and....breathe.

Three years, nine terms, numerous coursework essays, fourteen exams, one dissertation and I AM DONE. 

They say that university goes by quickly and you should savour it, but it is safe to say that I did not expect it to go this fast. It feels like just yesterday when I was moving into my first year accommodation. But it wasn't yesterday, it was almost three years ago *woah*. 

Today I sat my final exam, three hours on the topography of Rome. Right now I am sitting at my desk wondering what to do with myself. I was in full day nursery from 6 months old. I don't know what it's like to be out of education. But today marks the end of that road. I am not planning on going onto do a masters any time soon so this summer will be devoted to looking for a job and hopefully come September I will have something to do. 

But right now I am going to delve into the endless pile of books I have had to ignore over the past months and I am going to catch up on some much needed sleep. I also have a couple of trips planned: Greece, Spain, Scotland and Wales. It's fair to say that I am making the most of my last summer of freedom. Who knows when I will next have such a long expanse of time to do whatever I want. 

So today I say goodbye to organised education and the wonders of student finance and say hello to the adult world of real jobs and rented flats. 

(Really I am just moving back in with my family, but you know, a girl can dream.)

Sorry for the complete absence of posts this month, dissertation and exam revision took over and somehow my blog got lost along the way. I will try and get back into the swing of it from now on. 

Eilidh 

It's just another year

I have never been a big New Year person, I love the celebration and all that but as far as I am concerned, we could be celebrating anything. I know that some people like the idea of a fresh start, a do over, the opportunity for improvement and change. But I have never seen it like that, for me, I make little changes all the time, whenever motivation hits which can be half way through the year or maybe even next week. But never have I seen in the New Year and thought that this would be the year I change my life. I am more of a day to day person, I have to set myself small and short term goals because my brain tends to lose motivation.

But, as I near the end of my three years at university and 21 is suddenly only a month away, I have decided that maybe this is the time to set myself some real goals. In six months I will be saying goodbye to organised education and hello to the chaotic world full of responsibility and other such scary things. So here goes, a jumbled up list of things that I should really start doing.

1. LEARN TO DRIVE:

Ah, I have so successfully managed to put off learning to drive, I have always been too happy to rely on public transport, but the time has come to bite the bullet. I have got to a point now where I am applying for jobs and it has hit me how being able to drive may be a necessity. So by the end of the year I really hope I am the proud owner of a driving licence. My theory has been booked and I have a driving instructor lined up. Baby steps...

2. FINISH MY DEGREE:

I know that this seems like an obvious one, I am in my third and final year at university so surely that should dictate that it will be finished by the end of the year. But the third year panic has set in and the fear induced nightmares of failing at the last hurdle have set it. So heres to hoping that I can round off the year as a graduate.

3. READ, READ, READ:

Last year was a bit of a dud in the reading department. Somehow my books got lost amongst the mass of work university threw at me. This year I am hoping to manage my time better and devote more of it to reading for pleasure. I find reading really calms me down and I am hoping to make a significant dent into my TBR pile this year.

Of course there are the usual, do more exercise, eat more healthily, be happier etc which I will also be trying to follow. I am hoping that writing this down and putting it out on the internet will motivate me to work harder for them. Who knows, but there is no harm trying. I hope that you all have a brilliant year and I would love it if you would let me know in the comments what your New Years resolutions are.

Eilidh

My university bookshelf

So almost two years ago I packed up my bags and embarked on a new chapter of my life: university. But packing is never easy when it means leaving behind hundreds of books that you have spent 18 years collecting. So I was faced with a decision- which books deserved to join me on my journey to university. Here I have the selection of books that made the cut. 

In the end I chose to bring books that I hadn't read rather than my favourites, you can see that there is quite a selection of John Green books, they were bought on a bit of a book buying spree shortly after the breakdown that occurred whilst reading TFIOS! The Time Traveler's Wife made it in despite having read it a hundred and one times already- I just loved it too much to leave it behind! Finally on this shelf we have series 1-8 of Greys Anatomy- not a book I know, but they have got me through some rough times, they deserved a bit of shelf space!

This shelf has a bit more variety, a mixture of classics books- The Illiad, The Odyssey etc as well as some of the fiction books that I have on my 'to read' list. 

Now this shelf is devoted to books for my course, as you can see by the cracked spines, they are well read, and as much as I love them, I can't wait to get stuck into a fiction book that isn't on my course reading list!

This is just a tiny glimpse into the books that made the journey with me to university, I am sorry that the photo quality isn't great, they had to be taken on my phone. If you would like a more detailed tour of my bookshelf then I would be happy to oblige once by exams are over!

Love

Eilidh

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