'So what are your plans now?'

When you're in your final year of university, hell, not even your final year - as soon as you say you're going to university - everyone expects you to have a plan. To know what you're going to do with your life. But let's be honest here, there are very few people that have a plan for after university and, until very recently I was one of those people too.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when you go to a friends house and their parents start asking questions about your future, or you go to a family event and all of these people, some of whom you don't even know, ask you 'What are your plans?', 'What are you going to do when you finish university?', 'Have you got a job yet?'. This annoys the poop out of me. I always have the same answer too: 'I haven't decided'. Yet they still continue to ask me 'What do you want to do?'. By this point a million people have probably already asked me this question and I'm more than miffed, gritting my teeth, I reply once again with 'I. Don't. Know'. 

If you're one of those people that asks these questions and you're reading this: We hate it. Don't ask them. If you do ask and we say 'I don't know', leave it at that. We either really don't know or we really don't want to talk about it.

I consider myself very lucky because I've just managed to get a job in my home town, but there are certain people in my life (no names are being mentioned but they're who you expect to have opinions about everything you do) who don't agree with the job I've got because it has nothing to do with my degree.

What I think people need to consider when leaving university, planning what you're going to do next doesn't necessarily have to involve your degree. Personally, after three years of dedicating my life to studying everything about English Literature, I need a break now. I need to do something that doesn't involve me sitting and analysing a million and one books and what the hidden meaning behind every word is. I'm not saying that the job I have is something I'm going to do forever, but I'm not saying it's not either. I'm passionate about English but I'm passionate about this job too.

As for the Creative Writing side of my degree, to me I'm doing that right now by writing this blog post. Creative writing is something I can do whether I have a job in that area or not. I will always love writing stories but I can do that on my days off and in my spare time, as well as blogging. 

At the moment, my plan is to do this job for a year and then reevaluate. If I'm really loving it then chances are I'll carry on doing it because why stop doing something you love? If I'm not sure it's the job for me then at least it's been an experience and I can move on and try something different.

Just remember that we're still young. We have plenty of time to figure out what we want to do with the rest of our lives, but we're better to experiment now and try different things because if we go straight into a full time career that we plan on doing for the rest of our lives then we can't really leave that job. We're stuck there and if we want to try something different we can't or we run the risk of losing the job we worked so hard for in the first place. 

So the next time you're at a family event and you've got all of those random family members that you're not sure you've even met before asking all the awkward questions, just tell them 'I don't know and that's okay, so please don't ask me again'. <ake sure you have that sickly sweet smile on as well, the one that looks really polite but really says 'f**k off'.

Katie x

Another Real University

Hello!

About six months ago, maybe longer, I wrote a blog post about what university was really like (HERE - you should probably read this before reading anymore of this post), from a current students perspective. Well, since then, I have moved into a new flat, I live with new people and my view has changed a bit. 

I still think people are given the completely wrong image going into university for the first time - Freshers week is exactly how it sounds: great but messy. Other than that, everything's different after that first week. Obviously I'm in my second year now, so things are different for me just in light of that. I'm living with different people to last year who are also in their second/third years, so we're all a bit more mature and focused this year... just a bit though!

I love my flatmates this year. Let me just put that point out there. Last year, I got dealt a rather horrible hand of flatmates that consisted of a lot of bitchy girls and a guy who liked to hoover at four 'o' clock in the morning whilst playing extremely rubbish music at ungodly hours. This year I stayed in university halls but moved flats with one of my flatmates from last year (one of the nice ones) moving to the same block as me... if that makes sense. As in, I'm on the same campus but I moved to a different flat in a different block that was especially for returners (second years and above) and everyone in the flat is so nice; it's a massive shock to the system after last year. 

So let's have a run down of this years flatmates: The guy who's kind of old-fashioned but unbelievably kind - he came and retrieved a daddy-long-legs from my room at 5am one day because my friend and I were freaking out (I don't do creepy-crawlies! Complete aside here but did you know daddy long legs would be the most poisonous insect if they had the brain to use the poison? Nope? There's something to terrify you further then!). Anyway, back to flatmates; then there's the one I'm going to refer to as the musician because he is an amazing guitar player, like seriously - wow, and no he didn't pay me to say that! There's the loveliest Londoner you will ever meet as well as her being the one who exaggerates everything she's already exaggerated but it just makes her even funnier. There's the kind of quiet girl but has one hell of a partying streak in her (not that that's a bad thing). There's the guy I can't actually tell you anything about because the only word he's ever said to me, and most other people in the flat, is "hi". I can't forget the dude who I've never seen in anything but pyjamas and, finally, there's the quiet guy of the flat who is probably one of the loveliest people I've ever come across in life.

Added to my flatmates this year is the one guy I got on with really well in my flat last year - he lives in the flat below me, along with a girl I've grown really close to this year; the amount of deep talks we have at stupid times in the morning are ridiculous, but also great at the same time. I say she lives in the flat below me but the majority of the time she lives up here and occasionally goes to sleep in her bed downstairs - she's probably slept on my floor more times than her bed!

So out of my eight flatmates this year, I can't say I actually don't get on with any of them and I definitely don't dislike any of them. There are obviously a couple who I don't know extremely well for one reason or another but I'm pretty sure that if I knew them better they'd probably be really nice.

The weird thing about my flat this year is how I'd go out of my way for most of them and vice versa. Whereas, last year, nobody wanted to help anyone (aside from the guy who's still here this year - let's pretend he wasn't a part of the flat last year) because they were too busy trying to be better than each other and it's that kind of bitchiness I hate, so I'm glad there doesn't seem to be any of that this year.

I've mentioned in many previous posts that I don't generally drink much and I mentioned in the other post that I didn't go out much because I never wanted to. Wow, how that has changed this year. I think I've been out more times since the end of September than I've ever been out - which probably has a lot to do with my flatmates, because they're all genuinely nice people; I feel safer and I know I'll have a good time without them walking off and leaving me or anything like that (which, on one of the few occasions that I did go out last year, I experienced that - it wasn't nice). I'm still of the opinion that if you don't want to go out or you don't want to drink you shouldn't though. I've maybe started doing more of both this year but only because I know I'm safe, I'm going to enjoy it and I know my limits. But there have been plenty of occasions where other people have been going out and asked me if I was coming and I've said no because I haven't felt up for it or I simply couldn't be bothered.

Not going to lie, the whole lecture/seminar side of life hasn't changed much since last year; I still think the same things. Very few of them are genuinely interesting for the whole two hours or however long they last but you should probably still make sure you go to them - especially if it's a year that actually counts towards your final degree...

I still miss home a lot and I have been back a few times since I got here but it's not as bad as last year and I think that's simply down to the fact that I have some great friends this year and we're like a little family away from home. It's super cute. We even take turns in cooking etc. so we don't have to each cook every night - we have this thing figured out! I still live the furthest away out of everyone in my flat but that was pretty much inevitable, it's not too bad though, after doing them for over a year, I've gotten used to the long train journeys!

So this is the new kind of university that I've discovered this year. It's still not everything people make it out to be when you hear about it in sixth form and college but if it starts off bad, it can get better :)

There's still a bit of this year to go, seen as when I wrote about this last year it was near the end of the final term and I'm only just nearing the end of my first one when I'm writing this, but this has been a better start to my second year than I ever could have imagined.  

A few of my favourite pictures with my flatmates (and friends) so
far this year :)

Katie x

Mid Week Pick-Me-Up #10

Hello!

It took me four times to write the title to this post correctly, my fingers are just being more clumsy than normal today (this is basically me warning you about any strange,illegible words that might sprout up at any point in this post - it's my fingers fault, not mine!).

"Follow your heart but take your brain with you." - Alfred Adler

This quote is a clever one, if you ask me. It has life well and truly figured out.

I don't know about anyone else but, all the way through school, you're told to follow your heart and not listen to other people, just do what you want to. Although this is true to a certain extent, you can't just follow your heart and not think about what it is you're doing. For example, if your heart tells you you want to travel, that's great but you need to have your brain think about whether you can afford it or if it's practical.

I have a friend who has always wanted to go to one university. They didn't get into it the first year they applied, so they declined every other offer they had as well, then completely changed their life plan and what course they wanted to do, just so they could re-apply to the same university the next year. It was also the only university they applied to the second year but, again, they didn't get in. She was following her heart to the university and city she wanted to be in but wasn't thinking about the other options or the fact that she might not get in again.

I'm all for following your heart and dreams, I ended up in Nottingham because I followed my heart, but I made the mistake of not thinking about it properly. I didn't think about how far away it was from my home; how much I would miss my family; how difficult it would be to get home when I needed to. I'm not saying I wouldn't have ended up in Nottingham if I had thought about those things because I love it there but at least I would have realised what I was doing before I got there.

Your brain is more logical than your heart, but your heart is more truthful than your brain. Use both.

Katie x 

The Unsung Luxuries

Hello!

I've been home for exactly a week now and, I must say, there are some luxuries which I have definitely missed whilst I've been at uni.

1.

Baths

Baths galore! I don't understand how someone can't love to unwind in a heavenly, hot bath, that's just crazy. I would live in the bath if that were possible... I couldn't deal with the prune-like skin though. Having only the option of showers since September has definitely given me more appreciation for my relaxing bath and book time!

2.

My Own Bed

Oh man, how I've missed my bed! I know that my bed at uni was technically 'mine' but it wasn't a double bed and it was definitely not as comfy as my luxuriously sized cushioned bed, with a big fluffy duvet that I can wrap myself in and stay happily cosy for the whole day.

3.

The Little Ones (obviously)

How could I not miss my babies like crazy? I hate missing seeing all of them grow up because it feels like everyday something new happens with them - at the minute, Daisy's favourite word is "shooooooes" - and as for the older ones, they're just getting way too clever! I should be able to answer the math's questions a nine year old poses to me - apparently not!

4.

Unlimited Food Supplies

I will never take food for granted again! At home, food is limitless (to a certain extent, anyway). If I want extra cheese, I can just go get it. Or if I fancy a yoghurt, I can go get that too! At uni I couldn't have that extra cheese because, much to my horror, cheese costs a hell of a lot of money when it's not your parents paying for it! Also, I don't have to wash the dishes every night because I'm rarely the only one eating, yippee!

5.

The Laundry Problems

I no longer have those horrible problems of "I don't want to pay £2 just to wash a jumper" because there tends to be enough laundry in our house to make a full load and I don't have to pay £2 every time I have to do it, which means I can where my favourite jumper whenever I want!

At least I can say I fully appreciate the unsung and unappreciated luxuries now!

Katie x