Hello everyone,
I hope you’ve been enjoying the wonderful weather we’ve been having recently. This past weekend was my first weekend of (almost) freedom! I’ve had my last lecture and handed all but one assignment in (which is just a video upload). I can’t quite believe that my three years of university are essentially over.
When I arrived at UCB on the 5thof September 2015, I was so so scared. My mum helped me to move into the Maltings and I cried for quite a long time. The next morning, I was still very nervous, but I got to know my flatmates better over breakfast and then we decided to go into town to explore the centre of Birmingham to get to know it a bit better. Over that year, I think I grew the most in terms of practical skill. I went from being a keen home baker to making a two-tiered wedding cake covered completely in tempered chocolate decorations. Despite a few disagreements, I absolutely loved my flat in the Maltings and became very close with two of them. I also got to know my course mates better and ended up living with a few of them in second year.
In second year, I think I grew most as an adult. Living in a house that you have organised can be quite stressful- we had issues with council tax, our boiler made weird noises, our oven broke, we had no working Wi-Fi for our first month of living there and our estate agent in general was pretty hopeless. Having to sort out issues like that made me feel like an actual adult and gave me more confidence in dealing with them. I enjoyed our course, particularly the afternoon tea assignment and plated desserts- again, I felt like I grew so much in my bakery skills. I liked living with my course mates but found it a bit overwhelming at times (particularly during assignments) and so I decided to live with friends from my church in final year.
Final year has been so fun and so stressful at the same time. I feel like my academic writing has really improved, and I did enjoy writing my dissertation. Although it was a shame not to have any bakery practical lessons, the modules we have done have been very fascinating- particularly food supply and sustainability and current issues in food and nutrition. This year I have really felt like a proper ‘grown up.’ I have a job lined up for next year and am really excited for what the future holds. Instead of finding it overwhelming and scary, my nerves have turned into nervous excitement and anticipation as I enter the working world.
Until next time,
Ellie x