FINDING MY FEET

October signals the start of a new university year. A new house, new people, new lecturers, new goals, new deadlines, new timetable, new stresses, new laughs, new experiences. While the majority of these new things have entered my life without a polite please or a thank you, in what seems like a blur, they are all welcomed and I would not have it any other way.

Yes I have an essay to do every week from now until the end of term and yes I would love it if I could just press pause for a second to get my mind around all the reading and discussions that I've been immersing myself in for the last three weeks but I can't and if that means that I'm holding on to the first weeks of this third year train with but a finger, then that finger is going to have to be hella' strong because I am not jumping off. 

It's always the same the first few weeks or even the first month. You have to get back into a routine or create a totally new one. I have had to do the latter and it will take time for me to settle into work and gym and sport and writing but I know I eventually will. 

University is hard and so it should be. I know that while I'm sat at my desk for hours on end flicking through endless reading lists about the Victorians,  Edwardians or the Nation of Islam that at some points I will want to lie down and just stop but after handing in all my essays I feel awesome. I feel like I have achieved in life and I can then go around telling people "I did 10 essays in first term." To which they will react with wide eyes and an open mouth (read: hope they will react with wide eyes and an open mouth). 

I love to learn and read and have a gazillion books around the place. The best feeling is when you're sat around a table having a discussion and actually know what's going on and that you know facts and a variety of narratives. Learning makes you see the world differently, knowledge is power after all. 

When my reading list gets a bit too long and I begin to despair I often find myself looking for inspiration by way of strong female figures and comedic geniuses such as Mindy Kaling, Tina Fey, Amy Poheler and (although not a comedic genius) Hilary Clinton. Something about knowing that they are all incredibly intelligent, well educated and undeniably strong makes me want to work hard and achieve. Because at the end of the day that is all you can do is work hard and wherever that takes you is where you were meant to be.