Amelia Talks

Things to do, watch and read whilst you are on lockdown!

So we all know that the world is currently on lockdown, well the UK is and although it really sucks and I would love to be back in portsmouth with my friends going out, working, and living the life I love to live. But right now that is not possible and it is very easy to get bored quickly, but I am here to try and help you out with things you can do, watch and maybe read in order to keep yourself busy through all this!

There are several ways to stay busy, set a goal list is a big thing that will help you get through this sturggling and uncertain time. It will help you acheive things you want to get done.

My plans for this time we are on lockdown include trying to get my university work done, i have a lot ot do including write my dissertation which is the biggest piece of work I have had to do alongside my other pieces of university work. It's a stressful time, but it does give me something to focus on even with no motivation. ~~Spoiler because I started writing this a long time ago, i got my work done.~~

Another thing I did was purchase a ninetendo switch, it was something I needed in order to keep myself busy and motivated and occupied during this time. I am obsessed with Animal Crossing and who wouldn't be? Mario Kart is also a fun game I have always loved that keeps me busy. You should always find things that you enjoy to keep you busy when you're stuck inside.

Being busy was always something I felt I needed to do in order to stop feeling lost or not myself. In these situations its easy to get lost in the mess of the world. So instead of getting lsot, try to stay calm and busy. I have made a goal to read a book during this time, I used to love getting lost in a book, a good story but somewhere over the few years, I have spent way to much time getting lost in over things and now I want to get back into reading.

I brought two new books for this period because stupid me left my favourite books in Portsmouth and all the books I had at home I decided I didn't want when my parents redid my room before Christmas. I have yet to read them but I have started reading Queenie and honestly it is good so far. If you have wanted to get back into reading like I have then now is the perfect time.

Another thing I have been trying to do whilst being in lockdown to stay busy and keep my mind occupied when I am not filming videos and editing is be more creative. Which is why scrapbooking my uni experience has become a great thing, I started this back in January time but didn't have much time to continue until now. Amazon do some nice simple scrapbooks and Free Prints give you monthly free prints where all you have to pay is postage and it is definitely worth it.

This is a scary and weird time and if I am honest with you, I am not sure how much I am enjoying this "alone" time. But it is what we have to do to stay safe and for things to get better. I am very much excited for things to eventually go back to some sort of normality. When seeing friends is allowed and I can go back to work.

I hope you enjoy my blog because I am very excited to be blogging for everyone! if you do, i would love if you followed my socials which can be found below.

Instagram: @_ameliajl
Twitter: @ameliajfilms
YouTube: amelialaingfilms

Hello and welcome back to my blog, I am so happy to be writing this blog post, mainly because I feel like I need to just need to get this off my chest, I even filmed a video on it. This is something I actually think that most girls, or most people should actually spend more time focusing on it.

This is about why I am choosing myself over others now, and what I am doing to really be happy by myself.

As Carrie Bradshaw once said, "I am just going to be myself. Single and Fabulous!" Which is the exact thing I am going to be.

In the words of Ru Paul, "If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love someone else."

It takes a lot to say NO I am going to just focus on myself now and no one else and trust me I for one definitely get it, I have always been a person who puts other peoples feelings before mine! But sometimes you have to realise if you don't focus on yourself, you are not going to be happy!

Being free and just the chance to be yourself and feel like you are going to love yourself and give yourself self care and make sure you are the happiest you can be on your own.

I have a few reasons why I am choosing myself, first of all is HAPPINESS! This is because you can't and shouldn't rely on others to make you happy, yes you can be happy in the company of others but that doesn't mean you can't be happy with your own company and it should be you making yourself happy which is something I have had to learn over the past two years of university.

Another thing is I am starting to realise I don't NEED others to make me happy, I just need myself, I need to focus on me and making myself happy! Which if you give yourself a healthy mindset you can be happy.

This point leads on, the lss you need others the more INDEPENDANT you will become, becuase you won't be relying on anyone else but yourself to be happy which means you can realy focus on yourself. Because the more you rely on others to make you happy, means you'll do anything to make them happy even if you're not happy. So once you start focusing on yourself you become more independant.

Another thing is and this goes back to making others happy, STOP doing things you don't want to do for others just because it'll make them happy.

Another thing is and this is what I did all the time, I let people walk all over me and say things and would just be like im so sorry and whatever even if I wasn't in the wrong STICK UP FOR YOURSELF, even though it is hard to do so and trust I get it, sticking up for yourself is the most important thing and if you lose friends because of it then really they aren't a true friend.

Another reason I am chosing me over anything is to stop OVERTHINKING, it is something I always struggle with, I will overthink any little thing I can and honestly it actually sucks because it makes me not want to do anything and I just sit there and be miserable and scared and down for the whole day.

I hope you enjoy my blog because I am very excited to be blogging for everyone! if you do, i would love if you followed my socials which can be found below.

Instagram: @_ameliajl
Twitter: @ameliajfilms
YouTube: amelialaingfilms

Well welcome back to my blog, it's been a while hasn't it? so since my last post, what has happened? Well lets see, it has to be the fact that university became too much that to focus on my youtube and my blog as well as uni work was not something I could do. But now I have finished university for the second year, which means I have some time off, which means I can focus on my youtube and my blog.

So now that I am writing this blog post, of course I ahve finished second year and like last year I am going to summarise this year for me in a blog post. I am going to be talking about different things though to last year, because genuinely that was first year and there was a lot of adjustments compared to this year when I am used to being away from home. Be prepared this could be quite long so grab yourself a drink or a snack or both and get too reading.

This year has been a weird one and a test on myself if I am honest, I have had too many break downs this year and my mental health has been a bit up and down this whole year.

As I was saying earlier, second year really played a part of a hard year, I will be honest, social aspects and money stress didn't help, but second year really wasn't as much of a walk in the park as first year was and you really shouldn't expect it too. I will try and split it into topics like I did the last one but I honestly might struggle to do so.

(University of Portsmouth, Union Awards - Show Choir Performance)

1. The Course

I guess this is the most important thing for uni, because you're going to university to get a degree in the course, so I should probably explain that part first. This was what caused a lot of my problems this year, when they said second year is like 10 times harder then first year, they aren't joking and it is important to be prepared for it. When September came I was very excited to start second year, felt like it was going to be a change but a good change, felt more confident and eager to learn. The year started and already by the first day I was piled with a lot of work to do, including seminar prep. Every unit said that we should dedicate 5 hours outside of uni hours for each unit which meant for me, considering we had 6 units to complete within the year, ,so that meant 30 extra hours a week to focus on the units and then more hours when coursework came in. It became all too much and made this year very stressful.

I can't exactly pin point the reason why this year was such a hard year, but there was just so much to take in. Don't get me wrong what I learnt, most of the units were helpful to my future and what I would like to know in the future apart from one unit, that in my mind can go to hell, and I hope I never get to see anything to do with accounting again. Although I know that my course is really going to help me when I actually get that degree next year, some of the things I learnt this year really was not useful or helpful.

One piece of advice I will definitely be able to give you for second year is don't think you will be done with things from first year, you might actually repeat it again in a different scenario.

2. Friendships and Relationships

Something that did change a lot this year was my friendships and it was a shame because some of the friends that I kind of don't talk to anymore were some people I was really close with last year. But things do change especially in second year from first year, because for example I was close with my flatmates last year alongside their girlfriends and now we barely speak, and actually I only still occaisionally speak to their girlfriends on social media but that's all the contact I have with them now because we just grew apart because we're not living together anymore.

Not everything stays the same from First Year, you make so so many friends in first year because of the living situation and how new everything is, that you meet people and they instantly become friends to the point when you move to second years some of those friends you used to hang out with.

One thing I had was my best friend went to France for the year to study there, which meant she wasn't here for the whole year which made it a little harder this year because she was the one person I would run too when ever things felt to much or I was miserable etc.

3. Stress

So in this year I can hands down say that it was the most stressful year yet and I am aware my final year is going to stress me out, but so far this year was very stressful. This went from the Uni work, to managing my social life and then budgeting my money, none of that worked for me this year and it led to me stressing out a lot of the time, I always found a way to be stressed and if I was honest I never expected to be having it easy as so many people said second year was stressful but unfortunately this year was more stressful then I thought.

4. Society

As I have spoken about several times and especially in my last blog post, I am part of the Show Choir Society and this year it has been the best part of my year. I really grew this year thanks to this group of people, from gaining the confidence to audition for a solo song in the christmas showcase that I actually got and had to sing infront of people which a year ago I would have ran away from. Then I also auditioned to be part of the competition squad which originally I didn't get into and then someone dropped out and I was asked to be a part of it. It has been such a good year and helped me gain confidence in myself, to the point that I actually signed up to be part of the committee in the next year and got the role of secutary.

So that is the end of my post about my second year experience and that is the end of second year! Although this year has been a hard year I don't regret any of it.

I hope you enjoy my blog because I am very excited to be blogging for everyone! if you do, i would love if you followed my socials which can be found below.

Instagram: @_ameliajl
Twitter: @ameliajfilms
YouTube: amelialaingfilms

As most of you know from me talking about it in my first year of university experience blog post, that I am a part of the university of portsmouth show choir society. It is one of my favourite things to do and I literally look forward to it everyweek and I just feel like I fit in there and people actually appreciate me there and we all like the same things. I have been a part of the show choir society for the past year and a half, it's definitely helped my confidence a lot.

Lets take it back to the reason why I wanted to join show choir, if you have heard of the TV Series Glee, I was obsessed with that show and I always wanted to be like Rachel Berry. So when I heard there was a show choir society at the Freshers Fayer, I went to ask them questions before I had decided I would consider joining. I will be honest when I had originally joined show choir I barely showed up because I felt very nervous and felt like I didn't want to speak to anyone.

After I decided to give up being nervous, and I decided that I would go all the time, I started speaking to others in the society and it became more of a thing I enjoyed and looked forward to every week. It was a place where I just felt like I could be 100% myself and no one would judge me and they would accept me for me.

Something that show choir really has done has helped my confidence so much, I was always a shy person and i hated singing in front of people and would never just be myself, as I joined show choir, I saw that changing. For example, I would never audition for solos in shows, and we did a winter show case this year just gone and they held auditions for solists to do a whole song during the concert and I decided to go for an audition, didn't expect much from it, but I went for it, in order to try and boost confidence but thought I even messed up my audition with nerves. A week later we had a bowling social and I got told that I got given a solo and I was honestly so shocked, never expected it in the slightest.

(practicing my solo before the show with my girls, Fabrizia and Tania.)

I also auditioned to be part of the Masters competition they are holding on the 24th March this year which is a week away. I originally didn't get into the competition squad and then I did and when I did I wasn't going to say no, this was the biggest thing for me and honestly something that means so much to me that I am getting excited but very nervous for this competition but it is definitely something that means the world to me and is important to me. I even got my own hoodie for the competition and they are really cool.

When you see this, there is 5 days till the show and we got a photo as a group of the masters squad on saturday.

I hope you enjoy my blog because I am very excited to be blogging for everyone! if you do, i would love if you followed my socials which can be found below.

Instagram: @_ameliajl
Twitter: @ameliajfilms
YouTube: amelialaingfilms

So for my first official post I thought I would talk about something I have been obsessed with for as long as possible, well the last few years, THE HEATHERS, mainly the musical because I LOVE MUSICALS and also the new heathers reboot (which i am aware most people didn’t like but if you read this you will understand why I like it so much.)

Heathers The Musical

“Can we be seventeen? That’s all I want to do, if you could let me in.”

Let’s start with the musical because I am seriously obsessed with this and can’t help but be obsessed with it and haven’t seen it live, I have seen a drama school version of it on youtube which is actually really good but the soundtrack is by far my favourite thing which made me love the musical even more.

If you didn’t know, Heathers the musical is based off of the 80’s film of Heathers with the characters of Heather Chandler, Heather McNamara, Heather Duke, JD and Veronica Sawyer. As my housemate likes to describe it, it’s mean girls but suicide and death. It’s a very interesting story with bascially the heathers being the mean girls and Veronica joins them and then meets JD and soon falls for him. And then leads to death and drama.

The musical is filled with some amazing songs including seventeen, beautiful, candy store, meant to be yours, freeze your brain, dead girl walking and the new one from the London Cast Recording I Say No! You have no idea how excited I am for the London Cast Recording comes out. I mean by the time you end up reading this, it might already be out.

carrie hope fletcher, barrett wilbert weed as veronica sawyer, ryan mccarten, jamie muscato as JD

Now lets talk about the main actors, the ones who play JD and Veronica as they are the only ones I actually feel like I could talk about even though they aren’t the heathers, but they are the main two of the show. Both the American and British casting was perfect and I honest love both Barrett Wilbert Weeds and Carrie Hopes Fletchers, Veronica from the clips I have seen on Youtube as they both embody the character and really get into the characters so well that makes you fall in love with the character alongside both Ryan Mccarten and Jamie Muscato who both embody the psychopathic side of JD. Which was even better was the chemistry between Ryan Mccarten and Barrett Wilbert Reed and Carrie Hope Fletcher and Jamie Muscato’s, Veronica and JD was perfect and they really picked the right actors to play the characters.

HEATHERS NETFLIX REBOOT

“you had me from the moment i saw rams lifeless body….”

The heathers netflix reboot is nothing like the original film and is nothing like The Heathers you would think it would be like. Actually unlike the movie and musical when Veronica isn’t really about killing people and isn’t psycopathic, in the reboot, Veronica was much more of a psychopath and is all in for killing people. The three heathers are very different to the original ones, Heather Chandler is a lot less bitchy then the Heather Chandler we know from the 80s movie. Heather Duke is a gay guy which in the eyes of me and my housemate, it’s actually the best thing, he is our favourite character. And the complete difference of this show is that in the film and musical Heather Chandler is the only heather to die and in the show she’s the only one to survive.

veronica sawyer, heather chandler, heather duke and heather mcnamara

You would think because this show doesn’t stick to the original that I wouldn’t like it but I actually loved it, even though it was nothing like the original, it really makes a statement and I honestly love it so much and see it as it’s own original. I definitely recommend watching it even though it has been taken off netflix.

I hope you enjoy my blog because I am very excited to be blogging for everyone! if you do, i would love if you followed my socials which can be found below.

Instagram: @_ameliajl
Twitter: @ameliajfilms
YouTube: amelialaingfilms

Hello and Welcome back to my little place on the internet, after having like two pretty serious and deep chat posts, I wanted to lighten it a bit up here and appreciate some amazing creators or YouTube. I have been watching YouTube for what seems like a very long time now and within the years of watching it, I fell in love with a lot of different YouTubers, I mean I could just list the usual and most popular youtubers for example Zoella or Joe or Alfie but lets be real as much as I love them and I do still love their videos and watch them all the time. There are also some other amazing YouTubers out there that I literally love watching them. Some of these people I have been watching for a long while and others are people I have been watching for a few months. So lets do this, they are in no particular order, just in a list of what I wrote in my notebook.

1. Anastasia Kingsnorth

Anastasia Kingsnorth is by far one of my favourite YouTubers, I honestly don't remember the exact time I started watching her videos, but it was a long time ago, I want to say about 3 years ago but I don't remember but ever since, I have really enjoyed her videos and her vlogs. It's crazy how much someone can really achieve when they really work for it and they put in the effort and with Ana, you see she puts in 100% with everything she does and it definitely pays off. Even watching her vlogs really motivate me to work harder at everything I do.

2. Caitlin Rose

Caitlin Rose is someone I have been watching for a while as well and I have alwyas enjoyed her videos, but when I really started watching a lot more of her videos is when she went to University and she uploaded University Vlogs and videos and it was somethign that helped me when I was preparing for university. She has a great range of videos from Vlogs to Mystery Videos, to Fashion videos and it's amazing how much effort she puts into it alongside being a university student. One thing about her though is she is genuinely so nice, I tweeted her several questions before I was going to University and she always replied with the sweetest replies and and was always willing to answer my questions.

3. Aimee Vincent

Aimee is a channel I have only recently found but her videos always make me smile and I do very much enjoy her videos. One of her videos was about How to Deal with a bad day, I watched this when I was actually feeling down at university the other week and honestly it really did help me and her videos just seem very helpful but also fun to watch.

4. Zoe and Chloe

I came across Zoe and Chloe when I started my channel and after watching a couple of their videos I fell in love, every thing I watched of there's always made me laugh. Their content is something i enjoy watching all the time. They work hard on their videos and I always end up entertained by them, and all the time I was down at uni or just down in general I will make sure to watch a videos of theirs and I am all together transformed and feel happier.

5. Kalyn Nicholson

Recently I went through a down moment where I soon googled on YouTube how to be happy and single, crazy how I needed to do that right? But after doing that I found Kalyn's video, she spoke about how to be happy and single and it really helped. After watching that, I started watching more and more videos of hers and really enjoyed watching it that I couldn't help but subscribe and continue watching them.

6. Emily Rose

Emily's video was something I really came across when I started university in September, because I was looking at university room tours and her's came up and I found out she started uni at the same time as me. After watching that, I fell in love with her videos and her personality is just great, it comes across in every video. The other thing I liked about watching her videos is you could tell she worked hard on them and she wanted them to be good. I loved her Uni vlogs because it always interests me what others get up to at uni.

7. Beauty Spectrum

Recently I started watching Beauty Spectrum and I honestly fell in love with her videos very quickly, especially her travel vlogs, because it makes me want to travel more and more excited for the idea of travelling in the future. I really like her fashion videos but my favourite are her vlogs, I look forward too it all the time. She's just genuinely herself in her videos and I always enjoy the time watching her videos.

8. Saffron Barker

Saffron Barker is one youtuber I have watched for a while, I was subscribed to her a while back before I even watched a video but once I watched one, I enjoyed watching them all the time. Her energy and her work ethic is amazing and for someone who is just 18, it's great how much work she put's in which proves that no matter how old you are, if you want something or you want to achieve something, you can if you put the work in. It's wonderful to watch her videos and vlogs and just see what she's up to.

9. Talia Mar

Talia Mar's youtube is always fun to watch, she has a mixture of beauty, music (she is a fantastic singer.) and some great collabs too. Her videos are also very entertaining, (I feel like all the ones I am saying they are entertaining but it's the truth.) Fun Fact: I actually was part of a talent show a while back with Talia, a long time ago anyway. But her video's are great and I don't think I have ever missed a video's of hers.

10. Tiffany Alvord

When I first started watching youtube videos back when I was around 15, Tiffany was the first person I watched, because I was actually looking for a specific song and then her cover came on and I listened to it and then ever since i listened to every cover she has posted and her original songs as well.

So that is my top ten youtubers and I am still always watching them, but I feel like they deserve some acknowledgement and the deserve the praise because they are by far amazing.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, hope you check out my other blog posts and enjoy the rest of your day :)

You can follow my social media links here:

Instagram - @missamelia.jane

Twitter - @ameliajfilms

Youtube - AmeliaOTHLaing

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Well Hello and Welcome back to my blog and to another post, hope you're all doing well? Hope you're having a wonderful day. I have come up with this ideas to have these coffee chats on my blog because there are things I want to get off my chest and need to write down, whether this helps others or it's just there for my mind to reassure myself.

This blog post is about how to deal with a heartbreak or surviving a down day, a lot of things will be talking about a heart break but I feel like some of the things you do to deal with a heart break, you can also do on a down day. Remember it's alright to have those days when you're feeling down.

So story time before I give my little tips on how to deal with heartbreak, this topic came to me because recently I fell for a guy and we went on dates and things got a little closer in the fact that we nearly had sex, and then thing started to change, it went from him making an effort to see me, to then not making the effort and then him telling me he can't reciprocate the feelings, which okay yes he told me the truth, but he kind of led me on and it did hurt because I was falling for him and to hear that it really broke my heart. Even if I have never been in a relationship but I definitely felt my heart break over that, I cried from about 2am the night he told me to about 10pm the next day. But then these things I am bout to give you tips on helped me through it and I thought I would share it with you guys. I also made a statement on my instagram that can be found right here >>>> https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkq_5ZzBh5J/?taken-by=missamelia.jane.

So lets get into these tips that I am given, none of them are professional, some of them are things I have heard from others and some of them are just things that genuinely helped me move on from everything that was going on in my life.

1. Let out a little Cry
You probably hear this everywhere, but it's okay to let out a cry, to be emotional, it doesn't mean you're weak, it doesn't mean the other person has won, it just means you're human. Honestly as much as you might not want to cry, you need to, it lets out everything and all the pain you're feeling helps you let go, it's crazy to think that even just crying over something can help you, it won't mend a broken heart and it won't fix anything but it does help and it does make you feel better because you've addressed the problems in your head and your mind is just telling you that you need to cry and then you do, whether you cry in front of people or you cry on your own don't be ashamed as I promise you, you will feel a little better if you do so.
2. Keep yourself busy
This is something that I think is important when you're having a down day or going through heartbreak, you need to keep yourself busy, make sure you're doing something all through the day because otherwise you're going to end up miserable and thinking about everything and sad. Luckily for me when I got told that this guy couldn't reciprocate the feelings for me, I was cleaning and having to pack my room up so that distracted me and honestly, having something to keep you busy always helps because then your mind isn't focusing on the bad things going on in your mind, your mind is focused on something else.
3. Focus on the good things in your life
Of course when you're going through a bad time, it's hard to remember that there are so many good things going on in your life. It's something we all do when we're down, you just look past every amazing thing that is going for you and what is going on in your life. For example, as a uni student I can focus on all the amazing opportunities that are still out there for me. We can all focus on the good things and something I heard in a YouTube video that I recently watched, write in a journal either every night or when ever you feel down and sad, something that is really good in your life whether that be something you have achieved or whether it's a friendship or just something that has happened that has made you happy. The way I see it is always try to think positive.
4. Give yourself Me time
This is something that we all neglect to do because you think you need to be somewhere for someone else, you have to do this for someone else, but where do you fit in? You can't always be places for others but you can always take a few hours of your day or a even a day and just have some time to yourself, whether that be just chill and watch a movie, or getting your nails done on your own, or reading a book, you really find that if you just give yourself time, it will really help and I think no matter how busy your days might be with meeting friends or going to work or college or school or whatever you have going on, you should give yourself a couple of hours to yourself and just unwind and give yourself some time a lone. Maybe do a little work out to clear your mind or have a nice pamper evening and relax and pop a Netflix show on.
5. Go for Walks
This is something I really emphasise, going for walks anywhere can be relaxing, just a walk on your own with your headphones and listening to some music and just giving yourself time to unwind can be really helpful and can always help you just clear your head. It's great if you live by a beach but even if you have a little park area you can go to, it really helps. Because you just have yourself, fresh air and a way to just relax and get your head away from anything that makes you miserable and feel down and clear your head of anything that is going on. Walks always help with that perfect playlist playing whilst your on that walk and i definitely recommend creating a certain playlist with music that helps pick you up and feel better.

So that is my tips on how to deal with a heart break or survive a down day, I would love to know any other tips that others have to deal with a down day or a heart break, so please leave your advice in the comments, it would be great to see so we can all help each other out.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, hope you check out my other blog posts and enjoy the rest of your day :)

You can follow my social media links here:

Instagram - @missamelia.jane

Twitter - @ameliajfilms

Youtube - AmeliaOTHLaing

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Hello and welcome back to my blog, how's everyone doing? It's been a while since I last posted a post but now all exams are over and first year is done! How exciting! So now here we are with another post and it's one long over due after filming a video about it, but it is my first year university experience. Back in October I gave you my freshers experience but now I have been at the university for a year now, I think it's about time I talk about the experience I have had and hope that maybe this will help others who are either going to University in September or are thinking of going in the future.

When I chose to go off to university I didn't think I was going to last even a year but things definitely changed once i got there. I am going to break this post down in different sections. In each section I will give my experience within it as well as advice for people who need the advice.

But first off you can find my YouTube video of this down below.

Section 1 - Living in Halls

When I first started university, I was definitely worried about living in halls, would I get along with my flat mates, would I be able to hang out with my flat mates, what if they hate me. It's a big change to go from living at home with your parents to then just jump up and leave and live in halls on your own with just a group of people who also have done the same thing. That's when you realise you're no longer at school, clique's don't exist, you can be yourself and most people don't care. I was very lucky that my flat mates made living away from home very easy, we bonded very quickly and although we had one flat mate that never really joined us, we did get on very well with him as well. I was the only girl in my flat but honestly, I didn't mind it, we all got on, we all spoke about a lot of things and we used to always hang out and do things as a flat.

As time moved a head, things with my flat started to not be the same, partly because when they got in relationships things just drifted but it wasn't that we didn't get on, we actually still got on really well but we didn't do things together as much any more. Now although that really did suck because it made me feel really lonely and that was when I started to feel slightly depressed but luckily there were people to pick me up and that definitely got better because i found people in the halls that I could go to.

Another thing about halls, is that it really made me feel so much more independent then if I had decided to stay at home and commute but also makes me more proud and happy to have come to university. I have learnt how to deal with problems on my own, what it's like to survive on my own and what I have to do. I have learnt how to slightly cook for myself although not even going to lie, I am more excited about going home and not having to cook for myself and enjoy my dads cooking again.

Section 2 - Friendships at University

When you are at university, it's easy to believe you won't make friends like I mentioned above that I didn't think I would make friends with the people I lived with. I also didn't think I would make friends with others as well. It's surprising how quickly you make friends at uni, and how many friends you make. Now of course some of these will just be friends you see occasionally in class and you might bump into on a night out. But others will be friends you'll

meet up with outside of the class and hang out with them, talk, go shopping, explore the place you're now living and just having fun and making memories.

Another way of making friends in your course is group work. Majority of uni's do

this, especially first years but probably second years too, they put you in groups as in the real world you usually have to end up working as a team for a career. When working in groups, you have to spend a lot of time with the people who are in your group, which also leads to getting to know them. I made three of my closest friends from my marketing group, and we ended up spending a lot of time at the group meetings chatting instead of doing work. One of my best friends Simran also came from being part of a group and without her I probably wouldn't have the friends I do now and I am very grateful for.

My advice for people nervous about making friends at university is just be yourself, and don't think about past experiences at school with making friends, because I garentee you, it's not like school when you have to fit in and be part of a "clique", people will just easily talk to you and just be approachable and you will make friends, quicker then you think you will.

Section 3 - Friendships at Home

This is something I definitely wished more people spoke about before I left for uni, because my closest friends who go to uni both commute so I still got the chance to see them when i was back home last year before coming to university. Friendships at home are something you want to make sure you can keep them going so when you go home you can go to them, you can spend time with them and catch up. Now luckily for me most of my friendships at home stayed the same, mainly because we were used to not seeing each other that often and when we did it obviously meant a lot. But uni did strain one of my friendships at home and as much as I want to say I think we'll still be friends in the future, things have been complicated, with some friends thinking I have changed since being at uni, well that was inevitable, but in my eyes and majority of my friends I have changed for the better but in one of my friends eyes I changed for the worse and wasn't making time for my "real friends" But I was for my uni friends. Going with this at uni you're going to spend time with people at the uni otherwise you'll be lonely but that doesn't change how i feel about my friends at home. With this, my closest friends at uni are my real friends alongside my friends from home and I shouldn't have to seperate them because I have met them at uni, because when you're around people every day at uni, you get closer to them quicker then you think.

Although it can strain friendships like it has with one of my friends, it does make you value your friendships at home more because it gives you something to look forward too when you have to go home. When you have attached yourself to a group of friends at uni and then you have to go and not see them for a certain amount of time, it's nice to know that when you go home you can catch up with your friends from home and have a lot to talk about and catch up on.

Section 4 - Stress

As you are aware when you grow up, you will get more stress but something they don't tell you yet you kind of expect with university is Stress! I have definitely encountered a lot of stress over the time of being at uni and it hasn't exactly been fun dealing with this stress but it has definitely been something to learn from and I have definitely learned from this. One of the big stresses is Money! As a student you are given a maintenance loan with your student finance and this is great and you see a large sum of money in your account but the problem with that is for me anyway is that I just wanted to spend it on anything and before I knew it I was slowly running out of money. It became stressful because I had to turn down some amazing things but the stress it left me with was more will I have enough money for whilst I am at home in holidays and using an overdraft is a big stress because you don't want to use it all up.

Another thing that I ended up stressing about was finding someone to live with next year and having a place to live. It's not easy finding people to live with and it's also not easy finding a house and it led to a stress. Luckily this stress only lasted a few days for me because when I started stressing over it, I then met someone who needed one more person to live with next year to make a group of four of us and luckily for me, I love making new friends so it wasn't that hard for me to say yes.

Something everyone expects to stress about is Deadlines, the Dreaded Deadlines that approach very quickly even when you don't expect them too. It's easy for you to get caught up in exciting things before you then realise you have like a week to get this essay written. I mean I got stressed about them more because I didn't understand some of my coursework that led to me having four days to write an essay that I didn't really understand but luckily I got it done, didn't get the best grade for that one but either way it was definitely a stressful time.

Section 5 - Societies

The final section is all about Societies, so this is something I advise as many of you who are going to university to join. Societies are there for a reason, they are there for you to do something you enjoy that's not your course and a place where you can make new friends and friends who all enjoy what you enjoy which makes it more fun and something to make you bond. I joined Show Choir and when I first joined I was so quiet and honestly didn't think I would enjoy it. As time went by I grew out of my shell and started talking to everyone and then became very good friends with everyone in show choir. I was also very lucky to win an award at the end of year meal for Miss Congeniality because I always had a smile on my face, I made friends with everyone and apparently put a smile on everyone's faces.

That is the end of my First Year University Experience, so I know it's a lot of writing and not many pictures but there was a lot to say. Hope you do enjoy the pictures that are there though.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog post.

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