Just have a little perspective

Image credit Travellers Point - via Pinterest

Today in one of my classes we were discussing the topic of well being. The tutors got us to write down a list of positives that have happened in our lives, negatives that have happened, and why. We went through some rather big events in the positives, I wrote down things from getting accepted into university to having a lie in, but the negatives were a little harder. My group and I talked about the tiny first world problems that have a negative impact in our lives, breaking a nail or your iPhone, however we weren't confident I guess is the word to share the bigger ones.

After all of this our tutors got us to look back over our negative lists and see what we could've done differently so that they wouldn't have happened, but also what we could do now to make our view on them different. To look at it from another angle so to speak. For example my group and I talked about getting a bad grade or turning a project in that you weren't happy with. We decided that although it might not be a great grade it was only one grade. One grade out of a whole heap of them we'd get at uni we might as well think about what else we achieved from that paper, that we'd learnt lots, and learnt how to do things different next time.

It made me think more about my life. I'm pretty happy with my life; I have a great family, great boyfriend, great friends, great kitten, great house, what more do I need? Unfortunately there are a few small things that get me down but I feel that if I put it into perspective from today's class then maybe I may be able to sort them out. For a start I should put all the bad stuff behind me and never look back. Stop searching for things I know will put a downer on my day.

I'm no expert but some key advice I will say would be to PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE, DON'T SEARCH FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE YOU UNHAPPY, DELETE ALL NEGATIVE PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE - some maybe as easy as unfollowing that jerks Instagram, some might be harder.

I want to dissect your brains...

Since the semester is over I thought I'd share some work I've done over the last 12 weeks. To new readers; hi I study Graphic Design! This was by far my favourite project I've worked on this semester, closely followed by App class where, as you've probably guessed, we had to design an app. For print however we had to design our own conference which from that we were to create a poster, a 12 page brochure, two banners, and a fourth item - I chose a hoodie and t-shirt combination. My conference, Dissect, is a typography based conference concentrating on the structure of type. I wanted to imply the idea of peeling back layers to really understand type. 

I thought this might give outsiders a look into what a normal six week project looks like for a third year designer! Makes me wonder what other professions would do? Other than essays of course. 

A Half Year of Firsts

I've had quite the busy week this past week, but now all those tasks are ticked off and everything has been handed in so my first semester for the year is over. Now seen as this means it's almost halfway through the year I thought I'd look back on my year of firsts.
In January I wrote about my year of firsts which were 11 goals that were mainly things I wanted to do for the first time ever this year. I'm pretty sure I haven't done that great and so this will be a bit of a kick up the bum! Let's get on with it. 

Attend a blogging event

The amount of Brunch Club's that have happened this year that I've been busy for is slightly annoying. But I will make it this year!

Do a zoo encounter

Yeah... so this didn't happen for my birthday but I actually looked properly into it and have witnessed someone doing the meerkat one that I really want to do and now I really want to do it even more. But it's like $160 cry. 

Learn how to use my camera properly 

I'm getting there with this one! Haven't managed to get to camera raw at the moment but the rest I'm doing okay with. 

Leave more time for art

I've done some; started doodling some greeting card designs. With the mid year holidays starting next week I hope to explore this more!

Turn 21

Woo I did one!!! 

Gain 100 Bloglovin followers

It's slowly building so hello to all you new people. I've been loving talking to more and more fellow bloggers over Twitter and such. 

Get an A+ overall grade 

I don't think this is going to happen this semester, I've achieved some A minus' this semester but there's no way to achieve an overall A+ with that. I'll be happy with an A+ as any grade really...

Cook more 

Slowly happening, okay it might have been like once or twice. 

Get happier with my blog

Well this is been happening! Unfortunately due to some unforseen circumstances including having no internet like all this month I haven't posted as much as I've wanted these past two months but before that it was great! 

Save some money

Has been happening!

Spend it on the good things

Chocolate counts right? 

So um there's a lot well on the way so that should be okay by the end of the year. How are you guys going with your goals lately? Now the semester's over I may actually be posting more often although to update you we still have no internet so I'm not promising anything!

How to write essays like a boss!

It's not very common for my degree to be writing essays but I have to write about two a year and I always dread them. Writing isn't really my strong point, which is another reason I chose a very hands on creative degree, so I normally struggle when it comes to writing essays. I do actually get some decent grades on them though so I thought I'd share my tips on how to deal with them and hopefully get some good grades for yourself! 

Beforehand: 

Turn up to each lecture willing to take notes. 

Theres no point hoping for a good grade if you always skip lectures because they're too boring. It'll never happen unless you're one of those small few who can do nothing all term and then whip out an A+ essay magically from your brain... I know a few. 

Note what the tutor is saying. 

Most universities upload the presentation somewhere for you to look back on so it's worth noting down information your tutor is saying that isn't on the presentation rather than copying slides word for word. You'll get a better range of notes at the end by combining their information and the slide information and hopefully a better understanding.

Do the readings. 

Yes most of them are boring but they help! Some essay topics are tough to crack and without doing the reading it's hard to understand even if you hop on Google. Make notes and highlight sections that stand out or will come in useful later on.

Keep note of references.

Any webpages, any articles, any books you've used throughout the assignment keep a note of it so you can come back later for referencing. There's nothing worse than having to go through your web history to find that specific website you looked at 3 weeks ago to see what Constructivism is. 

I'm currently writing a 2000 word analysis on Post Humanism, don't ask me what it is as that's a whole different blogpost that will probably bore you to death. Plus I have honestly no idea how this relates to a design degree. We've luckily been given an extension so instead of writing that I'm writing this, lucky you!  

During:

Make a structure plan. 

You may have been given a structure by your tutors or not. Either way it's good to lay out your essay before you start to write. Jot down the order of points you're going to talk about and even include quotes you want to use for each paragraph. Making a plan means your writing should flow better which means better grades! 

Recolour code your notes. 

After noting down the structure of your essay and what key points you're going to talk about it's useful to go back through your notes and recolour code them. Use a separate colour for each key point and then when you get to a specific key point you're able to quickly see the notes you need.

Find your writing spot. 

For me, I write best while at my desk with disney music blasting through my headphones and snacks on hand. I find if I use my laptop on the sofa or bed I get distracted more and get less work done.

APA like a boss!

There's a few guidelines to referencing but my university prefers APA references. A lot of students complain about referencing but personally it's my favourite part of the essay as it's the easiest. Massey has a great online tool called OWLL APA Interactive (which you can find here) which is really helpful in guiding you through exactly what you need to write for what type of document it is. You can also use RefMe which is similar and they also have an app for on the go whilst in the library where you can scan barcodes and it automatically gives you the reference. 

Get a proof reader.

I always get my Mum to proof read my essays before I hand them in just in case I've missed a capital or a comma somewhere. It's always good to have someone else proof read your essay to make sure it sounds right and you're used the right their! 

Hopefully these tips help you out when your next assignment comes along! I know I can't help you actually write it but I'm there in spirit. I will add that I'm not an expert so feel free to share your tips in the comments as well! 

Weird things at design school

If any of you don't know I study graphic design at university and having gone through a few years of design school  I've learnt that a lot of weird things happen. Now along with the beautiful art that flows out of the students a lot of other stuff does too! 

• First years spend over 8 hours in their first few weeks drawing potatoes. 
• Potatoes in pencil, potatoes in pen, potatoes in chalk and potatoes dressed as Lady Gaga. 
• By the time you graduate you will have spent at least 50 hours of your life feeling up/deciding on/cursing at stock. Yes I do mean paper. 50 hours cursing at the weight of your paper. 
• It's normal to go to class with a laptop bag, a normal bag, and folders of various sizes. Plus boxes and bags of other rubbish.
• None of the tutors know how to use a computer. Okay maybe 3 do and that's it. They're designers and they don't know how to use powerpoint.
• You will own at least 10 of the same expensive pen in different weights. 
• You will use said pens to do everything but draw and then ruin them and then curse at them and yourself and your life and your bank account.
• Speaking of bank accounts, it's normal to spend hundreds a year on stationary. Seriously if you love stationary become a design student you'll never regret buying more because your tutor will tell you to buy more. 
• The first week before a new year you see the first years around town. You can tell because they're all battling with their new A1 folders. It's hilarious. 
• Sleep happens anywhere. 
• You will critique any design anywhere. Always. It's going to happen. 
• You will spend hours criticising the space between letters, if you didn't realise this was a thing, this is a thing. Kerning and leading are your best friends. 
• You always want to nap. Always. 
• But you never have time to nap after the first year so take those naps when you can first years! Design school takes over every moment of your awake life. 

This is only a few things but allow me to ramble on about how I feel like all I've been doing is uni work all day every day. Currently I have a mobile app and a book being created so it's very time consuming (oh and an essay but who cares about that). I'm also now sick due to this so have scrambled into bed whenever available to eat oranges and do more work. Such fun... 

What's in my University bag?

I realise that a lot of people take barely anything to uni every day, maybe just a notebook and pen, but I take too much! It's a mixture of being a design student, being prepared, and having to have a gigantic bag in order to fit my 17.4 inch laptop in it. This is just your average days amount of stuff, nearer hand in week I tend to have about double this due to all the other things I need like three different kinds of tape. Also my laptop's in there most days! 

So hello, meet my bag. The huge cheap leather thing I call a uni bag which really should be called the 'I look slightly cool but really I'm just killing my owners shoulders and legs' bag. But yes I got this bag from Diva for around $40 after my previous gorgeous bag had an accident with mud and a hill (proof here). It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but after finding out it fitted my laptop I was sold. Anyways onto the contents! 

Things to take notes on: 
Being a design student my normal notebooks for classes are visual diaries/sketchbooks, either A4 or A3, although the A3's don't fit but I thought I'd mention them. Just your regular Gordon Harris branded ones, cheap around the start of uni, great for doodling or actually doing work. I also take my diary most of the time even if I rarely use it in class (I forget) but homework goes in here and hand in dates. This one's from Typo at the start of the year for around $6, you can still get them now and I totally recommend the week to a page ones. I also have my iPad for taking notes or researching things when I don't have my laptop with me. I bought this halfway through first year and honestly it's been worth every penny, I never go to uni without it!  

Things to take notes with:
Woo a pencil case! Full of stationary! *heart eyes emoji* Okay so I may have a thing for stationary and my pencil case may prove this. I got this 'Pardon my French' from Typo last year and it's the perfect size to fit all my necessary equipment and the not really necessary equipment that I still want to take. Some examples being a Bic ball point (my love), many pencils of many grades, many ink pens of many thicknesses and your regular rubbers, pencil sharpeners, and rulers etc. 

Extra things:
First things first, my iPhone, can't go nowhere without that! Again the same with my iPod nano to listen to music while I walk to and from uni. Yes I realise I have an iPhone or iPad for this, especially as my iPhone has more storage, but my nano's just easier and I don't have to worry about it falling out my pocket etc as it's already pretty dead. Plus it has all my old songs on from my older dead computers! Wallet, keys and sunglasses, another few obvious things that I kind of need outside of the house. A USB, pretty sure this is a 32GB one, so I can store any of my work off the Uni computers and bring it home, and just to back up my work. Finally the last items, lip products, just to keep my lips nice and fresh all day! 

That's it! I'm pretty sure I've left things out but I pretty much just removed this all from my bag after my class on Friday so maybe not. Hope you enjoyed this look into the amount of rubbish I have to take with me to uni every day. 
What sorts of things do you take with you? Do you take this much? 

How To Survive University

Those of you in University in NZ are most likely starting some time in the next few weeks. I've seen a lot of first year design students walking around town with their stationary and it takes me back to two years ago when I decided to buy my first A1 folder on the windiest and slightly rainiest day of Feburary... That was a mistake. My uni goes back today so I thought I'd share some of my tips for starting back after that long four month break.

Talk to people

Talk to everyone; the tutors, your classmates, that student in the library who looks your age. If you don't like talking to new people get used to it, knowing people more than just sharing eye contact once in a while is going to get you through uni. I struggled in my first year to talk to people but I tried my best and it does land you with a lot of acquaintances who don't mind sitting with you in class which is great! If you're a first year try asking them where they're from in the country, what their major is, what their other classes are. It gives you a jumping off point and it may lead you to having a few classes together.

Listen to your tutors, but don't ignore your opinions

I've made the mistake a number of times of listening and doing everything my tutor tells me and ignoring my judgment and most of the time it hasn't gone well. I find it's awesome to get feedback from your tutors and whilst they do know best sometimes it's not best for your work. Trust your instinct, if you don't think making the type bright pink will work for you then don't do it, but do try it out first!

Do your readings and find more 

Or at least skim read them. It may be personal to me but I've always gotten better grades on essays when I've actually looked at the readings. Uni students are lazy I know but they're set readings for a reason they will help, plus you have to quote them most of the time so it's great to have the best quote, not just the first one you see. Also go to the library and find non compulsory readings on your topic, it's a bit more work but it'll pay off in the end when you get an A.

Be healthy 

Try and plan your meals and buy food for those meals rather than buying a load of chips and frozen chicken nuggets to get you through. Make use of fruit and veg markets. Also for handin week or exam week, whichever you may have, maybe call home for some meals to be sent to you to reheat and eat. If all else fails drink lots of water with your energy drinks and microwave pies. 

Don't skip class

I know a few people including myself once or twice who have skipped a class (mainly lectures) because they'd much rather do something else, like sleep or homework for another class. But it pays to go to every class, lecture and discussion classes as you're paying for it and there might be important information that's never repeated and is compulsory to pass. It's worth it okay, just promise you'll go? 

So long holidays I'll miss you terribly but bring on third year! I certainly will be doing some of these more this year! 

With the wave of a wand everything could be different.

image from mugglenet.com

“You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.” He held out his hand to shake Harry’s, but Harry didn’t take it. “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks,” he said coolly.”

There's just something about this scene in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that set the scene from the start, in declining Draco's offer of friendship he gained himself an enemy before he'd even got himself into the main castle. What happened in that little room off the great hall could have changed Harry's entire life, well maybe not the entire life as his seemed to be destined from the start, but his Hogwarts life with Draco would've been entirely different than with Ron and Hermione.

It got me thinking last night about times in my life when things like this has happened and if I'd have done the opposite of what I'd done then my life could be totally different. I in fact had this same exchange as Harry in year 8 when I'd just moved to a new school. I'd been placed with these two girls in my class to hang out with and learn where my new classes were and some other girls in the class came up to me and asked me to hang out with them instead. They included the fact that they were more popular in the class and that I shouldn't be hanging out with the people I were at the time. I declined their offer choosing to stay with the two girls I'd been making friends with, even though they seemed a little weird they seemed more like me than these popular girls. When I think about it now I wonder what my life would be like if I'd have said yes and hung out with them. I probably wouldn't have lasted, I'm not exactly the coolest person on the planet but maybe I might have, maybe I might have stayed friends with them up until now partying every weekend. Maybe I would've dropped out of school in year 11 or 12 to pursue a job rather than getting into University. It's a scary thought. 

This is one example that stood out to me in my brain as it was so similar to Harry's but I wonder what else in my life would have been different if only I'd chosen a different answer... 

That yearly 365 paged book.

So hello 2015; come in, make yourself at home, have a cuppa! A new year has begun and hopefully a new section of life. It's not really hard to see that 2014 hasn't been the best year for me at all but there were a few things that made it worthwhile. Bradley and I celebrated 1 year together just 5 days ago and without him 2014 would probably not have been manageable so woo thank you amazing best friend and boyfriend. I also went on an amazing holiday to Australia that I've just returned from that was probably one of the best holidays I've ever had (more posts on this later with photos woo)! But all in all I'm glad this year is over. With it being new year and all I decided to make some resolutions, however I have just the one this year: 

This can't really be hard so I'm really doubtful that I'll break it but that's not the point. I didn't want to make a list of things like I normally do and then break them before January has finished. I wanted to make one open resolution that means if I want to do yoga for a week and then give up I can, or if I want to do the thing where I say yes more sometimes I can, or say I want to give up sugar for a fortnight I can. There's no restrictions or set deadlines as any of these three things will add to a better year than 2014. So to be cliche - today is the start of a 365 paged book, try and make the story worthwhile. Happy New Year! 

Gold is a girls best friend?

Hiya so thanks for putting up with the fact I've hardly been posting the last two weeks it's been uni hell! But today I finished uni for the year and no longer have uni until late February next year, crazy..two years down, two to go! For my Letterpress class I had to create a poster that would work as a booklet cover and the inside pages for a given element. I got given gold and however much I really hate gold I really enjoyed making this set even though I had either gold powder or gold glitter stuck to me for the past 12 weeks. It involved making a lot of small vinyl layered mines to emboss over and over again as after about 3 times through the printing press they would lose their depth and almost become flat. So I'm just pretty happy it got finished and I'm pretty pleased with the A I got for the poster for the first part of the semester and I'm hoping for something similar this part for the inside pages. Fingers crossed! 

Dart Art

Have you ever watched The Princess Diaries and really wanted to try out that throwing darts and paint balloons art in that once scene? Well I did and today my wish came true! For one of my classes at Uni this semester we've been planning a very large student market hosted by just under 300 students. For this we worked in teams of 5 and unfortunately due to a few circumstances my team ended up being a team of 3 for most of the part but we steamed ahead. We wanted to create something different than your average market stall where they sell food or little charms, we wanted to create an experience. So together with just under 100 balloons we trekked forward and created this masterpiece. Let's hope we get a good grade!
If any of you want to try this out it's really simple: 

1. Grab some balloons, water balloons work the best, and after being stretched pour in a 60/40% paint/water mixer to about 3/4 of the way.
2. Grab a bottle, I used one of them no mess ketchup bottles, and pump it full of air. 
3. Attach the balloons to string then string them up over the canvas.
4. Throwwwww! 

VCD's ruined you!

Fueled by crispy m&m's and coke I've finally reached the end of the first half semester woohoo! Unfortunately I lost my mind and broke down a few minor times during this time but hey I survived and I've handed in pretty much all my work now. I haven't really had any free time to blog or even scroll tumblr so sorry anyone following my tumblr as it hasn't been as busy as usual. But the good thing is I've actually been learning things, shock horror I've been actually learning things from the university I'm paying to teach me things! From this I hope to turn this blog into a more kind of design blog than a lifestyle blog even though it was already leaning towards design so this means a new layout and new style (just as soon as I go home and have time to sort it). I'll hopefully be able to post more artists and inspiration and also my class work. For those of you who don't know I'm studying Bachelor of Design majoring in visual communication design which pretty much is a mixture of graphic design, illustration, digital media, and advertising.

and if the city never sleeps than that makes two

I move back to the city this Sunday and I'm really excited! I'm not that excited about leaving my family again as I'm such a family person and being 8 hours away from them feels awful through the year but I manage. The thing this year though is I've gotten over freshers year, I'm no longer a freshman I'm now a sexy sophomore or ya know a sophimore... ANYWAYS bad jokes aside I plan this year to make more of an effort and spend more time doing things than staying inside. We know this is most probably not going to happen but if I write it down it's more likely to motivate me! 

1. Explore the city more. Wellington isn't a huge city so it can't be too hard and I just find that I call myself a Wellingtonian but I've never even been up the hill. Ever. I want to go for more adventure walks and take my camera with me and hopefully update you on the way! 
2. Spend more time in the library. Last year I used the library soley for wifi and disney animator books so this year I want to spend more time in it and explore all the different sections. There's some glorious books in there and I want to read quite a few of them and expand my knowledge. 
3. Meet new people. I'm not the best person to make friends and usually I only make friends through my friends or for a few weeks while we struggle through a class together. This year though I'm gonna try my best to make and keep some new friends that I do more than just add on Facebook as that's just pointless. 

I spent all last year staring out my window at the world (it was an amazing view) so this year I want to get stuck into that world I stared at and become a part of the city and get involved. 

Twenty Fourteen

I know a lot of New Year posts may be overkill but I feel like 2014 is going to be my year. Although I've already had some ups and downs and I know it's going to have one awful death in the family but it seems I've finally found my place.  

I'm really excited to move back down to uni, less because of work but more because I'm flatting with my friends. Last year I lived in uni halls which were 5 bedroom flats so I didn't know my flatmates before I moved in with and it was so lucky that I got on with them and I got on with two of them so much they were like family by the end of the year it was fabulous. I don't know if living in the same flat as my friends will now make it a bit awkward as last year I had some where to go to to get away from if I needed some Sophie time and now I wont. I'm sure it'll be fine though as they all lived on their own last year so they'll be wanting their own time too. Think we'll have some great memories in that flat and hopefully stay there for the next three years of my degree. I'll also be living with my boyfriend which we'll see how that goes as we agreed to live together before actually getting together as I'm really for the whole not living with people you're dating but we'll see. 

I'm hoping my second year at uni will go much smoother in classes having got past that freshers first year of learning all the new things and will finally crack down on classes specific to our degrees. I'm incredibly excited for a class I'm taking called 'Character Design' and really think it'll be so much fun as all I love doing in my spare time is drawing Disney so if I'm able to go down that kinda style route of animation I'll be so happy. I really hope to take my confidence to the next level and allow myself to actually ask for help and work while people are around me and let them see my progress works instead of hiding away until I finish my final piece.

Last night I made a huge purchase which has taken me years to finally cave into something I've really wanted ever since using one for the first time about 4 years ago; an iMac. Frankly I've heard some really good and really bad things about apple and I just wanted to make my own decision about it so just went for it. Deciding on a desktop instead of a laptop as my laptop is still pretty decent but my desktop really does need replacing as I never bother using it as it's useless. I'll just leave it up here when I move back down so I can use it in holidays and not have to bother carting my laptop back and forth as it's a bloody nuisance. 

As for my resolutions it's now the 8th and I'm doing pretty well at most of them, as you can see from this post.. well better than I thought I would personally. 

Catch Up On Life

I haven't been able to blog properly for a while because of a silly virus my laptop has that means it's rather hard to upload photos and also I can't get photos off Instagram for example. So I thought I'd do a wee catch up on what's been happening with my life. 

1. Uni has been a bit busy due to the fact I'm doing a few classes that involve things I've never done before. It's a bit stressful at first but I'm starting to get the hang of it and I guess it's good to jump out of your comfort zone a bit, there's nothing more boring than sitting through a 4 hour class week after week with your teacher going over the basics of Photoshop, at least I'm learning a lot of things this semester.
2. Now it's second semester a lot of us first years are starting to get a bit worried about where we're going to live next year as Uni Accommodation is only available for first years. Luckily a few friends and I got together and through a link on TradeMe managed to find this really nice flat practically next door to where I am now which is great. It's 5 bedroomed and sharing it with 5 other people means it's practically like this year all over again. I'm really excited to move in and customise the place especially as my room is like three times the size as my one here at the moment and I can actually stick things on the wall woohoo! 
3. My friend has been constantly nagging me to start watching Teen Wolf with her and a few others and I've been putting it off again and again with hope of less tv the better but I caved. For the past few days I've watched all three series up to date and am thoroughly addicted oops! Team Sterek! Along with that I've had a serious addiction to The Mortal Instruments book series, I'm currently part way through the fifth one and seriously excited for the movie in like 18 days eek! 
4. Following a wee procrastination session today I decided to rearrange an area of my room so that I can access my clothes easier and I don't know about you but after rearranging things everything looks so different even if it's just a small shelf that got moved. It feels good to have a place for everything now and not random trousers and tops sitting on my bed because they have no place to go.

Oh that was a much longer post than I thought it would be hey ho I'll end it here and keep the rest for later x

Time to take a much needed break

http://yourpersonalcheerleader.tumblr.com/post/35708454234/kate-bartolotta

With hand-ins happening next week the end of the semester is looming and creeping towards us so quickly it's hard to believe we're almost through half a year of University. It felt like only last week I had stocked up on energy drinks getting through the massive amounts of work for first quarter hand-ins and now we're here. The one thing I do seem to struggle with whenever due dates start looming is time management... I suck at it. I am constantly leaving everything to the last minute and stressing until the very half hour before the due time about not getting it done. I do of course, I always do but I just feel like it's never going to be my best work if I rush it all at the end but it's who I am. 

I came across this graphic while surfing Tumblr on one of my many study breaks and thought to myself that I should really do more with my breaks than just switching tabs from research websites to Tumblr. So I might not be doing everything on that list but some I might just give a go in the many breaks I have left until last hand-in. I've already started on a wee little project of my own that I've been doing in breaks and it's going pretty well if I must say but you guys will have to wait and see when I've finished hehe x

Let's build a fort and live while we're young

We came back from the comedy show last night to the my flatmates in the midst of creating this amazing fort so of course we had to join in. Adding a few sets of my fairy lights, some blankets and pillows and we were all set for an evening of movies alcohol and fun. Let's just say we ended up playing Disney Channel Scene It (a bargain i found for $6 at The Warehouse) until around half three in the morning. I do feel sorry for our neighbours who had to put up with Louise and my amazing singing skills rapping to the Cheese Jerky rap from Hannah Montanna at around 2am but it was worth it. I think my nerd did start showing once i got competitive and shouting out the answers and getting really into it and I'm not sure my flatmates knew i knew that much about old school Disney Channel but hey ho. Oh I might add the game was old school Disney like the That's So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody era. It was amazing fun x

Just say yes and live your life.

I've never really been one of those people who live life hard without the fear of striking out. Moving to University however has given me all these new chances to try something new and to say yes to things I would never have dreamed of doing ever in my life before. Although at this point in time it's only really small things but hey I'm trying! I even participated in an event even though I knew it involved running that's how pro I am now. (not that we didn't actually end up running but hey its the thought that counts) This is just one of the things I knew I had to grow up and do seen as being creative and a designer is made by taking chances. 

Don't put off or pull out of a project/assignment just because you have to present to the class. Don't shy away from showing off your work because it actually might be good you just don't know. Shout out an answer with confidence even if you don't know for certain it's right. Just do it all and get used to being wrong because you're going to be wrong many many times in your life. I know myself that I'm just getting started it's gonna get worse and I need to be ready so that when that time comes I don't end up collapsing into a crying ball of tears in the corner... x