Anxiety + Education - How To Cope.

Mental illness and Education are two things that often go hand-in-hand. The stress and pressure of the education system are like a fuel to mental health issues, and the stigma attached to the two is something that needs to be seriously looked at because I know I'm not alone in my experiences. 

My anxiety reared it's ugly head for the first time at the end of my first year of college. But I didn't really understand what was going on. I felt trapped, my chest felt like someone had wrapped a belt around it and was slowly tightening and I was petrified that I would bugger everything up and my family would be disappointed in me. This gradually got worse over the years and by my first year of uni I was a total mess. I was having anxiety attacks almost daily on the way to uni and my best friend was seriously concerned. So much so that she repeatedly nagged me to go to the doctors and seek help. So I did. A couple of courses of Citalopram and a round of CBT later and here I am. I graduated University with a 2:1 in English Literature almost a month ago and I'm pretty stable nowadays. 

But here are a few tips that I accumulated throughout my time at education with how to deal with anxiety.

1. Create a watertight plan and stick to it - Having a plan is one of the main things that helped me in my most anxious moments. Some people may find planning out your day and workload to the last minute a tiring task. But for me, it was a comfort blanket. In the morning I would wake up and plan out everything I had to do that day, including meals, snacks and 'me' time. I would then stick to this like it was the law. I found this really helped to manage my fear of not getting enough work done, and it helped me stick to tight deadlines without being stretched. 
2. Try to do any work that you can in advance - This links to number 1, but I found getting ahead of the work calmed me down massively. Even if it's just requesting the reading lists ahead of time and working them down before the term starts or in the reading weeks/holidays. It definitely helps. 
3. Remember that it's all about balance, include some 'you' time - Make sure to look after yourself. It's not all work, work, work. You need to remember to give yourself some down time. Spend times with your friends, go out for a meal, take a bath or practise some mindfulness. Self-care is really important when you're in a high-stress environment. The last thing you want to do is to burn out.
4. Find an outlet for stress - Often times stress builds up and makes the symptoms of anxiety build up and feel worse. Do something that calms you down. Work out, take a walk, cook a meal or have a cheeky glass of wine with your friends. Do whatever you need to, to blow off steam. Don't let the stress build up and hurt you. 
5. If it gets too much seek help - If you are struggling, remember that you don't need to go through this alone. Tell a friend or family member, a lecturer or teacher you trust or go to your local GP. They won't judge you and they can help. I told my lecturers when I was feeling overwhelmed and they gave me advice and reassurance. My friends all knew of my anxiety and could pretty easily judge when I was having a bad day and knew when I needed a pep talk or just an ear to bend; whilst my GP was great and got me in contact with the charity Health in Mind who offered me an online CBT course, with regular phone calls to assess my progress. This really helped me to learn coping mechanisms and didn't push me out of my comfort zone as I was able to take this therapy at home or at uni, without having to leave and stress myself out. 

I hope this has helped if any of you are suffering from Anxiety whilst in Education. It's a real struggle and it makes you feel as though you are completely malfunctioning, especially when you're living away from home at university. Just remember that you are not weird, you are not alone and you can get through this. 

If you ever need someone to chat to about this please feel free to drop me an email or a DM on twitter. I'm always happy to have a natter and offer some advice as someone that's been there and made it out with a 2:1, even though it seemed impossible. 

So You Want A Graduate Job?

So the chances are if you're reading this then you are currently in 1 of 2 scenarios:

You're still at university 

or

Like me you're a new graduate coming to terms with the outside world. 

So I finished Uni back in May and I thought "wow, all this free time! Yay!" - although not that jolly in real life as all the enthusiasm has been methodically sucked out of me over my 6 years of further education. But life has a way of kicking you whilst you're down and I soon realised that getting a job straight out of university wasn't going to be quite as 'straightforward' as I once thought. 

So here are my top tips on how to get a graduate job!

Step 1: Get that all important 2:1 degree NO MATTER THE COSTS. Sacrifice your life, friendships, family, health. None of that's important. If you get under a 60 you've basically failed already. Eh heh...

Step 2: Got that 2:1? Killed yourself for it? You go Glen Coco! You followed the advice of all your lecturers that make it sound like a 3 year old could of done it and you managed to get that 2:1, heck you may even have gotten a first! Be proud! 

Step 3: Leave the university bubble, say goodbye to friends you will only ever see again at graduation and forget to contact about that "meet up in london for a coffee?" deal you made. Go home and enjoy that freedom, that sweet sweet freedom.

2 WEEKS LATER

Step 4: You're loan's just run out and the realisation sets in that actually you won't get another student loan... you are on your own. F.U.C.K. 

Step 5: Indeed and Reed it is then... you're bound to find a low level job with ease, yeah the pay might be shitty but you're willing to work your way up and grow with a business. You're bright eyed and bushy tailed and raring to go. 

Step 6: Oh. So all the low level jobs actually don't care about your degree but they want experience.... So all that time you spent getting that 2:1, you should have been working internships to get "relevant field experience". Well no biggie, parents are awesome, you can do some unpaid work whilst you're living at home right? It's not like at the age of 21-22 you would have any real responsibilities.... right?? 

Step 7: Internships, Internships, Internships... So it turns out even unpaid internships want experience then.... wait? what?! UNPAID? EXPERIENCE? WTF?! 

Step 8: Cry. You will. Trust. 

Step 9: Pick yourself up again and repeat Steps 1-8. 

Step 10: Heck you may get a part time job in a shop... for like 9 hours a week. But at least you still have your 2:1 degree though right?! TOTALLY worth the £40k of student debt. 

Okay, so I was feeling a little troll-y tonight and felt like writing a bit of a rant. But this is honestly life right now. The never ending cycle of finding jobs that tell you they're entry level, only to get rejected for a lack of experience, is a very real and annoying thing. I've been left in a position where realistically my best opportunity is to find a part time job - so I can actually, yanno, live - and then somehow find a part-time unpaid internship, so that I can gain some of that suddenly all important work-experience. 

I honestly think that degrees should start making it compulsory to have a work-experience module or year so that the students aren't left in this situation. My degree was really intensive and I only just scraped my 2:1 in the end. I definitely could not have done any more work or balanced an internship alongside my degree and I know many others that were in the same boat. 

If you're in this situation as well then I feel you! If you're still at Uni all I can say is- if you can muster some time, then try to get an internship even if it's just over summer! It will benefit you when you leave and I wouldn't wish mine, or my peers, current predicament on anyone!

ALSO if you know anyone that's looking for a writer, just F.Y.I, I'm keen. My actual writing ability is substantially better than what my blog portrays it to be, but I'm lazy over here on my little blog. I love the conversational style and loose use of grammatical rules that I can only get away with on my own domain. (hehe cheeky plug there... but seriously hook me up.) 

How to Survive After University

The University bubble. For 3 years of your life you live in a semi-holiday state of bliss surrounded by friends, Dominoes vouchers and empty bottles of wine, with the odd annoyance of a lecture twice a week and a few assignments sprinkled in for additional moments of joy. Whilst these assignments and exams are stressful at the time its only once you've left Uni that you think... "shit!" 

How To Tackle Exam Season & Live To Tell The Tale

Not everyone has to deal with exams, but those of us that do suffer. I'm in my final year of a English Literature Degree and I absolutely unashamedly suck at exams. 

When I say suck, I really do mean that I am dreadful at them. 

So you may be thinking Wow Emily really selling yourself here, if you are so rubbish then why should I be taking advice from you? 

 Well young grasshopper, through my awful exam experiences, I have also picked up a plethora of advice from tutors, friends, family and the good ole' interwebs. 

Top 5 Tips For University Open Days.

Uni. It's a really scary concept. Chances are if you're reading this you're probably considering going to Uni and the thought of the looming open day's are probably terrifying and exciting all in one nauseous burst. Well fear not friends because today I have 5 tips to help you out.

How To Live In A House Share Without Going Insane

1. You Can't. - Literally stop trying. You are going to go slightly insane at some point living with a bunch of people you would really rather not be. 
2. Ignore Everything - If all else fails ignore it. Yeah you may have asked at least 10 times for people to put away their dishes and they still don't do it but just let it pass over you. If you harbour this annoyance it will turn into an all consuming hatred. Trust. 
3. Make a cleaning rota from the off set - Don't be an idiot and think that you can come to some sort of cleaning agreement without the childish futility of a rota. You are fooling yo' self. Set that rota in place and stick to it. It solves a lot of arguments about who's taking out the bins. 
4. Segregate your items - Oh you might be bessies with your housemate now but guarantee that at some point they are going to annoy the shit out of you because they are not only using your shit but they are RUINING it. Just keep your items to yourself and it saves the annoyance!
5. Be polite - Okay, so you may not get on with your housemates, you may think they are absolute knob jockeys. But be polite. If they enter a room your in, say Hi. You live together, being civil is always the best course. NB: You don't have to be pally. No one wants that fakery.
6. Do your dishes - See point 3. DO YO FUCKING DISHES. Seriously. It's so annoying. There is no reason why you can't wash up and put away your stuff after you've eaten. It literally takes 5 minutes. Unless you are bleeding out there is no excuse. 
7. Try to avoid being a general arsehole - See all the above points. If you're not following them, you're probably being an arsehole. Fix that. 
8. Remember that it's not permanent and breathe -  You might be one of the very few and get along with all your housemates, in which case I salute you and I hope it lasts. If not like me then just remember it's not a permanent situation and you will get through it without actually going insane. Just follow the above tips and breathe! 

15 Things They Don't Tell You About Uni

Oh I love a good list. 

15 Things They Don't Tell You About Uni 

1. You will spend all of freshers wanting to be anywhere but halls. You want to be home, round your friends flat (because it's somehow better than yours), or even just moved out into rented accommodation - because you and your besties are going to make a house all chic and girly and there will never be any mess and you will get along so well....... *eye roll*
2. Once you've left halls you will soon realise the above is a ridiculous fantasy and you will do anything for the easy day's back at halls where you could outright bitch about mess. Overflowing bins and unwashed plates are still a problem but now you have to navigate the tender areas of friendship in order to get shit done. Passive aggressive note anyone? 
3. Third years hate everyone. Oh you're a second year and you're complaining because of your "super hard work load" ... that's cute. 
4. Not having a tumble dryer is potentially one of the most disheartening experiences of your life. Oh you want to wear that next Friday? Best get washing now then if you have any hope of that drying in this freezing hell pit. 
5. All of your "besties" you make in first year become figments of your imagination by third, apart from the few lurkers that for some reason enjoy your cranky pre-coffee moans at 9am. 
6. That letting agent might seem really "cool and down to earth" when you go for your viewing but don't be fooled. They are all universally dire when it comes to student lets. Want your windows cleaned because they are tinting the outside world an odd shade of murky brown... nope you've got to wait 2 years for that slice of sunshine (conveniently before you move out!) 
7. At some point the Library will become your soul mate. You start to thank it for the simple things like being open 24hrs and having a functioning coffee machine (even if that coffee does resemble dirty dishwater and taste slightly worse than sewage... caffeine is caffeine though right?)
8. In first year you think all your lecturers are massive dicks but by third year you are starting to doubt if you can actually live a normal life without their weekly bursts of wisdom. 
9. There is never an unacceptable time to order Dominos. 9am? Go for it, you deserve it.
10. If you are a rugby player please assume that everyone will think you're a massive arse. It might not always be true but it's unavoidable. 
11. At some point you will find yourself with a random man in your house. Don't mind him it's just the handyman that's unexpectedly turned up without any prior warning... it's not like the tenancy clearly states that you're meant to have 24 hrs notice or anything... Oh wait?! 
12. At some point you will be stuck with an idiot neighbour that thinks it's fine to host loud parties on a Sunday at 4am. If you're one of those people..... IT'S NOT.
13. You will find one person that you've never spoken to but inexplicably hate. Like fully loathe for absolutely no reason. Sorry!
14. You will spend about 70% of your time trying to explain where you live. No one will have heard of it and so you opt for the safest route which just happens to be super vague... "Urrrm it's sort of in-between Essex and Suffolk, you wouldn't have heard of it!" 
15. It goes so quickly and before you know it you're on your own. 

I've had such a love/hate experience at Uni and I think this nicely reflects that! 

Personally, I'm so excited to leave Uni now. I want to get on with my life and I feel like this last stint is dragging! 

Only 4 months, Only 4 months, Only 4 months. 

How has you're experience at Uni been? Let me know in the comments below!!

Also whilst you're at it you might want to peruse my other Uni related posts that are conveniently located for you're leisure here!

University - What It's Like Taking An English Literature Degree

One word... Stressful. 

That's what it's like taking ANY Degree. If you are thinking "oh I'll do a Degree for 3 years of buffer before I actually have to do something" then think again because these 3 years at Uni will be some of the most stressful but amazing years of your life. 

But what's it like taking an English Lit Degree? I'm now in my third and final year of Uni and I absolutely love my course. However you may be surprised to learn that I didn't actually apply for English Lit! In college I applied for Psychology and wanted to eventually go into Clinical Psychology, however my A-Level grades were really bad thanks to an ill-timed bout of insomnia, anxiety and depression meaning that my highest grade A-level was a C in English literature. It was thanks my C grade in English Lit that Canterbury Christ Church (My first choice University) offered me a place on the English Literature with Psychology Combined Honours course. I was dreading it. At that point I really didn't enjoy English whatsoever, I hated it at GSCE stage and I disliked it throughout my A-levels so the thought of going to Uni to study it filled me with dread. But I absolutely loved Canterbury and it was the only University I liked when I went to the open days so I sucked it up and went. Am I glad that I went! It actually ended up that I really loved the English side of my course but hated Psychology and so I dropped Psychology after my first year and went forward for a Single Honours English Literature Degree. 

Studying English Lit at Uni is so much different to studying it at College or School. You can choose whatever periods of literature interest you and tailor your degree and areas of study to suit your interests. In my second year I took : 

Introduction to Shakespeare

Victorian Literature

Eighteenth Century Literature

British Romanticism 

The Canterbury Tales

The Descent of English from Old English to Standard English

Now in my third year I'm taking:

Topics in Shakespeare and Shakespeare's Background 

Topics in Victorian Literature

Satire 1693 -1759

Lovers and Fighters in Medieval Literature

 40 Credit FYIS (Dissertation) 

These were just the courses that interested me but there were other courses available like Contemporary Literature, American Literature, Creative Writing and Literature of the Wars.

If you're thinking of taking a English Literature Degree then there are a few things you should know... 

1. Yes, you will have a tonne of reading - probably much more than your friends. 

2. Usually assignments are essay based - which means no cringey presentations or group work!

3. Normally you can expect to have quite a lot of exams with an English Lit course. I had 5 Exams last year and I will have 3 this year. But all of ours have either been 2 hour closed book exams or takeaway exams in which you do a timed assignment (usually over a week). 

4. Did I mention you will have a lot of reading? This is the biggest difference I found from Psychology. Psychology we had a few things to read but you could easily attend your lectures without having read them (I did that more often then not!) however with English you really do have to do the reading. If you don't you will be completely lost with the lectures and seminars and will quickly get behind, so if you don't enjoy reading you should probably look for another course!

Well that's it for today's post! I hope this has been helpful! 

If you have any questions on English Degrees or Uni in general then feel free to comment below or tweet me @bambisblogs 

University- Blogging At University: The Reality.

Blogging is something that many people (like myself) start in their college years and if they progress onto Uni is always something that they want to continue. I've been writing this blog throughout my University life and now as I'm fast approaching the end of my degree I thought I would share what its really like to run and blog and manage your university life. 

• Something's gotta give - I definitely underestimated the amount I would have to do when I started Uni. I had accounted for the time I was actually at University in lectures but I had assumed that in my free time I could do loads of blogging.... WRONG. I struggled so much in that first year to post anything and I think it's a miracle I posted as much as I did. Not only do you have to deal with time at Uni but you also have to deal with Cooking/Cleaning/Washing Clothes/ Socialising/ Food Shopping/ Bonding with Flatmates and actually getting some sleep! Also remember that when you're just starting Uni you have a rush of emotions from being away from home, meeting tonnes of new people and starting a really intensive degree course that you can never be fully prepared for! Don't feel bad if you're blogging slips at this time as it's unavoidable if you ask me!
• Scheduling is your best friend - Some people bitch and moan about scheduling saying that "it's not authentic or 'in the moment'" but these people can bore off. Scheduling has been a life saver since I've been at Uni and I can guarantee that ALL of my posts that you read during my term time have been scheduled and planned. Don't see this as a bad thing however, I spend a lot of time planning and writing my posts when I actually HAVE time. I will often write my posts up for the week on a Sunday and I will do the photography in batches whenever I have a spare couple of hours and good lighting. Surely this is miles better than a rushed post with little information and crappy iPhone photos? 
• Make time for blogging - As important as your other aspects of Uni life are, you still need to make time for things you enjoy and running a blog is also super valuable for your CV in the future. I schedule all my spare time and make sure that I allow a good 10 hours a week for blog writing - usually this is allotted to Sunday which is my "me" day where I binge watch crap tele, do face masks and have Lush Baths as well as writing my blog. 
• Create a "Post Spreadsheet" - Alongside scheduling in general, I like to create an Excel Spreadsheet which tells me what posts I'm planning for what days, whether they've been written or had photos taken yet, if I need to promote on instagram and if they contain PR samples.
• Blog when you feel like it - Do not blog if you feel like you HAVE to do it. Your writing will reflect your mood and it will just create a post that isn't that great to read. If you feel like blogging and have an hour free - just do it! 

That's it for my blogging tips!

I hope these have been useful. If you're blogging at Uni or plan to do so let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below! 

A Uni Students Room Tour

I thought as it's my third and final year of Uni, I would share what my room actually looks like.
I think it's important for two reasons, firstly to document my room so that once I've finished Uni and moved back to Essex I can look back and reminisce about living in this amazing house. But secondly because I think too many students are fobbed off with crappy accommodation and told that student houses are all the same (grim, dingy and blue or green carpets).

When we looked for a house we were told that we had "too higher expectations" because we wanted a bath and no blue or green carpet. Which quite frankly I think is ridiculous. With student rent being super expensive (we pay £400 a month each, which for four girls is £1600 in total a month) surely you would expect that at least the house would be nicely decorated. Now I'm not expecting lavish, but plain walls and neutral carpet is surely a very simple and cost effective way of making a property nice to live in and easy to upkeep. We managed to find a house that suited us perfectly and we even have a few rooms with feature fireplaces in. We have 2 bathrooms, 4 generous sized bedrooms, a lounge that comfortably sits 5-6 and a decent sized kitchen. If you're a student and you're looking for accommodation. DON'T listen to the letting agents - they don't care where you live they just want your money! Do your own research and view properties from a variety of agents in your city/area. Make sure that you're happy living there as a happy living environment is so important to your general well being at uni! Anyway rant over! Above is a picture of my desk, it's messy yes but this is how it looks on a day to day basis you won't get any frills here!

/\ Above is my chest of drawers, I like to keep my jewellery and perfume here and also display my nail polishes - often I have more out than this but I'm trying to hone down my nail polish collection!

Here is my mirror and door with everything chucked on it. The mirror is a new addition to my room it was £29.99 from the range and I love it so much. I use a Primark accessories hanger on my door to hang my scarfs and bags on - I think it was around £2.50.

My bed and chest of drawers, I had all my work for that day laid out on my bed at the time of taking photos - I was going to move it all but I thought that this is a huge part of my life as a student and there's no point hiding it away and pretending that I live in a showroom as trust me, I don't.

Here's an area that I'm the most proud of. It's my book wall. Sadly I have a lack of bookcase here and so I had to make the most of the space that I have. I've decorated with some Primark fairy lights that I got last year and it looks so nice at night!

Another new addition this year is my star fairy lights that run across my headboard. I love these things. Again they are from Primark and they are all attached with copper wire which not only makes them look lovely but also means they are super light and easy to put on anything. They cost me £2.50 and I am in love with them. 

Finally onto my bed side cabinet. I try to keep this as clutter free as possible as it stresses me out so I like to just keep a couple of candles, (large one is a gift from my housemate and the smaller is a yankee sampler put in an emptied jar) my kindle and my book journal. 

That's it for today's post! I hope you've found it interesting and I think it does show that it is possible to have a uni room that looks and feels homely! I actually prefer my room at uni to my room at home and I will be very sad to leave this house in May. 

Top 5 Tips To Manage Your Money As A Student

As a student, money is tight. Literally always tight. I never have money to spend and rely almost entirely on my student loan to live. With a rent of £400 a month and bills that equal to about £66 a month I don't have an awful lot to play around with afterwards. Here are my top 5 tips on how to manage your money on a tight budget. 

1. Get a money saving app - I like to use "Spending" which is a free app for iPhone and it allows you to create a budget and monitor everything you spend. If like me your always popping to Asda for one or two things each day then you can quickly loose track of what you're spending. 
2. Create a budget - When you're living on a set amount of money for a term, it's super easy to create a budget. I work out how much money I have to spend for the term and then divide it by the amount of weeks I have at uni and then I have my weekly budget!
3. Plan what extras you want to buy that month - This is something that I really need to start doing. For instance I budget £15 a week on food and £10 a week on "extras". Extras are clothes, books (for leisure), makeup and skincare. Obviously you don't get much with £10 a week so I attempt to save up a few weeks worth and then spend that on what I need/want. I wanted to do that this term but sadly I got spend happy and spent all 10 weeks worth of extra money at once. oops. I will do this next term though as I don't have anything that I will desperately need. 
4. Put aside a certain % of money as a "rainy day fund"- From my weekly budget I work out the minimum I need to live which is £15 for food and £10 for extras as I explained above. Whatever I have left over I then add to my savings. This makes up my rainy day fund and is used mainly for emergencies or things I desperately need but don't have the money for in my budget - like course books or essentials. 
5. Write everything down - I often write down my money and my budget throughout the terms to make sure I'm on course. If I'm not then I re-budget myself and make sure I'm on track. This is the easiest way to make sure I don't overspend and end up having to beg mum and dad for extra money at the end of the term. 

That's it for today's post! I hope these tips have been even slightly helpful or even just given you some ideas on how to manage your money.

Student Eats: Homemade Falafels

I made a Student Eats awhile back over here and that was about a year ago! So I decided that I wanted to bring this little series back and indulge my readers with another aspect of me. Before I started college I trained in catering college for a year and so cooking has been something that I've always enjoyed especially experimenting with food! I'm hoping to do a few more of these around the year with some help from my house mate who will soon be starting up her own food and lifestyle blog which I will be sure to link once it is up and running! 

The Freshers Survival Guide

Nerice, Dom and I.

It's that time of year where the stomach starts to churn and the nerves set in. Your moving away to Uni and you have no idea what to expect. You obsess over freshers week and the unavoidable freshers flu, you buy things for your new room and prepare yourself to move away from family and friends. I know as that was me last year. Freshers is scary. 

When I was preparing to go to Uni in Canterbury, I was terrified! There is no embellishments here, I was so scared of leaving my parents (and my cats!) and the safety and comfort of the small sleepy town that I've lived in pretty much all my life. I was a crying wreck for about a solid month. As someone that doesn't drink (much) and at the age of 19 had never been on a night out; simply because watching movies in bed sounded better to me, the thought of the week long partying of freshers scared the s**t outta me. Not only that but I was moving into halls that were situated right above the student union bar and I worried that I would quickly ostracise myself from the rest of my flatmates being the awkward one that wouldn't go out. But it didn't turn out like that. I made some amazing friends and my Flatmates were brilliant, so here are some tips on how to survive your first year at Uni.

1. You will cry. It is inevitable, don't fight it. Just accept the tears and move on, Uni is scary. It's okay to be upset.
2. No matter how hard you plan your first day at Uni, it will be nothing like you expect. I ended up going on a walk around Canterbury with my new flat mates getting to know each other before going back to the flat to witness some drinking games and then watch some rubbish Tele before getting an early night.
3. The best nights are the nights spent in with your flat mates. I have had SO many laughs with my flatmates Nerice and Dom, they are memories I will cherish forever and they didn't involve getting drunk (so I remember them perfectly clear!)
4. If you don't feel comfortable doing something, don't do it. I didn't feel comfortable going on a night out clubbing so I didn't, I don't regret that decision one bit. Instead of going out, I had laughs with my flatmates and my chummy across the hall Roisin. I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on the 'uni experience'.
5. Your kitchen will never be clean. Don't even try. I brought 90% of the cleaning products and did the majority of the cleaning in the kitchen. But living with 5 other people means there is alot of mess if they don't clean up after themselves. Our kitchen was rarely ever clean and it drove me mad!
6. Fire alarms are your worst enemy.
7. It's acceptable to leave your flat at 3 in the morning in some pj shorts, a vest, a coat and some boots if the fire alarm has gone off. It doesn't matter that you need to wait outside the front of halls that is on a main road. You have no shame at that time in the morning.
8. It is not acceptable to leave your flat at 3 in the morning in the above outfit if the fire alarm hasn't gone off... girls wear some clothes, no one wants to see what you had for dinner.
9. Besides from Fire alarms, Bins are your worst enemy, sooner or later you neglect them and start piling rubbish in piles next to them. It will smell. You will get pissed off. You won't do anything about it though as its not your turn to take the bins down on the rota and really "aint nobody got time for that".
10. Pasta is your friend. But Mcdonald's is your best friend.
11. In exam times Starbucks is your life source.
12. You can walk to the shops in your PJ's/ Onesie... just be prepared to get odd looks.
13. You will spend all of your bursary on rubbish in your first term and realise you need to budget by your third term. (Don't ask about second term, money is a foreign concept then)
14. No matter how bad things get, watching your dominoes order online from prep to delivery makes everything better. (Seriously, it does.)
15. You will make some amazing friends and amazing memories no matter what you do in your spare time. Just enjoy it whilst you have it as it goes fast!

Here are some pics from my first year at Uni!

Giggles in a Psychology Seminar

A visit from my best friend before Christmas!

My pin board, filled with pictures to remind me of home.

A pre-exam Starbucks!

I hope this was helpful to all those off to Uni later this month! Have an amazing time and just enjoy yourself as moving out of halls is the saddest thing ever!