Bullying My Story: Part II

Hey!

I am not 100% sure where to start with this post today so I will try my best to be as coherent as possible, that may be hard so just bear with me.  Every time I upload a personal story/experience I am always terrified about the response, but thankfully everyone has been super supportive and for that I am thankful. However, I still get butterflies every time I press upload on a post which is rather personal and exposes more of me. I feel more vulnerable and like I have let some walls down, which I built up over the years and worked hard to keep them up there. You see, once you have lived through some hard times and been through some difficult experiences you hurt and feel and incredible amount of pain and therefore you naturally build a defence system to prevent the same thing happening again. Every time I share a part of personal life with you, I feel the walls crumbling ever so slightly and I feel my heart and my soul becoming open and more vulnerable once again and trust me that terrifies me. However, I know speaking about problems you have had helps bring closure to the pain. It allows you to move past that part of your life and close the chapter. It enables you to move on and create a better future for yourself. The best closure I have found to these situations, is that sharing my experiences help other people and that is what I really what to do and so I always feel better about things knowing that I have helped someone else who was feeling the way I did. So, today, I guess I am going to share another part of my life with you all.

As most of you will know, if you have been following this blog for a while, I unfortunately was a victim of bullying and I shared my story with you in what was probably the most heart-breaking and painful post to write. If you haven’t read this you can do so here. Anyway, today I wanted to focus on another aspect on the story. Today I wanted to talk about one of the many side effects bullying has on you as a person and how you can develop coping mechanism and strategies to deal with what you have gone through, but importantly with how it made you feel.

I never sought any sort of help from anyone when I was bullied. I was a very timid person anyway, so the thought of speaking up terrified me. For me, I felt like it was just not an option. I told no one at all, not a single person knew what was I experiencing and go through every single day of my life – only me.  I kept it all a secret and kept it all in my head and didn’t even hint to anyone that I wasn’t okay. Luckily for me, the bullying did stop after I left school in year 11 at the age of 16, but after what had probably been the best part of 8/9 years, the damage had already been done. I was already mentally scared and physically drained.

Before I get into some of the side effects, I just wanted to point out, that even to this day I am still struggling with the side effects of bullying and what people had done to me. I still struggle every single day with things. I know that is my fault for not speaking out and dealing with my problems and going to therapy but honestly the thought of confronting them and speaking up scared me so much more than just dealing with the bullies daily. For some crazy reason, I had drilled it into myself that if I spoke up that things would be worse and they wouldn’t make it stop. All that speaking up would do would make me more vulnerable and increase the amount of bullying and give them new things to pull me down on and for me I just wasn’t prepared for that. However, I want to point out that YOU ARE NOT ALONE and that there are so many services available to receive help not only with stopping the bullying but also with dealing with the side effects and the impact it has on your mental health. I beg all of you, to have a little bit of courage, which I didn’t, and take the step to speak to someone who you trust because it needs to end and I don’t want anyone else suffering for even a day, let alone years like I did. Please don’t be afraid because everything will be okay!

So, the first thing I noticed that changed since the bullying started is that my confidence hit an all-time low. I know longer believed in myself and thought very little of myself. They had managed to make me feel worthless and weak. They had made me feel fat and ugly and they made me doubt myself. For me, this is such a shame because I know prior to the bullying I was the bubbliest and most confident little girl. I was always so happy and loved acting and performing and talking. Bullying took all that away from me. I hated being in front of people. I hated acting and performing. I despised talking in front of people and once I got so anxious I actually just stood and cried in front of about 200 people. The thing is, a lack of confidence effects your life in so many ways you don’t even realise. I didn’t feel confidence in myself so I would say no to every opportunity given to me because I was scared.  I missed out on so many opportunities and that really is so sad because you need to make the most of life and take every single opportunity you get given. I know longer believed in my ability in school or in any passions. I would always say “I can’t do it” even though that wasn’t true. I lost any sort belief in myself. I don’t think my confidence will ever be as low as that ever again. A few years on… I still have massive confidence issues. I have gotten so much better with speaking but I still get really nervous and have to calm myself down. I still don’t perform or act. I still have massive doubts in my ability which annoys me boyfriend and friends so much because they know I am capable of so much and wish I saw it and knew it. It is sad because I always wonder where I would be now or how many crazy experiences I would have done by now had I still been confident. I know I would still be actively involved in so many of my childhood hobbies had I not lost my confidence, but everything happens for a reason. I know that I am where I am at the moment because that’s where I am meant to be at the moment and everything in life works out okay in the end and how it should.

The next noticeable change I saw in myself was that I became a more negative person. I wasn’t optimistic and I didn’t think positively. All I could now vision was the worst-case scenario. I hated how they had turned into such a negative person and made me feel worthless. I hated the fact that I no longer felt happy and positive to life. I think this obviously coincides with the fact that I had zero confidence and in my ability, in people and in my body and it just turned very negative and it is so sad for me to even write this. To the day, I still struggle to think positively about certain aspects in life. I still struggle to think positively about myself and my body. I always have managed to see the good in people, even at my worst and that unfortunately has been my downfall but I still see the good in people. I have hope that things will get better when for years I told myself they weren’t. I now try and look on the more positive side of things although after years of seeing the worst-case scenarios I now actually have that as a coping mechanism. If I know that is the worst possible situation and I know I can deal with that, then I know I can deal with anything. It has in some ways been both a blessing and a curse.

Being bullied made me increasingly aware of other people’s opinions. I had kind of been oblivious to other people’s opinions about me beforehand because as people do say ‘ignorance is bliss’ and ‘what you don’t know, doesn’t hurt you’. Bullying brought other people’s opinions to forefront of my mind though and it’s all I thought about. It became kind of obsessive actually. Which is ridiculous really because people talk and care far less than you know. You are you own biggest critic.  I became very self-conscious and this developed my huge body issues. I was very aware that people were judgemental. I felt ugly and fat and was very ashamed of my body. I actually hated my body for years to come and I became paranoid and cared why too much about the approval of everyone else. I lived years of my life trying to please others and make them happy and like me, when really, I shouldn’t have should have just lived for me. I wasted years of my life. Don’t make the same mistakes. People opinions are irrelevant. You honestly have to do you and do whatever makes you happy because it is impossible to make everyone happy (trust me I have tired) and there is always someone who is going to want to bring you down and will be jealous. Remember a ‘lion doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of a sheep’. Honestly when you stop caring you will be free and it will be amazing. I don’t care so much at all these days about what anyone thinks about me because I want people to like me for me and if they don’t, then I don’t want them to be my friend to be honest. I still feel conscious all the time and worry about whether I am fat or ugly which annoys my boyfriend so much because he wishes I could see what he sees and believe I wish I was confident and care free but those insecurities are going to take a lot of beating thanks to some cruel people. Luckily, I think it is all in my head from been bullied because recent comments and remarks haven’t left the same scars and insecurities.

Being bullied definitely damaged my trust and it made it harder for me to form relationships and friendships with people because I was suspicious of them and worried that one day they would no longer be my friend and bully me. I know my trust issues largely comes from another very personal thing that happened in my life which I am sure I will speak about one day but being bullied added to the lack of trust in people. I am a very guarded person and I never want to suffer and be in as much pain as I was then so I have built up so many walls I feel like they are virtually impossible to break. I don’t want to feel vulnerable again. I don’t want to ever feel that way again. Learning to trust people was super hard and scary but some people genuinely care and not everyone wants to see you fail and bring you down. I still struggle massively with trust and I feel like I always will but I will try and fix and heal the wounds.

Thank you so much for reading and sorry for rambling. Let me know if you thought this was useful/helpful and if you would like to see a part two to this! See you soon. Much love,

Lizzie X

Twitter: @Life_WithLizzie

Instagram: @libwalton_9

 

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Bullying… My story

Hello everyone!

From the title, you can obviously assume that I am going to talk about bullying but not just in general but my story. My experience and what I went through. I have thought about writing this post for so long now but bullying is so close to my heart and I think there are still so many open wounds from the bullying that I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it through this and be able to speak about my experience. It is something so personal and raw I didn’t think I would be able to share my story. However, I know bullying unfortunately is such a common thing that almost everyone goes through that I wanted to share my story in hope that it will help, inspire or give you advice on how to cope and deal with bullying. If I knew now, what I had known then, I for sure would have dealt with the situation so much better.

Before I start I want to apologise if this isn’t the most coherent piece of writing that I have ever written. Speaking about something so serious and personal can be hard and just leave you with a lot of mixed emotions which don’t really make sense together but that is how I feel. I especially felt it was fitting to write this post this week because it has been mental illness awareness week and mental illnesses again is something I believe so passionately about and wish there was more done to help people. I wish we lived in a society where we could openly discuss how we are feeling without any fear of judgement and we could seek help to look after our minds because it is so important! I am mentioning this because the side effects of bullying can lead to mental illness issues and I just want to be just one of many people to say you are not alone, most people will go through something similar in their life and there are plenty of services to help you. Don’t feel like you are alone.

Bullying… as most of you will know or have experienced, bullying is cruel and vicious. It isolates you and makes you feel so lonely. Even though the bullying stopped about 2 years ago now one person left school, the side effects of what the bullying did to me remain. That’s partly my fault because I never sought help to deal with what I went through but I know the reason I am how I am is because of other reasons and things that happened in my life and I know I need to sort them out and I will, I am just taking it at my own pace.  My point is the pain and feelings, thoughts and deluded perceptions of yourself which the bullies make you have just don’t vanish. They just don’t disappear. They stick with you and when people have told you for so long something about yourself, it really does become engrained in you and it’s hard to change your mindset.

Anyway…this is my story. So, the earliest I can remember the bullying starting was when I was around 6/7. I was in my last year at Infant school because for me I went to infant school, a separate junior school and then onto secondary school. Also, I want to point out that names won’t be mentioned throughout this because as much as I hate what they did to me and always will and I know respecting their privacy is the correct thing to do.

Up until this point I had always enjoyed school and was the happiest little girl ever. I enjoyed being at school and participating in class and I had the biggest dreams and ambitions. Some days I couldn’t wait to go to school. That soon got turned upside down. Over the next 10 years of my school life I didn’t share that enthusiasm and dreaded going.

You see in my last year of infant school I had just lost my best friend that I had known forever because her brother and my brother were bests friends so we were always around each other from a young age, but she moved away and my best friend was gone. It was no longer me and her anymore, it was just me. I was now alone. The same year a new girl started at our school and I got asked to make her feel welcome and show her how things were done. We never really got on and safe to say she never liked me. Anyway, the bullying started when this guy in my class started being friends with me because he now noticed I sat on my own at dinner. Anyway, things started off great and we got on so well. I now had a friend to play with at break and lunch time. The other children didn’t see it that way and automatically started making fun of me. The rumours kept spreading until one day this guy no longer wanted to be my friend anymore and just ignored me all day every day. I had lost my friend again. Since he was no longer my friend now though I assumed they would stop saying stuff and spreading rumours but I couldn’t have been more wrong. They didn’t! It just got worse. Now they went from spreading rumours to getting me into trouble in class by blaming things on me that wasn’t fault and they hadn’t done so they didn’t get in trouble. I spent the most part of my last year at infant school very miserable and very lonely, often getting told off for things I hadn’t done and missing out.  Safe to say I couldn’t wait for summer!

Summer end and I was so excited to start a new school… or so I thought. That was until I found that those people who had spent the last year of infant school misery for me were my class. I was sure that I was in for another year of hell and I wasn’t wrong. What I didn’t know then though that things weren’t going to get better for some time. Again, I spent most of my time on my own pretending that I didn’t hear the pathetic rumours that were being spread about me, even though I did and they started to bother me.  When I was, younger I use to love maths, although my love for maths has certainly faded over the years. It was the only thing I was good at, or so I thought. I didn’t think I was sporty, or musically talented or could write a fantastic story but maths just came naturally to me.  Every week we would have a timetables challenge and if you got 100% the following week you would get a harder set of questions. Our teachers use to compete with us to show us how quick we would be able to do them one day. I remember one week I practised so hard, I must have done the sheet at least 100 times at home because I wanted to be the best and that week I ended finishing first, even before the teacher and they were 100% right. At the time I was so happy, now of course I know the teacher probably wasn’t even trying, but at the time it really reassured me that I was good at something. Little did I know I just started something else for the bullies to talk about. Soon I was a ‘nerd’ or a ‘geek’ or a ‘teacher’s pet’ and at the time it was awful. Now you know I don’t mind being called a nerd or a geek, for me it’s great trait, but 7/8-year-old me didn’t feel that way, especially since they were being malicious about it. For the rest of the year, that along with whatever other rumour they felt like spreading was he rest of my first year at junior school.

So, year four came around and I started thinking things would be different. The others were now in the opposite class and we had a girl transfer and I thought this could be my chance to make friends. Luckily for me we did, or so I thought. I now had a friend in the playground and didn’t wander around alone. Things started off great but then she got a boyfriend and the is boy just wasn’t nice and especially wasn’t nice to me. Soon lunches together turned into lunches alone and breaks together turned into breaks alone. I was back where I had started – alone. Then they broke up and then she wanted to be my friend again and naïve me went along with it, until they got back together and dropped me again. This time, her boyfriend and the others turned her against me for good and she hated me for the rest of her time that school until she transferred in year 5. Now they had a group and they made it their mission to make my life hell and they did. They even convinced me (well more accurately pressured me/forced me) into giving myself a ‘chicken scratch’ to then they just used that to get me into trouble my teacher. Year 4 was still no better and I was losing hope.

Year 5 was much of the same the gang v. me. The same rumours the same ‘your fat’, ‘your ugly’, ‘no one likes you’, ‘no one wants to be your friend’ and to make it worse it the seating plan for one of the classes I got seated next to one of the bullies and for tidy time I got partnered with another one of them. I just couldn’t escape.  Nothing changed.

Year 6 and my last year at this crappy place before going somewhere new and I couldn’t wait. Nothing really changed except now they started bullying me for my chess club. I had played in chess club since year 3 and always finished top but year 6 I finished top with zero defeats. A perfectly clean record. I was thrilled. Obviously, that was something to use against me. I started puberty at age 11 in year 6 and if they hadn’t made me conscious enough by telling me I was fat and ugly, they sure did when that happened. I am pretty sure I had never felt so uncomfortable in my life so far than when changing for PE and they make remarks about my boobs starting to appear or getting hips and a bum. I definitely hated the way I looked and although I would never cry in front of them they sure did make me cry. I think the worse was when they told this boy that I would go out with him and wanted to kiss him when I really didn’t. I felt so mean and terrible having to tell him the truth and just like they wanted he no longer liked me or wanted to speak to me. It seemed like I couldn’t have any friends.

So that summed up my junior school experience. I am pretty sure I hated every moment of it. I was always alone, never allowed to join in any games with anyone or sit with anyone. A few friends came and went just as quick and I was left feeling rather miserable, lonely and hating the way I looked. The once happy, confident me was nowhere to be seen. She had gone and perhaps gone forever.

So, summer ended and then came around secondary school. I was beyond excited to be going to ‘big school’ as everyone called it and to forget about the miseries of junior school. This was going to be a fresh start. A new place, new people and a new start or at least that is what I had hoped for. In my tutor group, there were a few people from my old school which I knew but we most definitely didn’t get along. For some reason, they hated me and I didn’t know why. Now I must point out I was nervous for starting school. I was scared to be in an environment with lots of people who I didn’t know and who could have potentially judged me and hated me the same as people had done in junior school.  Things started off well to be honest. I made some friends and I had people to sit with at lunch and break. I had friends in classes too. Things may have just started to improve. People even had crushes on me and asked me out which I kindly declined because I was interested in guys or those pretend relationships you have at that age. However, because I wasn’t allowed out my friends began to become closer and closer but without me. I was left behind and although occasionally we spoke things weren’t the same. I was lost once more.

Oh, I forgot to mention my childhood best friend came to that school too and it was so nice to see a familiar face but has five years had passed she now had her own friends. It was nice to have someone smile at you in the corridor.  Other than being really lonely, there wasn’t any major bullying in year 7. I somehow managed to avoid it and I don’t know how really but I was glad I did. Of course, in the changing rooms I would hide in corner and turn away because I was embarrassed about my body. That never changed. Year 7 wasn’t too bad at all.

Year 8 was a completely different story. This was the first time I had got cyber bullied and I remember feeling so sick and upset when I did. It was awful. Basically, I sat with two girls I had made in my tutor group at tutor time and one them was in my classes so we sat together and we started spending a lot of time together and became close.  All of a sudden you began to become distant and sad. She had a lot going off at home and home life wasn’t brilliant. Anyway, one day a member of our year group saw a sonogram posted to her Facebook (it was completely innocent of her cousin or something) but started a rumour that she was pregnant. She told me and I thought she had confided in me because she trusted me and because she was scared. Naturally I told her to speak to our tutor so she could sort it out. However, that was apparently the wrong advice and this infuriated her and she got so mad at me for understanding. Anyway, to get the attention off her she made the rumour up that it was me who had posted this photo and showed everyone to embarrass her and cause all problems. Sure enough, everyone believed her. Everyone now hated me. Everywhere I went, every class I got mean comments and notes from people. Life has just taken a turn for the worst. Little did I know that they were about to get worse. Not only did she start this rumour, she then started cyber bullying to prove to everyone just how mad she was at me.  She started texting me loads of horrible messages telling me to ‘f*ck off’ and ‘to die’ and ‘that she didn’t want anything to do with me and I was horrible person who was getting everything I deserved.’ For some reason which I don’t know why, even to this day I tried to apologise and get her to be my friend but these messages kept on coming and I am became so sad. I tried hard to hold it in but one day in class someone said something and that was it. I burst into tears and fled to the toilets. I didn’t return to class until it was lesson change over because I was embarrassed. When I did, waiting there was teacher waiting and three girls. Three girls concerned about me. It was such an uplifting feeling. In the end, I ended up spilling everything and it was so nice to have four people believe me and be on my side. For once I didn’t feel alone. I had proof everything and her admitting that she had caused everything and started the rumour and I had the messages she had sent. The teacher wanted to go to the police but I didn’t. I was scared. I didn’t want my parents knowing, which they don’t and I didn’t want her to end up in trouble. I didn’t go to the police and I didn’t press charges even though people wanted me to. I didn’t. Everyone deserves another chance and everyone makes a mistake. A few weeks later she apologised and I forgave her but I never forgot what it did to me or how it made me feel. We were never the same.

Year 9 remained pretty fine. I stayed away from people after year 8. I thought I was better on my own. I didn’t want to end up in that same situation. I didn’t want to trust people. I distanced myself. It was lonely and sad but it worked. For a year, I survived. I was okay and had no drama to deal with. I was maybe somewhat happy.

Year 10 wasn’t the same. I couldn’t have two good years in a row. That was wishful thinking. Year 10. What a year!! It all started when my crush (I had liked for him years… seriously ages) had broken up with his girlfriend and started talking to me. I was scared. I didn’t want to get close because I didn’t want to get broken or hurt. As time moved on though we grew closer and he said everything I had waited years for someone to say. Turns out she was not happy about the situation and wouldn’t let him move on. She kept talking to him and twisting his mind and manipulating him and before we even got to together we argued all the time. She was there but I thought he had moved on. He hadn’t though. Trust me I didn’t know this when I got with him. Anyway, he promised everything would be okay and we got together. His ex still messaging me and trying to make me break up with him. She was always there. She didn’t move on and leave me alone. From the moment, we I started talking to him until we left in year 11 she made my life living hell. I caught up in something I never wished I had.

I don’t know what I was thinking. All I knew is that I really liked him and I wanted to be with him even though we fell out because of her almost every day. It definitely was toxic to say the least. We did have some good times and he did help me through so much too. She consistently messaged me and made my life hell. She would always send horrible messages to me and talk about me at all school. He stuck up for her and protected her. I guess when you like someone and they have manipulated her then that’s what you would do. A month in he broke up with me to be with her, but he parents didn’t agree and so he got back with me. Again, I didn’t know this until after we split up. I just know I was heartbroken when he did because I thought I loved him even though now I know I didn’t so I got back with him despite the fact that I knew people were going to talk and she was going to be mean. When we were together she would consistently post pictures of when they had been together and put ‘I love you’ or send them to me. Day by day I felt more and more lost.

The next major issues came when I was delivering my dragon’s den pitch speech. Just before I got a phone call saying he had cheated on me with her. I just remember crying in the bathroom for ages even though I needed to go on stage. I delivered my presentation and when I got back to school he tried to talk to me but I wasn’t interested. The next day my neighbour’s son has died. We were close to them. I always remember going back to them after nursery and them giving me a chocolate bar. His death made me realise life was too short to not forgive and for second chances. So, as kind as I thought I was being, in retrospect very stupid. I gave him another chance. About 6 weeks later I found out that he had cheated again with her. I was devastated. I remember leaving ICT and crying and I ended it. I hoped everything would go away but it didn’t.  She had convinced him that I was evil and I didn’t care about him and didn’t love him. She lied about me too him and turned him against me and then he said crap about me to.

Once we had broken up they got together but I begged him not to because I knew she was planning on meeting this boy. He didn’t believe me and thought I was being mean and selfish, but I was only looking out for him.  Knew what she was like. She had cheated on him so many time before which she made me swear to never to tell him, I did anyway because it right. He didn’t believe me. A couple of days later they got back together and that hurt the most. I felt so much pain. People either want you to feel everything or nothing at all – right now I was feeling everything. My heart broke. I was a mess. I cried and cried and cried for days. Cried to sleep. I didn’t eat properly. I didn’t sleep. It was a proper first crush nightmare. I was confused as to why she hated me and spread so many rumours and turned him against. I was confused as to why he hated me and didn’t believe me. A couple of days later she had already cheated and they were apart. He messaged me to say he wish we had never broken up and in tears I said it was for the best.

That should have been the end of it right? Wrong! She never stopped making my life even when we stopped speaking completely. She created Facebook statuses about me spreading rumours and lies for the whole world to see. She dedicated and askfm page to me where she ridiculed me and post the worst things imaginable. Cyber bullying part 2 had started. He tweeted about me, she messaged me asking me to die and to kill myself. She made it her mission for the next year to make my life hell. As if one wasn’t enough. She sure as hell she did.

Year 11 and the same crap continued. She didn’t stop. It kept going on and on and I was getting very sick and tired of looking on any of my social media and just seeing mean comments. I was getting tired on just constantly receiving hurtful texts. I had hit a low. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse someone who I thought was my friend got with my ex and I pretended like I was cool with it even though I wasn’t until some of my friend overheard her and one her friends speaking in the bathroom saying that he was good for a first kiss and then she would break up with him and it would be make me jealous. I told me what was said even though I hadn’t spoken to him ages and he shot me down as always. It was true though and that happened. Someone who I thought was my friend had turned against me, he still couldn’t stand me and by telling me I had just successfully help end another one of her relationships and she just kept going.

In all honesty, I had enough. From all the cyber bullying, threats, rumours I just couldn’t take it. Every day the insults would resonate in my mind. ‘Slut’, ‘slag’, ’fat’, ‘ugly’, ‘bitch’, ’kill yourself’, ‘die.’ I just wanted to never return to school. Others had started to join in to and I just didn’t get why people didn’t like me. Again, I know I could have gone to police but I didn’t want everyone to know. I didn’t want them to know how broken I had become. I didn’t want to hurt that guy either because he had got caught up in something he shouldn’t have. I was afraid of being bullied even more for telling. So, I kept it quiet.

It lasted all year. I couldn’t wait until leavers day and to never have to see her face again. I couldn’t wait to not have to go through this. At this point other started with rumours that I was spoilt and rich which made people dislike me even more. The final thing in year 11 that did it was when a group of people decided to play a prank of me and put a condom in my blazer pocket. Then when I went in my blazer pocket and pulled that out by mistake, not knowing it was there, everyone saw and that for them confirmed the rumour I was slut. I hated life and I was so sad. I cried and cried. However, leavers came and since I haven’t had to see any of these people again.

And that’s my story. Pretty damn long I know. Sorry!!! I haven’t made it through this without crying. It has brought so many bad memories to light and made me realise just how many open wounds there are. For those who are wondering, this was my secret. I haven’t told anyone this but now I have told all of you my secret. I never told school apart from the one occasion I mentioned. I never told my family or anyone. I lived through it alone. This is the first time I have shared my secret. This was my story.

I was a victim of bullying. However, I want to be the one to tell you that things do get better and it doesn’t last forever. This has been the hardest thing I have ever written about and spoke about. Its perhaps the bravest thing too. I feel like weight has been lifted. I have never shared this and now that I have and am unsure about how people are going to react but I feel like speaking about it has helped. I am no longer carrying around 10 years of hurt and pain all to myself. I just want to point out I don’t hate anyone, that’s not who I am. I will always hate what they have done. The guy is this by the way, he is actually the sweetest, most genuine guy who got manipulated and caught up in something so bad and as soon as he was strong enough to let her go completely out his life and stand up to her manipulative ways he was gone back to the way he was and the reason I had a crush on him in the first place. Seriously there isn’t any hard feeling between us now.

I just wanted to share this story because I want you to understand you aren’t alone and people have been through it. I have and I will understand and will always listen. Also, please don’t suffer alone through it and do what I didn’t and speak out about it. Please find someone you can trust and don’t suffer in silence. I wish I hadn’t and I wish I had got help because two years later this still all haunts me and I am still dealing with consequences. It still affects me to this very day so much. It knocked my confidence more than I can tell you and because I didn’t get help and suffered through it and only now told anyone for the first time it has taken ages to build myself back up. I am getting there though. I want to be a voice to tell you that things don’t last forever and things do get better. I am who I am because of those experiences and they made me in a stronger person and I am lot wiser and more knowledgeable. As bad as everything was I wouldn’t where I am or doing what I am without all of this and I do live a pretty great life and I have so much to be thankful for. So please remember you aren’t alone, please speak up and don’t suffer in silence and it doesn’t last forever. You will get through it and be stronger. You can do it and it is okay to not be okay.

I hope this has helped in some way for someone and thank you for staying all the way to end. I know it is long! This was the hardest thing for me to do and I am so scared and nervous about the reaction but if it helps one person then it is worth it. Thank you so much!! Much love,

Lizzie x

Instagram: @thiz_is_lizzie_xx

Twitter: @Life_WithLizzie

 

13 Reasons Why Review…

Hello everyone!

I am pretty sure you have heard everyone raving over the series ’13 Reasons Why’ on Netflix and so I thought I would do a review post and give my opinions. I read the book for this years ago – honestly it seems like forever ago so I was so excited to hear about the release of this series. However, I was also a bit sceptical about watching it because I really wanted the series to do the book justice because it is phenomenal. Therefore, I was a little bit unsure whether to even watch it even though I was so excited when it was released. Instead I chose to hold off a bit and let the hype die down and read some reviews about it before I watched it.

So eventually, I obviously watched the series, hence why I am writing the review.  Now I am not going to lie, I actually watched the whole season in one day. I just got completely hooked and after watching one episode I was so intrigued to see how well they were going to match the plot to the book which is obviously what the whole season is based on.

For me personally I have very mixed opinions and feelings about the show. I did like the show and it so incredibly emotive and powerful and the message through the programme is  an obvious one which is so important and one which needs sharing. Teenage suicide rates increase every year but underneath that there are so many people with mental illnesses or people who are going through difficult situations and times and don’t really know who to turn to. As someone is has completed school I know how pressuring the school environment can be and sometimes it can be so suffocating and it can make dealing with your problems so much worse, especially, if like me, you unfortunately get bullied. School is hard and there are definitely some challenging life situations which will happen but I urge anyone who is feeling trapped, lonely, depressed, sad, scared, worried, down, isolated or any other feeling to find the confidence to speak about that problem. Please find someone you feel you can trust to share your problems with because people do care and people will help. I can’t imagine losing someone close to you by suicide – it would be devastating.  I can’t even begin to imagine feeling how those people must feel. Seriously, people may not know what you are feeling because not everyone has the same situation but there are people out there who listen and help you. There are so many charities and helplines with people who are willing to spend all the time necessary to help turn your problems around. Please don’t feel alone or just find that courage to talk about it because it really does help and no one is going to judge you – remember that. Those that care won’t judge you. They will just want what is best for you and will try and help you no matter what.

So obviously, the story of this series and the message in the programme lies close to my heart. I suffered from some pretty severe bullying at school, I mean some stages were a lot worse from others but nevertheless I can relate to the isolation and loneliness anyone who is bullied feels. What is more, a couple of years ago I use to a friend  who self harmed and was having a hard time and it was so hard to know she felt the need to put herself in that position because of the pain others were causing her. It was devastating. It’s hard to imagine just how down and lonely she must have felt to do something like that. Luckily my friend got the help she needed and now she is in a so much better place but I just don’t know how I would live with myself knowing I had been that cruel and hurtful to someone else to make them feel that much pain and that is such a powerful and emotive message which is portrayed through the series.

The series does really capture the heart-breaking and hard-hitting consequences of what your words can do and mean to someone else.  You don’t even realise the impact your words have or the consequence of your actions, but they are real and things like this do happen and issues within society will never improve unless we collectively learn to respect and appreciate people’s differences and just treat each other better. I do believe this film does emotively capture the worst of bullying and just how much you can affect a person’s life from something so little and something you may perceive to be a joke or a prank. Not everyone feels the same and it’s important for us to remember that and respect that not everyone has the same sense of humour and thus could find it offensive.

13 Reasons Why is definitely a profoundly moving and equally devastating story of a teenage suicide and there is no denying that.  I am going to warn that this most certainly is not the easiest of programmes to watch, in fact I wish through some episodes that I had watched it with someone else. Some scenes are very graphical and could potentially be very damaging and scarring and I did want to make a point of that in the review because I, for one, did not expect the scenes to be as graphical as they were. They were hard to watch and offered a lot more than I thought would be shown personally.

Another positive from the show is that it has provided a substantial platform and attention to these common issues within society. It really has brought to light the issue of bullying, rape and suicide. Although, we are all very aware of these matters, there is definitely a huge focus on them in the mainstream media.  In some ways, has heart-wrenching and difficult it is to watch this series I would urge people to watch purely because of the awareness it raises. From the release of this programme there has been heaps of media attention on the programme and thus the issues of bullying, rape and suicide and become more prevalent in mainstream media.  We all know those issues are there but if we aren’t willing to discuss them and talk about them then no measures will ever be taken to improve these issues. Therefore, I am so glad that this programme has encouraged a discussion and thinking points on these very dangerous issues.

However, I do have a few issues with the programme if I am honest. Some things just really frustrated me.  One of the main Character’s Hannah Baker was my first issue with the programme. At times, I really did not think she was portrayed like the book. I did towards the end, find it increasingly difficult to listen to some of her speeches. I am not denying that through the story she most certainly has reasons to be sad, angry and lost for words, for example when he was raped and I would have no idea how I would react if I was sexually assaulted. It must be one of the most traumatising experiences. However, I do feel like she is over-dramatic at points and certainly very selfish. She always believed people had some sort of ulterior motive and pushed people away. For me, just was a very unlikable character with the wrong attitude.

My second issue to do with Hannah is a point in general. They appear to make Hannah out to be the victim and as if she never did anything wrong. Don’t get me wrong she was the victim in some cases but  Hannah too, just like everyone was not innocent and she pushed away people, was selfish and should have taken more responsibility for her actions. Hannah was the victim is many cases,there is certainly no denying that, but she too was guilty of contributing to drama in that school. I think it is unfair to glorify Hannah in this light where she didn’t ever do anything wrong because I think she too let people down as much as people let her down.

My next issue is the ending. It comes to no real conclusions for anyone. At the very beginning of the programme, we are all aware of where the story is leading and that she inevitably going  to commits suicide. She lists the reasons why but the ending doesn’t  bring around conclusions. I personally feel that is fails to portray the other character’s sadness, distress at what the tapes would have done to them. I am pretty sure they would have caused some sort of problems for the children and more emotion on their behalf would have been better. Portraying their realisation of what their actions have done further would have enhanced the story. Also, one thing that I have always been confused about is the use of Clay on the tapes. He never did anything wrong to Hannah. He was always there for her, loved her and she pushed him away. Even after he death he is the only one who is determined to get justice for Hannah’s death and raise awareness for what has happened. It is him who wants to help everyone and I just find putting him through the tapes harsh. To make him feel so guilty and put him through all that pain when he really cared seems rather harsh to me but obviously that isn’t a criticism of the series but more of the storyline in general.

Lastly, Tony’s character is a little strange. I am not even sure why Hannah feels the need to include him in the tapes. It just doesn’t seem to fit in with the story because he doesn’t have a connection with Hannah except he lends her a tape recorder. In the nest series, as I am sure they have confirmed that there will be a second series I would like to see more conclusions. I would like to see the characters off the tapes take responsibility and I would like to show people how to move on from an incident like this. I would like the series to focus on rehabilitating the character’s and helping them move on whilst still teaching a very valuable lesson. I would like for them to go in direction which helps find justice and peace for everyone.

Overall, I thought the series was okay. I think the message it is trying to communicate is so important. I am not it was executed in the best possible way. I am sure that is a criticism of the plot in general. I definitely understand the use of tapes was the only way for them to get to hear Hannah’s story from her perspective and for them to find out what they had done but I think if that actually happened that would be unimaginable. How anyone would ever be able to move on from the grief and pain of hearing tapes is beyond me.  I am so glad that is has brought attention to these topics because they are so important and they are fundamental issues within society and I personally feel issues such as bullying, rape and assault need taking more seriously. It does happen. It happens so frequently and it isn’t okay and there does need to be more help and support networks and procedures in place to help the victims. It is real and people do need to speak up!

Thank you for reading and let me know your opinions on the season if you have seen it yourself. Also, just remember you aren’t alone and there are always people there to listen and help. I am for one! I have definitely had my fair share of very difficult and challenging situations but they make you stronger and with the right help, support network and confidence to speak about the issues. Things will get better. Life gets better and things do improve. I know this first-hand. Much love forever and always,

Lizzie X

Instagram: @thiz_is_lizzie_xx

Twitter: @Life_WithLizzie 

A very honest and deep Q&A

Hey lovelies!

Today I have a very honest and deep Q&A! I get these sorts of questions a lot and so I finally thought I would take the time to answers. It is a different type of Q&A and a lot more personal and honest and I hope you enjoy.

• Do you find it hard to manage blogging whilst having a part-time job and going to uni? – Simply the answer would be yes. Sometimes it can be so hard to balance my time between all three especially because being a full time-student and also my part-time job is full on. When I am break from uni I am usually working 30 hours or more at work so I am always super tired. Normally though I do manage to get a good balance between all three and manage to get in some of my own time and some socialising etc but yes it can be super hard. It is going to be so hard this next month as it is exam month! Ah – I am super stressed and worried for them!
• What makes you feel like you can trust someone? – This one is difficult for me because I used to be a such a trusting person (naive as some may say) and just see the good in everyone and then obviously you have experiences in life and you find out not everyone is like you so now it takes a lot for me to trust someone. I would say a big thing for me is that someone can be open and honest with me. I think if I can sense that someone generally trusts me and wants to be around me and be my friends and takes a genuine interest in me then I feel like I can trust them.
• What’s one thing you would change about yourself? – I think the one thing I would change about myself would be my thighs. I just don’t like them. They are just my least favourite part of my body but they are just fine the way the are and there is always something you aren’t completely happy with me but it’s all about embracing that and learning to love yourself flaws and anything.
• Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert? – I would consider myself an introvert. I am very shy and I don’t have a lot of confidence speaking and being in front of people or putting myself out there. However, I have gotten a lot better, especially since moving away to university and I definitely talk to people a lot more and do things I would have never have done or been to shy to do.
• If you could go back to to anytime in your life and change something when it would be? – Personally I am quite happy with how everything has turned out. Of course I have had some really bad times and they were so hard and sad but I have also had some fantastic times and I am one those who believes everything happens for a reason and if I would have changed something then I probably be who I am today or where I am today. With that being said If I could something different it would be secondary school years. I wish I had been so much confident and wasn’t afraid to be myself and just didn’t care what anyone else thought because I actually couldn’t wait for school to be over with. They just weren’t the most fantastic years of my life and I went through a lot and experienced a lot but like I said it has made who I am today and I am better because of it.  Of course as well there are times where I wish I had done stuff or said things and I didn’t or not said things or not done things or that I hadn’t been so scared and take more risks but then I always wonder that if I had done things differently would I be where I am today.
• Do you believe in second chances? –  Yes I do actually. I am definitely one of those people who give second chances. I think it is always so much easier for someone to say don’t give second chances and walk away but no one is perfect and sometimes we do make mistakes and we mess up and we all deserve a second chance. I mean of course I will have my limits where I just think enough is enough and that’s not something I want to give a second chance but I am a very forgiving person and I don’t like holding so even if it is something that I don’t think I would give a second chance, I will still forgive you for it. Otherwise I will just be holding onto something I can;t let go off and that’s just unhealthy and not worth it. I definitely believe though that more than once isn’t a mistake and is now a choice they have made so I am one for second chances but not someone who gives lots of chances.
• What did your past relationship teach you? – Not be so naive. I was a naive young person and always saw the good in everyone and didn’t really think people could be mean and thought everyone was as nice as me or had the same sort of feelings and heart as me and people really don’t. I think it just taught me to be stronger and not be as trusting and just to take things steady and not to be your trust in someone straight away.
• What is one of the most important things you have learnt so far? – That some people are brutal and some people will do anything to see you fall and be miserable. Seriously some people can be so cruel and rude, which I seriously don’t get. I don’t get why bringing someone else down makes you feel good about yourself. I really don’t get it. I don’t get either how people can be so mean and why they feel the need to pick up on certain things or comments or judgements. It’s not any of their business most of the time and isn’t their life, so even if it isn’t something you personally don’t agree with then okay that’s fine but it’s someone else’s life and someone’s decision. I really just will never understand all the mean and rude comments people will say to you and put you through and will never understand why people say those things but I have just learnt now that some people are always going to be mean and rude and would love to see you fail and you just have to realise you’re worth more than that and you are better than those comments.
• If 10 year old you could see you now how do you think she would feel? – I think this is hard because you don’t necessarily have a plan and don’t know where you will end up or what you will be doing. I know for sure that what I wanted to do at 10 years old I am not doing now. However, I think she would be proud of how far I have come and how I have persevered through all the challenging and difficult times. I know for sure there will be moments where she would have wished I would have done things differently and I know for sure you would be made at me, for still even to this day, not believing I can have my dreams but for the most part I think she would be proud.

Thank you so much for reading and I really hoped you have enjoyed. I will see you all very soon. Much love,

Lizzie X

P.S. leave requests in the comments or any answers to the questions but I always love finding out your answers!

Instagram: @thiz_is_lizzie_xx

Twitter: @Life_WithLizzie 

G+: Elizabeth Walton

First experience at Nandos

 

Hello!

Today I want to share with you my first experience and impression of Nandos. I know everyone thinks it has crazy that I have not already visited Nandos and tried the food there but to be honest I had heard quite a few mixed reviews. Some people I know absolutely love Nandos and would always go there to eat and some others thought it was okay but didn’t think it was that great.  I really wanted to go and make up my own opinions on the place and I can say I am one of those people who actually does really like it.

First thing, obviously if you don’t like chicken then this isn’t going to be the place for you. I am not really sure as to why I have never tried Nandos because it does sounds so nice. Anyway, when I went the Nandos we went to one which had just had a fire so the soft drinks machine wasn’t working, but as you will all know, I don’t drink soft drinks anyway and just always order water., so that didn’t bother me.  So the process is you obviously wait to get seated and then you look at the menu and decide what you want to order, then you walk up to the desk to with your table number and order your food and drink. You then walk to the drinks machine to get your drink, cutlery and any condiments you would like. I ended up ordering the 5 chicken wings in medium spice with 2 sides, one which was the peri-peri fries and the other which is garlic bread.

to say the restaurant was busy because me and my friend did go at around 8 on a Friday night, the service was decent and pretty quick.  When my food arrived, I must say I was impressed. I had heard that the food portions were small, however, the portion I thought I was very decent and by the end I was so full.  The food tasted really nice and I enjoyed everything that I had and I would definitely go back – in fact I have a date night on Saturday there so I obviously enjoyed it.  I am so glad I order the medium spice because I am not someone who enjoys really spicey food but do like some spice to my food and medium was the perfect balance for me. The chicken was cooked perfectly and tasted really good, the chips with the peri-peri seasoning was great and I just love garlic bread anyway and that also tasted great. I didn’t have condiments with my food although next time I would definitely like to try them because some of them sounded so nice but as it was my first time I didn’t know what to expect and so just kept it simple.

Overall, I would say I am really impressed with everything. The quality of the food, the food service was all great.  I really enjoyed my experience there and the food wasn’t too expensive I don’t think at all. My meal cost me £9.20 which I thought was really decent and I enjoyed my meal and would definitely pay that again. I am looking forward to going back and for my next experience and to try something else off the menu. I would recommend trying this place out for dinner.

If you have been to Nandos or are going to try it then let me know what you think to it and if you would recommend anything off the menu because I would love to know your recommendations. Also, if you have any other good food places for me to check out because I love trying new places. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post. I will see you soon. Much love,

Lizzie X

Boughton House Visit

Hey!

Today I am just sharing some photos with you from my day trip to Boughton House in Kettering, Northamptonshire today. I love visiting these places and I had a fantastic day. It was such so cold and tiring though haha! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos.

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Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have enjoyed looking through my photos. I seriously had the best time and it was such a unique experience because I actually had a guided tour and got to enter rooms which are not normally on display to the public which was so exciting with interesting.

I will see you all very soon! Much love,

Lizzie X

Life advice to live by

I believe there are numerous pieces of great advice out there to inspire you to live your life to the fullest, be happy and maximise your potential. All of the advice given above though, I can relate to so much and I am sure a lot of us can also. So many of us desire change and improvement but quite often we are not willing to accept or acknowledge what needs to happen. You simply just cannot change anything if you can’t acknowledge what it is you want to change.  The only way to move forward is to accept the past and the mistakes and acknowledge what you would lie to be different. How can you move forward if you just keep re-reading the same chapter? I have been in this position so many times, I would be lying if I said otherwise and I know so many of you reading will also be in the same situation! I am certain we have all had moment where we have what to do something, made a mistake or been in bad situation and just not been able to accept what happened and therefore we couldn’t change anything. I will be the first to say I am super stubborn and so when I mess up and make mistakes, because I am only human, I find it hard to acknowledge sometimes and so I can’t change what I did wrong. However, I have gotten a lot better at this and I have changed my perspective on things quite a bit now. I now know what ever happened, whatever I went through, no matter how bad it was or what mistakes I made, if I don’t acknowledge what happened I cannot change my mindset for the future to maximise my happiness. This also applies to body insecurities. The more you can acknowledge the easier the change. Acknowledging your problems is more then half the battle one. Then you can just focus on positive changes.

The next one I think is so, so, so important is obviously different for each person. Those who want to do well, work hard for it and want it. They believe so passionately about what they are working towards and for that they make a difference because they aren’t happy until the best had been achieved. Until they have given their all. If you have a desire to make a change or follow a certain career path you will work hard and remain dedicated determined until you get to where you want to be and won’t be satisfied until you have reached your dreams and goals. If you want something bad enough, you will work has hard as possible to ensure it becomes a reality!!

Trying to please everyone is impossible so just don’t bother! It’s true if you try and please everyone you will always fail because none of us are the same and we all have different opinions and ideas.Not every single person is ever going to agree with what you are doing so just don’t waste your time and effort pursuing this. At the end of the day those who love you for who you are and accept you and your success will always be there and those who don;t, they just really don’t matter. It’s such a hard experience and such a hard time going through losing ‘friends’ but you will realise in time that they were holding you back, acting negatively and you don’t need that toxicity surrounding you. You’re better than that. Just focus on doing whatever makes you the happiest and do what you want. The happier you are the more successful you will become because the more you will work for it. Someone is always going to have something to say and be able to criticise you and judge so don’t waste effort trying to eliminate it. It’s inevitable unfortunately. It’s apart of life and please just do whatever makes you the happiest.

Imagination I believe is so important in being successful. Don’t copy somebody else and do what somebody else. We are very creative people and excel at lots of different things. Find what you are good at. Take yourself wherever your imagination allows you to go and beyond. Don’t limit yourself and settle. Having a vivid imagination is one of the greatest gifts of all time, don’t be scared to use it! Be proud of being different and a little eccentric. Differences makes us beautiful. The imagination is wonderful a place and it’s so rare to have a great sense of imagination. Get creative and be different!

I just feel like the last piece speaks for itself. I am sure we have all done things we wish we hadn’t, been through situations we didn’t want to and wish from time to time we could start again. No!! Your past irrelevant. No matter what happened and what you went through. This doesn’t determine your future. As soon as you acknowledge that you can change things and start a fresh and plan a whole new future for yourself. Don’t let your past or your past mistakes define you or the present and the future because it doesn’t. If we let everything we did wrong hold us back we would never get anywhere. Don’t worry about what went wrong or how you felt because that mindset often holds us back when in reality we should just be learning from our experiences, growing and becoming a stronger and better a person because of them. We all have a story to write and only you can chose how it ends. Don’t let anyone else take that away from you!

I hope you have found this a little helpful in some way. Thinking like this always helps me in times of darkness and to be honest recently, things have not been going all that great. However, that’s life and it doesn’t define me and it’s okay for me to sad and down about but I know it’s not going to change anything or hold me back. Believe in yourself and the power you have. You’re incredible and so beautiful. Don’t let anyone else tell you anything different and be who you want to be and I hope you are all so successful in whatever you chose you want to do but beyond all I wish you happiness! I hope you life is full of happiness and great experiences and memories which make you laugh and smile. Life is wonderful when you step back and realise that in this crazy society we all just want the same things… Love, happiness, success, family, friends, memories, experiences and no regrets. When it comes down to it we all are the same with slight differences. So always be kind, respect each other and never give up on your dreams. Encourage other’s success and pursue your own!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have enjoyed! Much love always,

Lizzie X

P.S. Success will never come easy!!!

Steakhouse Leicester Review

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a fantastic week and that you are doing well. This Tuesday was obviously Valentine’s day and as I said in a previous post, my boyfriend and I don’t really celebrate it because we don’t really see the point because we love each other every day regardless so we just went out for a meal and it was lovely. I had a fantastic time.

We went to the Steakhouse in Leicester which is tiny little restaurant in the city centre. The atmosphere was lovely and peaceful. The service was really good with the staff very polite and efficient. The food tasted good as well. I would recommend the food. There wasn’t a huge selection of food though to be quite honest, there was only a few items on the list but nevertheless it was still nice. The food was also quite expensive. I mean it is ridiculously expensive but it is certainly not cheap either. Just as reference as well really, they don’t sell alcoholic drinks either.

Other than that, I had a fantastic time and it was a lovely evening and meal with my boyfriend. We both enjoyed ourselves and I could see me going back in the future!

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you did for Valentines day in the comments or what posts you would like to see soon! I hope you all enjoyed and much love as always!

Lizzie X

One Lovely Blog Award

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing? I hope you’re having a lovely day or evening and are having great start to your week. Today I am writing the ‘One lovely blog award’ which I have kindly been nominated to recieve by the lovely Gio, author of Giojoblog. So thank you very much for the nomination, I am very grateful and really do appreciate it! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out her blog. It features great content and I am sure you will enjoy reading!

Rules:

• 1. Post to accept the nomination
• 2. Thanks the person who nominated you and a link back to their blog
• 3. List 7 things about yourself
• 4. Link to the blogs you nominate
• 5. Notify the recipients of their award
• 6. Post the rules

7 facts about me:

1. My dream job would be an entrepreneur and to run and have my own business.
2. I love writing and one day hope to have a book published.
3. I want to travel the world and visit/experience as many different countries, cities and cultures as possible.
4. I am currently obsessed with watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.
5. I am currently training to run a half marathon.
6. I love drawing and designing.
7. I am an auntie and have two nieces and a nephew.

My nominations are:

• blenditlikesaza
• averagejadeblog

Thank you all so very much for reading and I will see you all very soon! Love you!

Lizzie X

Starting uni…

Hello!

Welcome back everyone! How are you all doing? I hope you are having a great day/evening and things are going well. A while back I mentioned starting a university series and at last I am finally getting around to starting it. I am so sorry it has taken forever for me to start the series but I have just been so busy with things. The past month as all just being about settling in and getting used to the university lifestyle and I finally feel now I am starting to get into a routine with everything! I did plan to blog more on the weekends but I have been super busy at work and also studying and reading for assignments so I am sorry about that too! However, I am now finally getting around to it and I am so excited to be sharing me experiences with you and how I am finding uni life!

First thing, for any of you who doesn’t know, I am studying History at the University of Leicester UK. Since I was fortunate to receive and unconditional offer, meaning I didn’t need any requirements to get into the university or onto my course, I can’t really tell you much about the UCAS programme on results day and how that all works. Unfortunately I am not 100% sure on what happens but I do know if you log on to your UCAS track it tells you whether the university you have firmed has accepted you before you even pick up your results in most cases but that’s about as far as my knowledge goes on that. Unfortunately I cannot help with clearing or results day anymore than that. Sorry!

I obviously did go through all the stages of applying and filling out my application form, as well as writing my personal statement so if any of you are applying to university this year or apprenticeships or even jobs let me know if you would like any tips of how I did mine and what I wrote about and I will make a blog post about that because I know how daunting it is having to write about yourself in a word limit, selling yourself and trying to select all your best abilities and attributes! It’s not easy and it is, at the end of the day, what they judge you on and make their decision based on. The only other thing to say is that once you have submitted your application then it is literally just waiting for your offers to come back through before you make a decision on where you would like to go and firm and also your insurance uni incase things don’t quite go according to plan, which I hope they do for you!

After those stages it is all about applying for Student Finance if that’s something you need (I definitely did!) and looking for accommodation if you are thinking about moving away from home. Student Finance is a great loan and support system and don’t worry about the money and paying it back, it’s not all as scary as it seems and at the end of the day you are investing in your future! In terms of accommodation, look early and apply as early as possible! Again I was lucky in the respect that when I knew where I wanted to go that I could book my accommodation straight away because my place at univeristy wasn’t subject to my A-Levels grade. This meant I could confirm my accommodation straight away and know where I was living. The only difference if you don;t recieve an unconditional is that you get a provisional offer for accommodation which then will change depending on whether you get in on results day. Basically they allocate you a space at accommodation based on your preferences which will get confirmed after your results have come through so don’t panic that you won;t have anywhere because you will!

So today I thought I would just briefly explain the whole applying procedure and a few things to think about but if you have nay questions on anything I have said then feel free to ask or you what a more detailed post on something specific then also let me know! I have a few more post planned such as what to take, what to expect, what moving day is like, freshers experience, settling into courses and lots of stuff like that but if you have any other posts you would like to see them let me know and I will do them too. Hopefully they should start to become more regular again as things are settling down now. Also let me know if you want to see a room tour because I have been thinking about filming one. So let me know if that is something you are interested in me doing and I will film that too. I was also thinking about filming a Uni Q&A as well to answer questions about uni because I know how scary it can be and daunting so leave me any questions you have for that and I will do that too.

Thank you all so much for reading and for being really patient with me whilst me schedule has been all over the place. I hope to hear from you all soon with any suggestions or questions you have and I will see you all very soon for the next post in this mini series! Bye guys!

Lizzie