2015!

I've been horrendous with blogging over the last half of the year - it's been a mix of heavy workloads, getting used to uni life and just having no motivation or decent things to blog about. I have idea but when I come to write them I just don't know how to write it. I have about 4 posts that are in my drafts folder that I've been working on - some aren't even relevant anymore so will need to be deleted!

You may also notice that I've changed the title and description on my blog - I re-read them and found them rather embarrassing so I decided to change them a little instead!

It's the end of another year so I thought I had to at least post something now - it's always good to look back at the year and think about what I want to change and improve on. Last year I posted a 2013 vs. 2014 review which I obviously can't just add to as there's quite a lot of difference I feel! 

~~~~~~~

Confidence

This year I feel like I've come to understand myself a lot better as a person and have consequently become a lot more confident than I was this time last year. The fact that I managed to get into University helped this fact I feel as it made me realise I was good enough and could achieve the things I wanted to if I tried hard enough. I didn't actually get the grades I needed for my course but because of the extra things I'd done outside of my A levels to do with Archaeology and Ancient History, they saw my passion and accepted me anyway! Due to this, I also ended up realising that just because you aren't the best at one type of education, it doesn't mean you won't be good at another so don't be put off if you aren't very good at A levels like I wasn't - I'm now doing well at Uni because the teaching style and the way you're graded works a lot better for me! Asking for help to make sure you get all the help you need for exams is also useful - I probably annoyed my teachers last year by how much I asked them for help! However, this is another thing I learned this year - don't be afraid to ask for help because the teachers want you to succeed and if you show willingness to improve, they will try and support you so you can get the results that you want.

Another thing I've noticed over this year is that I've also become more confident in my body. I'm not a size 8, 6 ft tall model with long, flowing hair but I'm happy with my body in its entirety as I'm the only one that has to live with it so why live hating it? I wear things that look good on my body shape and wear make up because it makes me feel happy and prettier. I already did a post earlier in the year about how I feel about lipstick and how it boosts my confidence! Of course there are things I wouldn't mind changing but for now, I'm happy with myself. 

Work and independence 

Last year, I said I needed to focus on my work but I may have taken that a little too far during the last few months as I've been known to not leave the flat for a couple of days and not sleeping until 3 to make sure I could finish essays on time! I think this year I need to prioritise better as I'm now living more or less independently so I need to balance work and looking after myself as well as remembering to save some time to see friends. 

I also need to organise my work so I have time to do more background reading as I didn't get a lot of chance to this term. This also needs to include planning essays in advance so I don't have a mad rush at the end of term like I did in the last week of this term. It will be a lot better for me if I do little bits along the way instead of huge amounts at the end that get me overly stressed and run down.

Health

I want to try and get a bit healthier in 2015 as I know I could vastly improve what I eat - I think I'm going to try and post recipes when I find ones that are healthy but still nice! I'm already trying to cut down the amount of snacking I'm doing and the amount of sweets/chocolates I'm eating. 

I need to start going to bed earlier which links with my organisation goal - if I do more work earlier in the day then I'll be able to sleep earlier which would be a lot better for me - hopefully I'll be able to get a proper sleeping pattern sorted by the end of this term if I can work properly!

One last thing I need to do is to learn how to take breaks from work and just wind down sometimes. I am constantly working at uni so if by organising my work and life better I can add in break every so often, that would be incredibly helpful!

What are your goals for the upcoming year?
I hope you all have a wonderful New Years!
Jess xx

2013 vs 2014.

I know my Blogger challenge post is meant to be a substitution for resolutions/goals, but I find that it's always nice to have them written down somewhere so I thought I'd share mine from last year (2013 resolutions) and come up with some new ones!

2013

Revise work from the beginning - I sucked at this last year and it hasn't really changed if I'm honest. I just need to revise earlier.

Read more - Time is a problem for me. I work a lot and spend the rest of my time blogging. I did manage to read a few books just for the fun of it this year and I loved them all! I also read a few books surrounding my subjects which were good!

Take more photos - I fulfilled this when I went to Sicily with college but apart from that, I didn't get many chances to just take photos with friends. I've taken lots more photos for my blog though if that counts!

Don't get as easily distracted - I've been getting better at forcing myself to work but when I'm not motivated, I'm in trouble.

Be confident in myself - I'm so much happier than I was last year about the way I look and just myself in general. I feel like I know my style and what suits me better now so bring on 2014!

Talk to people more - I've spoken to some more people and made some good friends so I think I accomplished this!

Make an effort with friends - I met up with my friends quite a bit this year but still not as much as I would have liked. However, to get decent grades and get into Uni, work comes first (which they know) so I'm quite happy with the amount I did see people!

Blog more! - I blogged more because I had a full year instead of five months of blogging this year, but I added up the number of posts, and I did the exact same amount August - December which I find really creepy!

2014

Revise earlier - As I said above, I need to start revising earlier. Last year I assumed that I could fit all of my revision into less than a month which ended pretty badly. This year I'm going to start revising much earlier so I have time to revise it all more than once (I hope!) or at least have a firm understanding in what I've done.

Take better control over my health - I've mentioned before that I'm diabetic and sometimes it seems to become completely out of control. I also think that I need to start being more healthy so this year, I'm going to try and keep record of my diabetes and eat better and possibly try and exercise more when I get time. 

Be more organised - I bought a weekly planner last year and even though it was great to start with, I neglected it a bit in the last months of using it which is rubbish because it helped me keep on top of work and I even wrote blog ideas down! It was seriously useful and as my life is set to only get busier, I think it will be great to start organising my time and sticking to my plans using it. I also need to make sure all of my work is organised so I can fin everything I need to revise easier. 

Improve my blogging - My blogging has been so patchy but as I now have more followers and viewers than I've ever had, I really want to try and improve my blogging pattern, style and just generally how and what I blog about! I'll obviously still do the same sorts of posts because I love writing about nearly everything, but I'm going to try and be more organised, maybe write a post every other day or so? I'll have to try things out and see how they go! I'll also need to see how I can fit blogging in between my homework and revision too. 

Focus - Even if it means forcing myself to sit at a desk and write or read anything, I need to focus on my work more, no matter how much motivation I'm lacking. This year will be the most important for me so slacking really isn't an option. 

I feel like 2013 has gone by so fast and I'm sad to see it go as it's been amazing - I've made better friendships with some people, found confidence (or at least the start of it) in myself and been much happier than other years. Hopefully 2014 will be just as good to me and I'm excited for it to start!

Jess xx

Moving on.

I've been so busy sorting out various things for Uni and it's been a really hectic week! 

I've been talking to my teachers and I'm now predicted BBB after my AS results which I'm quite happy about to be honest! It means that I'm more likely to get lower offers from Uni so I will be able to get in to the Unis I really like! I think BBB is more realistic than AAB for me and it's still good enough which makes me happy! It takes a bit more pressure off me so I have realistic goals, not unachievable ones. 

I've also sorted out two lectures at Roehampton Uni over the next couple of months which I'm really excited about! They relate to my Classics course so it'll be great for my exams too! 

I'm starting my Young Leader and Adult Leader qualifications with my Brownie group over this term as well so I'm quite excited that I'll get to do this before I leave next year - it's a great thing to put on my personal statement and CV so I'm excited!

I also found out that I can talk about my blog on my personal statement so I'm happy that I will get to use this for something finally!

Jess xx

2013

I know this is super late 2 weeks in to 2013 now but I've actually come up with some goals for this year! I'm not going to call them resolutions because these really are general things I just think will be good for me to work constantly. I don't want to say I need to do this within the year because I need to carry some of them on. But I suppose some could be counted as the usual type of resolution...
So here goes; My goals for 2013 and beyond.

Revise work from the beginning
I'm pretty horrible at revising. I end up leaving the bulk of it until about a week until the exam and then having a mental breakdown at the amount of work I have, resulting in me becoming a complete social recluse who only comes out of their room for food. I've decided that the stress isn't worth it so this term I'm going to try and revise what I learned in the lesson that night. Hopefully this way the information will start to sink in and I won't have to work as hard to remember everything!

Read more
Obviously because of the subjects I take, I have to read a lot of books that are on the syllabus. However, I get very little time to just read a book because I want to read it. This year I'm going to try and read more purely for the sake of reading instead of for a subject. It will be a nice way of taking a break for working while still doing something valuable and productive.

Take more photos
Not all memories stay in your mind so photos are the best ways to preserve memories of days, people, places or times. I don't take many photos of (or with) people I know so I'm going to try and change that.

Don't get distracted as easily
I know, easier said than done, but I really have to stop getting so distracted because it doesn't help with my work. Yes, breaks are good, but I need to know when to stop and know when to get back to my work.

Be confident in myself
I need to be more confident with what I look like and myself in general. I need to just accept who I am, because no matter what, I'm stuck like this for life, happy with it or not, and there's no point being awkward/miserable about what I can't change.

Talk to people more
If I know them, I can talk to someone for days. Annoyingly, if I don't, I'm as awkward as anything.  want to try and be more confident when meeting new people because you can meet some lovely people if you just talk to them!

Make an effort with friends
I feel like I neglect my friends due to my work load which I feel really guilty about. I'm worried that if I carry on just solely focussing on work then I'll lose my friends which I really don't want to do. I love them all loads but my work always take priority over everything which is good if I want a good education and good results at the end, but I don't want to become a social recluse that only works and doesn't ever meet up with people. Hopefully I can change that this year and see everyone more!

Blog more!
Even though I had over 100 posts last year, I feel like I've neglected the blog quite badly this year and I feel bad! I lovelovelove blogging but sometimes it's so hard to think of something new to write about. However, I also feel bad if I just leave it for ages until  come up with something! I'm compiling a list of ideas that I can write about if I ever get stuck though so fear not! I'm going to aim for a post every other day at the least, but I really want to try posting at least once every day; it's a nice break from proper work and I can just write for ages about whatever I like instead of a book or source I've been set!

So hopefully I'll be able to actually stick to these goals, it will be fun and exciting to try new things and do more of things I love!
Jess xx