We’re BUproud of our bloggers, so we asked them to tell us their greatest achievement this year.

Beth Cordon

Everyone says second year is the hardest, and I’d have to agree that there have been a lot of ups and downs throughout the year and it has been harder than first year. But I feel I have still managed to achieve many things throughout the year and I’m still loving life at university.

My biggest achievement so far this year is maintaining my grades to be on course to finish second year with a first. I was expecting my grades to drop as the work got harder but by putting in the hard work, I feel good about the grades I have achieved so far this year!

Alice Fiancet

This year I worked on a major project which was targeted at being a features magazine. We were lucky enough to get enough funding to produce a magazine which contained all the magazine layouts and features we had written for our project. This is something I am really proud of, because it’s something I can take with me to interviews and keep forever.

Amy Potts

Being a naturally quiet person, it seems absurd that I would sign up to become a placement PAL leader and talk in front of 100 or so people once a week. It was even weirder when I was standing in the lecture hall, shaking in my shoes, about to present the first session. But as the year comes to a close, I couldn’t be prouder.

I have finished the PAL sessions, and I no longer shake in my socks when standing up in front of a room. Now I have the confidence to talk on any topic!

Katrina Eastwood

My greatest achievement this year: finding myself.

This year my greatest achievement has been becoming my true self. Admittedly I was only able to do this because I made it to university. So, I guess you could say that this was, alone, my greatest achievement. I feel more at home than ever and while there are elements of stress in my life, what with becoming an adult and having responsibilities as well as dealing with being away from home, I have learnt so much about myself and those around me, and I’m sure this will be the same for you.

For me, waking up in my very own room each day, after sharing with my sister for my whole life, gives me so much pride. It’s a simple thing, I know. But it gives me so much happiness knowing that I am doing this for myself. You will also learn a lot about others, people from all over the world and from different study areas. What is great is that everyone is so open-minded; it’s the perfect environment to discover yourself. You’ve just got to keep your own mind as open as possible, be self-aware and take as many opportunities as possible (being a BU student there will be tonnes to choose from). Lucky for me I did this quite well and now I am happier in my own skin than I ever have been, I have started to build a life that I am excited about and incredibly motivated to fulfil. I am so lucky that I have made some incredible friends that I know will be there for me for life and love me for who I really am. I have been so lucky to have been given this chance, I can’t wait for all the great opportunities I have coming my way, and trust me there are plenty coming your way too.

Sophie Arnold

When you get to final year of university, you can barely believe everything you’ve already gone through in your first and second year. Third year brings so many challenges, as it should! You’ve spent the first few years preparing for this.

I knew it would be hard with a massive final project to do, but I also had to have a six-hour operation in December with a six month recovery period. With the help and support of my university friends and lecturers, I got through it, recovered and got two 1sts for the assignments I had to have extended while I recovered. And now? I’m about to hand in my final project. Phew!

Chris Bowditch

My greatest achievement this year was getting invited to assessment centres for MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, I may not have been successful, but it was a great experience!

Bethany Bristow

My greatest achievement that just about tops anything else that has happened in my life this year, is being given the funding to travel to South America and teach English in a school to young children this Summer. Thanks to Bournemouth University’s Global Horizons Fund, I am able to have an experience of a lifetime, where I can build upon my independence, confidence and overall cultural awareness, which are skills invaluable in life.

Patricia Obawole

My greatest achievement this year:

COMPLETING MY DEGREE!! This year marks the end of my four year journey at Bournemouth University. It’s been a rollercoaster of laughter, enjoyment, stress and coffee, but definitely my proudest achievement this year and probably in my life so far. Definitely something for you guys to look forward to. *Queue parental tone* don’t forget work hard and focus, you’re here at uni to get a degree *end parental tone* but enjoy the ride as you go along. Make friends, go to the beach, have a barbeque. After all it’s the correct balance of work/social life that got me where I am today!!!

Good Luck!

Annabel Scott

My greatest achievements this year, I believe, have been many aspects of university. It would be the overcoming of the initial homesickness to then becoming at ease with university life and making new friends, which has culminated in the results that I have achieved throughout this first year. It has definitely been a change in pace, but I feel I have managed to succeed so far. Fingers crossed with good revision it will continue in my results in August.