Tips for your 1st year at University!

So its been a long time since I posted anything, but life has been hectic, mainly because I started(and finished) my first year at University, and what a crazy year it has been.
What I will first say before I even begin on this blog is 1) Uni is an amazing experience and I know it sounds cliched but you really do learn a lot about yourself (and also on what you choose to study.....but mainly yourself, 9000 grand to learn about yourself is a lot of money mind you) and 2) Everybody's experience of university is different due to many different factors. So here I my top tips for Surviving your first year of university!

1) The best friends you may make in your first year (and the people you may go onto live with) may not necessarily be the people you meet on the first day, in the first week or even in the first half of the year, so don't worry if you don't think you have clicked so much with the people you meet first.

2) The best friends you make don't necessarily have to be in your halls of residence. I get on great with the people who were in my halls but actually my best friends at University are from my course and also a group of people from another halls who I met in freshers.

3) University accommodation is a great experience but it definitely comes with its problems. Here is my list from my experience.
-Noisy neighbours(upstairs, downstairs, either side, across the hall, 2 floors down) You can hear EVERYTHING, and trust me, I mean everything....Earplugs are a good investment......and also speakers!
-Following from that, drunk students coming back from a night out(but chances are you'll be one of them)
-Pubes in the shared showers
- Massive shits in the toilet or (what I think is worse) Shit nuggets' left in the toilet.
- Vomit, Pee, Spit, Alcohol and many other liquids in the bath
- Lack of hot water when other buildings use there showers 
-No cold running water in the kitchen
-A toaster that toasts half your bread and a microwave that only completes half the time you set it to
- Funky smells in the kitchen everyday
-Flys everywhere if windows are left open and lights left on at night
- Ants in the communal area after a heavy pre drinking session and lack of tidying up
- And last but by no means least A LEAK IN MY CEILING FOR 20 WEEKS! Even after many an angry phone call and email to maintenance
...........Not selling uni accommodation am I......put it this way its character building and everyone is in the same boat, you get used to it!

4) The drinking culture at university is massive you cant get away from it but this doesn't mean you cant have a good night out without drinking, it can easily be avoided and though you might get the odd joke about not drinking, no-one really cares as long as its your decision.


5) 'Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind' (Stich, 2002) Your away from home at university, no parents to look after you or come and pick you up after a night out, and for a lot of students this is there first time away at home. Something I didn't really expect was how much people look out for each other, even if you don't know someone that well. Everyone(however drunk they are) looks out for each other, you act like a family and you look after each other regardless of anything. In my group(and I think this goes for most groups of friends at uni) we never leave a night out without either leaving all together or making sure everyone is sober enough to be able to get themselves home, we all know where the rest of the group are. Look out for your friends and they will look out for you!

6) My university is pretty small and this is mainly a tip for small university's! Everyone knows everyone and unfortunately secrets don't stay secret for long. However on the flip side, you can walk around campus and probably be able to smile at 7 out of 10 of the people you see and be able to at least recognise 9 out of 10 of the people.

7) The Student union bar is probably rubbish but its cheap and cheerful and if your with the right people it can be a cracking night.


8) Referencing will take up 50% of the time you spend on an essay! Apps like 'Refme' are invaluable as they essentially do your referencing for you which makes your life 10 times easier!
8A) Reference everything, you do not want to be caught out on plagiarising, that can get you kicked out!

9) Unfortunately this has to be said.......Use a condom....its up to you what you do and who you do, no-one will really judge, however university is a breeding ground for STI's so practice safe sex and stay protected. Your paying £9000 a year to get a degree not chlamydia.

10) Budgeting, your student loan wont last forever, as much as a night out at Pryzm sounds good, your going to need to eat for the next week, those shoes are 'sick fam' but that textbook is vital to passing the degree. The bar down the road is hiring, £7 an hour, you can take one night a week to earn some money instead of clubbing. 'Nough said.

11) Learn to cook. Frozen meals get super boring! And also keep your kitchen clean, its just hygienic.

12) Take some time on your own, away from your friends, you'll spend every waking minute with them and you'll probably be living with some of them next year and by half way through the year, believe me, your going to want to rip there arm of and slap them round the face with it,

13) Study hard, Party harder (not quite so literally) Work can get super stressful so don't over do yourself, don't do it the night before and know when your deadlines are. Make sure you take some time out for yourself, do the things you like doing otherwise you'll get more stressed and your grades will suffer for it.

14) Stay in touch with old friends, its always good to have people to go back home to and share your experiences of uni with.

15) The  most important thing though is to have fun, especially in first year, it all gets a bit more serious in second and third years! So do everything, try new things, meet new people, join as many societies as you can, pull all nighters, play stupid drinking games, turn your room into a club for the night, spend £500 in one night, eat dodgy kebabs after a night out, play manhunt* in your halls, explode a bagel in the microwave, accidentally set your room on fire with your lamp, punch a glass window, snap a tendon in your hand and be in a cast for 6 weeks, pass out naked in the hallway of your halls and let the very reserved foreign students find you and start freaking out, leave milk in the fridge so long it practically grows legs, walk in on your friends doing it, be walked in on doing it, play egg piñata, have a bbq and tomato ketchup fight, wee in the bath, wee in the sink, wee in an alley way, wee on the rugby pitch, wee yourself, wee on someone else(yes these are all very real things that have been done by my friends and, yes, also some by me) but most of all be yourself and have fun, your paying £9000 to be there make the most of it.

This is nowhere near all the tips I could give you but part of the experience is figuring these things out on your own. So good luck and enjoy it!

*manhunt, a game in which competitors have to get from one part of the halls to the other without being caught by the hunter(injuries may incur from running very fast up and down stairs and running full pelt into 'pull' doors thinking they are 'push')

USEFUL APPS FOR UNI
-REFME- Don't know what I would have done without this for essay writing, by taking the picture of the barcode of a book it will automatically reference it for you
-Uber- Taxi app, order a cab in minutes and no need for using cash as its all done by card. Also Ubers are a lot cheaper than normal cabs.
- Headspace - Stress reliever, 10 minute meditation sessions can help clear and refocus your mind.
- Whatsapp - Brilliant for making group chats which is vital to uni life!
- Domino's - For those nights you cant be bothered to cook!
- Banking apps - so you can always see how little money you have.....
- Google maps - getting around new places is difficult so google maps can help you find your way around.
-(London Uni's) Bus times- Just gets rid of the frustration of waiting for a bus, it tells you how long till the next bus
-(London Uni's) Tube Map- Tubes are complicated, this app will plan your tube routes for you!
-Amazon student- This isn't an app but if you sign up to amazon as a student you can get free next day delivery on Amazon Prime items.....super SUPER useful!
-Yik Yak- No reason, its just funny!

Maddie x

Carol singing and collecting for charity

For the past 3 years me and group of my friends have gone carol singing! This year we decided to collect for a charity called Macmillian Cancer support, who are a wonderful charity who help support people who have cancer and their families's! When me and my friends go carol singing we don't just turn up, give a half hearted version of jingle bells and expect money, no no, we go all out, 4 part harmonies for many different songs and the use of a ukulele! We like to make sure we have earned our money!We managed to raise £76.12 which for an hours work and only 4 singers was not half bad!

We choose to sing on one of the richest streets in the area! Most people were relatively generous giving a few pounds or so and some have us £5, £10 and one lady gave us a £20 note and asked for 2 songs! Occasionally people gave money to us purely so we would leave, annoying as it is, at least they gave money! However their were a few people who opened the door saw who we were and either said they didn't give money to charity or slammed the door in our faces! This slightly angered me as, even if they didn't want to listen it would have taken a few seconds to put some money in our box. It annoyed me because if a relative of theirs needed the services the charity supplied they would need the funds collected! I feel that giving to charity is really important because you never know if you may need that charity, and also Christmas is a time of giving so is it not right to help those in need? 

Even so we raised some money and also had fun doing it! Next Christmas if you are bored and looking for something to do,even if you can't sing amazingly get some friends together get a couple of carols together and try and raise some money for charity and give back at Christmas! 

Maddie x

Top movies from a boys point of view.

My boyfriend decided that the movies I put in my movie Blog Post were wrong, so I said he could do his own version of his top movies. So without further ado here is top 8 movies from a boys point of view.

8)The Great Escape
   A great war movie about prisoners of war, this true story is definitely worth watching!
7) Ted
    A brilliant comedy film with a brilliant story line! Really good performance by all of the cast, Mila Kunis who is really hot (who is not as hot as hot as me, Maddie) and Mark Wahlberg who I don't think has ever made a bad film.
6) The Inbetweeners
    Again one of the funniest films I've ever seen and this time its British! Great TV show and Great film. Can't wait for the second one!!
5) Harry Potter
    I do have to agree with Maddie on this one, I cannot specify one film as they are all great!
4) Saving Private Ryan
    This film won bags and bags of awards, with brilliant performances from Tom Hanks and the rest of the cast. The film tells the story of a Soldier who loses his 3 brothers in the war, a small group is then sent to look for him and send him home. This film is not a true story, however it is still a brilliant film and one of the only fiction films I would recommend.
3) Band of Brothers
    This was originally a 10 episode TV series, which was then made into a DVD. Again a true story, Band of Brothers highlights the journey of one particular company within the paratroopers of the US army in world war 2. Many familiar faces star in this series, it is again action packed with a hint of comedy.
2) Goodfellas
    One of the best 'Gangster' movies ever made. This film is a true story, which makes it all the better for me  as Historical films that are fiction do not appeal to me. If you watch this, you must also watch the 'Henry Hill:The real goodfella' The film is based on the life of Henry Hill and the documentary features an interview with Henry Hill himself. A violent action-packed film with elements of comedy, this film is a must watch!
1) Shawshank Redemption
    This movie is one of the all time greatest movies. Need I say more!

Lewis :)

Movies.

So when your bored at home what's the best thing to do? Watch a movie! If your stuck on what to watch here are my top 7 favourite movies

7) Friends with Benefits 

    This movie is my go to movie when I am depressed or feeling lonely as it is what every girl wants......to be dating Justin Timberlake! Mila kunis is also gorgeous, I watch this movie and think, how come they both got all the hot genes, what happened to mine! 

6) Love Actually!

    This movie is perfect for a girlie night in or a sleep over! It's one of those feel good romantic movies that will have you crying and laughing both at the same time! 

5)Easy A

   This movie is insanely funny and a really easy movie to watch when you have had a long day! I adore Emma Stone, she is my absolute idol and she is the main reason I love this movie but also that it represents(on an exaggerated scale) the struggles of being a teenager and trying to fit in with your peers

4) Paul

    This sci-fi comedy is one of those movies that will have you rolling round with laughter, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg always make hilarious movies but this is by far my favourite!

3) Polar express

    This movie is my absolute all time favourite Christmas movie (closely followed by Santa Claus The Movie, but I didn't want 2 Christmas movies on my list) I love the magic of this movie and the songs and everything! This movie really keeps the magic of Santa alive even when you are a little to old to believe in him anymore! 

2) The Incredibles

    This is one of the best Pixar movies by far, the story is accessible for all ages, my 7 year old sister loves it, I love it and so does my 50 year old dad! I am still praying for the day they will make a sequel.....I feel however that that may never happen :( come on Pixar, what's going on?!?!

1) HARRY POTTER

I can't give a specific movie that is my favourite I love them all, the story, characters, the magic! Everything, I love it all! I grew up with it and even though I can quote every movie word for word, know the stories inside out, it still gives me goosebumps when I watch them! If you haven't already I would also recommend reading the books! I dreamed about going to Hogwarts when the movies first came out and I know it's sad, but I did cry at the end if the last movie, it was the end of an Era! If you haven't seen the Harry Potter movies....WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS! 

So their is a run-down of some of my favourite movies, I will probably think of more once I publish this but oh well! I hope this gave you some ideas of new movies to watch or helped you remember movies you once loved! I am going to go and watch all 8 Harry Potter movies back to back....see you in 17 hours.....

Maddie x

Dark circles// Concealer review// Seventeen Phwoarr Paint

I suffer really badly with dark circles under my eyes and I have done for as long as I can remember! It's not (normally, although it can add to it sometimes....) due to lack of sleep it's completely hereditary from my dads side of the family! I have tried everything to try and get rid of them, from eye cream to cucumber, from teabags to puréed potato(don't try it it didn't work and it was disgusting and messy). Finally I had to reside myself to the fact that nothing was going to get rid of them and I would have to cover them up! For the first few years of my teenage life I absolutely coated my eyes in concealers, foundations and powders and needless to say, I looked a bit like a crayon! Finally I settled on using a liquid concealer base with foundation on top, this worked relatively well but the problem I had was the fact that it wasnt very long lasting and by the end of the day I was back to my panda self! So you can imagine my elation when I found a concealer that claimed to be 'heavy duty'! Although I wouldn't normally recommend heavy duty concealers as they are awful for your skin, desperate times called for desperate measures so I decided to buy it.

This is not a liquid concealer and this was something that I was slightly concerned about as I like liquid concealers because I find them much easier to blend in and spread entirely across the eye! This concealer was more like a cream or paint i suppose (their is a picture below, i cant describe it) and as stated on the front was very heavy duty! However, to my surprise, it was pretty easy to blend in , not as easy as liquid concealers but easy enough that it wasn't a problem! The product on it's own looked okay, it gave a slightly shiny look when looking at it close up but on the whole pretty good! After I put my foundation on however
it blended in really well an looked very natural! Unlike my old concealers it stayed on really well all day and I didn't have to re-apply once which was really nice! Unfortunately there are only two shades which they do it in, which is fair and medium, luckily fair fitted my skin colour perfectly but my friend was less fortunate finding that the fair was to light and the medium to dark! The retail price is £5.49 which I think is very reasonable for the product as I am very pleased with it! I would definitely  recommend It for those who, like myself, suffer from dark circles around their eyes and need a good cover up! 

Maddie x

Foundation Review//Maybelline Foundations

There are so many Foundations on the market it can feel a bit daunting trying to buy one! I always find I tend to get stuck using the same foundations whether they are good or bad purely because I can't be bothered to have to go and look at different brands and try and find my colour! I recently changed over my foundation but in all fairness I only changed from the Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse to Maybelline Satin Liquid but I thought today I would do like a comparison of the 2, so you can see what one may suit you best.

I have been really happy with both of these foundations and they have served me really well. They are both really long lasting which is one of the biggest things with, not just foundation but all make-up . However the first problem though that I had with these foundations was even though they are from the same brand my skin tone was different colours for both of them, which mean that I actually spent money on a foundation that wasn't my colour and had to go back and buy another one. So first up is coverage, I find that the Satin Liquid has a much better coverage as it is more liquidy which made it much easier to get all over my face. The Dream Matte Mousse I found was much better for just applying to small areas of the face such as the T-zone. Although the coverage isn't amazing for the Dream Matte Mousse, I definitely find that it is much lighter on my face than the Satin Liquid and it can become a little sticky on my face which is annoying. However the satin Liquid does tend to have a more flawless look on my face and it really evens out my skin tine and is very good at covering up whereas, although it is good for the cover-up, the Dream Matte Mousse can sometimes become a bit chalky looking on my face, which is not a good look. I mainly use the Maybelline Satin Liquid but if I am having days where I don't need much make-up or want to let my skin breath then I will go for the Dream Matte Mousse. The Dream Matte Mousse was the first proper foundation I started using and I think it is a great starter foundation as it is super easy to apply and its really light on your skin. On the other and if you are looking for a foundation with a better coverage then I would definitely recommend the Satin Liquid.

Maddie x

Shopping Haul // Back to college clothes and Camden Market!

Back to college shopping!

As summer draws to a close I decided it was probably time I started thinking about back to college clothes *BOOO* so as it has just been payday *WHOOO* I decided to go out and try and buy some good stuff for college! The dress code for my college is formal, and not to revealing, considering it is an all boys school with a mixed sixth form!! Boobs and butt out in an all boys school is never good!!!! Unfortunately this makes finding clothes really difficult and for me and my friend and it becomes a daily struggle trying not to wear the same thing everyday! So without further ado here is my 'back to college haul'!

First up is a pair of tight black trousers which I brought from H&M! The thing I like most about these trousers is how I can pretty much put them with anything and they will look good, and they make my legs look great! They have a zip at the side which I am not so fond of but my college won't accept jeans and with a zip on the side, they can't be classed as jeans HAHA!! I did used to have a pair like this but they didn't fit properly and were a little uncomfortable so I decided to purchase another pair in the right size.

Secondly is this super cute black and white Swallow vest top! This top is so flowy and I love the print! I also think that the bow on the back is such a nice detail. This top looks great tucked in or not and is a really easy top to wear to school as it is really comfy. This top is from Primark.

Front

Back

For the colder weather I decided to buy a white knitted cardigan! I love these sort of cardigans as I think they go with most things and they are so snugly! I have a deep red one like this but I really wanted a cream one as it goes with more! This cardigan is from Topshop!

Next up is this Burgundy Skater dress, I really like skater dress's as I think they make my legs look really good. I've always had the problem of the neckline not being right for my bust on skater dress's but low and behold this has just the right neckline! It is a slightly textured dress which I love and will be awesome for those school days where I really cant be bothered to formulate an outfit so I can just throw it on with a pair of tights some flats and a cardigan. This was from primark in the sale!

Shoes are always a struggle for school so I went into New Look looking for just an easy pair of black pumps but ended up coming out with a black pair of Toms! I thought these shoes were super cute and would go with most things! Unfortunately they probably wont be very good for the winter but for now I think there great and there a big difference to the usual Vans I wear.

Lastly for back to school clothes, and probably my favourite, is a massive green Trench coat! I have been wanting one of these for ages and finally I found one in H&M. I have been using the same coat for about 4 years and previous to that it was my mums so I thought it was high time I invested in a new coat. It wasn't the cheapest of coats coming in at £50 but it is such a great coat and its so super duper warm! Another great thing about this coat is it has deep pockets and as a girl I can rarely find coats that have actual pockets so that made me extremely happy and I can keep all my crap in there! I am also going to Russia with my school in October so I thought this would be brilliant for keeping me warm out there!

Camden Market

A day later I went to Camden market. For those who haven't been to Camden market it is a town in London famed for its huge adjoining retail market's, there are little stalls and market halls all over selling all manner of things such as clothes, food, jewellery, bric-a-brac etc. Its has quite a arty culture with a lot of different people selling things there and there is always something interesting to buy. The thing with Camden though, is there are a lot of stalls selling the same thing so you have to look around to find the best value for money and also you can very quickly spend a lot of money on a lot of rubbish so I was pretty conservative with what I bought.

I have always had an obsessions with unique looking bracelets so while I was there I bought 4 new bracelets! All the bracelets were under £2 which was nice and they are all really different looking which I love.

Camden Market goes through phases of different clothing items that the majority of stalls sell and at this particular point in time Camden is crazy for printed vest tops so I purchased 2 of those. The first one  purchased was a T-Shirt with a Banksy design printed on the front, this happens to be one of my favourite pictures and the slogan to the picture(which is not on the top) is 'There's always hope' which as you may have noticed is in the title of my blog! The picture is of a little girl having let her heart balloon go. For those of you who don't know who banksy is, he is a street artist and political activist famed for his grafitti art on streets walls and bridges all over the world, here is the wikipedia link to find out more

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy ) . Here is also a picture of the original artwork .
The second vest top I brought is this music inspired one! I thought the design was gorgeous and being a musician I loved the use of the staves and the notes flying off as birds.

So definitely, in my opinion, 2 successful days of shopping! I did buy some more make-up (obviously) but I will review that in  later blog and I actually brought more food in Camden than I did actual things as there are so many awesome food stalls from different countries and I just wanted to try it all. If you get the chance I would definitely recommend going to Camden. I also realised how depressing back to school clothes shopping is!

Maddie x