Wake up to Third Year

So here we are, 3 weeks into third year, the beginning of the end has already begun and I'm not going to lie to you, it's scaring me shitless. Don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying my course so far this year as I, like everyone else hopefully, have finally got down to doing modules that I really want to do, none of this compulsory bullshit. well apart from the dissertation of course, but we don't speak about that.

The fact that in less than 9 months time I will have graduated (hopefully) is insane, the amount of things that have to be done between now and then is crazy, and the fact that I am meant to have ideally decided what I am going to do with the rest of my life is ridiculous. I am no way closer to knowing what I want to do than I was at choosing university age 17. I'm hoping I'll just end up falling into something again like I did with Holloway, and that turned out pretty fucking awesome for the most part.

Anyway, all this thinking about the future and the finality of third year malarky has made me come to the conclusion even more that it is totally okay if you have no idea and no plan what to do at the moment, or really ever for that matter, especially straight out of uni. This is the prime time to be working shitty 3am jobs and living in a crappy hole, because why not. Why not be saving your arse off to go travelling or whatever you want to do so much that all you can afford is beans on toast for weeks on end. Why not? Might as well do it now before the actual responsibilities begin. Thinking about it like this makes me really excited - but one thing I have certainly decided is that, as much as I love them, I cannot live back home with my family, so I am going to have to do everything in my power to not. For those of you that don't already know (and if you don't, where have you been for the last 4 years!?) my parent's house is in the middle of nowhere, Hampshire with a population of about 1000 and the average age of about 90. So yeh, no more of that thanks!

I'm applying for various Masters courses at the moment to try and delay the inevitable, but at the moment the idea of leaving here is also really scary. Can you see a theme evolving? Apparently, I am scared of everything in my future at the moment. Well no, I'd like to think no, although it is scary, it's always very exciting doing something new. I've got the whole world to choose from, so it better be ready for me!

That is it from me tonight my lovelies, I've gotta head to bed in a bit, tomorrow I have the absolute pleasure of driving the RHUL Men's 2nds Fencing team to their match in London, lucky me!

Have a good week my loves!

Lots of Love, Kate xxx

Quick Catch Up

Okay, so I know I promised photos from Amsterdam last time and I promise I will get them eventually but as my phone, unfortunately, died in Lanzarote - may have had something to with me jumping in the pool with it..., well anyway my current method of photograph taking is crap so I left Emma in charge of photos. That was all well and good but as she has a proper, big, grown-up job as an archaeologist she is in a hole with zero wifi most of the day, so I'll get them one day.

Anyway, Amsterdam was pretty epic, got to try new things ;) well not quite like that, but yeh. Discovered the beauty of being an awful tourist and go on a walking tour of the city which was actually a highlight, mindlessly wandering around Amsterdam and not having to think about where to go and what to do was pretty good really. Oh, and also I got scared by a prostitute in the red light district, I didn't realise she was standing in the window behind me and she thought it would be funny to make me jump. hmmm... 

Apart from that I've been working pretty much full time at Scholastic as after my work experience was meant to end, the publicity and marketing department offered me a job as a marketing assistant for the rest of the summer, so I've been here nearly 4 weeks now, and I can't quite believe it is my last week next week, makes me a little sad to be honest as it has been really interesting and in a weird way fun. Although I will not miss the commute into central London, I will miss the people and working with and around 1000s of books and getting sneak peaks into the children's publishing world. 

I'm back in Egham now, and after I finish at Scholastic next week I'll be straight away back into conference work until the beginning of the term, well, until freshers, in which no doubt I will be working like mad on the Sshh bus. I wish I could say I had something financial in the way to show for all this but Pret is killing my bank balance every morning - need that morning cuppa!

Lastly, I wanted to take this chance to promote my society's new Facebook page which can be found here. There's not much on there just yet but we've got big plans for RHUL Travel Society! 

Better be off now my loves, I've gotta finish up here at work and then get home to then drive 5 hours down to St Ives for the bank holiday weekend.. which is gonna be hella busy traffic. Never mind - wish me luck!

Have a good week my loves!

Lots of Love, Kate xxx

Mid-break Review

So, I promised I would try and keep you all updated and not go completely silent over the summer, although to be honest my loves, I'm even boring myself with the lack of news and interesting things that I have to share with you all. Really, all I have been doing is working with the lovely Lily Potter who deserves an epic shoutout on here as without her I think I would have gone completely insane while at work.

I reckon we are about halfway through the summer break now, and the weeks to the beginning of third year in my diary are scarily becoming less and less. I have so many plans between now and then so I know it is going to fly by and I'm going to find myself standing outside Founder's or wherever I am on the first day back and realise that it is the last first day here. 

Graduation was last week, and because I was on campus a lot for work I got to see all the third years in their gowns and having hundreds of photos being taken, and I am slightly terrified that it will be me next year. I know I sound really old when I say this, but it really does seem like yesterday that I arrived here on the first day of freshers. And I'm not going to pretend, I was absolutely shitting myself all the way up here. 

Thinking about all this future malarkey, I think my next step after graduation may be a Masters, it seems like a good idea for someone who doesn't know what they want to do with their life (then again there are few of us who do). Yet at the same time I would like to go travelling again, so hopefully, subject to acceptance, I may have found the best of both worlds by doing a masters abroad. The application process while doing a dissertation, rest of my degree, holding down 5 jobs, being on society committees, and doing a placement for BAFTA is going to be insane. I don't know why I decided I was going to do everything at university in my last year, but meh, at least I will be busy. Anyway, I have found my dream course as it is at University of London in Paris. PARIS! Imagine how awesome that would be, the actual opportunity to live in the centre of Paris. I'm not gonna lie, the appeal of probably being fluent in French by the end of the year also holds a massive attraction. Apart from that, I'm also looking at courses in Canada, cause it's like America and Britain in one so I don't have to go full American just yet. Also, who doesn't love maple syrup!? 

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, there is a shit ton of work to be done between now and then, and I'm going to South of France with the famalam at the beginning of August and Amsterdam the following week with Emma and Laura (all for just the weekend) but it will be lovely nonetheless.  I hope everyone is having a beautifully relaxing break, and for those of you who are still at work, I'm sorry, I feel your pain. I'll post up pics of Amsterdam when I'm back. 

Have a good week my loves! 

Lots of Love, Kate xxx 

Welcome to the Summer

Firstly I should begin with an apology for the silence of the past month or so, when I last left you I was still in the midst of exams (which have all finished, by the way, I survived, and passed them all) but now term has officially finished and I am splitting my time between my home on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border and my uni home back in Egham, resuming my job as a conference assistant for the summer.

Early yesterday morning I got back from holiday to Lanzarote, which was one of the best, most relaxing trips away I've had in a long time, and just what was needed after an incredibly busy year and prepare me for what is bound to be an even busier one next year. If you can, I would highly recommend checking out lastminute.com for that quick getaway, they have amazing deals for places that I would never have expected to be able to afford on a tight budget like mine. 

Travelling, even going on holiday alone always great, and from my other posts, you can see I am a total advocate for taking off and going where the mood takes you without other people, just relying on yourself and getting to do what you want to do. However, once in a while, or more than that, there is nothing better than just going away with friends and having a laugh, which is totally what we did. Going up on stage, somewhat drunk, singing and dancing our hearts out to ABBA dancing queen on fern's 21st birthday, in front of the entire hotel, will be an experience I will never forget.

This post is just a little bit of a catch up (and a chance to show off my tanned/burnt holiday pics!) 

I'll try to keep you all a bit more updated over the summer, between working, my placement at Scholastic and trying to get on top of dissertation research I'll do my best. 

Have a good week my loves!

Lots of Love, Kate xxx

Taking Stock

Sitting at my desk in my towel, too lazy to get dressed, with the window open and a somewhat warm spring breeze flowing into my room I just happened to look at the calendar on my computer and I realised,

It was today, 

Today 4 years ago was the first day I was in hospital and the beginning of one of the toughest years of my life so far. 

For those of you that don't know, or have recently come to my blog, you can check out my oldest posts from when I started this to get some more information, but just quickly, when I was 17, after suffering for 6 months with acute abdominal pains pretty much ongoing to the point I would vomit, I was rushed to A&E in an ambulance and was quickly diagnosed with Pancreatitis caused by gallstones. This meant that approximately one third of my pancreas had died, it still has, it will never grow back and that I would require surgery to remove my gall bladder, that had caused this in the first place. Although, luckily the infection in my pancreas responded to the drugs after a few weeks, if not I was looking at being put on the transplant list and move to the High Dependency Unit. Basically I was really not very well and was in hospital in Winchester for near on two months. 

Thinking about it now, it all seems so long ago, and so much has happened in the past 4 years to make me forget about it, and I'm glad, and so lucky, that for the majority of the time I can forget about it. Although, if I'd had the option to not have been ill, I would have taken it in a heart beat, however, the fact is I was, and as shit as it was, and as difficult as it was for my family, my life wouldn't have been the same without it.

Okay, I know that sounds a little over dramatic, and really, from what I can remember it wasn't that bad, but I know it was hard for my parents. But I was thinking, what would my life had been like if it hadn't have happened. I wouldn't have missed my AS exams, but my grades may or may not have been different, so would I have got my Oxford interview, would I have been accepted to UCL with the better grades I would have hopefully got at A2 after missing AS? But if I hadn't have got ill, would I have ever made the decision to take a gap year and have one of the best years ever, would I have decided to have fun in my year off and go to Royal Holloway? Somehow I doubt it. 

I'm not saying that all these things happened in my life because I got ill, but I'm not sure they would have happened if I hadn't, or at least not in the same way.

Getting ill was shit, there is no two ways about it, but through it, and through beginning this blog because of it, I have been contacted by people who have suffered similar things to me, or have just wanted more information. Whoever it is, whatever they ask, I am just really glad I can help, especially, as to me, it wasn't that bad (in my blurry memory of it anyway - although I can't remember 5 days of it so who knows!) but I know how hard it is for families going through things like this. 

Not that this post was meant to be morbid or me saying yay - look at me I survived. No. But what it has done has made me appreciate even more the people who care about us in the hospital, the worried families for their loved ones, and it has given me a weird understanding of what it means to be totally vulnerable, because there is nothing you can do, and that is strangely settling. 

Anyway, enough of the deep stuff, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU, to all my readers and friends that have stuck with me since it happened and I created this blog. I owe it all to you that it is even still here, and a big thanks to the nurses and doctors of Winchester Hospital Children's Ward who looked after me in the Spring of 2012. I wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for those amazing people. What a sobering thought.

Have a good week my loves!

Lots of Love, Kate xxx