Wednesday 1 January 2014

2013 is so yesterday


I'm going to be honest with you. I am sitting in my onesie, watching The Sound of Music, wondering where on Earth 2013 has gone. This time last year I had just finished my first semester of university. Now I am nine months away from moving to Canada for year. I'm not even half way through my degree. If you had told me two years ago that I would be studying for a Masters degree in Chemistry and spending a year of it abroad you could have knocked me over with a feather. It is crazy how much can happen in 12 months.

But then again, it really is not crazy. In 12 months there are 365 days. Even if just one thing happened each day that is 365 things and generally I have to believe six unbelievable things before breakfast. I've excelled and I've failed. I've been happy and sad. I feel like I've apologised for things like no tomorrow and like sometimes absolutely everything is my fault. However, 2013 has been pretty fantastic for the most part and here is a (not really) brief overview.


January // Well I've just spent 20 minutes looking through almost all photos I own and I appear to have done nothing at all in January. I went out once apparently. All I can really remember from January is getting marks back from my first semester and being pleasantly surprised! I guess I was focusing on uni work at that point - as I should! Oh, and I had all the stress of finding my first house. That was fun to say the least.



February // I did my first ever stand up gig in February. It was only in front of the society but I guess it was still a really huge step. I went out a lot more but also have many photos of various pieces of work I was doing. I think at this point I had really gotten into the whole university thing. I know I'd been there for one semester already but I wasn't really doing incredibly well until then. At this point all of my lab reports were 80% +, I was going out most weeks and somehow got all of my work done and had time for Headlights too. February was a fantastic month.


March // March consisted of three weeks or work, work and more work. Semester 2 finished and I had endless deadlines. I also did my first ever comedy showcase with Headlights. I was only given a couple of sketches but apparently people said I was fantastic and should have been on stage more (I'm such a star obviously). Oh and I met Late Night Gimp Fight (they are a sketch troupe - don't go thinking like that!) After all the stress of deadlines I also went to Florida on holiday. Two weeks of chilling in the sun, shopping and theme parks. Yes please!


April // Well technically my holiday was over March and April. However, once I came back it was full on exam mode. I saw Fun. live again. Nothing much happened - at all!

 

May // Nine days into May and I'd finished my first year at University. I had a lovely 4 month summer ahead of me and intended to be incredibly productive. Well, I started to learn to drive. That's something! I had a few stand-up gigs in Norwich which were fantastic. Talking to a bunch of drunkards in a pub about Essex? It's my favourite past time!


June // I intended to be very productive in June. It was the first time I went to an event and posted about it on my blog. June was very chilled. I was just focusing on driving and relaxing and that is about it.


July // T IN THE PARK. I saw some amazing bands and had a fantastic couple of days in Edinburgh too. I saw Mumford and Sons twice and I so desperately want to see them again. Oh, and I found out that I passed my first year of university with a first! Yep, I transferred up to the Masters Degree. What more could I want?


August // I went on my third holiday of the year - to Hastings. I still can't believe I have been on three holidays this year. It was lovely to spend a week with my Mum and Sister (and Nephew) and now I definitely want to go to Cornwall. I had two stand-up gigs in London in August. One at Lions Den on Shaftsbury Avenue and a huge one two weeks later at The Comedy Cafe in Shoreditch in front of TWO HUNDRED PEOPLE. It was one of the scariest things I have ever done in my life. It didn't go as well as it could have but I have had a slot at one of the biggest new act comedy nights in London. Insane.


September // Back to uni for my second year of Chemistry. I moved into my new house and started to work hard (and play hard!) First though I spent as much time as I could with my friends at home. We somehow had acquired new friends over the summer and spent every Wednesday and Sunday at the pub. I went to Thorpe Park too. I also got my first invite to an event as a blogger from Royal Albert. I was in shock when I got the email but had such a lovely time. Overall, it was a fantastic end to a fantastic summer.


October // By October work became a priority. Early on I took part in a full length Sketch Show for the Norwich Fringe but once that was over I had lab reports due in every week. I can tell you, as everyone else does, second year is a huge step up from first year. I was either in the lab, in the library, at rehearsals or asleep and that was it. Sucks huh? However, I did manage to find time to go to Thorpe Park again, transfer onto the Year Abroad program and see Tom Odell live.


November // I had even more pressure in the form of lab reports and course tests but it was also my birthday! I had a lovely 20th with my friends at uni and at home. I'm no longer a teenager. I'm now old enough to know better. It feels so strange and I don't like it. Can't I just stay 18 forever? I saw Gabrielle Aplin too - she was lovely.


December // Four lab reports, three course tests, one piece of quantum mechanics coursework and one 1000 word essay later I had finished my first semester of my second year. Yes, all that was in the final two weeks. Somehow I'd managed to get through what felt like the most stressful two weeks of my life. I finally came home to relax after being pushed almost to breaking point. I found out where I'd be studying next year (depending on my grades of course) and I am so excited to study at The University of British Columbia next year. I've had a lovely relaxing break seeing my friends and my family. I've had a lovely Christmas and New Year and I definitely feel like my year as ended well.

This year I've managed to do so much but it feels like so little. I've made loads of new friends, been to many new places and really proven to myself what I can do academically. Sure, I've worked really hard but I've played hard too. Now I just need to continue it on into the new year. I want to work harder and play harder and do my very best in everything I do.

2013 is so yesterday.

Rachael xoxo

P.s. Have an amazing 2014 - you deserve it.

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