Casey's Blog

University is like your first steps, it fascinating and freedom building but also its frightening and you don't know whether you would accomplish it. You are so happy that you have made it and that you are making the 'first steps' towards your dreams but then you are also thinking about whether you can do it, whether you have what it takes to make it through. Unlike taking your first steps, university is more than the activity it is about everything else that comes with that activity. So not only do you have to deal with the struggles that come with the course that you have taken, you also having to deal with meeting new people, adjusting to total independence, living without family and loved ones and adjusting to a whole new lifestyle. It may sound like my experiences at university have only been negative but there has been positives.  Positive experiences of my first term:  Going home, releasing how much I had grown up and knowing that I had changed for the better 

Going home for just the weekend was a rollercoaster, it was so strange because although I was so happy to be home, I felt lost and like I wasn’t really at home. Seeing how much I was missed and how much I am missing out on, kills me. Watching my little sisters growing up without me being there to support them through everything and help them through struggles was hard. You can be informed of what is happening at home but until you actually go home, you don’t really know. However, it feels you with joy to know that you are finally with the ones that you love again and you are so happy to be spending time with them again. You feel like your complete and you know that your safe and comfortable again but in the back of your mind you know that you are going back in a few days. When I lived at home, I didn’t really think that home was that important to me and I completely didn’t respect it and appreciate it in the way that I feel I do now. Coming home and being at university has made me

Something that I really struggled with throughout my life is my confidence in myself and the things that I do, not often because I have no reason to be confident but because I can't find the confidence to have. I guess that it comes from my past but also from experiences that I have gone through which have almost made me scared to put myself forward in situations. If I am aware of a situation and have time to think about it, this is often when I have no confidence in myself, whereas if I don't have time to think I can often excel in tasks. Things where I find I lack the confidence the most include: public speaking, confrontation and my work. I have always hated public speaking, I hate being centre of attention and I hate having to speak in front of people, especially if I don't know if what I am saying is correct. It isn't something that I have had to do very much often however when it does happen I build up a lot of anxiety and worry constantly until it is over. Due

So I have been at university a month now, had our first month anniversary with my flatmates yesterday and I thought that I would update you with whats going on. This past month has been up and down for me so much, my emotions have been all over the place for many different reasons. I feel like I have got myself in a routine now but I don't think that I will ever feel completely at home here, I guess for me this seems a bit like a long educational holiday. Home? I keep calling my halls 'home' because its where I do everything; eat, sleep, learn, etc and to some extent it is but its weird not living with people that are family. Its like having the longest sleepover with your friends and knowing that it doesn't have to end for another 9 months! I have got used to being in other peoples company but at the same time it's weird at the same time because I almost expect my mum to be waiting at home to hear about my day. One struggle I have faced is the lack of kitchen wh

So today I have embarked on my first real adventure, I have moved out of my house and into my new home for the next year which I will be sharing with 8 strangers. This is something that I have been preparing for a while but still didn't mean that I was ready for what awaited me even though I have always wanted to go to university. So I should probably start from the beginning. Since I can remember I have always wanted to go to university and I am so happy that I am here, however there is a part of me that is petrified by the whole idea in itself as well as being away from the ones I love. When I found out that I got into my chosen university I was over-the-moon but also I was upset that I couldn't stay in the safety net of my current life. The time between getting my results and move in day went far to quickly for my liking, I knew it was coming but I still don't believe I'm here. I woke up this morning and tried to stay calm but my emotions realistically were all o

Something that has always infuriated me is bullying as it is never something that anyone likes to go through but it is worse to watch. It is something that comes in many different forms and can't always be seen as it's described as 'banter' or 'only joking' or 'I'm playing with you'. All of which could impact someone more than you think, you don't know whether those words or actions are going to upset or hurt them. Sometimes its just a matter of choosing our words better but sometimes bullying can take place on a level that isn't appropriate and needs to be stopped. As someone that has both experienced bullying and watched people be bullied as well as the consequences of bullying, it is something that I'm very passionate about stopping as I feel that our community needs more love and friendship, than it does hate. Hate can only increase the negative aspects of life and could lead to more consequences such as self-harm which shouldn'

How that I have expressed some parts of my life, you may be wondering if this has caused me to be sad and depressed all the time but surprisingly most of the time I am happy, in fact people pick me up on always being happy and positive. I guess that is because I don’t want to be tainted by the things that have happened to me and I want to move on from them so this post is simply going to be a list of things that make me happy. The Beach – Living my the sea means that I have spend many days in the sunshine down the beach with friends or family or sometimes my myself. The main things that I love about the beach is the smell because it reminds me of fun and exciting memories but also just the views that you get no matter the time of the day specially as where I live can be quite unattractive at times. This is the place that I go when I need to reflect, relax and also when I want to make more memories.  Reading – Recently this has been something that I have picked up again because

So all these major issues that I have been disclosing with you, have a major impact on my life as you can possibly see but without friends and mostly family I would have struggled to get through these things. One thing that I have learned is that you can’t do anything on your own, somewhere along the line you will need someone to help you and its admitting this that makes you the survivor. It shows that you know your own strengths but it also shows that you know where you need help. Admitting that you need the help is one of the hardest things because you want to be strong and you want to believe that you can do it on your own. There is nothing wrong with being strong and holding it in but there will come to a point when you need to explode because your forcing those feelings down and you just need to say how you feel. Acting strong is great because it almost gives you the feeling that you are strong but everyone has to break at some point and there is nothing wrong from being wea