University // My Thoughts On Going into Third Year

Hey Guys!

Fresher's Week is over and I've had my first official week back at university. Now that everything has settled back down I've been reflecting on the last two years I've had here at Newcastle University and what I'm to expect in my third and final year ❤

Moving back up to Newcastle after a long three-month summer wasn't as stressful this time around (probably because we are staying in the same student house as last year, so all of my belongings were in the room I had in second year). Not having as many possessions to take and knowing I was going to the same house I've already lived in for a year was reassuring as I didn't have to settle in to somewhere new like we all had to do in the first and second year. One thing that has changed this year is that I feel old! I know that sounds ridiculous as I'm only 20 years old, but seeing first years arriving and embarking on a new adventure makes me look back at when I first moved to Newcastle and started university, it makes me feel so old! Also, don't even mention the hangovers now that I'm a year older. You'd think after all this time I'd be able to hack all the nights out and I'd be making the most of Fresher's Week but the hangovers last about two days and I can't deal with it. I just want to sit on the sofa every night and watch The Cry and Goggle Box with a cup of tea haha! 

My Dissertation

This year I am to write a 10,000-word dissertation, along with completing four modules. For my dissertation, I've decided to research and conduct a study on the sexualisation of women in contemporary music videos comparing western music videos to South Korean music videos, exploring why women are sexualised and whether it was their choice. I'm excited to research this area and write up everything but doing a dissertation is so daunting! Especially as it has such a high weighting on my final grade. Third year is going to be stressful! I might as well move into the library now! If any of you have written a dissertation I'd love some advice on how to stay productive and get the most out of my third year!

After Graduation

There are so many things I'm considering to do when I finish and graduate but it's deciding what is the right move to make.  I might stay and do my masters up here in Newcastle, but I'm also contemplating getting into the field and getting some experience, or to go abroad and teach English for a year, or even try something different. There are so many different options after I graduate, but at the moment I'm taking one day at a time. 

I'm sad to be in my last year of university! I'm not ready to leave yet. Going to university has been the best decision I've ever made and I'm sad to leave, my time here has gone by so quick! I've made so many great memories and moving away has helped me become a lot more independent and appreciative. I don't want the experience to be over just yet, so I'll definitely be making the most of it this year ❤

You'll be seeing a lot more university-related content on here this year so look out for that! 

What year are you in now? Or have you already graduated? Let me know in the comments below ❤

See you soon! 

Amy x

*Disclaimer: All photos are my own. 

University // Why I'm So Grateful To Be Here

Hey Guys!

It has been a while since I've wrote anything on here. After I got back to university in January I had finals and assignments to complete all in the space of two weeks and then the new semester started at the beginning of February so I wanted to concentrate on my new modules and keep on top of all the work. So, I took a hiatus from writing and prioritised my school work. But now I'm back and trying to fit more time in my week to write blog posts again ❤

I'm constantly trying to focus on things I'm grateful for, especially when I'm having a bad day. So, one thing I'm constantly grateful for is getting the opportunity to go to university. I always think about what my life would be like right now if I didn't go to university or even more specifically Newcastle University, so I wanted to express how grateful I am having access to education and being able to go to a great university ♡

1. Friends: I have met the most amazing people while I have been here in Newcastle. My housemates, course mates and those I've met through mutual friends have made my time at university so much better than my expectations! Living with some of my favourite people has been such a blessing, having people around who are so supportive, always having something to joke about and the nights out has made my time in Newcastle for the past two years so fun! 

2. Being a student: I love going to university! I'm so sad that I've nearly finished my second year already. The time here at university flies by so quick, it felt like only a minute ago I started my second year and moving into our house. My course is perfect for me, it is everything I hoped for and more, so the fact I'll have to graduate next year makes me so sad. I love learning new things, I love being able to sit and learn about something new all the time, which is why I'm so grateful that here in the UK I got the opportunity to attend such a great university and take a course that is exactly what I wanted to do. It is just so sad that July next year I will have graduated and will have to move on to other things. 

3. Opportunities: I have had so many great opportunities since coming to university, especially in my second year. When I started second year I knew that I needed to start building up my CV and gaining experience. So I explored and looked into it and now I'm writing for The Tab, I work for the university's marketing department as a content creator writing blog posts and I've been able to network with people in the media and creative industry. I'm grateful that I'm able to have these opportunities through uni and gain more experience in the industry I want a career in.

4. Learning to become independent: One thing I learnt from moving away from home and moving to a new city is how to be independent and how to look after myself. I was always quite independent when I was back home and living with my parents, but I never had to do my washing, cook for myself everyday and if I was unsure about something my parents were always there. Whereas, since moving to Newcastle I had to learn how to do everything on my own, make my own decisions and look after my money (including earning my own money). I can confidently say now that I'm able to do everything on my own (unless I'm really stuck and I ring my mum and dad haha!).

There are so many more reasons why I'm grateful for getting the opportunity to go to Newcastle University, but they can wait for another time  💕

See you on Wednesday my lovelies!

Amy xx

Honest Truths About University

Hey Guys!

University has been honestly the best decision I have ever made and I'm enjoying every minute of it! Uni has both good and bad parts throughout your experience but there are also some honest truths that you should know! Here are six honest truths for university students ♡ 

#1 You Have To Make Effort To Make Friends 

When your in secondary school and further education a lot of the time you already know the majority of people because you have moved up with them and they have always been there through your lower education, however when you get to university you won't know anybody and everyone will be from other parts of the UK or international students, so you have to make effort to get to know people and talk to people. Even if it is just introducing yourself to people in your accommodation or while your around university, once you start to make the effort to meet people you'll make friends. Also, university is the perfect opportunity to not just make friends within your accommodation but also with people who have the same interests as you through societies! 

#2 You Don't Need To Buy a 100 Books For Your Course

You might get carried away when you go to the uni book shop and end up buying book after book when in reality you wont need 75% of them! For my course I don't buy any books whatsoever! All of the teaching materials I have to read are online or in the library! I'm sure your university library will have the majority of books you need for your modules and if not a lot of libraries have the ability to order them in if they are requested enough. In reality all those books you buy you will not use and will be put in a pile of unwanted books. Instead research what materials you can read online and what you can get from your university's library! 

#3 You Will Always Be Tired 

I always wonder how I coped going to secondary school and sixth-form because I go to a two hour lecture now and I'm already exhausted and feel like I need a nap! I don't know whether its because of the amount of information you have to retain or if I'm unable to function for long periods of time but I honestly find it hard to stay awake after half a day of university. You will honestly nap so much, especially if you know your going out that night and have been at uni since 9am! I'd say about three of my housemates and myself always nap, whether its been a long day or not! A night out also messes your sleep pattern up loads so you'll always be catching up on sleep!

#4 You Will Not Dress Glamorous For a 9am Lecture 

The first couple of months you try to make effort to look good when you go to your lectures; you'll dress nicely, wear make up, do your hair, but by semester 2 that will not be happening! You'll turn up to your 9am with last nights hair, a bare face and in your most comfiest clothes. It is such an achievement even getting out of bed that when it comes to getting ready there is minimal effort so just put on your comfiest and effortless clothes and head to uni!

#5 You Will End Up Getting An Overdraft

You will 100% run out of money, whether its because of buying too many takeaways, too many nights out or just buying pointless crap your bank balance will become negative, so you will end up getting an overdraft to help pay for your necessities like food to survive and toilet roll. I'm so far into my overdraft that I doubt I'll ever have a positive bank balance again! But in all honesty it does help you out loads to cover costs, but don't just go with any bank look around first to see what they can give you and what deals there are for students! 

#6 You Don't Need To Read Absolutely Everything 

The reading list will look huge and there will be so many chapters of so many books that will be listed, but you don't need to read absolutely everything on the reading list! Most of the time each of your modules will have an essential readings section and then the rest will just be readings that will help you out with essays and for further understanding. I'd suggest definetley reading your essential reading as they tend to outline everything and give you the best understanding of your subject, but if the essential reading is ten articles and a novel of 300 pages don't feel stressed or overwhelmed! Pick at least a few different ones to read and write down the most important points! If you attempt to read every single reading you'll be there are ages and won't get any other work done for any of your other modules. It is all about choosing specific readings and learning to scan read for the most important points. 

If there are any honest truths about university you can think of comment below!

See you soon! ♡ 

Amy xx 

First Week Back At Uni: Second Year and New House

Hey Guys!

So I've officially had my first academic week back at university and wanted to reflect and talk about how second year seems to be so far. I did have an induction the week before but that was just an introduction lecture discussing our third year options and to ensure our module credits were all correct. Unlucky for me I made a mistake with my module credits and had to change a few things but I'm just glad it wasn't really complicated to fix. 

My First Week Back

So this week I only had three lectures and one seminar, a pretty broken down week having two lectures on a Monday, one lecture and seminar on Tuesday and then I had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off! It won't be like that every week though, I just had two seminars cancelled as we didn't need to discuss anything. I'm a media, communication and cultural studies student so our contact and in uni hours aren't much compared to other courses like Chemistry and Engineering but we do have to do a lot of independent studying and rely on ourselves a lot. 

In respect to my first official week it was pretty good! I feel like when your a fresher the first week doesn't seem too overwhelming or pressured as you slowly move into all the work and then you realise later on how much work you have to do, where as now I'm in second year I already know how much work to expect and what my lectures expect from me, so for our first week we cut all the introductions and instead got straight into our topics. Our lecturer was already talking about our research proposal for our dissertation which was pretty stressful to think about as I've barely thought about what I'm going to base my dissertation paper on. But it was exciting to think about what potential ideas we can propose and in what areas. As we are media students there are endless topics of discussion we can do for our paper, it can be anything from how violence in the media affects children, to public mourning and grime music. 

The modules I've taken for semester one are Advertising and Consumption, Research Methods and Representations: Identity, Culture & Society. It is quite a variety and I haven't taken too many credits to overwhelm me in the first stages of second year, I feel its easier for me to take more credits in semester 2 as I will have got back into the habit to be productive and focus! 

New House

My new house is great! It is so much better than what we were all expecting. When we viewed the house back in January we had to be really quick and brief as another group of students were coming to view the property too, so we were thankful it looked as good as we remembered! 

I live with five other people who I met from my flat and university accommodation in first year and through my university course. At first we had a few problems with the house appliances like the boiler and broken doors but now that we have been in the house for three weeks we are all settled and comfy! I definitely prefer living in a house with my closest friends than being in university accommodation. It is so nice just having our own place, it feels more cosy and our rooms are a lot more personal. University accommodation is great for first year as that is where you meet everyone and make your friends but after that stage having a house is so much better! At some point I'll do a room tour to show you all what my new room looks like compared to what my old room in my uni halls looked like ♡ 

Considering we live in a six bedroom house the space is great! Most rooms are pretty big and we only really have one tiny bedroom and that is an extension on the back of the house! The location of our house is gold! We are right opposite the metro which is so convenient when getting to uni and the rent we pay is amazing!

All in all we made a great choice when deciding on this house! 

If any of you are second year students how was your first week?

Let me know in the comments below :)

See you on Wednesday my lovelies!

Amy xx 

Back to Uni Spotify Playlist

Hey Guys! 

Now that I'm back at university and officially start second year tomorrow I thought I would share my motivational Back To Uni spotify playlist. Music seems to get me through everything, whether its essays, homework, bad days and good days! It motivates me in the morning to get my arse into gear and be productive! This past year I've found a new love for Spotify as I discovered so many great playlists and charts for nearly everything like motivation, meditation, sleeping and stress. The 80's playlists are jamming!! So after browsing through all the charts and artists I created a bangin' playlist, so here is my Back To Uni playlist ♡ 

#1 Sun Comes Up by Rudimental & James Arthur 

#2 Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith

#3 Deliver by Fifth Harmony

#4 DNA by BTS

#5 Mic Drop by BTS

#6 Pied Piper by BTS

#7 Sleep Walking by Dreamcatcher

#8 New Rules by Dua Lipa

#9 Havana by Camila Cabello

#10 Friends by Justin Bieber feat. BloodPop

#11 Boys Boys Boys by Lady Gaga

#12 Heartline by Craig David 

#13 Defying Gravity by Glee Cast

#14 Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly & Camila Cabello

#15 Blue Monday '88 by New Order

#16 More Than Friends by James Hype feat. Kelli- Leigh

#17 It's Gonna Be Me by NSYNC

#18 Reggaeton Lento (Remix) by CNCO & Little Mix

#19 Lean On Me by Glee Cast

#20 Miracles (Someone Special) by Coldplay

#21 Passionfruit by Drake 

#22 You Want Me by Tom Zanetti

#23 S Club Party by S Club 7

#24 Don't Stop Movin' by S Club 7

#25 Classic by MKTO 

#26 September by Earth, Wind & Fire

#27 Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley

#28 Wannabe by Spice Girls

#29 Rain by The Script 

#30 Lost by Frank Ocean

#31 Bad Romance by Lady Gaga

#32 G.U.Y by Lady Gaga

#33 Mi Gente by J Balvin

#34 Praying by Kesha

#35 Most Girls by Hailee Steinfield 

#36 Island by WINNER

#37 Love Me Love Me by WINNER

#38 Hola Hola by K.A.R.D

#39 One Last Time by Ariana Grande

#40 Dirty Diana by Michael Jackson

#41 Do You Remember by Jay Sean 

#42 Heartland by Tom Walker

#43 All Night Long by Lionel Richie 

#44 I Don't Feel Like Dancing by Scissor Sisters

#45 I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys

#46 Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield 

#47 Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day

#48 No Scrubs by TLC

#49 Dusk Till Dawn by ZAYN feat. Sia

#50 The Sky Is A Neighborhood by Foo Fighters

#51 Smile by Lily Allen

#52 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love by The Blues Brothers

#53 Gashina by SUNMI

#54 LaLaLa by Babylon 

#55 Babe by Hyuna

#56 Lady - Hear Me Tonight by Modjo

Follow my spotify for more playlists @amy3harris1998 ❤ 

What is your favourite song at the moment? And what song gets you really motivated?

See you on Wednesday lovelies! ♡ 

Amy xx

Year 13 Leaver's Ball | 2016

Hey Guys!

On Friday 8th July my sixth form had a leaver's ball to say goodbye to all us Year 13s before we all go our separate ways in September whether it be university, full time jobs or travelling. We had our leaver's ball at Tutbury Castle in Burton upon Trent in a marquee. It was so lovely and they decorated the place so beautifully!

Tutbury castle was a great venue and luckily we had great weather so after eating we were able to sit outside and have drinks and chat. It was great having a catch up with all our teachers who have taught us over the past two years and we were able to say good bye to some people we know we wouldn't see again in the summer :)

The tables were set out so lovely! In the middle there were candles, flowers and little mini champagne bubble bottles. We even had our place names on little banners and each table had fun little stick glasses and bow ties. Our three course meal was lovely as well! For starters we had melon and a raspberry sauce, for our main meal we had chicken wrapped in bacon with new potatoes and a mix of vegetables, and then for dessert we had brownie and chocolate mousse with strawberries. It was a great meal and we all enjoyed it. When we had our Year 11 prom at Alton Towers the food was awful and hardly anyone enjoyed it but this time the food was great and the decoration and presentation of the food was amazing! 

On our table we had a cute little cocktails menu which we could order at the bar. So throughout the night I tried quite a few of them. In the picture above we were trying the QEGS of the beach but my favourite was the Sour Surprise because it came with a lollipop :P 

For the leaver's ball I decided to go quite simple with the dress and shoes, so I wore just black and then went with gold Egyptian jewellery and accessories. To stay with the black and gold theme, I got a black and gold bag to carry all my belongings and add something to the outfit :)

Black Dress: New Look

Black Shoes: New Look

Egyptian Necklace: New Look

Nefititi Earrings: eBay

Snake Arm Cuff: eBay

Egyptian Armlet: eBay

Bag: New Look 

The night was amazing! The food and drinks were great and the company was amazing! Our leaver's ball was a success and we had it at a great venue:) And that was the end of an era, now we will all go on to do our own thing in September after being at school with each other for around 7 years :) I will miss everyone!

To see more photos go over to my instagram - amy3harris :) 

If you would like me to do a 'Get Ready With Me' post let me know in the comments :)

See you soon lovelies!

Amy xx

Leaving Sixthform and Moving On

Hey Guys!

So yesterday was the official day I left sixth form, after two years of being there and 7 years of being at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School that chapter is now over. Even though Year 13 still have exams we left officially yesterday for study leave and then we never have to go back. There have been some ups and downs due to A Levels and going to sixth form but it was all worth it in the end. It was hard work and the most stressful two years of my life but I'm proud that I've now finished and all that hard work hasn't gone to waste and thanks to the pressure and hard work we can all move on knowing we tried out best. 

It's been amazing and I wouldn't have been able to do it without all the teachers and my friends support. You do have to prepare yourself for the hard work because these two years will be the most stressful but rewarding two years. I'm sad to leave because I've made so many friends over the 7 years I've been here and they are all amazing but I'm excited to start the next chapter in my life: University!

I hope everyone doing A-Levels and any other vocational course whether in sixth form or college has had an amazing two years and good luck with all your exams! 

'You are capable of more than you know'

'Don't be afraid to fail, be afraid not to try'

'Believe you can and your halfway there'

'Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle' - Christian D.Larson

See you soon lovelies!

Amy xx