"Freshers Flu"

Week one of University a.k.a. 'Freshers' is now officially over - partially glad, partially upset. I'm emotionally & physically drained, but surprisingly feeling better than ever..however I am currently writing this suffering from 'Freshers Flu' and it's definitely worse than man flu..all males will understand that after this week.

It's been an INSANE week! From beach party to red indians, army nights to UV rave, fancy dress has never been so expensive! But going 'all out' as a flat has been amazing! Even if we were practically the only flat going totally crazy!! You'd think it's embarrassing but after the reps have done their rounds & got you drunk, you honestly do not care.

One of the weirdest things I've found from this past week is that this time two weeks ago I had no idea who the people I am living with were, yet now, it feels like we've known each other a lifetime:

Flat i09

I've never been out and drank so much in the space of seven days as I have this week, and now my sleeping pattern is definitely set to 2am being scheduled as the earliest time I'm getting to sleep time, then forcing myself to wake up at the required time each day..most day half asleep in lectures..yeah, lectures during freshers week stupid I know, as one of my flat mates definitely thought as he slept through every single one of them this week..instantly regretting it today after attending his first lecture! Not because he missed anything, but because he had "So much fun" even though everyone sat one chair away from him all day! 

One of the night outs was 'blocks vs blocks' dressing up as your block 'mascot'..ours was red indians..

we still looked so cool though..again, best dressed flat - the reps even said this, by this point they practically lived in our flat, day & night. No complaints though, they're cool.

Most flats fight over the cooker on a nightly basis..so meal time can get a bit crazy, as you can imagine, sharing with 10 people, but as a problem solving flat we created a meal for every day..well tried to, so far we've only got "Taco, tequila Tuesdays" - luckily quite a few of my flat mates can cook, because I definitely can't! We had tacos, enchiladas, fajitas and nachos - most definitely one of the many highlights of freshers week!

Trent Army was another one of the highlights of the week for me, held at 'The Forum' right near our accommodation which is always a bonus because I don't have to walk that far home, and always a bonus for my flat mates as well after I had two of the guys carry me all the way home..a 20 minute walk on another night out! 

Trent Army was insane! I've never seen so many people collectively looking so crazy, and shouting our army chant! 

We got some weird looks waking through town to the club, but well worth it & definitely one of the best nights out of the week! 

It was an insane night, the one night everyone went all out for fancy dress! It's sort of a ritual for my Uni though - Nottingham Trent University - along with a chant, and the 'idiots' and many other names I can't really share on here about our Uni of Nottingham rivals..but let's just say we're the best army in Nottingham.

It's not been all boozing and going out at night though..it's been boozing and going out during the day as well! Saturday Antics was a day when day time drinking really kicked in, especially when drinks are as cheap as £2! Up early & ready to go, in the same clothes from the night before (ordered by our reps) we set off to the other Uni Campus to try & win against the other halls..I don't think we came anywhere near. Partially because we were practically the only flat that turned up from our block (out of four blocks with 10 flats!) and also because half the flat were still drunk from the night before - standard procedure for this week.





The highlight of the day was definitely watching two of my flatmates participate in the 'Fly on the Wall' activity..star-fishing onto a wall & just falling in a heap!

Juliet                                      Will

Sadly though freshers week has come to an end, and this week has reminded us all we are here to get a degree..or at least try to! It's been an incredible week & I'm sure the rest of the year will be just amazing! One picture to sum up our week would most definitely be this..

There is never a boring two hours after going out with Will around, whether it's talking about goose fat, the underground Bakerloo line or just looking at him dressed in a pink tutu & tights with a matching face, this photo definitely sums up this mad week & what i'm sure will be a mad year. 

Cheers to i09.

Thanks to our AMAZING reps as well!

The Final Summit Is Near.

Hey Blogee's! 

Wow, it's been a while. Just read over my last post, which I found ridiculous to read it was from November!! I don't know where the time has gone, that day felt like yesterday! Sadly I haven't been posting much due to the hardcore fact, you have no life with A-Levels. Quite frankly. 

But I'm currently seriously procrastinating with revision, so what better way to spend it than writing a much needed post?! 

The last few months have been absolutely craaaaazzzyy! It was Christmas, I passed my driving test (first time, wooo!), I travelled to Dubai (absolutely amazing City, if you ever get the chance, go travel there. I promise you won't be disappointed!), I turned 18! Wow, I felt old that day - it was the first birthday I actually felt myself age! Ha! I got my dream (well one of them!) a private license plate! Officially cannot go ANYWHERE without people knowing where I am (my reg is APR7L. Pretty cool I know!) but I don't mind, it's so worth it. I've experienced Macclesfield Town at night (not too bad, if you're local I'd check it out) top tip - don't buy drinks in Revs! So overpriced!! And now I'm currently sitting my final year of A-Levels. So far I've done five, I have three more to go, then I'm off to Costa Del Sol with one of my best girlfriends Kat! Excited? YES!!!

It's a pretty scary feeling when you get to Year 13 - oh yeah, I've left school, it was emotional. I'll go back a couple of weeks, Leavers Ball at The Deanwater Hotel. Obviously it's like an american 'Prom' but honestly, it was such an amazing night. My cousin did my hair & nails then off to my friends for Pre-Drinks (it was her 18th as well! Lucky!) then we all head off to Leavers, singing old school tunes whilst annoying the taxi driver is pretty much our expectation for the night! Honestly? I think we were all pretty blown away at the venue & the whole night to be honest. I would definitely do it all over again. All the teachers were there, the entire year group, it was amazing. 

Photos, music, food, drink, teenagers, teachers pretty much sums up the night. 

One point sticks in my mind about the night - I was outside waiting for photos, and 'Livin' On A Prayer' came on. I've never seen 17/18 year olds move so quickly or sing so loudly until I saw that moment. Absolutely brilliant. 

I then had a lovely drunken conversation with my favourite teacher Miss Carney, she was driving so I felt very sorry for her (I tend to 'chat on' a bit when I've had a drink). I later discovered that I shouldn't have consumed so much at pre drinks, but what a ball we had. Dancing all night long, it was brilliant. Before we knew it the night was over and the taxi took us to town, after he was 30 minutes late. But that gave me and two of my friends, Ash and Marisha enough time to have a quick pic with the hot bartenders! Yes, we really did that. I found out the next day I also went behind the bar to serve. Ooops. Still. So worth it. 

<--Before..

..After-->

After the ball, the hangover and the exams the following week it was the leavers assembly. I haven't ever been that emotional, I don't think. It was moving. Despite being 45 minutes late due to our exam being overrun as some dumb ass Year 12 'forgot' he had an exam. Moving on. The assembly was great. Photos from year 7 (embarrassing) images and videos from leavers ball - I don't know which was more embarrassing; nerd photos from when i was 11 or drunk photos at 18. Either way it was great! Our old head of year then spoke, which is where I got the title for this blogpost from. 

Mr Dale. Officially the "Hottest Male Teacher" as voted by the wonderful Class of 2014. He began, I quote. "You'll be sat here thinking one of three things; if you've been from year 7 "why are you gatecrashing our assembly" if you've been here since Year 12, "Who are you?" or "That's the guy who won 'Hottest Male Teacher'". A great opening as always from Dale. The one thing he taught us as a head of year, and reminded us of at our assembly is that our journey was like climbing a summit. To get to the end of our journey means we reached the summit - which we did in Year 11. We're now at the end of Year 13 and the final summit is almost accomplished for our school years. Three exams, and 10 days later I will have finished school forever. The final school summit reached. 

Dale gave us a very inspirational speech as you can imagine (especially if you know him!) The leavers assembly wouldn't be complete without the amazing performances we watched, the amazing teachers who got us that far, our parents who sent us VERY emotional letters! How quiet they kept that! All the teachers speeches, the ones who weren't there, and even the students that weren't there - we had an amazing video all the way from Australia from our old school pal Nick, it was weird seeing him again but so nice. 

Then one person we could never ever forget, Mr Payne (Payno) got very emotional at this point, it was unbelievable to be honest. Before he could let loose the tears, Ben finished his sentence in 3 minutes. With a beautifully dedicated song to the loved, amazing, sadly missed Fergus Moran who sadly died in Year 8. It was definitely the most touching part of the assembly.

Although our Summit has come to an end at School, Sixth Form, the memories like the letters, Nick, Dale, Teachers, friends. Fergus. Will be remembered forever. (Cheesy I know! But very true.) 

So that brings me to now. Five exams later, I'm sat here writing when I should be revising, listening to the horrific thunder (I hate thunder, scares me to death) and some songs that will be played as throwback songs in a couple of years time.(I dread to think what future music will become).

Quite a reflection on the past few years of my life has been going round my head for the past few weeks. Advice I'd give to anyone? I hear people say the phrase 'You Only Live Once' - you don't. You only die once. You live your life everyday, so take every chance you get, grab it with both hands, make the most of every opportunity you have, revise, and work hard. You've got your whole life ahead of you, a lifetime to be serious. So go have some god damn fun! 

Class of 2014, I love you all X