2017 ROUND-UP

If you've been a reader of my blog for a while now, you may be familiar with my annual round-up posts. If you're new, every year, I write a blog post rounding up the past year - a year in review post. It's where I reflect on the past year and everything that's happened, both good and bad, within that year. Today, I'm sharing my 2017 round-up.

2017 has been a year of transition for me. A lot has changed over the course of this year and, all in all, it's been a really great year for me. I've split this post into four main sections - achievements, trips, gigs and general stand out moments so let's get started.

Achievements

The first of my categories is achievements. I think this is probably the main section in that these are things that I'm immensely proud and perhaps didn't expect to happen.

• Receiving five offers from universities - I applied to Westminster, Sheffield, Salford, Lincoln and London Metropolitan and received offers from all of them. 
• Achieving ABC at A Level - I achieved an A in photography, a B in sociology and a C in English language. 
• Linking to those previous points, I got into my first choice university (Westminster) and hence moved to London to study there - and I'm loving it. 

Trips

I think this is actually my favourite section (maybe joint first with gigs) because I've been really lucky to be able to travel and visit a fair few places over the course of this year.

• London - my friend and I came down on a day trip back in April and I had the best time. Obviously now I live here so that's great also. 
• I also went on a mini break with my family to Kent in April - we stayed in Whitstable and visited Canterbury, Herne Bay and a few other places. I also met my lovely internet friend Ellie for the first time while I was there. 
• I went on my first holiday with my friends this year to Croatia and it was incredible. Croatia is genuinely one of the most beautiful places in the world and I would love to go back - I one hundred percent recommend visiting to anyone who has the opportunity. 
• Myself and my friend Emily visited York for the day back in August. I haven't been to York in literally years so it was lovely to go back and spend the day there - it's still as pretty as I remember and I really enjoyed the day. 
• Back in early September I went to Marbella, Spain with my family and our family friends for a week and it was really enjoyable - definitely one of the best ways to end an incredible summer. 
• In October, I went to Brighton with my parents for a couple of days as part of my lil birthday celebrations. Again, I hadn't been to Brighton for years so it was really nice to pop down and spend a couple of days there. 

Gigs

We all know by now how much I love a good gig. This year I went to a fair few and managed to see a lot of artists live.

• The Vamps. I actually saw the Vamps three times on their tours this year - twice on their arena tour and once on their up close and personal tour in July. I also saw them at V Festival.
• I went to The Hunna's tour back in January and they were insane - I'm actually going to their next tour too so expect a gig review from that!
• I was lucky enough to get tickets to see Take That on their tour this year and I'm still so incredibly happy about it. I actually adore Take That, I think they're incredible. 
• As I've briefly mentioned, in August, I went to V Festival and saw so many of my favourite artists (I wrote a blog post all about it) and had the best time.
• Also, earlier in the year I went to Kovic at the Bodega in Nottingham with my lovely lovely friend Meg - whose blog you can check out here. 

Stand out moments

There are a few other stand out moments for me this year, some good and some bad but they all made an impact on my life this year.

• I met The Vamps again back in February which was lovely.
• My sixth form prom was in July which was actually quite emotional - not as in crying emotional but in the sense that these were people that I'd spent the past seven years with at school and I wouldn't necessarily see them again. It was a weird one, but prom was a really enjoyable night.
• Meeting my internet friend Ellie was also a highlight of my year - we've been friends for almost three years now so it was lovely to finally meet her. 
• I left my job at Wilko at the end of August. This is another weird one because, as much as I hated it and complained about having to go to work, the people there were almost like a family - I met some of the loveliest people through working at Wilko and I cannot express how much the experience (of nearly two years) did for me. My confidence grew massively and I was actually, surprisingly, quite sad to leave. 
• Finally, the most recent of my highlights is seeing An American In Paris in the West End literally last week - I've wanted to see this show for so long and I'm so happy that I finally got to see it. 

Overall, as I mentioned earlier, 2017 really was a year of transition for me - a lot changed. I rekindled friendships that I thought were over forever, I achieved things that I didn't think were possible, I visited places that I've wanted to visit for a long time, I experienced some incredible things and, to top it off, I moved to the city that I've wanted to call home for as long as I can remember. 2017 really was a good one for me - I just hope 2018 can be even better. I hope you had a great year, and if not, don't worry - there's always next year. Remember, life is what you make it.