Ode to blog

Okay so this is me (once again) promising to reignite my blog and get typing again. I don't really know why I've been absent for such a long time, but I suspect it's because I've been such a busy bee. Between working at the DoubleTree - which I love - I've been hammering essays and journals out left right and centre at uni, as Christmas deadlines begin to loom, and in between all of that, trying to hit the gym and maintain some sort of social life! Woe is me, eh?

 But this time's going to be different - hey, who hasn't heard that before? - I'm going to actually make time to write, because, as I've been  realising increasingly of late, I adore writing.

So watch this space. No - actually do this time!

The best thing I ever did...

Was choosing to go to university.

That's it.. Sat my final (and most tedious) exam this morning, and I have waved goodbye to my first year of uni! Literally cannot believe how quick it's gone; it doesn't feel like 5 minutes since I was enrolling on my first day and having a terrible photo taken for my student card.

To say I've loved every minute of this year would be a lie, but I've enjoyed it all a hell of a lot more than I thought I would. Of course it's had it's ups and downs, but thankfully the positives have massively outweighed the negatives. Some of my favourite moments have been:

• Achieving two 1:1s in assignments; one for a magazine feature on mountain biking for women, and one for a speed writing feature test on Adele. It would seem my future may well lie in the magazine industry!

• Meeting some awesome people and making friends for life, especially Aimee, and I've come to believe we may well have been separated at birth.

• Reminiscing about various random nights out the following morning.. "We sat on the toilet floor for HOW long?!"

It seems so weird that this time last year I was so anxious about going to uni.. Will I make friends? Will the work be too hard? How am I going to look after myself?! Thankfully, I've made loads of friends, I've managed the workload just fine, and as it happens I am actually quite the domestic goddess. Turns out I had nothing to worry about after all.

Now I'm looking forward to moving into my new flat in August, and getting my head down and working hard when I go back in September. Well, that is between all the Shed Thursdays and Superbulls. Oh to be a student, eh?

What's the point of...

Exams? I don't understand them.

I know it's something that we just have to get on with, and no one particularly likes them, but I just don't see the point behind them?

When in my future career in journalism am I ever going to need to be able to recite every section of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, without being able to refer to it in some way? I'm not disputing the fact that I will need to know the general gist of it (which I actually already do, I'm pleased to say) but when am I going to need to know each section inside out, off-by-heart? When will I ever NOT be able to refer to the Internet or textbook?

No. Never. Exams are simply a memory test.

Nevertheless, I have started preparing for them anyway (I'm not that much of a rebel, haha!) and I think it's safe to say the information is being absorbed pretty well. I suppose we'll find out just how well on July 4th, when I get my results.

<---But now it's back to this

Even though I'd rather be doing something like this --->

Trying to tell me something?

When my boyfriend tagged me in this picture on Monday I nearly drove into a bollard for laughing. Couldn't believe how spot on he (or rather whoever made the picture) had got it.

Pretty much sums me up to a tee since I've been at University. Freshers week (or rather fortnight) meant excess. And mostly things in the way of calories; vodka, cocktails, chips, Dominoes, ready meals, sleeping in late, baking cakes, laziness and discovering The Shed, to mention but a few.

Consequently, I have succumbed to the 'Freshman fifteen' as the Americans fondly call it. Other favourites include 'First Year Fatties', 'Fresher spread' and 'Fresher Five' referring to the 5kg gain. Sounds quite cute really, but boy is it a bitch to shift.

Ultimately, dieting at Uni is like.. hmm.. can't really think of something witty and insightful, but it never really works, and if you're going to make it work, you're going to miss out. Nights out, Shed Thursdays, ordering Dominoes, pancake parties, hangover-curing McDonalds, the list goes on.

I'm not saying be a totally indulgent pig and graduate weighing approximately 30 stone, cuz that's not okay either. But don't miss out. The years we're at Uni are probably going to be the best of our lives, and whilst not quiiiite being able to do our jeans up may seem to present itself as a bit of an issue, looking back and realising what a boring bastard you were is always going to be worse.

In any case, there are plenty of years to be grown up and eat vegetables and go to bed at a sensible time. FYI, those years are not now. So make the most of it, demonstrate a little self control, but most of all, enjoy it, because you'll probably spend your life trying to shift the 'Freshman fifteen'.