Ah, another blog post about final year of university. Did you know I was in my final year? Ok, I might stop talking about it soon. Maybe. Maybe not. Still another two months before I graduate so I’m afraid you’ve got to put up with it until then.
I had thought about posting this last week when I actually had just finished university but it was too soon. I was too hyped up and I wanted to savour being free of university for one full week first. But if you read my post from yesterday, there wasn’t really much to savour.
These highlights won’t just be university orientated, but will be about things that have also happened outside of university, but still within my final year. From my placement year, you’ll know that I like to reflect and look back on past months and events etc. and I especially like to document them on here so I can always look back and remember.
So here are the top five (maybe six) highlights of my final year at university.
1. Speaking to PR students at Greenwich University, London
I still can’t believe this actually really happened if I’m honest. Never did I think that I would be invited to another university to talk about PR to other students in London and while still being a student myself. It was such an honour and I definitely had to try my best to get over the ‘Am I even qualified to do this???’ thought constantly running through my head.
This was definitely a huge highlight of my final year and I’m so glad that I agreed, threw myself out of my comfort zone and went down to Greenwich to meet with the students. I have a summary post all about my talk which you can find here.
I can now sign off: Orlagh Claire, Public Speaker Extraordinaire. #Kidding.
2. Visiting Amsterdam with LJMU
This was one of the highlights of my entire university experience as I’m sure you can imagine. The university paid for myself and six classmates to travel to Amsterdam to help out at a film festival to complement our Events Management module. I had never been to Amsterdam before and always wanted to go, so seeing it this way was amazing as we had so much free time and well, it was free!
We were there for four days and able to explore at our leisure as we only spent one and a half days at the film festival. Our lecturer even took us to the Red Light District so we definitely did a lot of touristy things. I really fell in love with Amsterdam and their way of life. Everything was so laid back, everyone was constantly exercising and even though it was a city, there were no skyscrapers or buildings made of glass; it was all so quaint.
I will definitely be making a return to Amsterdam and would actually love to experience living there in the future. Netflix, Tommy Hilfiger – if you’re hiring, I’m available! Obviously I wrote a blog post about my four days in Amsterdam, which you can find here.
3. My #AskOrlagh Twitter chat
I felt like a right little somebody when I had my #AskOrlagh Twitter chat in the middle of the year. Before it happened I was absolutely petrified that nobody would ask questions and I would look like an absolute loser. But thankfully that wasn’t the case and as I sat in Root coffee shop across from my flat block, my hands were shaking and my heart was beating so fast as I tried to keep up with all the questions and not miss anyone out.
When I was asked by Richard Bailey of prplace.com to host a Twitter Q&A, I thought there was no chance that I was qualified enough, experienced enough or knowledgeable enough to answer other people’s questions but it went so, so well and I’m now getting back into hosting little Q&A sessions on my Instagram, which I’m trying to do once per month. You can find a little summary of the Twitter chat here. Lol, is there anything I don’t blog about?!
Twitter chats are a great way to get involved with the Twitter community and to converse with other people with the same interests as yourself. Ella Minty hosts a great Power and Influence chat on Wednesdays at 8pm and the UK Blog Awards hosts theirs on Tuesdays at 9pm.
4. Being named the UK’s Best PR Student Blogger for the second year in a row
Obviously a huge highlight of my final year, it was incredible to have received the award during my placement year and I never imagined to receive it again in my final year. The award has provided me with so many opportunities and I’m sure it will continue to do so again this year.
As a PR student, there’s nothing I recommend that you do more. The #bestPRblogs competition is something every PR student should take advantage of as there are so many benefits from doing it. I started out just over two years ago with no clue what I was doing or how to run a website. But with some googling, the help of friends and just trial and error, I was able to make my blog into what it is today.
My blog definitely didn’t look like this when I first started and it took a lot of time for me to get it where I wanted. But the best thing I ever did was start. That’s all it takes. Just make a start and you could be sat with an award winning blog a year or two from now. And yes I’ve wrote many a blog post on why you should start blogging but here’s my most recent post from when I won this year’s award.
5. Changing my mindset
I know I’m starting to sound like one of those preachers out on the street, but hear me out. You’ve heard me mention mindset before in recent posts, but I’m not going to stop talking about it any time soon. My mindset has changed a lot this year. With the help of reading books around it, watching Instagram stories from @sineadheg and listening to podcasts and YouTube videos by Tony Robbins.
Because my mindset has changed and I’ve been channeling the Law of Attraction, a lot of amazing and freaky things have happened for me this year, especially in the last few months.
When I first started university I heard the term ‘headhunted’ a lot. It seemed like everyone I knew that was much older than me and graduating, were being headhunted. I remember feeling deflated at the time because I thought that would never happen to me. But incredibly, it has. Much to do with my blog, I’ve been offered quite a few roles and interviews without asking. I have only applied for one position after university of which I am still in the process, but my many trips to London have been through offers coming through because of my blog (I think). It’s a wonderful feeling and I’m quite shocked to have these opportunities without beginning to look at what I’m going to do once graduation comes around.
I really do believe that all of the success and opportunities I’ve had recently is down to my mindset changing. Anything is possible and we have the power to achieve anything and do everything that we want to do. I could go on and on, but reading self-help/motivational books has been the best thing I’ve ever done and listening to Tony Robbins. If you want to change your life, learn about mindset and let it sink in.
6. Finishing university FOREVER
A little extra one for good measure, I can’t believe that I have finished university forever. Getting to the end has definitely been a highlight and it seems like both forever ago and yesterday that I first stepped foot in John Moores. I remember my first day so clearly, the people, the dreaded icebreakers and getting to know everyone.
I can’t believe how quickly those four years have passed and even looking back on my memories of first year, second year and placement year don’t seem like they could have been that long ago. I’ve had the best four years in Liverpool and London and I’m so content with my decision to attend Liverpool John Moores.
I’m going to have a degree in my hand in less than two months and then I’m going to have to make a lot of important decisions about the direction I want my life to take next. Whether that’s traveling, moving somewhere new, moving back to London or staying at home for a little while, who the hell knows? I sure don’t but that’s what makes life exciting, right?
University? Completed it mate.
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