2015 has been the best year of my life so far. I have been abroad, seen One Direction six times and experienced an opportunity of lifetime thanks to my blog. 2014 was a year of firsts and achievements for me: as I finished the IB, got into university and moved half way across the country to a city I had dreamt about living in for years. However, this year has been one of experiences and in a way, self-discovery as I have finally found something that I absolutely love to do: blog!
I began the year outside a nightclub, on the floor, crying my eyes out as I had lost my phone, passport and most importantly, my lipgloss. Oh Chan, start as you mean to go on? Luckily Mum picked me up with all my possessions in one hand and mayonnaise cheesy chips in the other (sounds disgusting, tastes amazing)!
After a lot of stressing over essay deadlines as well as kicking off the month with a chest infection (what a surprise) I returned back to university feeling much happier than in the previous term. Although I enjoyed my first term at uni, I felt that from January onwards I started to feel less homesick and more ‘at home’ living in London away from my family. I met two incredible friends, Rohini and Anna, who I know will be my friends for life. In January, we lost our absolutely bonkers hamster, Playdoh, which of course was a sad time!
In February, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia. Now, you might think that is a bad thing but I see it as a positive because for the first time in my life I realised that struggling with reading, structuring essays badly and constantly being unorganised wasn’t actually my fault. I wasn’t ‘stupid’, only different to everyone else. I also was reunited with my IB art buddy, Jess, and we visited the weird but wonderful Saatchi Gallery.
March and April were fun but stressful as my first year university exams only got closer and closer. In March, my family came to London to pick me up and we cruised around on an open top bus being true tourists for the day, it was absolutely freezing cold – that is all I have to say about it. We also made our annual trip to Somerset for Easter and I’ll be honest, I spent most of April sat at a desk revising for my exams the following month. On the 27th I turned 19, which of course can only mean one thing: another year older, another year wiser! No? Only me?
Aside from my exams in May, I got to do several extremely fun things: my sister joined me for a weekend to see the Vamps, which on the way to the o2 we met Fatboy from Eastenders and the next day I surprised Nat with a visit to London Zoo. Then at the end of the month I got to meet my favourite Youtubers, the SacconeJoly’s at an RSPCA Big Walkies event.
However, I feel like my year properly began in June onwards. I seen One Direction for the first time this year in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium and I moved back to Cornwall from London for the summer. I have to admit, at this point, that I spent most of June in bed, catching up on sleep and watching back-to-back episodes of Pretty Little Liars in time for A reveal – of which I am still utterly disappointed about, just saying.
July was largely spent sunbathing on the beach, watching even more Netflix, oh and redecorating my bedroom! I found out that I passed my first year exams with a 2:1, yippeeeee! We lost our other hamster, Panda, which was extremely upsetting for me as she was a mini-me in furry form. And towards the end of the month our friends from Somerset came down to stay meaning that for just over a week there were thirteen people staying in our house – absolute mayhem, as you can imagine. But, it was during their stay whilst lying on a beach (and eating an ice-cream), I received an email from STEAK London inviting me to join the London Student Experience with Unite Students.
So, in the beginning of August I embarked on a four day to trip to London or as I label it “my first ever business trip”! The aim was to create a student guide to the city on a budget across twenty-four hours. I got to meet some incredible like-minded people, and honestly, it was this opportunity that made me realise that all my hard work put into blogging was not a wasted effort.
Not long after returning from my “city girl business adventures”, I left for a holiday in France with my grandparents. We visited a zoo containing giant pandas (oh my), ate French pastries all week and got to explore a stunning part of the country I had never seen before.
August was my favourite month of this year, closely followed by September which seen the start of my second year at university and many (probably too many, in fact five) One Direction concerts in one week. Harry Styles and I had a “who me?” “Yes, you!” (followed by a mouthful of water in my face) kind of moment – and well, need I say anymore! I was reunited with arty Jess at the beginning of September, and we spent the day ‘lunching like ladies’ at a National Trust property after cruising around in an old red mini. Then, on my first day back in London after months away I seen Jacqueline Wilson on the underground, ended up at the premiere for PAN and got a selfie with THE Hugh Jackman, yes I know, eek. I also endured Freshers Week for the second year in a row and moved into a beautiful student halls flat in Westminster overlooking Big Ben. Ah life!
October seen a big moment for my blog, as after tagging along to a Sprinkle of Glitter event (which was absolutely hilarious), Louise went onto share my post about it on twitter as well as writing about it on her own blog – exciting, eh? At the end of October, I surprised Natalie once again with a ‘day out’ in London which started off with a VIP concert to the Vamps in the morning, Nandos for lunch and then a Halloween spooktacular evening at the London Dungeons. Natty, I think, was impressed. We then trekked back to Cornwall for my reading week in November, of which Meddy and Jeremiah from the Ugandan Pearl of Africa Children’s Choir joined us. We had an amazing week following the tour throughout Cornwall, swimming in the sea during the wind and rain, oh and spending our whole Sunday on a demon drop slide. In the latter half of November, I went to Joe and Caspar’s “Hit The Road” Premiere and attended The Drum Social Buzz Awards on behalf of Unite Students – yet another, incredible moment of 2015.
And then came along December with floods of festive fun in its pathway. I decided to do blogmas for the first time ever, which to a large extent became progressively less like ‘blogmas’ and more like ‘no blog posts’. Ooops – I do apologise! I visited Winter Wonderland with Anna, baked some incredible (and successful) shortbread cookies and worked on another future project for Unite. In mid-December, I came back home for Christmas, after a stressful week of trying to obtain an Adele ticket and ever since I have spent my days either reading for essays or galavanting around the county chasing christmas lights as well as National Trust properties and gardens. I was invited to participate in a bloggers secret santa for Doddle as well as a super cosy christmas night in with Ocean Finance. Most importantly, my Christmas was family-orientated, just the way it should be. Oh and throughout the month many ‘pigs in blankets’ were consumed!
So, 2016 is less than an hour away and I can already tell what kind of year is it going to be, one of highs and undoubtedly it will see some lows. But, it is the journey that counts, and it is the journey that we remember, carry with us and learn from.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2016 finds you well and in good spirit.
