My Honest Thoughts on My University Experience| Carenza Bramwell

The time has come to reflect on my three years at university. As of publishing this post, I finished my degree five weeks ago. I've had some time to think about my university experience, which is something I've spoken about quite openly on this blog. In this post, I am going to be as honest as I can be about how I feel about my time at uni. A quick disclaimer- I won't be going into specifics to protect the people that are involved in these stories. I will be talking vaguely about certain areas, such as my social life as it's unfair to those people and some things I will be keeping for just me. In this post, I will be talking my academic experience, living experience and what it was like to complete my degree in a pandemic. 

Context

For anyone who is stumbling across this post, I thought I'd provide a little bit of context at the start. I studied Creative and Professional Writing from 2018-2021. I lived in Bristol for almost half of that time in three different houses. I came straight from finishing at school. I was supposed to graduate this year, but due to the pandemic, my ceremony has been delayed. 

The Academic Experience

Let's start this post by talking about my academic experience. Overall, I had an okay experience during my time at university. Studying a creative subject is quite difficult as unlike more "academic" subjects like science etc, there is no right or wrong answer. It's a very subjective course. At times this was difficult as you could put a lot of effort into a piece of work and get a lower grade than expected for various reasons. With writing, I would pour my heart and soul into my pieces. Not to toot my horn too much, but I pride myself on being a very hard worker, so I worked a lot on my pieces. I would write multiple drafts of every piece, always taking feedback and trying to make them better. Sometimes it would feel like my hard work hadn't been rewarded. I experienced a few confidence knocks when something didn't go how I thought it would. While that did happen, I learnt so much from this course. Before starting, I had never heard of copywriting or how to write a screenplay. I look at my work from first year compared to my final year and I can see a lot of growth. I am glad that I have been able to improve my work and gain experience working with industry professionals. During my time at university, I worked on the student magazine for almost two years. I had my work published in local publications. I gained some valuable experience alongside the academic work. 

The Social Experience

While at university, I have made some friends that will be with me for the rest of my life. They have made this an incredible experience. I made some great memories that I won't forget anytime soon. I can't put into words how happy I am that I met these people. Before coming to university, I had never lived with people my own age as I am an only child. It required a bit of an adjustment period. Without going into too much detail, my first term living arrangements weren't ideal. Sadly, they kinda set the tone for the rest of my experience. I had some good memories while living in my student houses, but I also had some bad ones. Having moved home, I can safely say that I think living at home is better for me and my lifestyle. Out of my three houses, my final one was my favourite. It was also the one I spent the least amount of time living in due to the pandemic. I wish I had been able to make the most of being a student living in Bristol, but various things got in the way of that. Like most things in life, there were good times and there were bad times. I think they just about balance out. 

The COVID-19 Experience

We have to talk about what it was like to be a student during the pandemic. The short answer is that it was shit. I don't think any university handled the pandemic well. The sudden move to online learning was a huge disruption. Between March 2020 to the end of my degree, I was on campus twice. I much preferred learning on campus. I do feel lucky compared to the students that started in 2019 because at least I got a whole year as a normal student. Learning online was absolutely not worth the money. I spent most of my time from March 2020 to the end of my degree at home. I do feel that COVID has tainted my university experience. If I had known when I was starting my degree, I would have chosen to do something else. I found online learning exhausting. Compared to March 2020, I struggled a lot with my work. My grade average dropped because of it. My heart goes out to the students returning in September with the uncertainty still there.

Overall, while I am glad I have my degree, various factors made it a less than enjoyable experience. I was interested in doing a Masters, but have since changed my mind. I do think the pandemic had a strong impact on how I feel. It has certainly been an interesting experience.

What was your university experience like?      

So, What Comes Next? My Life Beyond Uni| Carenza Bramwell

As of June 4th 2021, I have officially finished my degree. I am going to write a whole blog post about the experience in July when I've had some time to think about it, but for now I thought I'd share what my plans are now that I've finished. It's very strange to think this is something I've done as I was always someone who wanted to go to uni and now I've done that. 

So, what comes next? Well that is a very good question. I don't have any short or long term plans. COVID has made it a bit difficult to plan anything. For example, I was supposed to go travelling around Europe last summer but had to cancel. I can't go this summer, so it looks like it will be another year before that happens. When this goes live, I will have had my first COVID vaccine, which means I'm one step closer to life going back to normal.  

My short term plans (i.e my plans for the next few months) involve the following: going back to my uni accommodation to have one last hoorah as a student, seeing family I haven't seen in nearly a year and working towards getting a job. I have started the process of trying to secure my first job and it's not going very well. I've applied for 8 jobs in the last three months and have been rejected from them all. If I'm being honest, I don't see myself getting a job this side of 2021. I know it's going to be a long process. The job market has been decimated by COVID, especially the creative sector, which is where I want to work. So, I am going to spend some time working towards getting a job.

While I do that, it does mean for the first time since I started my blog and other social media platforms, that I am able to essentially do this full time. I can go back to writing two blog posts a week and I'm thinking of posting everyday on Instagram. I started putting in a lot more effort to my social media sites in January and have seen a bit of growth, but not much. I don't do this for the numbers or to get famous, but I know a lot of creatives will agree with me, that it is nice when your hard work is recognised. So I might as well make the most of it and do this full time while I can. 

My long term plans are to get some kind of writing related job. I'm not sure what that will be yet, I've been applying for script editor positions, jobs in publishing and social media assistants, so hopefully along those lines. All I know is that I want to be a writer and have some kind of job connected to it. Writing has been a passion of mine for ages and I can't see myself turning my back on it.   

So this was a bit of a rambly post on what the future holds for me. As much as the job hunt makes me anxious, I am excited for what comes after uni and to have the time to work on my blog. I can't wait to share new content with you guys.

Navigating "Zoomiversity"- Adjusting to University Online| Carenza Bramwell

Like the thousands of students around the world, I have joined the ranks of attending zoomiversity. I would like to add that I did not invent the term zoomiversity, I saw it on Twitter and it made me laugh. I had never anticipated what it would be like to do my degree from the comfort of my bedroom and yet here I am. I've just completed my first week and I thought I would share my thoughts on using online platforms to learn.

My old university desk that I am missing a lot right now. 

The Beginning 

When we went into lockdown back in March, I only had around three weeks of teaching left. As it was so sudden, like most students, it was a difficult adjustment and then content provided was not adequate. However, I was at the stage in the term where I was moving away from teaching to focus on my assessments for the year. We had a policy introduced that meant that we couldn't do worse than we had been doing pre-pandemic as this was a stressful time. 

I didn't have any classes online. Anything that was available was tasks we did by ourselves or pre recorded lectures. It was a fairly easy adjustment, just doing the work when I had a spare moment and being able to do it at my own pace. I had heard stories from friends and online about dreadful transitions, and although the teaching standards weren't what I usually had, it was better than nothing. It was a very sudden adjustment and I am prepared to be lenient as it happened so quickly. We don't give enough thanks to the teachers and lecturers having to adapt their jobs to this. 

Zoomiversity 

We found out in May/June that all our lectures were going to be online. There is some promise from in person teaching but this will be limited, especially for my course as we can survive without in person teaching for the moment. It does make me sad that the last year and a half of my degree will be impacted by this. That I won't get the typical university experience and will never get it. 

I was anxious about how this online teaching would work. As I study Creative and Professional Writing, we spend a lot of time working independently during lecture time. Did this mean I would just be sitting in my bedroom working on tasks by myself? Would this style of teaching actually work for me? I am someone who works well alone. I find it difficult to concentrate with other people around me. In theory, this should be my idea of heaven. I can sit in my room and fully concentrate on what's happening. Yet, I was very anxious. The main thing that made me anxious was interacting through cameras. I don't know what it is about using a platform like zoom, but it turns me into someone who cannot function as a normal human being. I just flail and become inherently awkward. It also plays into my hatred of forced social interactions. In a classroom, I can sit with my friends but now I have to talk to people I wouldn't normally. My nightmare becomes a reality. 

So how did I find zoomiveristy? Honestly, not as bad as I thought it would be. I like that it's acceptable to take photos of the slides and no one knows. I can do the work at my own pace. It's also mostly acceptable to never turn on my camera or mic. I can be anonymous. It also means I can feel no guilt if I do anything embarrassing as no will ever know. I like hiding behind my laptop. I do not like sitting at my horrible desk for two hours as I physically hurt after sitting there that long. 

There are advantages and disadvantages to working and learning from home. I miss having the two separate. I liked how university and home were two different things. I could keep them as two different parts of my life. However, you have to think of the positives. It is nice to finish a lecture and then be able to go about my day. I have more time to play with. I can make my life fit nicely around it. It's nice to have that option. At the moment, I am on three weeks of general training and getting used to being back at university. It's good to test it and see if it works. I've made a little schedule so I can make the most of my time. Make my days count. I had missed the structure that university brought to my life and now I have it back. 

Advice?

To anyone who felt like me, unsure and let down, I will say it's not as bad as we thought. Yes, it is not ideal to be paying this much just to sit at home. But at least we are lucky enough to have access to our education. They are trying their best to make this work for us. I will be happy to walk away from this with my degree next summer. Try and find the positive in this situation. I know it's difficult, but when the world is on shut down, you have to keep moving. 

Carenza :) x    

An Honest Review of My Second Year of University| Carenza Bramwell

It still hasn't sunk in that I've finished my second year of university. I'm going into my final year. This time next year I'll be done with my education. All of this doesn't feel real and to me it still feels as though it was yesterday I packed up and moved to uni. I will be sharing my honest thoughts on my second year of university. Obviously, there will be some areas where I will be vague as to maintain privacy for those around me.

It is difficult to say outright whether this year was good or bad as this year ended up being very unusual. No one could have seen the current situation hitting us and it has affected every single university student across the world. I'm lucky that I was at the half way point for my degree, that this didn't happen in my first or final year of university. It was definitely a bummer that this happened when it did. It has impacted how I feel about my second year of uni, but not by much.

One thing I spotted was the jump between first and second year. First year, looking back, was quite chill. We had work to do, but it didn't feel like we were drowning in work. This year it felt a bit more intense and I imagine third year will be even more so. I did notice that the work increased and that I would finish the week and have a decent amount of work to fill my time. There were a few occasions when it wasn't as bad, but most of the time I was working hard.

A big change this year was that I joined a society. I hadn't found any that I wanted to commit to in first year. I looked over the summer and found that we had a student newspaper, something I new nothing about. I decided to join and actually ended up being one of the editors. I'm now the editor in chief, which is something I never thought would happen. I'm so glad I decided to join a society as it's expanded the social side a lot and I've met people outside of my course and existing friendship group.

Another change was that I decided to apply to be a student ambassador for my university. This is a paid role and means that I help out at any event that the university is hosting. Again, it was an opportunity to meet people outside of my course and so on. It's quite a chill job and I look forward to doing it in my third year.

Possibly my favourite thing about this year was the group of friends I made and hung out with outside of uni. We would meet up every now and then for drinks and board game nights. I am not a big drinker or party person so this was exactly my type of social event. I'm sad that they came to an abrupt end when we all got busy and then had to move home. These are memories that I'll treasure for a very long time.

Compared to my first year, I suffered a lot of health problems this year. In the first term, I had a viral cold that lasted for two months and meant I was constantly run down. I felt awful all the time and was really struggling a lot. I got better over Christmas and thought that I would manage to make up for lost time in the second term, but I was very wrong. I got really sick in February out of the blue and ended up in hospital overnight. I still don't know what happened to me, but it took it's toll on me again. It got to a point where I thought I would fail this year because of how ill I was. Luckily I managed to soldier on and pass, but this year ended up being quite difficult for me. I'm hoping that third year is better.

Second year ended up being quite a solid year. There were ups and downs. Going to university during a global pandemic was something I never thought I'd experience. It is changing the way that I will be completing my degree. I hope that I can finish my degree with a bang, but we'll have to see what life has in store.
Carenza :) x  

Before I Turn 20| Carenza Bramwell

As I'm writing and posting this, it is 6 months until my 20th birthday. I'll no longer be a teenager and I'll have to be a proper adult. In todays post, I am going to share with you guys five things I want to do before I turn 20. Once I have turned 20, I will write a follow up post about if I have completed those five things. I am splitting this into three categories and they are work, personal and university.

Work

One of my goals of things I want to do before I turn 20 is gain some experience in the creative industries. As I do a creative writing degree, it probably doesn't come as a surprise that I want to work in the creative sector. When it comes to this goal, I just want to gain a small amount of experience. Even if this is volunteer experience, any experience is better than no experience.

 I also want to work fully on one of my own projects as a part of this goal. I'm not expecting by the time I turn 20 to have a TV deal with Netflix, just to be on the way to achieving that goal. 

Personal

One of my biggest goals is to do some solo travelling. I might potentially be going inter-railing this summer, however, if that doesn't work, I'd like to do some solo travelling within the UK. I've always wanted to visit Ireland so I might just hop on a ferry and head over there for a week. I haven't done many solo trips beyond visiting London by myself a few times and I want to take that a bit further.

Another goal is to experience living by myself for a bit. I am planning on staying in my university accommodation in Bristol over the summer and most of the people I live with are moving home for the summer, meaning I will be the only on here for the majority of the summer. This ties into moving out once I've graduated and having some experience by myself would be great. 

University

A big goal for this year is to finish my second year of uni with a solid 2:1 grade. I've spoken about this a lot, but my health hasn't been great this academic year and has sadly been getting in the way of how I live my everyday life. If I can finish this year with a solid 2:1, I will be over the moon.

Those are some of the goals I have and want to achieve before I turn 20. I've got six months to achieve them and as I've already said, I will be making an update to this post once I've actually turned 20.

Carenza :) x 

My University Life- The Halfway Point| Carenza Bramwell

It genuinely terrifies me that I am somehow writing this, but I am just over halfway through my time at university. It's cliched to say, but it does feel like yesterday that I was starting uni and somehow I am now a year away from finishing my degree. In today's post, I will be looking back at my first half of my degree. 

The Academic Side

In my first year at university, if I'm being honest, I didn't feel as challenged as a writer as I do now. I felt like I was slowly drifting between projects and assignments. Oh, if I could go back to that now. I am reaching a point where I am so busy with my uni work that it is extremely overwhelming. Nothing quite prepares you for that jump between first and second year. The amount of work I have to do this year is a lot. I do also feel that there are periods where I am so busy I could cry and then there are periods where it feels that I have nothing to do. I would like to find more of a natural balance between these two times rather than running around in a chaotic way. 

Something that I have found interesting in the difference between first and second year is which types of writing I have found the most enjoyable. In first year, I definitely enjoyed fiction and script the most, whereas this year I have enjoyed my copywriting module more. I've also spotted that I have worked out a good work ethic when it comes to my work.

When it comes to the grades I have been getting, they have always been usually around the same mark. I have had a few that have been either higher or lower than average, but I am happily on my way to graduating with a solid 2:1, which is what I want. 

Overall, I would say that I've found the academic side of my time at uni thought-provoking and I would say that I am a better writer than I was when I started. I've discovered a lot about myself as a writer and the type of work I want to go into after I graduate. It's also inspired me to potential pursue a masters in scriptwriting once I finish. 

The Social Side

I have to say that I have noticed that I am way more social this year than I was in my first year. I think this is because I have adapted to the university way of life. I am definitely a very different person to who I was in first year and I am more interested in the social side of things. One of the big changes this year is that I joined a society. I didn't sign up to any in first year as there was none that caught my eye, but this year I am actually on the committee for my universities magazine. Even though at times, it does feel like I have given myself additional work, I've really enjoyed my time on the magazine and I can't wait to continue with it in my final year.

I also feel that this year I have a more solid friendship group outside my housemates. In first year, I only really spent time with my housemates, but this year, I've been spending way more time with people on my course. It actually makes me a bit sad as some of them are going off to do different things and I'm going to miss them like hell. These are people who I think I'll be friends with for life and I'm so glad I got to meet them. 

The Living Side

Something I have grown the most comfortable with is living away from home. I do want to start this section by saying that I love living at home and spending time with my family, but I'm so grateful to the time I've had away from home. I feel way more confident as a person and am able to make decisions all by myself. I've discovered what makes me happy and found a sort of routine that works for me. I've also become very comfortable spending time by myself. This might sound weird, but I do spend a lot of evenings by myself in my room, recharging my batteries and I really enjoy it. It's relaxing, but I also know that I have the opportunity to hang out with people if I want. I can happily say that when I do eventually live by myself, I will feel happy and confident to do so.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this honest post about my time at university. As I've still got just over a year left, I will be making a few more updates on my remaining time as a student. 

Carenza :) x 

2019- The Ups, The Downs and The Ordinary| Carenza Bramwell

As promised in my last post, today's post is going to be a more detailed overview of what I got up to in 2019. 2019 was an insane year for me, I still can't quite believe that it happened at and that it wasn't a dream. This post is going to be split up into sections- uni, travel/things I did, reading and writing, and personal elements of 2019.

University

At the moment, I am second year Creative and Professional Writing student in Bristol. In 2019, I finished my first year of university and then started my second year. It is going by so quickly, I really could do with time slowing down for a little bit. I don't feel that it would be appropriate for me to talk about the personal side of my university life as it isn't fair on those that know me, but I will mention that like any other part of my life, there were ups and downs. Academically, I definitely enjoyed the second half of 2019. I think for me it was because the first year of any degree is all about building the foundation and that was very similar to doing Creative Writing as an A-Level. So far this year, I feel I have been challenged way more and am getting stuck into it. It terrifies me that I am graduating next year. But for now, let's focus on the present. 

Travel Bug

I think the title of this section nicely sums up a fun part of my life in 2019. Although I didn't do any major travelling apart from visiting Bruges in August, I did so many amazing things in 2019. I posted a month by month thread on my Twitter account (@carenzaonbooks). I saw so many incredible stage plays in 2019 that I will never forget. I think there were only two months last year where I didn't see a single play. I also finally got to see my favourite band, Bastille, live in February in London. It was a life-changing experience and made me realise that I really love concerts and new music. I've touched on it, but travelling to Bruges was one of my highlights of 2019. I hadn't been on holiday in almost six years and finally going was amazing. I've 100% caught the travel bug and am already planning my next adventure. 

Reading & Writing

For me 2019, wasn't the best for reading and writing. I think I was so focused on other things that I forgot how much I loved them both. I only read 88 books, which is still a lot, but ended up being less than I read in 2018. Writing wise, I only started two projects and I did not finish them. I think my problem is due to the fact that I do a writing degree, so it can feel like my time is consumed with it. This is a bizarre way to think about my dream future job, but I am someone that gets very demotivated easily. I mentioned this in my previous post, but one of my goals for this year is to make time for a non-uni writing project. 

Personal

Without going into details, 2019 was one of the worst years for me mentally. I struggled way more than I have done in the past. It got to a point that was so bad I reached out for help for the first time. It's something I need to follow up on as I'm still not at a mentally stable place I want to be, but I am way better than I was last year. It won't be a surprise as my 2019 was crazy busy and I never really gave myself any time off. While that might sound like my 2019 was bad, it was also filled with some great moments in my personal life and many that I will treasure for the rest of my life. 

Like the title suggests, 2019, for me, was a year filled with ups, downs and straight up ordinary moments. Despite it being a roller-coaster-esque year, I wouldn't change a thing about it. 

All the best,

Carenza x 

Dealing with Homesickness at University| CarenzaOnBooks

It's kind of ironic of me to be posting this today as the day this goes live I'm actually moving into my second-year accommodation and am about to start my second year of university. So let's cut the chase and get to the point. Homesickness at university is real. Obviously, it is unique for everyone, but at some point, you will deal with it. I will be talking about my experiences with homesickness in first year and I might make an updated post for this time next year. 

How Homesick Did I Get?

Let's start by making this vaguely relatable and by talking about myself. I come from a very small family (I count my family as me, my parents and my grandma, also my cat too). For the past two years at that point, I had been living with just my dad as we tried to move house. I am very fortunate in that I am very close with my family. We would talk to my mum every night and we would spend every weekend together. I also spoke to my grandma once a week, so I was always in constant contact with my family.

I should start this by saying that I was very excited to go to university and to move out of home. This wasn't because I didn't want to live with my family anymore, but because I had always wanted to go to university and I was now finally going. I was at a stage where I was ready to move out and become very independent. 

Right up until the night before I went to university, this excitement was with me the whole time. Then it was the night before I had to leave and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't sleep that night. I was so excited to go, but I was also scared to leave my family behind. I spent the entire car journey there being nervous and feeling sick. We unpacked all my stuff, my parents drove me to the shops to buy some food and then it was time for them to go. As I hadn't lived with my mum for two years, we felt as though we had already said our goodbyes. With my dad, it was a lot more painful as it meant we would both be living by ourselves. I didn't cry, but it was very emotional.

The first week was a mix of emotions. I was in this new city with new people and I didn't have any of my home comforts. I wasn't so homesick that I wanted to leave and go home, but I felt very lonely that first week. As I had left a few things at home, my dad came to see me and brought me the last few things I needed. I had been at university for two weeks and it was so nice seeing him. But when it came to him having to leave, I actually wanted to cry a bit because it was real to me that we didn't live together. 

On the whole, I was fine with the whole homesickness thing. I spoke to my family regularly and we worked out what weekends we could see each other. I went home a total of three times in the whole academic year and they came to me four times. It actually worked out really well. I think being in regular contact with them meant it felt like I could still talk to them, which is a stupid way to think, but I needed that reassurance and to be able to hear about things from home.      

How to Deal with Homesickness?

I've kind of covered it a bit in the earlier section of this post, but there are a few things you can do to make it a bit more bearable:

• Have regular phone calls/ times you talk with your family
• Arrange times to see them
• Bring photos and things from home

I found that having regular calls with my family meant it was a bit easier to deal with. I would phone my parents on Saturday's and then I'd phone my grandma on Sunday's. I actually wrote letters back and forth with my grandma as we're old fashioned. Most weeks I'd speak to at least one of my parents during the week about something random. I would text them every now and then, but they also respected that I needed some time by myself which was great. At Christmas time, we skyped each other every day so we could open our advent calendars together which was a really nice way to see them. Most times our skype conversations would last anywhere from 15 minutes to well over an hour.

We also arranged when we were going to see each other in person. When I wanted to come home, we would plan something so I had a reason to come home. So I went to see them for birthday's and special occasions. They would also come to see me so we could have a day in the city or do something in my neck of the woods. 

This is a commonly recommended tip, but bringing stuff from home can make it feel like you are at home. I brought some framed photos from home and I also got a bunch printed from the summer. Having these meant I could wake up and see the faces of my loved ones, which I know is cheesy but it was nice to see their faces. 

I hope this post helps someone and just remember that feeling homesick is a perfectly natural thing. You can manage your university experience while all of this is happening and this feeling won't last forever. As you spend more time at university, you will get better at dealing with it. 

Carenza x :)   

Things I Wish I Had Known Before Going to University| CarenzaOnBooks

September is here and that can only mean one thing- universities are about to start. As someone who started university this time last year, there are many things I wish I had known before starting. I've made a little list of ten things I wish I had known before I went to university. 

Laundry Will Be the Bain of Your Existence 

This is something me and my new flatmates bonded over early on in the term. The laundry room will become a place you hate and something you dread doing. If you are lucky enough not to have to use Circuit Laundry to have clean clothes, then this is something you will (hopefully) not have to experience. At my university, we had the displeasure of having to use this dreadful app. It would have been manageable if it had just been using a rubbish app that was making laundry an unbearable task. It was also the terrible washing machines that made laundry something I dreaded. It might just have been me, but whenever I washed my clothes, they never felt clean. As doing a laundry run would cost you the best part of £2 per wash, I would wait until I absolutely had to do some laundry before washing everything. My tip to you would be when your mum or dad offers you the chance to wash some clothes at home, take it up!

   

You Will Find Your People

If you are anything like me, then the main concern about starting university is "will I have friends?". This was one of the only things I dreaded before starting university. The best places to find people with similar interests are on your course and through societies. You might also get lucky and find you have loads in common with the people you are living with. I bonded very quickly with the people I am friends with because we did the same course and had similar interests within the course. I also know that joining societies is a great place to meet people with similar interests.   

Getting Along With the People You Live With Makes A Huge Difference

It's not always going to be the case, but if you can get along with the people you live with, then everything suddenly becomes a lot more bearable. I got incredibly lucky and am even living with four of the people I lived with this academic year. I'm not saying that you have to be best friends with them, but if you can manage a friendly relationship with them, then life will be easier for you all. 

It Is Possible to Be A Non-Drinker at University

Most of us will know about the heavily ingrained drinking culture at university, but it is possible to survive as a non-drinker. This is something I am planning on making a more in-depth post about in the future. Personally, going out and getting drunk isn't my cup of tea, and I have managed to survive a whole academic year like this. Be honest with people about not being interested and most people will understand and respect your decision. 

Having a Home Away From Home

Moving away from home can feel daunting, but if you put a bit of effort into your living space, it can be the difference from surviving university or feeling homesick and dropping out. Again this is something I am planning on making a whole separate post about. A few quick tips would be to print some photos to have some kind of memory wall. Most universities provide students with a pinboard and pretty much everyone I knew filled there's with photos. Another quick tip would be to pick a few favourites knick-knacks from home to make your room feel like a home. I brought a few Pop Funkos with me and it made sure that when I walked into my room, I felt like I was at home. 

   

Not Everyday is Going to Be a Good Day

Like any other stage in life, university isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows. We all know that university is supposed to be the "best years of our life", but the truth is, that in the moment, it isn't. Bad days are inevitable. It could be linked to something in your personal life, something academic or you are simply having a bad day. It took me the entirety of my first term at uni to realise that not every day was going to be wonderful. Looking back, my first year of university was great, but at certain moments it was downright awful and that is completely fine.   

Independence is Real

Unlike school or college, it is up to you to do everything. Frankly, your lecturers won't care if you haven't done the set work as it isn't them you're letting down, it's yourself. It is up to you to keep on top of your work. That doesn't mean you have to be drowning in academia all the time, but you are paying to be there so it is worthwhile to do the reading. Even if it is a lot and there is nothing more you'd rather do. 

You Can Have a Life at University 

Before going to university, I expected to be drowning in work by the end of my first week. Obviously, this does vary from course to course, but on the whole, there is time to have fun. I'm lucky in that my course has fairly low contact hours, but I spend a good chunk outside of those hours working. I also spent a good chunk of time having fun with my friends. It's finding a good balance between the two and making sure that the scales don't tip towards one more than the other.  

Time Flys When You're Having Fun

It still amazes me how quickly each term goes by. Most universities in the UK operate on a two-term schedule, with each term lasting twelve weeks. Even though twelve weeks is three months, it goes by so quickly. If you're worried about feeling homesick, then I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that the terms fly by and you'll be home for Christmas before you know it. The best thing about this is you'll have around four to five weeks off to go home. 

   

Grades Don't Define You

This is something I wish I had known even when I was in school. I am a very ambitious person and I always like to think I'll get the top grades. Spoiler alert- I often don't. That isn't to say I don't get good grades, but I'd beat myself up if I got a grade that was lower than what I was hoping. The first thing to know about university is that they mark things very differently. It's marked through a percentage scheme and it is notoriously hard to get the highest mark. On my course, a First (the highest you can get on any degree) means that your work is essentially publishable. It is rare that first years get these kinds of marks. I was down when I got my first few marks back as they weren't what I was hoping for. I wish someone had grabbed me at this point and told me that a 2:1 is a good grade. 

I hope these little tips will help you get through your first year of university and if you're like me and have completed your first year, then share your "things I had wished I had known" list in the comments as I'm sure my experience is very different from everyone else as it was unique to me.  

Carenza x  

My University Reading Nook| CarenzaOnBooks

Since moving to University a month ago, I have created a little reading nook in my room. I've always wanted a little reading nook and I'm very proud of how this one turned out. I thought I'd share with you how you can turn your university room into the perfect reading space as that was something I was very keen to do when I moved out.

An overview of my reading nook in my university bedroom

Blankets and Cushions

The first stage for me was to add lots of cushions and blankets. I have always been a fan of cushions and blankets. If you go back to some of my earlier blog posts, you will see that from my old bedroom. For me, cushions and blankets can add so much to a space. They make it feel more cosy and welcoming. All the ones in these pictures I have bought from Primark, proving that to have a cosy and fandom themed room doesn't need to be expensive. I've also added some cuddly toys because who doesn't love cuddly toys? Also, my giant Totoro plush is incredible and well worth the £34 I spent on it in Edinburgh.

My Harry Potter cushion collection and some cuddly friends

    

Fairy Lights

Again, I have always been a sucker for Fairy Lights. Not pictured, but I do have some Pumpkin fairy lights on my bookcase. At night, fairy lights add to the cosy environment and there is nothing greater than curling up in bed with a good book and turning on my fairy lights. I managed to pick up both of these sets for under £10.

Top set- Amazon

Bottom set- Primark, Harry Potter potion bottle fairy lights

 

Posters and Decorative Things 

Even though I'm technically not allowed to have posters on the wall in my uni room, I've stuck up quite a few. I love posters. I'm always collecting new things to stick to my walls as without them, I found the walls here to be quite bland. I've mostly focused on the area around my bed as that's where I wanted the room to look its best. 

Posters from various places

Cosy but Practical 

As much as you want your reading nook to be cosy, it is also important to make sure it is practical and functions well. Make sure you are well supported by cushions as there is nothing worse than being uncomfortable while reading. Also, make sure it is well lit as it can cause damage to your eyes if you are straining to read.

A memory foam cushion to support me

A bedside lamp to make sure the area is well lit