Gosh, the end of term has come around really quickly! This week has just flown by – I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been busy, or if it’s just been one of those weird weeks when you just can’t find time to catch up with yourself. So, this is it! The end of Lent Term! I cannot believe I have finished my second term at university; it doesn’t seem real at all! This term has definitely started to shape my student career a lot more and I’m so grateful for all the new opportunities I’ve been given. Last term was all about figuring things out, finding your feet and getting to know everyone and while these are certainly on-going processes, this term has been about stretching out a little bit further. Spreading your wings is a good (albeit slightly cringey) way to describe the uni experience, but this term’s been a way of working out how to fly.
Just like last term, this last week has been crazy! However, one of my highlights definitely has to be the Harry Potter Quiz in aid of Mind and Time to Talk. I am so, so, so pleased with the turn out we had in the bar. It was amazing to have around 105 people attending the event, adorned in Harry Potter scarves, t-shirts and even a pair of specs! We made a total of around £70, which is excellent and will go to such a worthwhile cause. I really hope people took something away from the little speech I gave and the event in general and now understand that it is okay to discuss mental health and that, as students, we should be looking out for one another and not letting ANY mental health stigma stop us from achieving anything. Working alongside the JCR was so lovely, everyone was so nice and they even organised to dress up for the evening! I went dressed as Hermione, our student welfare officers went dressed as Luna and Harry! It was so great! I am also pleased to announce that ballet society came first! I was so proud! (No, I didn’t mark the papers myself!) I’m hoping to collaborate a little bit more with the JCR next term to organise some more events for Time to Talk, so maybe between revision breaks in the holiday I will try and think of some more things to do. Just seeing everybody there laughing and having a lovely evening made me appreciate how uni can really give people a platform to promote a worthwhile cause and can be such a good way to get involved and meet some really fab people.
Speaking of ballet society, we had a social on Tuesday this week! I honestly had one of the best evenings I’ve had at uni so far! Ballet now have their own society sweatshirts and we were all given them on Tuesday, so we were all sitting eating pizza, watching Pitch Perfect (which is a definite student watch! I’ve never seen it before and it is hilarious!) and wearing our sweatshirts – it was just lovely! I feel like I’ve said this for the last few weeks now, but seriously we are such a close unit! I can’t wait to start ballet again next term. We’re in the transition period for the exec now, so I’ll be learning the ropes as treasurer when Summer Term begins! (As a little side note (about food!) I made my own pizza for the party and it was so yummy, if I do say so myself!) We had such a laugh and I couldn’t help but smile, as tacky as it sounds, this was how I imagined part of my uni lifestyle, just having a chilled evening with food, funny films and really fab company. Being part of this society this term has been so worth it, it’s really made me engage in student life a bit more. Our current president has asked me to be part of the Cultural Arts Committee too, eeek! The committee meet once a month to discuss arts projects and new developments for alternative arts festivals and events, so that should be rather exciting next term! It’s all go! I haven’t given you many photos so far in the posts, so here is a rather lovely one of the ballet girls at Campus Fest last week!
Amongst all these socials and events I have spent a bit of time hiding away in the library this week, like I said I would. (My Moomin flask was definitely worth investing in!) so I’ve been planning for my essays that I’m to write over the holiday, which is still a little bit scary! I’m trying to incorporate ideas from EPR into my History essay, like I said last week, and it’s proving a little tricky, but I think I’m getting there now! I’m enjoying doing some independent research and I’m learning how to shape something targeted to my other areas of interest, which I hope will be a useful skill. I love the fact that uni gives you the chance to do this and we don’t have to stick to the constraints of A-level marking criteria. For any A-level students reading, you’ll know exactly what I mean when you get here! Our History seminar this week involved an awful lot of food (YAY! I made little Easter nests!) and a really interesting discussion about how some aspects of material or visual culture can shape and reshape our understanding of our own and other people’s pasts. I’m so pleased that we’ve started to talk about this sort of thing, because it the consideration of these types of sources that made me seriously consider taking History at uni. It’s really exciting to be looking at the modules that made me want to come here in the first place!
So, this is the end of Lent term…already! I’m looking forward to having a couple of days off in the break and to making lots of cakes and pretty revision timetables (revision timetables = felt tip pens, YAY!) but between essays and little chunks of revision, I’m so excited to see my family and my friends and to going back to my job for a little while too! I’ll miss my flatmates, of course, but like we did at Christmas we have Skype and FaceTime sessions pre-booked! I have mixed emotions about next term, I’m excited because there are new challenges and opportunities, but I’m also nervous because it is EXAM SEASON, AAAH! Best get revising!
Thank you all so much for reading my little ponderings this term; I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts! I hope you have a beautiful, sunny Easter full of smiles!
See you next term for more stories, little stresses and memories!
Huge History Hugs,
Eleanor :0)