The Truth About My Education Experience...

Hello guys...

By now you have probably realised that I only return to blogging when I am going through a bad time within my life and feel the need to rant and get it out. That time is now.
As a recent graduate, I have had to face the facts of life after university and all of the crap life throws at you. School/college/University do not prepare you for life at all, I have went through life thinking to myself, 'after this, I will go onto higher education and then I'll find a good job and my life will be set out for me'. Not true.

Throughout University and any course that you choose, there are always statistics telling you "99% of students were in a job a week after graduation", I would love to know where they get their statistics from.   For me personally, I have always worked and always wanted to better myself with my education and was always told "if you want a good career, you have to work for it". So after graduation I assumed that with my degree, I would be able to go into the profession that I wanted however, I later found out it is 100% not what you know, more like who you know.

It does not matter if you are the smartest human in the world, you may not get the job that you want, within many industries it is simply all about the contacts you have within the business. Which truly is upsetting.

Within School, it was all about the grades of your GCSE's and what you got, "you won't be hired with E's" they said. But tell me, how many times have you had to show evidence of your GCSE certificates to get the job you want? For me it's 0 times.

We set out through life thinking we must do the best within everything or we will fail. If you don't get into University then you must be "stupid" or "incapable of doing it". NEWS FLASH: This is not true. No matter what you do within life, as long as you are doing what you love, you're doing great.

If someone told me 6 years ago that I did not need to go to University to go into the profession that I want, I wouldn't have gone. I would have applied for an apprenticeship and worked my way up whilst making money and not getting myself into £30,000+ debt, experienced anxiety and stress.

I believe that I would have been happier if I actually did NOT attend University. But unfortunately, I have been stuck within a life of education which I chose to do and yet I am still not happy or proud of myself. To this day, I still have nightmares about being in College which makes me wonder; why did I put myself through it? For what? A piece of paper?

My advice for anyone right now is, do what you want to do. Do not feel like you are not good enough to get a job without a higher qualification. If you want to go to college or university, do it. If you don't well thats fine too. Either way, be proud of yourself because no matter what you choose to do in life, it does not matter if you do not truly believe in yourself.

Ciao for now...

Preparing For The End Of University...

Hello guys...

The time has come for the post to be made about the end of university. 3 whole years has gone before my eyes and I honestly never thought I would make it this far.

I thought I would make a post about final year and what to expect if you are about to start third year.

First of all, stay calm! This year will pass by so fast that you'll feel like everything is happening at once. Dissertation is a big stress but with the help of your friends and family, you will do it! Within the UK, at the end of university some courses do a 10,000 word assignment on a topic you want.
When I went into third year I thought that I'd have this whole time to do my 10,000 words in one go but it was not like that at all. I still had to do other modules alongside it and other assignments. This was quite daunting to come to terms with but it was do-able.

Supervisors were assigned which meant that I had someone to look to and ask advice from. I was also able to do parts of the dissertation within sections so it allowed me to focus on the methodology for a few weeks and then receive feedback before going on to do the next part. This completely helped and made me feel as if I could breathe.

Although it is now Friday and my dissertation is officially due on Monday, I am not finished university yet. I still have another assignment and presentation to do. (there is an end though!!)
When I started university, I wish I knew that third year would be like this and wouldn't just be based on the dissertation which is why I thought this post could be pretty useful.

One thing I must point out is that when it does come to dissertation season, put your all into it! And you can do it, even if you think you can't, there is an end and it will come quicker than you expect.

This quote helped me make it this far,  so I thought I would share it with you all!

Ciao for now...

The Truth About My Mental Health...

Hello guys...

It's been awhile. A long while. I have gone through a lot these past months but I am here to tell it and that is all that matters.

Mental health is a terrible thing, no one explains to you just how much it will affect your life until you're going through it. So I am going to tell you my experience of it.

Anxiety and depression can come on at any time, whenever you expect it the least. For me, mental health is always something that I have struggled with but always put it off and just assumed theres "something wrong with me, I just overthink too much".

But at the beginning of this year I started to realise that everything is just too much, I was doing university work, 30 hours a week within a job, helping to care for my family and just trying to juggle life. It was not working for me. I would cry at least every single day. It was no way to live. But with anxiety and depression, you do not want to "bother" anyone with whats going on in your life. I've always been the type of person to push my own problems to the back of my head and just think about other people. Overtime at work? I'll do it, need help? I'll do it. That was pretty much my life.

So after a few months of this and the crying, I could tell it was starting to affect my parents and my family around me because I was just a sad person to be around. This led me to the doctors to talk solutions. No one wants to rely on tablets to make them happy and as a 20 year old, this knocked me ill, completely hated it. But that was the only way that I could see some sort of light at the end of this dark tunnel. The doctor then told me about counselling and the idea of telling anyone my problems made me cringe too. But I went ahead with it and rang the counselling service which told me there would be a waiting list for 8 weeks. 8 weeks for anyone with mental health is a life time, another 8 weeks with feeling like absolute crap adds a lot more pressure onto you.

I waited it out and in the mean time I still had to deal with work and university. I did not want to have to tell the people I spend my time with in those environments, about my life and what I was going through.  Instead, I cut my hours hoping this would take stress off me. I was wrong.

As time went on, life changes and family problems made me feel lower than before. I was getting to the point of dreading work and talking to other people because I knew I'd just cry.

Nothing is worth making your health worse so that was it, the end of work. I had to leave, I had to hand my notice in. Work were very understanding about this which made me think "why didn't I do this earlier? What was I worried about?" Within one week, this lifted my mood completely.

Just as I thought, maybe this is going to be ok, maybe I'm going to be ok. Me and my younger sister, were part of the Manchester Attack which was at the Ariana Grande concert.

We were on our way out of the building when the bomb went off. We completely broke down and ran for our lives, my sister fell on her way out which made me panic and pull her. Being the older sister, I feel as if I am the protector. I could not let anything happen to my sister. We were two hours from home, panicking, crying and worried about what was happening and what had just happened. My nephew had just been born and the thought of never seeing him again had me in bits but we had to think positive. We had to stay positive and realise how lucky we were that we got out fine. This did not help what is going on in your mind. The constant thoughts about what had happened and the what ifs were endless. Not a day goes by that I don't think about the individuals that died within the attack. I will never forget it.

When we did get home, my parents arranged for me and my sister to chat with therapists to talk about our experience and basically just let us know that we were not alone within this.

As time goes on you start to realise just how lucky you are to be alive and around people who love you which made a lot of difference. That was when I knew that its ok to talk about what I've been through, no one has the same life and the experiences we go through are what shape us into the person we are today. I realised I should not be ashamed of my health and what I've been through and what I'm going through. I know that taking tablets to help me be happy, is what I need for now.

Mental health is not something you should be ashamed of but it will affect your whole life. It makes you want to quit at life but you can't (maybe you can for a few days) but we can't let it win. It is a struggle and I know I will never be completely myself again but I know my experiences are what have made me who I am and when I'm having a bad day, I will not be ashamed of that. I know that my mental health will never be "normal" and I will always feel the way I do but I know I am able to cope with that.

The fact I am able to talk about it today says a lot about how far I have came. Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of posting again.

Ciao for now...

A Life Update...

Hello guys...

Well, it appears that once again my life took over and I forgot what blogging was so I thought I would do a quick life update.

Since I last blogged, I have been busy with University and doing assignments, today was my final day there of the year before handing in my last assignment next week (thank god).

I have a new job! I am now a waitress/bar staff within a local Italian Restaurant which I love doing and the people are so lovely to work with.

This week, I have started the bootea diet which is drinking a tea bag a day and a night tea every other night, I go on holiday next month so I need to lose weight before then. Anyone that knows me knows how much I hate my weight so I'm constantly trying new diets.

My life has been none stop recently which is pretty hectic but now I've finished uni, I should hopefully be back into blogging more frequently (hopefully)

At the moment, my life is definitely, ONE BIG SIGH!

Ciao for now...

My ASOS Wish List...

Hello guys...

First of all, happy April! I have decided to put together a post on my "Wish list" for asos.com. These are items that I hope to be able to buy soon.

This is a High Shine Rain Mac which is £45.00 but I LOVE. With me living within the UK, this would come in handy too.

I am going to Ibiza soon so these Mono Stripe Pleated Culottes would be ideal for the weather. These are £15.00.

Again this dress would be perfect for my holidays and I am just loving this colour at the moment. This is the Rib Swing Sundress with Tape Trim and is £25.00. I hope to buy this item soon.

 

This Washed Satin Beach Cover up is another holiday buy I need. I am not one to walk around in a bikini and feel ok about that so a cover up will be needed. This is £26.00 and I find that quite expensive for a cover up.

Trousers are what I'm loving at the moment and who doesn't love red? These are Woven Peg Trousers with OBI Tie and are £25.00 which I actually find quite reasonable. 

And finally, these heels. These are actually from Missguided but on the asos website. These are the Missguided Knot Barely There Heeled Sandals. I'm a total lover of heels and these would definitely go with the red trousers. These cost £30.00

That is it for my ASOS wish list post, I hope that you enjoyed this blog post and maybe even got some inspiration.

Ciao for now...

The Uni Guide...

Hello guys...

It's coming to that time where making a decision about what University you want to go to, what do you need to take, and whether you can afford it is all you stress about.

So here are some things I wish I knew before starting uni...

First of all, relax! Making a decision whilst stressed is never a good idea. When it comes to making that decision on UCAS, think it through.

Warning: You do not get half term holidays.- I did not know this when I started.

Now, making the decision whether to move or stay home is another level of stress. I chose to stay at home because I live 30 minutes away from the university and the first year was free travel, which means I'm left to live on my loan without the worry of travel money. I have friends that can only afford to live on bare essentials each week due to the price of accommodation. If you are able to access the uni via transport, stay home and use the transport. If not, move but don't just move because you feel like it would be more fun because at the end of the day its not fun if you're living an hour away from your friends with only a tin of soup to last you three days.

What you'll need:

A printer- No one wants to spend more time than they need to in the library printing.

A good working laptop- Trust me, it'll save your life.

A noticeboard- Being organised will also save your life.

Warm clothes- By the second day you'll have exchanged your nice clothes for your fave lounge wear and no one will say a thing.

Stock up on sweet food-  For when uni is too much.

Stock up on alcohol- For when uni is too much.

A big bag- one day you'll have nothing in, the next you'll have your whole bedroom in it.

Snacks- Taking snacks into a lecture will always be a good decision.

A diary- This will help you remember what day it is and how long you have till the end of semester.

YIK YAK- Gossip central about campus.

Netflix- Believe me, this will be your saviour after a lecture or even during a lecture.


I hope that this list of essentials that I have came across during the year, have helped you some how!

Let me know your essentials, what uni are you going to? Are you having a gap year?

Ciao for now...

Prom Season Is Approaching...

Hello guys...

It's almost April which means we're coming to the end of a school year soon and then it's prom! My prom was in June and I know how long it took to plan and organise so making sure you have the perfect prom dress, makeup and hair style is essential!

If I could re-do Prom, I'd definitely change my dress now that I look back, a website that I would have considered if I knew about it back in 2013 would have been Simple Dresses, Simple Dresses is a dress website which sells Prom dresses, Wedding dresses, Bridesmaid dresses and so much more on one website. Whilst browsing through the website, every dress I have fell in love with, has been so reasonably priced too!

2 of the dresses I found and would love to bought if I could re-do prom are:

Mermaid Prom Dresses

This style of dress is definitely a personal fave, the whole Angelina leg out style is always a good thing. The black with the lace really works for me, I hate my arms but quite like my legs so having the arms covered and a leg out would be my ideal dress. I find that with this dress you could probably wear it to more than one event too. 100% love it.

This dress is US$ 147.99 and comes in a range of colours. 

The next dress I loved are the Two Piece Prom Dresses

As a prom dress, this would not be something that I would usually go for, but I thought that this particular style and design is quite unusual to wear to an event such as Prom and not many others would have it. My favourite part about this dress is the colours. If you are not the type to wear a ball gown style dress or don't enjoy getting overly dressed up, this type of dress would be for you.

This dress is US$ 163.99 and comes in a range of colours.

For more information on the dresses visit  www.simple-dress.com

I hope that if your prom is coming up, you make the right decision and the best decision when it comes to your dress, go for what you like not what other people would like. I'd love to hear about your prom, leave a comment below telling me about it. 

To get in touch with me- 

email: nadia.elliott.1996@gmail.com

Instagram- nadiaelliott

Ciao for now...