Yep I have finally finished university, who knew those 3 years would fly by so quickly. I felt like I needed to update as I kind of left my blog talking about my adventure in America (which was almost a year ago) but fast forward to 2016 and I have had many adventures and experiences that I wouldn't have dreamed of happening.
So a lot of huge things have happened this year:
I went to Amsterdam
In April I took a short trip to Amsterdam with a few friends and I'm still smiling about that experience now. Although the weather was really crappy, we still had a lot of fun and many laughs. We went the Anne Frank house, The Heineken Experience, took a canal cruise, walked along the red light district, ate at a pancake house, celebrated King's day and visited the windmills at Zaanse Schans. Another bonus part of my trip was getting the chance to meet my half-brother who lives near Amsterdam for the first time!! I also found out I'm an aunty to three children :O I've never felt such a mixture of emotions in my whole life, I was nervous and excited but in the end we got on really well and it didn't really feel like I was talking to a stranger. Amsterdam definitely lived up to my expectations and sparked my journey of self-discovery.
I finished university
Towards the end of April I handed all my assignments in including my dreaded dissertation. Initially I wasn't really happy about my dissertation topic (as we didn't get much of a choice on topics) and towards the end I decided it was an interesting area but definitely not my kind of thing. Anyway I must have done something right because I got a first in my dissertation (God knows how). After convincing myself that I would probably graduate with a 2:2, I shocked myself by achieving a 2:1 for my degree in Psychology! (Still hasn't sunk in yet) I don't think I ever shed tears of joy during my course but that was definitely the first. In May I attended my university graduation ball with a few friends, which was a nice end to our time at uni. The only downside is that I won't be officially graduating until November :(
I went to Cornwall
I went to Valencia
To celebrate our graduation, me and Lynette booked a holiday to Valencia in Spain. We had to fly from Gatwick airport, so we spent the day before in my second home (London!). Lynette introduced me to the Japanese Centre, which I immediately fell in love with and was surprised that I had never been before. The following day we headed to the airport for our 6am flight (urgh!) but it was all worth it when we saw how beautiful Valencia really was. Our hotel was lovely and the weather was a nice change from British 'Summer' weather. We had a few shopping centres and a Japanese restaurant pretty close by so that was convenient for us :D We visited the beach and ate seafood, went to the city centre and on our last night we went for a spa treatment in our hotel (just what we needed). This trip was certainly an experience as we came across many language barriers and watched TV in Spanish whilst adding our own English commentary, which made the trip all the more fun.
I went to Singapore
Every year I like to try and take at least one long distance holiday and Singapore was that holiday. This was my first time travelling to Asia ever after wanting to go for so long. My reason for going was to finally visit Lynette's home and meet her family. So I booked my flights 4 weeks before my visit (really last minute I know), packed my stuff and off I went on another very long solo flight. I spent a week in Singapore with Lynette and her family doing lots of shopping, eating lots of food, meeting her friends, visiting universal studios, going to the cinema and somehow she even got me to do karaoke and I actually enjoyed it. I'm currently going through post-holiday depression after recently getting back, I miss everything. Although the humidity I don't miss so much. Hopefully I'll write a post about this trip and show some of the stuff I bought.
I got accepted onto my Masters course
So next year I will be adding another milestone to my life as I have been accepted to study MSc mental health nursing at the University of Nottingham! I'm excited and calm at the moment but when the time comes I know I will probably be an emotional wreck as I will be moving out to study in Derby, which is only a half an hour train ride from where I live now, but still. This was my main uni choice after being realistic and putting aside my dream of studying in London due to expenses, however this course seemed the best option as I not only receive a nursing qualification but a masters on top of that. Luckily I get a longer break from studying as my course starts in January 2017, so until then I will be working, saving money and fitting in a few trips away if I can :)
So there is my update! Sorry for the lack of photos but I just wanted to start writing again and hopefully I will continue to write now that I have time.
Hope you are all doing well :)
x
