Stationery Galore

One of the (few) pros of starting a new semester after indulging in free time, festivities and general relaxation is getting your stationary organised. I've had a thing for stationery ever since I can remember- picture me circa 2001 hanging around my Auntie's office hoping to blag some post it pads and paperclips. I buy and buy notebooks like they're going out of fashion. My favourite places to get my stationary are Wilkinson, Tiger and Paperchase (mostly when they're having a sale). I think this semester I'll stick to pretty much what I done last- write notes on cheap notebooks/ scrap paper in lectures, rewrite them out neatly later and put them in a subject folder to refer back to when revising. It often surprises me how much I have lying around my house that I've forgotten about. I searched for so long for a pencil case that was pretty, inexpensive and practical and couldn't see one I liked anywhere. I found this Ted Baker makeup bag from one of last Christmas gift sets and its perfect! I love the little tab post its in different colours- those came in really handy navigating a 3000 page book. My favourite pens to use are the basic BIC ballpoints because they don't smudge- I don't actually know why I continue to carry around the inky ones. I kind of just like having a full pencil case. Side note: a definite perk of uni compared to school is that no one asks to borrow a pen. That used to drive me insane- why do people keep them?! or worse... chew and dribble on them... ew. 

Are you loopy about stationery? Please say I'm not the only one.

15 Things I've Learned In My First Semester

I've just completed my first semester of first year in university and I thought I'd share some snippets of the many experiences I've had/ things I've learned. I'm living at home so my experiences are probably quite different to many of yours. I'd love to hear if you can relate to any. Please note this is pretty tongue-in-cheek and I did actually also learn academic things- ish. 
1. You need to take out a mortgage to buy books. 2. Lecturers are bonkers.  3. Its nowhere near as difficult as I expected to make new friends. 4. Bring your own toilet paper if you visit halls. 5. You never feel on top of anything. Ever. 6. The people who say 'I done so and so during uni because of all the free time I had' are lying. No time is free. Except for the occasional (ahem) night out of course. 6. Don't watch the movie instead of reading the book (it'll save the confusion of how Romeo can possibly be chased by helicopters and how guns were around in the 16th century). 7. Reading journal articles is a great way of falling asleep. 8. Attending lectures is another great way of falling asleep (don't worry- I attended every single one. I just slept a lot). 9. Often you can't get a computer in the library because everyone is so darn studious. 10. Going up to the 10th floor of the library to look at the view is a fun but completely futile use of spare time. 11. Beware of the potential serial killer in the lift on the way to said 10th floor. 12. After lectures you might think 'YEAH that was totally inspiring' and 'WTF was that about?!' simultaneously. 13. Mochas are always a good idea. 14. After reading Shakespeare, Milton, Eliot, Wordsworth and countless others, below is, to me, the single most amusing, inspiring, memorable and relatable piece of poetry I was introduced to in my course.

15. Finally, the most important lesson I've learned is to make sure you know what hall you're in for each exam BEFORE you go in to sit it. It'll save the panic when realising you're in Economics instead of English Lit after the exam has started- yep, I really did do this.