Surviving final year at University

Something a little different today! As it's September and lots of you lucky devils are still at University (stay as long as possible, take many degrees), I thought it would be appropriate to reminisce on my final year and offer up some words of wisdom. Well, some words at least!

1. Get organised! Even if you're the type that works under pressure aka the last minute, you still need to get organised as your dissertation consumes a lot of time and you still have a gazillion* other subjects. There will be time like this...

Image from weheartit

So, make sure you get a diary, post it notes, folders etc or at least find a way to remember when you have things coming up. Here's some diaries that I thought were too adorbs!

1, 2 & 4 from Paperchase
3 WHSmith
5 & 6 Liberty

2. Look after yourself! Did you know I'm your mum? Seriously though, make sure you eat well, drink lots of water and maybe take the odd yakult here and there. With the number of people arriving from all around the world, Fresher's Flu and other horrible lurgies can knock you off your feet. I don't mean don't have an afternoon tea session at your house though...

Food courtesy of my gorgeous friend Jessica, who makes one mean afternoon tea (mojitos are also another forte!)

3. De-stress your mind and body! 'Oh great, she's getting all spiritual on our asses!" I'm not, I assure you. What I mean by this is when your working away or just a student in general you spend a lot of time sitting round studying/eating/watching tv/drinking and your body becomes restless, resulting in a bad nights sleep. I would recommend exercise like the gym, classes or going for a run with your mates if your strapped for cash.

Image from weheartit

4. Don't dread the dissertation! I remember thinking "I will never be able to write that many words", panicking about the subject and the title and thinking "Jeez, I hope this makes sense!", but it all worked out in the end. I think because it's big compared to your other essays you almost try harder and focus more.

Your tutors will tell you this but it's always a good idea to pick a part of your subject you enjoy and have maybe wrote about before if poss (you can re-use sections of your work and you have a better knowledge base). I would personally recommend really getting to grips with the Harvard Referencing System (or whichever your uni uses) and employing a trusty friend (thank Lauren!) to proof read your work throughout the year, so you don't make silly mistakes. 

Image from weheartit

5. Don't forget to have fun! This isn't hard for most people, but in the final year you can get caught up on the quest to a 2:1 (or whatever grade you have in your mind) and forget that it's your last year. I was living with a new group of girls in my final year (we all had placements in 3rd year) and we just had the best time ever. I'm pretty sure our house had the best parties ha, we went bike riding in the New Forest, ate a LOT and played sardines with all our mates in the house! (to name a few of our antics!) 

 "i want to ride my bicycle"

Me and my gals at our summer ball, we're enchanted forest people aka it was cheap!

Enjoy, work hard and stay in touch with everyone when you leave.  

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*genuine number of subjects I had

Class of 2012

Its been a busy few days! It was my graduation on Wednesday, so we travelled down to Bournemouth on the Tuesday night and stayed in a 'hotel'. I say 'hotel' because it was a bit retro and it was run by this man who was completely bald, but had THE most amount of back/neck hair I have ever seen (truly bizarre).

The graduation ceremony was really official, but it was great. The walking across the stage part was sooo nerve racking! I basically forgot to bow to the 'high chancellor god of the realms of bournemouth' or whatever he was called and sort of nodded at him like 'Alright mate?' which was a bit embarrassing, but i didn't fall which was a bonus! There were some great names at the ceremony, including 'Woo Woo' (sounded like the lady announcing the names was cheering for the previous graduate when she said it), 'John Wayne' and the best.... 'Prince Baby' not kidding.

After the ceremony, there was champagne and canapes plus a lot of photo taking. My dad insisted on taking me on some kind of beach photo shoot which was hilarious. We then headed to London (where my dad works) to have some cocktails and food at this amazing Mexican place called Wahaca at the Westfield shopping centre. Overall - great day.