UNIVERSITY DEGREE DONE AND DUSTED, NOW WHAT NEXT?

Friday 19 May 2017

I am currently sat in bed listening to Lana Del Rey with a glass of Lidl white wine, and it still hasn't sunk in yet that my 4 years at university are over. In that time I've spent a semester living in Florida, a year working in London and a lot of time in bed watching movies, hence this list of movies recommendations for you. I'm going to save the reflecting for a bit later on, once I've left Bournemouth and it's actually hit me that I won't be seeing my friends daily anymore, or drinking caramel frappucino's in the library (there's no Starbucks in Gibraltar) or spending 3 hours in the downstairs room in Cameo. In Easter I kind of went through a quarter life crisis because I didn't know what I was going to do next with my life, I just have a fear of being bored and I never really like staying in the same place for a long time. So I decided to write this post thinking with a positive outlook and what I actually want to achieve in the months coming after finishing university. 

bournemouth university

so what's actually next?

If you're a newbie on the blog or simply don't know much about me, I'm originally from Gibraltar and moved to Bournemouth for University, occasionally coming back to Gib for summer and christmas. So I guess the next step now is to go back to Gibraltar, find a job and save save save. I don't like to plan too far ahead because life can take lots of turns and you never know where it will take you. Ideally I would like to go travelling at the end of next year, or maybe move to Australia, or Canada, or America - who knows! There are many variables. I don't have a definite long-term plan as of yet, but in order for me to feel a sense of achievement here are some short-term goals I want to achieve by the end of this year. 

1. Get my driving license. 

Four years ago my plan was at least to get my theory done before going to university, but frankly I didn't see the point when I would have forgot everything in the months between and I wasn't going to be buying a car to have it sat in my garage gathering dust. I don't really feel the need for driving the car currently because you can pretty much walk everywhere in Gib and buses are free for locals (and my sister can drive me places), but it's best to get it out of the way (and my mum is nagging me to start learning). 

2. Lose 10lbs

So somewhere since Christmas and now I have miraculously lost 8lbs, I only know this because I decided to weigh myself when I went home for Easter, not because I had noticed any difference in the mirror. I think I gained a dress size overall whilst at uni, which isn't horrific considering we're all meant to gain 15lbs at university. So now that I'm done my goal is to get back down to what I was (and lose a little bit extra). If you're looking to shift a bit of weight too, I wrote a blog post on some small changes you can make for a healthier lifestyle. 

3. Save £2000 and pay off my overdraft

I currently have 65p in my savings account, so off to a good start. Working in London on an unpaid placement left me with a big overdraft to pay which I'm now majorly regretting - did I really need a new dress every time I went out? no. I can't do anything about it now other than pay it off! So that will take first priority this year. 

4. Grow my social media following by another 1000.

 I hate how this has to be a point on here cause I'm perfectly happy with the followers I have and interacting with. However everyone in the blogging world knows that brands care just as much (or even more) about how many social media followers you have, and not how good the content you're producing is. Sad but true. I recently started an Instagram page especially for my blog and I'd love for it to get to 1500 by the end of this year, as for twitter 8000 will do! 

5. Find a job. 

I wish blogging could be my full-time job but alas I don't make enough to make a living and pay for 2 kids, my husband, my dog, my villa. So the practical thing to do next is find a job! If anyone wants to hire me I make a decent cup of tea and have plentiful funny stories to tell during lunch time. 

6. Work with one of my favourite brands. 

I thought this sentence looked funny and that's cause I had 'bands' written by accident for the first 10 minutes, but hey that would be fab too. I've got the chance to work with so many great brands this past year and I just hope to collaborate with more and produce great content! 

7. Squeeze in one more trip. 

Here's hoping I get a job then I might be able to fit in a long weekend holiday for my birthday in August and if all goes to plan I will be spending NYE in Barcelona with my best friend! As I said, I don't like being stuck in one place for too long so city breaks are ideal for me, then again Spain is just a stone throw away!

8. Pick up guitar again. 

I'll know if my sister is reading this if I see a message pop up from her saying 'Giana you can only play the G cord' because I did used to write songs and sing them all to the G cord. If I have a lot of time on my hands I'd like to learn how to play properly and then go on to tour the world with Harry Styles. 

9. Graduate!

For some unknown reason, Bournemouth's graduation is November. I think this is so people can repeat exams in the summer and still graduate with their year, but no one is going to get nice photos on the beach in November when it's windy and rainy! Anyway, on to a more serious note my second year semester was a disaster for me for numerous reasons and I ended up with a 2:2, so I've actually tried pretty hard this year and will be quite disappointed in myself if I don't end up graduating with a 2:1, if not it's not the worst thing in the world. So I'm preparing for that and hoping for the best!


Sorry if I've rambled on this one guys! I know a lot of people just read the headings but my blog is like my diary so sometimes I just need to vent. I'd love to know what the next chapter in your lives are! 

G

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