Reflections on a year of closures

It's been over a year since I wrote anything here, but that's not to say it hasn't been eventful.
I might even tentatively suggest that it's been too eventful for me to have even considered trying to maintain a blog. But I guess now we've come full circle.

It seems to me that writing a blog is an opportunity for reflection, a space to retrospectively explore events, emotions and feelings. Which is perhaps why I've come back to it now, at a time when it seems like things are coming to a close.

3 weeks ago, I walked out of my final exam of university. My student card expires today.
This weekend I'll leave the keys behind for my last Sheffield student house and head South.
In 2 months I'll be starting my first real life job. The first of many.

When I was thinking about university, weighing up my options and looking at courses, it's always been about the place:
Why languages? Because any reasonable traveller needs to have at least a couple under their belt.
Why Sheffield? Because Sheffield felt like home before I'd even spent a day there.
I realise now that the Who carries a lot more weight than the What, and to some extent the Where, but nevertheless it seems to be the Where that drives me on a never ending quest to explore. This time, destination: Chile, fulfilling my teenage ambitions to move away and live abroad at the end of my degree. Although I can't imagine my 17-year-old self could have imagined she would ever become the person I am today, and the adventures she would have in those 4 years.

Next week I'll get my degree classification, supposedly the culmination of 4 years' work. But it isn't really... The university experience is unique for everyone, but I'm proud to say that I wouldn't change mine for the world. Everything has it's ups and downs, but not only have the last 4 years been incredibly educational, but also formative, and I'm armed and ready to face the real world, with all it's hidden treasures and ugly secrets.


For now it's time to clear up and get some sleep. Watch this space.