Six ways to survive your First Semester

Hey!

I'M FREEEEE...By that I mean my deadlines are in the distant past and consequently I woke up at 12 today. Bliss. I'm not home yet though as I've still got a week left of shorthand (yay). 

I spent Sunday recovering from a stressful week of deadlines and serving endless Christmas dinners...by going to see the Coca Cola truck in true Christmas spirit. We also had our Flat Christmas meal on Sunday which was lavely.

Happy days in F2

Anyway...

I thought I would write a little post on what I have learnt since I have been at University, about general life...and myself too. I am a big believer that making mistakes isn't ALWAYS a bad thing- the lessons that you can learn from that mistake will shape you as a person, and make you a better human being. So here goes.

1) IT IS AMAZING
I've had the BEST time since coming to Uni. I've done things I never thought I would do, made friends with people who I never saw myself with, seen so many new places and become a more independent and rounded person (as odd as that sounds).

2) Don't worry about being worried
I haven't met anyone who wasn't worried about going to Uni. One of my flatmates almost didn't come because she was so nervous about it. BUT you've got to remember that it's natural to worry...but at the end of the day you'll be fine and I can pretty much guarantee that you'll love it. Also I've met people who said that they were so worried because they were more of an introverted person and found it hard to fit in. But out of all the people going to Uni, you will be sure to find someone who's just like you.

3) Homesickness is (pretty much) inevitable
Maybe. It was for me anyway. But you'll get used to it eventually...and at the end of the day 'home' will always be home. If that makes any sense. And now I'm SUPER excited to go back for a whole month and spend time with my friends and family for the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAAAAR (I hope you sang that too.) At the same time though it's going to be very odd going home....I'm going to miss my Uni friends so much, and it will be strange fitting back in to my life at home (where I can't get in at 5am and eat cereal from the box whilst discussing politics with my flatmates. Not that we do that...)

4) Try everything you can 
What I mean by this is throw yourself in to whatever you can. In my first week I got kind of delirious and started talking to EVERYONE and making EVERY FRIEND POSSIBLE. Maybe this was a bit too extreme...but basically don't be scared to try new things. You wont regret it!

5) The Midlands is South to Northerners and North to Southerners.
The question "Are you from the North or the South" is up there with "What's your name, what course do you do?" and all those other small talk questions which everybody asks when you get to Uni. And if you're from the Midlands, expect to receive a confused look followed by "But if you HAD to choose North or South....." Extremely annoying.

6) You think you'll join a million societies, exercise everyday and be super productive. But in reality you'll sleep in and miss lectures, stay out too late and think "First Year doesn't count, so it's okay right???".
I feel like this sums up what Uni has been like for most First Year students thus far. (Sorry to generalise all the students who have not felt this way. Well done you.) To be fair I've only missed one lecture....and a few shorthand sessions....they're at 9am, who can blame me.

Overall I've had a BRILL first semester. What a whirlwind it has been...Next time I post I'll be back in Derby!

I hope this post has been helpful/relatable:)

Anna x

P.s, if you want to vote for me for Blogger of the Month, you can do so here :)

P.p.s I will leave you with this...

A very talk-y blog post

Hola amigos!

Sorry for the lack of blog posts! I promise myself from now on that I will make a conscious attempt to post once a week from now on. Honest.

Uni life is buuuusy! I've got a weekend job so I've been working on Saturday nights and Sunday days as a waitress at a restaurant in the city centre. At first it was super stressful as I wasn't used to working in such a busy environment, but I've settled in to it now and I'm really enjoying earning my own money again! If you have the time, I would definitely recommend getting a job at uni. 

Also, I passed my shorthand test that I talked about in my last post. Woohoo! So I now start at 9am instead of 8, which is MUCH more manageable and I now find that I can actually open my eyes during the lessons, and actually speak instead of just grumble. I also feel like I'm progressing so much more when I get more sleep. Overall shorthand is way more bearable!

I've also found time to go home a few times since my last post, which has been wonderful. Two weeks ago I went home for a long weekend and had such a good time catching up with my friends, boyfriend and family. Admittedly, on the train back to Sheffield I cried the whole way, until I eventually stopped by reminding myself of how tragic I must look to other train-goers who were staring by that point. (Embarrassing, I know.) It's not because I don't enjoy Uni, it's just that leaving home is something that you can't prepare yourself for without actually DOING it. I'm not going to lie to you, it is heart-breaking leaving your cosy family home to return to a big city where you've only lived for 2 months, where it will inevitably be cold and dark (Grrr winter). But what I can say is that it DOES get easier, and although I still get upset every time, I know that I'm coming back to Sheffield to friendly flat/course mates, and a life which I am really, really enjoying.

Glad I got that off my chest.

I'm happy to tell you that my cooking skills are improving, yay! Tonight I made a quorn chicken pie (I'm cutting down on meat after having a deep conversation with myself in Morrisons about becoming a vegetarian- but I'm not quite brave -or willing enough to give up bacon- to go the whole way). I've also discovered pesto (which I buy in a jar....so I can't really claim that it's cooking but it sure is yummy with pasta). I've also been making chilli, curry, spaghetti bolognese and fish with veg (SWEET POTATO IS THE FOOD OF ANGELS).

At the weekend I saw my friends and my cousin for a night out, which was amaaaazing. I love how Uni gives you so many new experiences and opportunities that you wouldn't have had if you were still at home. I'm loving that now I'm at Uni I can see my cousin Josh more, who lives super far away from home in Derby. But now he's in Leeds and I'm in Sheff, I'm seeing him more than ever which is indescribably fabulous:)

I've talked a LOT in this blog post. If you made it this far, wow. Thank you for reading!

If you would like to vote for me as your Blogger of the Month, you can do so here :)

Some pics in an attempt to balance out the excessive writing.... 

The Leadmill in Sheff for my flatmate Lauren's birthday!

My first article in the student newspaper! I was very excited about this:)

Record-shop shopping

You know what I said about it being cold? Yup. Beautiful, but freezing.

Anna x

Early-morning Ponderings

Hiya.

I'm currently blogging from the school bus, changing it up a bit. James Blunt's "Goodbye My Lover" just came on shuffle and I'm feeling like it's 2005 or something..weird. A small (big) part of me wants to sing-a-long dramatically and pretend I'm in a music video.

I quite like bus journeys. Especially when it's sunny (like today) it gives you time to think and basically just stare out of the window and use very little brain power. Winner.

Anyway...how does this relate to Uni? Well. It seems like it's finally dawning on people that we have now started our last EVER not-even-half term, and in almost a month we'll be leaving school. Not going to lie to you, this thought absolutely petrifies me and makes me get all these funny feelings inside. It's just odd (and very scary) to think that soon,
the place that I've been at for seven whole years, with the same group of friends, won't be a part of my life any more. Not only this, but also my best friends will suddenly be scattered across the country and we won't be getting the bus together every morning (ironic since I'm on my own right now), being bored out of our mind's in lessons or (also ironically) wishing we could leave school and be "proper adults".

So, I'm trying to appreciate and remember every day we have left before the scary part -yet equally, the exciting adventure- begins.

Anna x