My Year in Review

Despite the fact that it still feels too early to be reviewing the year and moving on to another one, I feel like this is what I need to do right now. 2013 has been an odd little year for me with lots of changes and big life events. I can't say its been a brilliant year but it has definitely been a big year. It went something like:

January/February/March
Revision for my modular exams for my A Levels pretty much took over until they were finished and then it was back to the normal daily life of sixth form and home. I celebrated a couple of 18ths but other than that the first few months of this year were not very remarkable if I'm honest.

April
My 18th Birthday happened and, although I was reluctant about doing any big celebrations at first, I had the best time. I spent a spa day with my girls and had a lovely meal with my mum and boyfriend. Then for the first time, I spent an afternoon in a room of family and friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in years. To my surprise, it was great. I'm so glad I was persuaded to go along with it

May
This month started with my mum's birthday and finished with leaving sixth form with a great leavers do. I've never been good at saying goodbye and this goodbye was the first of many this year and it was a hard one. I was ready to move on though and I had a thoroughly good night celebrating with friends,

June/July
These months were revision and then finishing up exams, being officially done with school and college once and for all and starting summer holidays with a week in Wales.

August
A usual I spent most of August volunteering at a local playscheme with children with special needs but there was one amazing weekend in August that I will never forget. I got to spend three days in London with the best people celebrating the best of nerd culture at LeakyCon London. The organisation may not have been the best but the people and the experiences were. It was the best weekend of my life and the highlight of my year. Later on in the month I received my A Level results and officially got into my first choice university, making it all the more real.

September
This was another big month, I started it off with a trip to America where I got to see a wonderful play and meet my biggest inspiration, followed by a few days in New York City which were overwhelming but a great experience that I feel lucky to have. The end of September saw me and my friends moving away from each other for the first time to make our own way in the scary world of university.

October/November
These were two of the loneliest months I've had. I felt left down, the wonderful social experience I was promised just didn't happen and it was very hard not finding my group of weirdos but feeling like I was seeing everyone else find theirs. Being in a place where I was away from the people I love for the first time was very hard and it still is. I don't necessarily think its been a bad thing though, I've grown and changed more than ever before. University has helped me grow, not just personally but academically as well, I've got clarity on my options and what I want in the future now and I'm happy with where I am in that part of my life for the first time in a long time.

December
As soon as December 1st hit there was a collective feeling of just wanting to go home for Christmas. That has been my December and now I'm home its good. Its comfortable and, it might not feel like Christmas yet, but it is very good to be back home for a few weeks.

So, that was my year. The best adjective I can find to describe it is big. This year has been big and different.