How University Changes Each Year - 1,2,3,4

Looking back retrospectively university has made me the person that I am today, I really have grown and developed a lot since I was a fresher who was overwhelmed with having independence in a big new city.

What has  developed me; the fact university is not without its ups and downs. The amount of times I have laughed until my stomach hurt, danced until I could not feel my feet, stayed out into stupid o'clock on night outs with my friends are also accompanied by the exam stress, a mountain of coursework and the many breakdowns I experienced whilst at university.

With hindsight I can reflect on this as see that this change in me has happened with each differing year at university, all shaping me into who I am today.

I once believed that university would be all fun and games, and for the most part of first year was but when you bring into the realisation that you want to do well, that you have to put the work in for this to happen and going out 4 times a week is not real life, then I think you have hit your second year at university.

So if you are looking into uni, or are currently at university and want to know what could be to come here is my experience on how university changes each year and the good and bad of each one (bear in mind this is my personal experience - everyone's uni experience will be different):

First Year:

• excitement, freedom - I can do what I want when I want
• learning to cook and look after myself  (I ate cereal for majority of first year - please learn to cook before I did, maybe learn a few key meals prior to uni)
• doing my own washing (secret - the first wash I did was without washing powder as I seriously could not work out where to put it!) 
• making lots of friends and meeting such a variety of people - the best part of going to university
• going out lots - many a drunken night
• spending more time having fun and enjoying myself then doing uni work
• sleeping when I wanted - day or night (mostly all day!)

Second Year:

• slow realisation that many of my friends made in first year were circumstantial friends - people to go out with but not friends for life 
• 30 bits of coursework - I had to work my arse off 
• learning to appreciate spare time - you need to go out, go on walks, have fun with friends, you don't know how simple a movie night is with your friends 
• looking after yourself and your wellbeing is key (I know as I did not do it -  please please don't follow in my footsteps)
• 6 exams in a row - the hardest thing in the world 
• house mate dramas - lots of arguments and shouting

Placement Year:

(I was very lucky to do my placement at my university)

• saying goodbye to many of my friends who went on placement at home or away from the university
• learning about the world of work - meeting many new people, having many experiences which I will forever be grateful off
• supporting my friends who were in their third years - yes I read a dissertation out loud for 4 hours and read about 4 others!
• moving into a house with two girls I didn't know (and two I did!) - realising that you third year is never too late to make a friend for life
• unfortunately living in a house with the creakiest floor boards which created many sleepless nights, living on top of each other and arguments 
• clashing personalities with housemates
• realising that I could stand up for myself - despite living with people it does not mean you cant be true to who you are 
• a very emotional ending (majority of my friends graduated)

Fourth Year:

• returning to a place which was home - without the home feeling - all my friends had graduated and it did not quite feel the same
• meeting more friends - some of which I class as friends for life 
• dissertation, stress, more stress, more stress
• the realisation that 4th year counts for 70% of my overall degree
• setting up a society 
• getting involved with a lot of projects and jobs - which I wish I had done earlier on at university
• supporting each other through the good and bad of final year 
• realising that university is over - what I have being working for for 4 years is done, I am graduating and this is the end of an era

Now that is my four years, which are sadly now over... no longer in the university bubble... welcome to graduate life. 

Plymouth University: Student Bucket List

University can be a very stressful time, me and my friends decided to give ourselves hope and something to look forward to. This was done by creating a Bucket List of things that we wanted to do before we left Plymouth. Due to uni work constraints and stress it is not always possible to do all the things you want to during term time. However, once exams were done, coursework handed in and dissertations complete - we were free, free to do all the things we wanted to (with a little bit of sadness due to the fact that we were leaving Plymouth and all these things would not be on our doorsteps any more).

Ensuring we gave ourselves some time to chill and enjoy Plymouth we came back and had what we termed "a week of fun" - which is a week I will forever remember. I really do urge you to do the same and have fun and a bit of closure with your uni town and university friends.

Our week of fun and things I have enjoyed doing in  my four years at Plymouth:

• chilling on the hoe with my friends, having a picnic, eating fish and chips and roasting marshmallows - as soon as the sun is out the hoe is the place to be 
• walking to the hoe and barbican in all kinds of weathers (it is Plymouth after all)
• listening to live music at the barbican 
• having a house sleepover 
• dancing to our hearts content in the cheese room in oceana
• visiting Penny Well farm (not Plymouth I know but was a highlight!) 
• nights in with my my amazing friends
• melting chocolate with rice crispies 
• dancing on cuba bar despite being a third year
• drinking wine at the hoe on rocks by the sea
• indian meals - Ghanges and Ghurka/ Curry Corner
• getting involved with many projects and university services
• going to the beach for the day and freezing to death in the sea, whilst almost killing ourselves climbing up and down what felt like a cliff edge 
• starting up the amazing Student Minds society 
• first year nights out in C1Os (+ the party bus)
• making up dances and playing just dance (your never to old!)
• going to the yearly fireworks 
• pre drinks and house parties
• managing to sleep with 3 people in a single bed 
• cutting down a tree in the garden all day with a rusty bread knife
• swimming in the lido until we turned blue 

I have had the best four years and seriously the good times have far outweighed my struggles. 

Goodbye My Lover, Goodbye My Friend

Plymouth, over and out.....

The car is packed, my room is empty, the house is probably cleaner than it was before we arrived. The door has been shut for the last time, my uni house no long belongs to me. Plymouth is no longer the place that I live - that is very hard to comprehend. The thought of leaving fills me with dread.

Its weird actually as all of my friends left Plymouth like a month ago, so I have said goodbye to one of my favourite parts about Plymouth. However admitting that this is the end now is hard. Classic Grace hanging on till the last minute, the longer I put it off then I wont have to actually leave and say goodbye right? WRONG!

Goodbye Plymouth, Goodbye University

At least I have the honour of coming back for my graduation in September - and I could not be more excited to have my family watch me graduate with a first class degree. Above that I can't wait to see my amazing university friends again. 

However, this isn't the end, I have had the best four years at Plymouth University, but this has only allowed me to have the future that is coming - time to move town, start a new job and develop even more as a person. 

Those Special People In Our Lives

Friendship: there are many necessary things in life, but I believe friendship to be one of the most valuable. They are the people who complete us - someone to talk to, spend time with, comfort us and most importantly laugh with. However, in life we all meet thousands of people and experience many friendships, some which last for a short amount of time, some that end badly, some in which you just gradually drift apart and some that last. The question I often ask myself is – how do I know when I have made a lifelong friend? And how can I distinguish between a friend and a really good friend?

After 22 years I still don’t feel any closer to answering these questions. Life is a funny thing and friendships are even more complex but essential to living a happy life. I am becoming aware that having a small close knit group of friends is a lot more meaningful than having lots of friends. Safe to say I have experienced my fair share of friendships, some good, some not so good, but you aren’t going to get on with everyone and sometimes I have had to learn the hard way: from playground fallouts, to bitchy girls and to people who simply don’t care enough!

I like to see the good in everyone and often make excuses for my ‘friends’ who often don’t live up to this label. I am fully aware that no one is perfect, people fall out, people make up, this is a normal part of friendship but when is enough enough? And how do you know when someone is truly your friend?

One thing I have learnt as a university student is people walk in and out of your life constantly, you meet new people everyday but often these people I would class as circumstantial friends. These are the people who you spend time with due to being on the same course, or who you live with in first year, those who you know through a friend, and people who join the same societies as you do. Arguably, you spend time with them because you have to, they are around when you are and vica versa. But outside of university you may not make an effort to keep in touch, not because either of you are bad people but because this is how life works.

As the end of final year approached there were far too many goodbyes with many questions floating around in my head: will we keep in touch? Who was a circumstantial friend? And who will be a true lifelong friend? 

However, I reassure you that it's normal to lose some friends after university, and throughout life you will lose even more circumstantial friends. Don't let this get you down or make you feel like it's your fault - it's a normal part of life. I often underestimate the extent to which we will all easily end up with different sets of people throughout life and it's normal to find and lose friends regularly.

Meanwhile, there is nothing better than having a few true friends that you will stay with throughout life, who will stay with you no matter what, despite the distance, despite life experiences. You will grow apart, whilst growing together. Staying in contact with people over a long distance is hard but it is possible and you can make it work.

I know this because I do know a couple of amazing people who I am blessed to have in my life and I hope they know who they are. Despite not being able to distinguish between who is and isn't a lifelong friend, what I do know is who makes me feel happy, loved and wanted. There are very few people in my life that I know can make me laugh no matter what, or who I can talk to about anything with no fear of judgement. Those who no matter how rubbish I can be at times they still understand and are still there.

This is dedicated to you, and you know who you are. I just wanted to write this public thank you and share how blessed I feel to have you special people in my life. And for those of you who are worrying about losing and maintaining friendships, this is a big part of life and you're not the only one who is often unsure where you stand. Just never forget that you are not alone and this is a normal part of life.

To have friendship is to have comfort. In times of trouble and depression, a friend is there to calm us and make us feel a little more ourselves. Lasting friendship is a blessing which I feel lucky to have.

Plymouth: My Special Place

Plymouth has been my home for four years now, from a wide eyed fresher to the graduate student I am today.

Shocked,  the end has finally come and I am full of feelings of uncertainty. So much change as I transition from a student to a graduate with a job (yes I managed to get a job!). Not only am I starting a new chapter in my life, I have to say goodbye to all that I know; the place that has been my home for the past four years, student life and unfortunately all my amazing university friends who have of course made my four years incredible.

Plymouth is a beautiful city with the hoe, barbican and city centre on our doorsteps we are spoilt for choice - making fun days out with my uni friends those that I will remember forever.

However, what I have to keep telling myself is that I am lucky to have had the best (yet the hardest four years of my life) time at university and no one can take these four years away from me. They have developed me into the person I am today. Plymouth is not going anywhere, yes I will not own a house here but I can always visit - anyone fancy it?

Mostly importantly the beautiful friendships I have created are to stay, despite being separated I will keep in contact with my closest friends and hope to arrange regular meet ups. Yes it wont be the same as being down the road from each other, but I know its possible, we can make it work (my best friend graduated last year and I still speak and see her all the time). If you want to keep in contact you will! 

So here is to the future and I cant wait to see what is in store for the future. Not only for myself but the amazing people I have met during my time at Plymouth University. 

Plymouth will always be a place that I call home and will forever have a place in my heart. 

Hands on Heart - I did not Think I would Make This Far

Four years on, four years of fun, tears, stress and making the best memories.

Its over, I have done it, I am leaving university, I have completed my degree. 

So many times I thought I would never see this day, hitting so many brick walls with uni work, being surrounded by piles of text books, sleepless nights, never ending days of revision, a mountain of pieces of coursework to complete. Alongside with too many days led in bed crying, sitting on the floor of the toilet before my exam being too anxious to get out, having to take time out and not being able to sit my exams in my second year due to my depression and anxiety, to almost dropping out. You name it - stress has made me do it.

University is not easy but I can now honestly say despite all the odds it is possible.

 Not only am I graduating, I am graduating with a First Class degree which I could not be happier about, all the hard work and tears are finally worth it.

However, this is not a post to big myself up. This outcome has only been possible to my amazing support network; mum, family, friends, counsellor and doctors. Thank you for always believing in me and telling me I could do it, that I am capable, even when I highly doubted you. Honestly, you will never understand how much those little words of encouragement meant to me, on the days when I had the worst thoughts going through my head you made me see the light.

Many people say you are away from your support network when you got to university, but I honestly think I found mine. It really is true what they say university friends do slowly become family. They see you everyday, notice the changes when things are not ok and are there for you when things just get a little bit too much. University is not easy so you help each other out, proving to each other that finishing a degree is possible no matter how hard it feels at the time. Not only am I graduating but so are/have my amazing friends.

Please never doubt yourself, because it is possible and we are living proof of that.