OMG she still exists?!

So so much! 

This photo really does not convey the hype I felt watching Phantom - it took me a week to recover! And if you still don't get how much of a fangirl I am, I nearly cried with excitement when Andrew Lloyd Webber drove past me when I was in London last week 🙈

I genuinely did not think I could become so happy from sitting in a pink trolley 😂

via GIPHY

Hi, I'm Beatrice, and welcome to my blog!

And just like that I'm ⅔ of my way through my university degree. They're right you know, when they say that the step up between first and second year is HUGE! The essays are longer, the required reading is bigger, marking harsher, and to top it all off, you're time is now split between not only your work but your well established extra-curriculum stuff too (well in my case anyway). The lesson of this year, as you will see, is to take every opportunity you can!

A little bit of background information before we get started: I am a second year ancient history and history student at a UK university (if you know where I go, please don't share it as I'm keeping it private).

But enough of me and my random filler intro's, here's a reflection on some of the key themes of the year...

Societies

I really threw myself into society life this year. From being secretary of Ballroom and teaching ballet for a year, I have had some amazing experiences. I mean I competed in a ballroom competition at Blackpool for goodness sake! And on top of that, I choreographed my first ever dance piece for a show in March which, although still needed some polishing off (I mean trying to teach a 3 minute dance piece in 10 weeks to 19 people is no mean feat), I am immensely proud of.

Off to recruit people at Fresher's Fayre

Blackpool Winter Gardens 😍

Living my choreographer dreams and wishing I could be Matthew Bourne!

But to top it all off, I have made some amazing friends this year. One friend at dance in particular started off as a mere acquaintance I taught ballet with in my autumn term, and is now one of my closest friends (and my go to ballet-bud for all the Royal Ballet live screenings, even seeing Giselle at the Royal Opera House with her!).





Dance in my first year was ok, but pretty friendless, but today I am off to a dinner party with a whole group of dance friends I have gained purely from putting myself out there and getting involved! Indeed, I will always say that if you are struggling to make friends at uni, put yourself on the committee of a society. I gained so many friends in ballroom purely because I was someone new people knew and a go-to-for-help in the club- indeed my housemate and I held a party recently, inviting nearly all of the ballroom society because we (both being on committee) have become friends with so many of them - I mean I had two good friends in ballroom last year, and now have 10 at least. If that doesn't encourage you to get involved in university life, I don't know what will!

(But I mean, if that doesn't convince you, at my uni we have a scheme where you get points for getting involved in things and then get rewarded with internships - so basically me getting out of my comfort zone and getting involved got me a job this summer and made my CV look amazing 💁!)

Alcohol

Aha. So if you read last year's university reflection post, then you would know that I am a tee-total student. Well this year I slipped a bit. I didn't want to be bound to this label, and explored alcohol ever so slightly - mainly sharing bottles of Prosecco with my friend at the occasional house party I attended this year (June from 2 years ago would not believe the wild things I've got up to this year 😂). I also tried a Mojito which was wonderful. I mean, I say I went wild, I didn't get drunk and fled at the first feeling of getting tipsy, downing all the water I could- I went wild for me!

Mojito or Lime & Lemonade? There's only one way to find out... Fiiiight!

Look at me clubbing sober

Therapy

The only accessory I wore everyday - red 'gloves'...

So last month I began a whole new decade of adventures. I reflected on what I had learnt in the past two decades, explaining the importance of being authentic. Of course I learnt more than just this, but this was a huge life lesson that needed sharing. But there is always more to learn about life, so today I'm bringing you a list of things I would like to learn before I'm 30:

That it's ok to ask for help

I am rubbish at asking for help. In fact, I'm so bad that it was my answer when asked what my weakness was at an interview recently (you can guess who won't be getting that internship!). It's mainly due to embarrassment, especially when I don't know the person that well, which leads me onto my next point...

One day I'll have decent answers for interviews 😂

People aren't scary

The idea of chatting to new people is blooming scary. Its the main fear I have about having a job in the future, and the idea of networking events especially scare me for this reason. I'm fine if the other person starts up the conversation; I have something to say to begin with; or they are super chatty, but any sign of awkwardness and: "Dear Mr Ground, please swallow me up at the next available opportunity, thank you :)."

I call this look, the OCD glove - free with every bottle of hand soap

That you can't control everything...

One of the worst parts about these sort of social situations is that you don't know what's going to happen. A fear of the unknown and a love for my safety bubble, among other reasons, has led to me developing mild OCD in an attempt to control said unknowns. 18 hours of Therapy and I'm not much closer to getting better (I mean I no longer have a 2 minute long hand washing routine, but I'm far off fully recovery), but hopefully 10 years will be enough time for me to remove this irrational mindset.

Stop interrupting people!

I have a really bad accidental habit: I presume how someone will finish their sentence and butt in.
Apart from this being an issue at formal occasions (see said interview), I do this loads when chatting to friends, and I'm surprised they don't get annoyed and leave me haha. It's mainly an enthusiasm thing, but its just rude and I need to be stopped 🙈

To manage my time better

Procrastination is the thief of time, making me the Queen of Thieves. My understanding of how long a minute is is completely skewed - in June land, you can do your teeth, fill a water bottle, apply some lippy, put on your coat and shoes and chat to your housemates in the space of 2 minutes. My initial lack of time management was purposeful cause I didn't want to arrive early, be the first there and have to have an awkward conversation with the one other person there, but now it's accidental and all I want in life is to be able leisurely climb the hill to uni - one day!




So there are just a few of the things I would like to learn in the next 10 years, though I'm sure they'll be many surprises along the way. What do you want to learn in the next decade of your life?

June xx

(p.s. for all the jokes I made about my disastrous interviews, I've somehow got the job! Just goes to show that there's always hope 😊)

BE UNAPOLOGETICALLY YOU!

Ah, 12 year old me before her year of 'hell'... Such innocence. Such unknowing. Such wonky teeth...

...me.

The things I would tell my insecure self from 6 years ago (like don't use a warm toned shadow on your brows!)

Changing yourself to fit in will gain you nothing. Being authentically yourself will gain you everything.

Ah what a year eh?! Brexit and Trump is obviously the headline of the year, but beyond that what has happened? Well, to reflect on my year, major changes have happened in my life in all sorts of ways. I finished my A Levels and headed off to university to study history. This has been the biggest thing in my year and caused me to over come all sorts of hurdles and this will form the majority of this post...

I am not an extrovert by any stretch of the imagination. I see myself more as an ambivert leaning towards introversion. Yes I am, when you first meet me, shy, of few words, quiet, and yet I can be massively extroverted and loud once you get to know me and I feel comfortable within my surroundings. University for me was where all the extroverts of the world lived, the party goers, the alcohol bathers, the loud people. A situation I could never see myself being happy in, let alone enjoying! This means I have been terrified of going for as long as it became something in my foreseeable future. However, 4 months down the line of starting and I can honestly call university some of the most enjoyable months of my life so far. I have already made friends I hope I will still know 50 years down the line from now and have never laughed so often and so hard! University forced me to face my fears head on, from encountering new situations on a daily basis to calling up companies on the phone to sort out issues, because the parents are no longer there to take on my responsibilities for me. I mean I was sorting out a problem with M.A.C. customer services the other day, something I could not have done 4 months ago! I have also got train travel down to a T having had to use it so much in the past term. One day I'll get round to writing a guide to university for non-drinkers/non-extroverts, but I probably need to have completed my first year before being 'qualified' to talk about these things haha - look out for that next summer and start sending me your questions and fears you want me to address in the mini-series! 

My other achievement of the year was starting this blog! I have wanted my own online creative beauty outlet (if that's what you want to call it) since I was 11 and first discovered the world of the online beauty community on YouTube (something I am considering going into next year - YouTubeing that is), so watch this space! While it may still be early days and I haven't got an publish routine etc going yet because I'm trying to work out how to balance it with uni work, I have loved having an outlet for all my ideas :) I also got a new phone for Christmas (the Moto G4 FYI) so look out for slightly better photo quality haha!


And who's to forget that this was the year of Potter?? With an amaaazing new film (which I only saw the other day (hangs head in shame) and an announced 4 more to come I am so hyped for more potter filled years! And on my last day of term I won tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child through the Friday Forty giveaway on only my 2nd attempt!!!! Ohmydays it was the best thing ever!! I won't give away any spoilers obviously, but the special effects are incredible, the theatre itself is beautiful and gah! I loved every second. If you are lucky enough to get seats in the stalls like I was (as the Friday Forty Tickets are reduced best seats), then the experience is heightened further. If you've seen it, you know what I mean :) I really hope that they release a DVD of it in the next couple of years so everyone gets the opportunity to see it as well as read it :)

So here's to focussing on the positives of such a weird year!

What were the highlights of your 2016? Lets have a natter in the comments 😊

Happy New Year!

June xx