We’re currently in that weird middle ground between Christmas and New Year’s where no one really knows what day it is, whether they should be in work or doing anything at all and struggling to remember the last time they ate a vegetable or anything remotely healthy. Well, I can tell you that it’s Friday (hence this post) and that New Year’s is only a few days away. After that, life should return to normal.
I love New Year’s and can’t wait to write out my goals for 2019 and what I hope to achieve, but for now I’m going to look back at the year that’s just passed. My 2017 year in review was a little different from what this year’s is going to look like. I was halfway through placement, living my best life in London and had so much to look forward to for the remainder of my placement year.
Right now, life isn’t as glamorous as I’m back at university and living in Liverpool, not London. However, there are many things that happened in 2018 that I can look back on and cherish and hopefully 2019 will be the same.
1. Finishing the most amazing placement year
It doesn’t even feel like only six months ago I was still working and living in London, it feels more like a lifetime ago. However, at the beginning of this year I attended the BRIT Awards after-party and the European premiere of the Black Panther movie – both major highlights of 2018 (never forget, I fist-pumped Craig David and went live on Instagram for the first and final time).
I think by February/March I was fully confident in my placement role, and felt like part of the furniture in the office. It’s a shame when you come to leave the position that you feel most able to do it, yet you have to hand over to someone completely new. The last six months of my placement year were as amazing as the first, if not better.
My London life was like living in a movie and people still talk to me today about my job and the perks that came with it. Coty was the best placement I could have gotten and I really do believe everything happens for a reason – I was meant to get that job. I have so many friends and connections from my year and memories that will last a lifetime. It was a whirlwind for sure, but I would love to be able to re-live something similar in the future.
2. Turning 21
Given that I’m only a few months off 22, my 21st does seem like a long time ago already. But I had a birthday to remember, even though I was apprehensive to celebrate it in London without my friends and family.
Although, the celebrations seemed to last the entire month of March, with a trip to Dublin with my best friend to see Niall Horan on tour, then a weekend in Liverpool for St. Patrick’s weekend with all of my university friends, the most dramatic night on my actual 21st that started off very reserved but ended in The Box in Soho (if you know, you know) and then ending with a week at home with my friends celebrating over Easter. My mum and dad even came over to visit mid-March with all of my birthday presents and the girls in work took me to the Shard as well as tagging along with me to see Niall Horan for the second time in Brixton. You could say it was a busy month!
My work team even got me 21 balloons so I could get the perfect picture for Instagram. As they said, ‘You only turn 21 once!’ Read about the Art of Turning 21 right here.
3. Returning to Liverpool
The worst thing about moving is finding the perfect place to live. You never really do, but thankfully I’ve never had any issues with the places I’ve lived. I couldn’t wait to move back to Liverpool to get back to my social life and the city that I have come to call home. Even though I couldn’t wait to get back, I did feel down about having to leave London. Having the entire city on your doorstep every day was a great thing as there was never a lack of something to do.
Returning to Liverpool also meant returning to university, which also meant final year. I’m not going to lie, the first few months haven’t been too bad, but that might have something to do with the fact that I haven’t even began to think about my dissertation, never mind start it. I’ve only had three assignments so far but I’m dreading what the next six months is going to bring.
Another highlight of this part of my year was knowing where I was going. I was finishing my placement and going back to final year. But as for next year, I’m finishing final year and then who knows?! I keep hearing about other students securing graduate jobs, including a lot of my close friends and I’m starting to freak out a little as I haven’t even applied for anything, let alone secure a job for the future.
I don’t know where I’ll be when I write my review of 2019 in December next year. Maybe I’ll be living in Dubai or America. Maybe I’ll be in London. Maybe (hopefully not) I’ll be living at home.
4. Making tons of memories
One thing I missed when I lived in London was my social life. Even though it looked like I was always partying and never without a glass of prosecco in my hand, it wasn’t the partying I was used to. I used to live for my nights out in Liverpool, and I didn’t half make up for the lost time when I moved back in September.
Probably my most cherished memories of Liverpool are from nights out with my friends; the pictures, stories, videos and mornings after always make me laugh when I think back to them. Am I a cliché PR girl? I guess I wouldn’t do a bad job at doing PR for nightclubs – maybe I should move to Ibiza after I graduate?
But I’ve had my fun and made the memories in the last part of 2018, so I think in 2019 it will be time for me to give my liver a chance to recover and start acting like the final year that I actually am. Instead of partying to 6am on a Saturday night, I’ll be getting up at that time and spending the day in the library, not in bed. I have a degree to get after all!
Hopefully McCooley’s won’t go out of business.
5. Visiting America for the first time
It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to visit America and I finally made the trip just last month. I am finally able to tick one state off of my Bucket List (which lists all 50) so only 49 left to go! I realised in America that I want to return as soon as possible to see as much of it as I possibly can. There’s just something about America.
I can definitely see myself living there in the future. Seeing other Irish girls (Retro Flame, Samantha Barry) living in America and killing it, gives me the motivation to someday do the same. I’ve already listed in one of my #FridayFives the cities in America that I most want to live in and after visiting the country, I’m going to try my hardest to make it sooner rather than later.
Looking back at 2018, I had a great year, although where I am now isn’t as good as where I was at the beginning of the year. It’s only a formality that I had to return to Liverpool so I know that I’m not going to be in this position for the foreseeable. 2019 is going to be a scary one for me as it’s completely up in the air as to where I’ll be this time next year. I just hope that I’m not still in the UK when I’m writing this post in 12 months time.
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