Falling in Love with Lancaster

These are just a few photos taken out on a girly evening with my friend Louise (who, by the way, was the very good friend who lent me the wise Lion King-related advice a few posts back). It's crazy to think, but my first year at Lancaster is now very quickly coming to a close (my last exam is tomorrow, moving out of uni accommodation on Thursday!!!) and it was nice to just spend some time off-campus to reflect on the months that have gone by.

I  first met Louise because she was part of my workshop group on my marketing course but for months we were just casual acquaintances and only really spoke when we had to sort things out for our group work and presentations. I was actually a little intimidated by her at the start because since marketing was her major she often had to assume a sort of leadership role in the group and I was afraid she was judging me or I was letting her down by not giving my all. As it turned out, however, this was all nonsense and in fact, she had also found me a bit intimidating! First impressions can sometimes be very wrong. especially among girls I think sometimes.

Despite our misunderstanding about each other however, because she lived quite near me on campus we would sometimes walk back from seminars together and chat for a bit. It was on one of these occasions I mentioned to her that I used to horse-ride and was thinking about taking it up again, it turned out she also used to ride and we decided to go together and in the process we actually found out we really have a lot in common and now I'd consider her one of my best friends!

If you've read any of my previous posts you'll know I wasn't particularly happy here at the beginning. I found campus and campus accommodation very oppressive and because of a few personal problems I encountered, I found it really difficult trying to keep up with work and assignments as well as the demands of living on my own for the first time. It was a struggle but I can now say over this last term and a bit I've really found my feet, settled in and made some really good genuine friendships to the point where I will actually be really sad to go home for the summer.

Sometimes I also think I failed to appreciate how beautiful Lancaster actually is. There's some really stunning architecture in the city which is then surrounded by miles of green countryside (I'm a big fan of countryside), and also the Lake District is basically on your doorstep, something which I will definitely be taking more advantage of next year.

All in all, I'm very happy to say that I'm very much looking forward to my next few years at Lancaster and all the ups and downs that are still to come over my next 2 years here.

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Saturday @ the Lakes

"I wandered lonely as a cloud..."

I'm currently sitting on my bed in my uni room, mug of tea in hand and listening to some cheerful morning tunes. Despite the rather dismal weather outside my window this morning I'm perfectly content as my mind drifts back to the sunny Saturday I spent in the Lake District in Cumbria with my friend Chris a couple of weekends ago.

We got up early in the morning that day and caught the bus to Grasmere where we had a little wander around the village and stopped for a spot of brunch in one of the little cafes on the main street overlooking the River Rothay and St Oswald's church where there was a wedding on. Not going to lie I was having a good creep at all the bridesmaids and wedding guests and what they were wearing- I just love weddings! However, we had to leave before the bride arrived though, much to my disappointment! The weather was just perfect, sunny with a just lovely cool breeze. From Grasmere we began walking back towards Rydal through the woods where we stopped to rest and skim stones on the river which ran through it. Once we got to Rydal we took a walk up to the gardens surrounding a manor house called Rydal Hall and then up towards Rydal Mount, the family home of the English poet, William Wordsworth who's also actually buried in Grasmere.

We then kept walking, stopping every now and then to admire the beautiful views and ended up in Ambleside (It's quite far so that actually took us a while) where we went for a quick coffee before catching the bus home.

As always, I'm really supposed to be revising right now... But I still like to keep a good balance of work and leisure time which is why I don't feel too guilty spending an hour or two editing and writing up this blog post, though I do definitely need to get my head down now!

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Reflections on a Spring Day | Feeling Positive

I'm sorry about the high concentration of photos that are just countryside, I know a lot of my posts have been like this but I just can't help but find scenes like this so beautiful. Especially on a lovely spring day when the sun is shining and the weather is just nice and mild, and no rain.

I took this photos on a short walk I went on with one of my friends, and they were actually just taken around my university campus. Basically the whole of my Easter break I had agonised over whether I even wanted to go back to uni. Being entirely honest I really hadn't been enjoying my university experience so far. I'd been feeling very very down and very very anxious and having entered into a relationship very early on after starting uni, for a while I ended up isolating myself and not making as many friends or experiencing uni life as much as I would have liked. The relationship then ended quite badly at the start of last term and although it was short, it was quite a horrible and painful experience which has taken me a while to recover from.

I just wanted to write today to sort of acknowledge this point in my life. Despite my reservations about uni and days and nights of worry and feeling like I never wanted to go back, since returning I've felt surprisingly settled, content and a lot more positive. Being out in nature and spending time with good friends who encourage me and build me up really puts life in perspective and I've come to realise that perhaps it all isn't so bad after all.

I know I'm probably not alone in my feelings towards uni and for some, maybe even just towards the place they're at in their life in general and I just wanted to encourage anyone who can maybe relate to my situation just to remember that this stage in your life is just that, a stage in your life. Life will always have its ups and downs, moments of joy and moments of sorrow but we need to remember that no situation will last forever, no matter how bad it seems at the time. Life goes on and you will keep going and come out much stronger.

Remember that you have complete control over your life and how you live it. Do things that make you happy, cultivate interests, cultivate good friendships and don't dwell on the bad you may have experienced in the past. Tomorrow is a new day and every day is a second chance to enjoy the life you've been given.

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