Kate Burns: Freshers year!

Hey gurl heyyy...

My best girls

I literally cannot believe how fast this academic year has gone! WAY TOO FAST.

This time last year I was revising day in day out trying to cram in all of my A level exam information, not knowing if I was going to Uni, staying at college or doing something completely random. I spoke about how daunting this was in my 2nd ever post. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but I certainly didn't think I would be sitting here now 141 miles from home writing this blog post. If someone told me that this would be the case I would have probably laughed right at them. I had absolutely no confidence that I was going to pass my A levels and even when I did pass I cried in a state of horror not knowing what I wanted to do with them.

Now I am living 2 and a half hours away from home, living with some of the most beautiful friends ever in University halls. Weird to think that I moved in with these girls 8 months ago, and in July of this year I will be living in a house with 6 of them, and we're all now as close as sisters. I was pretty nervous when I moved to Uni as I didn't know what to expect but I come across thediaryofapoorgirl.blogspot.co.uk and Hannah who writes this blog shares alot of advice and information from her own experiences. I found this very helpful and reassuring.

My first year of Uni has been the best experience of my life hands down. I have now completed all of my works and exams and am leaving University Halls on 7th June forever!I am really going to miss living here with all 24 girls. Living on campus has been so much fun. Our Uni held Dining in Nights once a term and this is when we all got the opportunity dress up and get together with everyone for a FREE meal and wine! What more can a girl want. Free wine, i'm there! I actually really struggled with my anxiety at these nights because of the pressure to look good and it was such a cramped hall but I did enjoy myself and forced myself to go to every single one. Everyone always looked gorgeous.

Moving away from home

I think moving away from home has been easier than I ever expected. I am such a child at heart and love my family to bits. I always miss them but when I go home for Holidays I have the best time catching up with them as well as my friends. I think the first few weeks you are running off adrenaline and I noticed this dominated any feelings of home sickness. I started to feel more home sick when I returned to Uni after Christmas but I guess this is expected. I miss home when I am at Uni, but miss Uni when I am at home. So I guess it's pretty balanced and I will just get used to it the longer I live here. If anyone is thinking of moving away for Uni, I would definitely say do it! It's the best decision I have ever made.

Living on your own for the first time makes you grow as a person. You become alot more independent, and grow as a person. I have gained confidence to do things and go places on my own, and not ask my mam to do things for me that I would get anxious of the thought of in the past such as making phone calls or ordering at a restaurant. Moving to Uni has definitely helped my self esteem and confidence. Although I still struggle with my image I certainly feel more comfortable in my own skin. Unlike School where there are people who only care about their looks and not their education, Uni is very much the other way round. I'm not saying people don't look after their appearance but when it comes to the work people definitely don't think twice about going to the library in their comfy clothes and messy hair with no make up. It's so more relaxed. It makes it that more exciting to scrub up well and go out!