The second year can be a bit of an awkward year: you’re not free from the worry that what you do doesn’t end up contributing to your overall degree scheme so you’re not entirely focused on work, and you’re no longer a fresher so you already know the basics about surviving as a student.

However, despite this transitional phase, I have still managed to achieve more than I could have imagined this academic year.

Grade 8 Singing.

I have always loved singing and taken singing lessons from a young age. Before coming to university, I was lucky enough to be at a grade 5 level which made me eligible for a music scholarship at the university.  This allowed me to have weekly lessons to finally work my way up to fulfilling my childhood dream of completing grade 8 (it was tough… but I passed).

Festival of Learning.

When seeing an email about the recruitment for ambassadors to take to Indonesia and Malaysia for the International Festival of Learning, I sent in my application without really believing that I could be chosen. It was one of the applications that you send and try not to dwell about while expecting not to hear anything back! A couple of weeks later, when I read the email confirming my place, I was literally speechless! This meant that for a week in March, I traveled with other students and lecturers of the university to the University of Jakarta in Indonesia and the University Sains Malaysia in Penang. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I enjoyed every moment.

At the Sky Bar in Jakarta

Securing my placement for next year.

Although a whole placement year is optional for my course, I knew that I really wanted to have that extra experience and spent the majority of the first term tracking down different opportunities and applying. I had a few interviews and attending various assessment centers with no success. On the verge of giving up (late April), I had an email come through about a placement within the university as a student outreach ambassador. In my head it was ‘my last attempt’, and I almost entered the interview halfheartedly, assuming that this would be just another rejection. However, I was proved wrong and I got the role!

Celebrating my placement!

All of my achievements remind me that, although we all have bad days and times we feel like everything is going wrong, you never know what is right round the corner and giving up is the only way you can lose! Thank you Bournemouth University for giving me these opportunities!