Beyond The Degree

Greetings. It's been 365 days since I last posted on my blog. Without sounding incredibly cheesy (which I always do), it has been a whirlwind of a year... and I think that's why it has taken me so long to publish something.  I just didn't really know where to start. And yes I am fully aware that my online ramblings were not missed. If this whole post comes off as a moan, then I apologise, as that's not what it is. My intention was to write down my feelings as I would never say them out loud unless I had a gin and tonic in my hand. I guess this is an attempt to pick out what I have not achieved in 2018 and understand what I can do in 2019 to make sure that I do.  My last blog post honed in on my mental development and the process and journey that I was on and what I wanted to achieve in 2018.  To put rephrase this I tweeted this in 2017... ... and failed, so tried to put it in practice in 2018 and use it as a template to think about...

Last week was Health and Wellbeing week at Loughborough University, following from my previous post, I thought it would be appropriate to address Health and Wellbeing and why it is so necessary. On Wednesday, I attended the Health and Wellbeing Fayre at the Student Union. This fayre consisted of smoothie making (with a bike), painting, arts and crafts, fitness challenges and lots of goodies. An idea that I loved and stuck with me, was a jar which was filled with 31 positive notes for the month. Unfortunately, I do not have a jar, but I do have a pretty box that I can use to imitate this idea as the last 3 weeks have been quite stressful as everything seemed to be happening at once. It has been quite hard to keep up with it all and meet deadlines, socialise, participate in extracurricular activities, exercise, get 8 hours sleep, eat 3 meals a day, stay positive, etc. But this made me realise that even though I enjoy these things, and some of them are necessary, I do need to find ...

HAPPY 2017 EVERYONE! I hope so far your year has been going great. To any students reading this who have finished their exams well done! To those who haven't keep going you got this. 2016 was filled with highs and lows. Terrible events happened daily in the world and sometimes watching the news was draining. Towards the end of 2016, Trump winning the election and electoral college ruffled many feathers, but as we live in a democracy, he earned his presidency. Despite the craziness right now we must remain hopeful that he becomes a good leader, he certainly has the power to be, and that he becomes more understanding of the people's needs. There may be a time when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time where we fail to   challenge and question. Hopefully, this year will be better for you in all aspects! :) A phrase that is frequently thrown around is self-love. Now the dictionary defines self-love as 'regard for one's own well-being an...

Recently in popular culture, many iconic figures are being incredibly courageous in accepting and acknowledging their mental health issues. Some have been rehabilitated and have addressed to their fans how they need to take time to 'fix' themselves. This courage that they exude, will hopefully have a ripple effect on other people, encouraging them to open up about their problems; despite the long existing stigma around mental health. I am constantly questioning why there is so much stigma around mental health. Especially as one in four people will experience mental health problems at one point in their life. In addition to this, depression in youths has increased by 70% in the last twenty five years. Personally, I feel like these statistics are considerably high. If it affects that many people, why is there so much shame around it? When a person is physically injured, hospitalised or has broken a bone, they appear to be swarmed with affection and concern, get well soon card...