Firstly, I must apologise for my absence for the last two weeks; revision, ridiculous amounts of paper and attempting to stay calm have kept me away from my keyboard. But I have really missed writing the blog! When people ask me about writing the posts every week I always say how much I enjoy it because it helps me to get a bit of perspective on things. Sometimes just writing down my thoughts about what I have achieved in the week can be really beneficial and helps me to see that despite finding things tricky I have made it through in one piece.

I must admit that I started to compose this post a couple of weeks ago, so that there wouldn’t be a gap, but all I could think about was how nervous I was about my first exam. As I read the post back for editing that definitely came across, especially as the first sentence read something along these lines: ‘Okay, so my first exam is less than a week away. Feelings: terrified’. There is no way that I will deny that I was scared because I was. I am not too sure why, because I have been in an exam environment before, I have written essays before and I have been in revision mode before. Every student will know that taking an exam can be nerve-wracking but I am still unsure of why I was scared – all that stands between me and progressing into second year is three questions and an answer booklet. (I must say a huge thank you to my mum, if she’s reading, for reassuring me of this when I have called her up saying ‘help, help, help!’). However, I write this entry of the blog post-history exam! Feelings: aaaaah! (I don’t really know which adjective would be appropriate to describe how I feel at the moment, so if you imagine some sort of incoherent squeaking noise and kind of excited scream that should about sum it up.)

I cannot believe that I have completed my first exam! Seeing as it was my Hist100 exam it means that I have finished my first year of history, which is both terrifying (because I can’t think where the time has gone) and really exciting because it means that I have made it through to the other side! I’m not too sure how the exam went though, and I always hate it when people say ‘how do you think you did?’, because genuinely I don’t know. I thought the questions were challenging and I just hope that I managed to do some justice to an argument and to the content that I have been learning about over the last year. The French Revolution did come up in the paper though, and that made me very happy because I was able to recite a little song in my head that I had learnt in the revision process in order to get me through that horrible moment where you look at the question and go ‘oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! What do I do now?!’

Enough about the exam though! It’s done and I have two more to go, so the revision period continues and the felt tips are getting a good run! I have definitely learnt quite a lot about myself in this revision period because it really is different to the way that you revise for A-levels and for GCSEs. The fact that a lot of it is independent research guided by the framework of the lectures and seminars and there is room for you to make your own judgements means that the way you revise is quite different. It’s more about getting a grasp on what you think about something and thinking about what the implications of it are, rather than reading a textbook and cramming every possible idea, date and theorist into your head in order to jump through the hoops held up by your exam board. This has really been quite a steep learning curve, but I guess that is what first year is all about.

Revision does seem to be the most prominent part of my life at the moment, but I am really looking forward to summer. My friends and I have organised to go the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and I am so excited! There are some really cool events this year and Jo Brand is one of the headlining acts, so maybe we’ll go and see her. I haven’t seen much of her material, actually, so it should be an experience if we do go to that gig! We’re also thinking of going to the zoo with a picnic (yay) and to King Arthur’s Seat, which will be beautiful, I think. (I just hope there’s a little bit of sunshine to accompany the beautiful scenery!) I’ve also been talking to my boss in the last couple of weeks and I am going back to work in the shop for a little while over the break and, as sad as it sounds, I cannot wait. I really miss my work family and just being behind the counter and seeing all the locals – the summer is always the best time though, because when we’re busy it’s really quite fun! I look forward to seeing my family and friends too, I feel like I haven’t seen or spoken to them in such a long time because my mind has been in revision mode, so when I go home I will hopefully have a jam packed diary, if people can squeeze me in. I am hoping to get some work sorted out for my Lancaster Award too, while I’m on break – which should be interesting as it will give me a chance to reflect on some of the skills beyond academia that I have gained during my time here this year.

Summer is nearly here and this is the final stretch of the climb (I have two exams to go), the view so far has been pretty amazing, so it’s about making it count and really going for it now.
 

Thank you for reading, guys! And sorry, again, for the gap!

History Hugs,

Eleanor :0)