenient for you and has everything you need/want in and around it there's nothing worse than applying for accommodation and then getting there to realise its not at all what you wanted. 

I hope this post has informed some of you into how to make a decision about accommodation, its a scary decision to make so just be sure that you're making the right one. 

Until next time, 

M. 

April Fools!

April Fools Day is not my favorite day of the year, no one like to be pranked!

I am officially assignment FREE! Today I finished and handed in my final two assignments of the year and I am so relieved because I have been working on them all month! I am not technically work free as I do have two exams coming up in May(I'm not sure on the dates of them yet though)!
I enjoy revision for exams more than I do writing essays though I have to say, I get so bored writing essays, especially when it's nice outside like it has been today!
Oh well, summer starts here for me!
It seems crazy that I have almost finished my first year at university(minus exams), I actually move out of my halls of residence tomorrow and as much as I've enjoyed my time living here, I honestly cannot wait to be back home and eating home cooked meals!!

So.. yeah I have about four and a half months off from uni for the summer, as exciting as that sounds I do have to work to afford to pay for everything I have planned over the summer..so it's not just going to be lazy days all the time.
I guess this is the last post I will write sitting at my desk in my little room and honestly, I'm quite glad. I don't want to put anyone off staying in halls when they come to university because obviously that's the done thing(unless you commute). However, it's definitely not for me. I am so glad I have done it and experienced it for the first year but as I may or may not have already told you, I am commuting to uni next year. I am one hundred percent a home girl and I only live 40 minutes from Bedford anyway so that's the plan for next year.

I am also so annoyed that I haven't mastered how to cook certain things..for example spag bol...I still cannot cook it and I have given up trying!

Bye Bedford..Hello Home!