Back to College Stationery Haul!

It's officially that time of year again - preparing to go back to school or college! You might be thinking, ''I still have a month of left my holidays, leave me alone Aveen!'' yet I feel you can never prepare too early for going back in September. 

As I will be starting my second year in college, I now realise what stationery I actually need for my college course (primary teaching). Last year I went slightly insane buying every and any piece of stationery I could place my hands on. (Including a page hole puncher which I have not yet used). This year however, I was more sensible thankfully! 

To start with, I bought a school bag from the Roxy website. Even when I was in secondary school I always had to have a Roxy school bag. I found them so spacious, stylish and comfy to lug my heavy books around in. Needless to say, this ethos hasn't changed so I bought a floral patterned bag this year. Funnily enough, the bag matches the pencil case I bought in Penneys/Primark! (not in that photo but in normal daylight they match). 

For lectures and tutorials I always bring refill pads to write notes or to occasionally doodle. I tend to buy refill pads with dividers in them and you can label each section according to each subject. Due to the amount of modules I study each semester I usually need 2 refill pads with 5 dividers in each. I find it a lot easier coming up to exam and assignment time to study as I know where my notes are. 

I picked up some sticky tape with dispensers (you never know when they will come in handy). I got two so I have one for my bedroom at home and one for my room in Limerick. Likewise I bought two sets of sticky notes so I won't have to carry extra things around when I'm travelling to-and-from at the weekends. 

Blue tack is also a great investment to get. I found I went through a lot of blue tack when I was teaching on placement last semester. As a result I keep blue tack with me at all times during college time. 

I also bought two lever-arch folders for future placements later on in the college term, along with the poly-pockets to go in the folders. Sharpies were also on special offer in Tesco (where I also got the majority of my stationery, their section of stationery is just a dream!) so I picked a pack of them up, along with pens, pencils, an eraser and highlighters. 

I also find that light plastic folders are great for keeping any hand-outs or notes you might be given in tutorials or lectures. Depending on the subject, I could get several handouts from my tutors or lecturers. Keeping them in the small plastic folder is great especially coming up to exam time as you know exactly where the notes are. 

I also picked up two smaller notepads, one will be for writing down my 'homework' or my to-do list whilst in college. In some lectures we're asked to study readings in advance of the next tutorial or lecture so I'll most likely write down the necessary information in one of the notepads so I can keep on top of my work. 

I hope this has helped anyone starting college as a guiding point for what to buy as regards to stationery. If you aren't sure what to get (regardless of your college course) a refill pad and a few pens/pencils is always an excellent starting point. I think with my course I go through a lot more stationery than the average college student, I feel as though I spend the college year just stocking up on stationery!

Have you gotten any cute stationery or notebooks for going back to school or college?
Send me a snap (SC: awkwardaveen), tweet me or let me know in the comments!

Aveen x

First Year Ball

Last Tuesday was the First Year Ball in college, it's basically the college version of the debs except a little bit more low-key. Here's some photos from the night.

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless, 

Aveen x

''I'm Trying To Be Somebody Else but Everybody Else is Taken''

I started my second semester back in January after a wonderful 5 weeks of Christmas holidays. The second week of the semester has ended and week 3 is approaching. In all honesty, it feels as if we never quite left for the length of time we did.

In my college, it was RAG week and if you're a college student you'll know exactly what antics we were all up to! The Student's Union opened a bar in the SU Lounge for the week which was brilliant, especially as there were wonderful performances by various acts, which I really enjoyed.

I realise it's been nearly a month since my last update. Instead of the over-sharing I once did on my blog, I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum where I share very little content that is to a degree, planned carefully. The title of this blog post comes from the song, 'Best Man' by The Strypes. The lyric has been reverberating in my head for a number of weeks, mainly because I can connect to those few syllables so well. I've been struggling with my own identity as of late. There's different versions of 'Aveen' floating around and I'm not quite sure which of the categories and identities is currently most applicable to me.

For several months I've questioned my identity, 'Who exactly am I?' has been a question plaguing my mind for a long time. During my secondary school years, I clung to my online identity. I felt that by adopting the persona of 'Awkward Aveen,' it might have made my days easier - which it both did and didn't. When that persona didn't quite work in my favour, I went to being determined, hard working but incredibly quiet for a lot of 2015.

Upon starting college, I was left with the dilemma of who exactly I wanted to be. It's still very much an issue I experience on a daily basis. I didn't want to be known solely by my musings on the internet (great thing is that many of my friends know, but it doesn't bother them, mainly due to my infrequency of updates) yet, for several years, the blog was an integral part of my life, giving me confidence to be a person I never thought I'd could be.

I did consider quitting blogging a number of times throughout my first semester. I wasn't gaining any satisfaction in blogging. I felt that I was typing to a brick wall and felt quite lonely in the blogging world. I'm planning on being more involved in the blogging world this year, as I miss the friends I made through writing online.

Please don't get me wrong, I still struggle with issues related to confidence (that's a story for another day my friends) but I think these are eased by blogging. It's viewed as attention seeking or narcissistic to write on a blogging platform by some -  yet for me it's not related to that at all. Blogging is therapeutic, typing on a keyboard allows me to clear my mind and prevent any negative emotions from building up. Last semester I complained about a lack of time which reduced my ability to create content. This semester I am determined to post on a more regular basis.

To document one's life I think is a wonderful concept. I've re-read over diaries I kept from my childhood and early teenage years and I desire to do the same with regards to my late teenage and early adult years. One must not be afraid of their emotions. Our feelings make us human, stronger, not weaker. That's something I really want to fully learn the value of.

Tuesday night in Crush with some of the girls, the camera quality the photographer used was amazing. 

Most of the girls I live with in college quite literally 'out in force'! 

An assortment of selfies with the girls!

I went to see Ardal O'Hanlon in one of the local hotels on Saturday night. It was a brilliant evening that I spent literally laughing my head off.

One of my Christmas presents was the first Jack Reacher book by Lee Child. My Mam is a massive fan and decided it was time I joined the obsession. I'm about to start the fourth book (there's 19 in the series) so I have lots of reading to do - exciting times. I'd definitely recommend reading the books, they're absolutely fantastic. 

Aveen xx

*Title of blog post: The Strypes - Best Man 

Leaving Cert Results and CAO Offers

Hey Everyone!

I have been so incredibly busy as of late that I haven't had the opportunity to post here lately. I'll be writing several updates throughout the next couple of weeks. If you follow my Twitter or Instagram, you probably know why I have been so erratic this month.

On Wednesday August 12th, a day which I had waited for and feared eventually arrived. It was the Leaving Cert results day. To say I was nervous was an understatement. The sun may have been shining yet, as I walked into my school, it might as well have been a cold, dark morning in Winter. The walk, one I travelled everyday for six years, was excruciatingly long. I kept my head down as I passed screaming friends, phones in one hand and ripped brown envelopes in the other.

My heart was thumping in my chest, I genuinely felt the world spinning as my hand pulled the handle of the door into Reception. I feared the worst. Recalling my emotions after every exam, I was relieved and happy with my performance in all of them, except German. The niggling doubt had set in a few days previously and reached it's all time height as I saw the stacks of brown envelopes that awaited me.

Taking a deep breath, I joined the queue for my long-awaited and feared results. The envelope with my name was quickly found by the Principal, handed over with a handshake and a smile. I can recall thinking, ''If the Principal is smiling, I hope to God that the hard work paid off.''

Hands sweaty and shaking, I fled outside to open my results, terrified of prying eyes, judgemental stares and smirks. With cool hands, I ripped open the seal of the envelope, slowing revealing the results which I had worked, studied and crammed for two years to get. Saying a silent prayer to anyone listening, I peeked at the results.

''Irish - Honours - A2
English - Honours - A2''

I didn't look at the other five results for several seconds, gulping with delight and shock. Yet again, my hands shook. Inhaling deeply once more, I whipped the paper out entirely. Two further A2's in History and Ag Science, two B2's in Business and even German (an exam I nearly cried leaving) and finally a B1 in Maths (I dropped to ordinary, which ultimately was the best decision despite what my peers thought)

I grabbed my phone from my handbag, calculating the points. 90... 90.... I kept pressing the buttons until, with another deep breath, I clicked 'calculate'. The number 520 appeared on screen.
''Surely this can't be right,'' I whispered. ''I must have calculated this wrong''

After several recounts by myself and The Sibling, it was confirmed. I had just gotten 520 points in my Leaving Cert - without the 25 bonus points craved by so many. The texts and copious phone calls by my Mam and Dad to my relatives began.

All I really remember is whispering to myself, uttering the words, ''I did it, I actually did it'' several times. If I'm honest, it didn't really sink in for several days. I was on a high. I met up with my friends, who were all also delighted with their results. We had all achieved more than we needed for our courses.

The atmosphere was filled with laughter, relief and elation. All the hard work had actually paid off. We all succeeded. With an adrenaline filled giggle, the realisation that our dreams were starting to come true, hit us hard. The photos began, speaking to our teachers and our other friends.

In true celebratory style, the girls and I went for cupcakes and pink lemonade. In between discussions of the debs, CAO offers and finding accommodation, our phones beeped and pinged continuously, receiving texts and phones from relatives in true Irish style. The Leaving Cert consumes the nation as practically everyone knows someone who sat the gruelling exams the previous June.

Grace being the ever supportive friend! Note the lamb with the flower crown - amazing. 

The following Monday the CAO offers were released. CAO basically process all the results and give you an offer based on the courses you applied for. I have wanted to study primary teaching ever since I was in primary school, so primary teaching in Mary Immaculate College was my first choice on my CAO. 

The CAO opened at 6 am on Monday. With baited breath I logged into my account to see an offer from Mary Immaculate College for primary teaching! In that moment, I knew all the hard work and struggles were worth it. I could feel all my worries from over the years lift off me.

Here's my acceptance of my CAO offer - at four minutes past six. I had run into my parents room, shaking and screaming with happiness at 6.02 before I accepted my offer. 

So that's all about my LC results and CAO offer! I'm genuinely still on a high, to know that all of my study paid off is the most wonderful and liberating feeling I have possessed in a long time. If you got your results and an offer, congrats and I wish you the very best on the next stage of your life. We'll walk this new road together. 

The next blog post I'll be writing will be about my debs! Keep an eye out!

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen xx