If you're a little confused ...

... Why I've seemingly randomly decided to go to uni ... So am I!! So I will try and explain it as much as I can ...

"What?! I thought you said you didn't want to go to uni?!"

I don't think I ever said I didn't want to go to uni at all-ever, I just said that I hadn't found any courses that really sparked my interest. But now I have.

"Aren't you giving up a great opportunity to live overseas?"

Yes. I can only get this working visa once in my life, but it's still valid until 2014 so I can come back if I want to. That aside, I was never coming over here forever.

"What made you decide to go to uni?"

Way back a year ago when the idea of working in the UK manifested itself in my mind and grew into something that I HAD to do right now! I wasn't in a very good place. I felt like I was just wandering around, doing absolutely nothing of value. I had no goals, no purpose, no direction. So the idea of going overseas was an escape from that nothingness. It gave me something to look forward to, and aim towards. Basically it gave me something to DO. When I came over here it was a crazy-awesome-adventure of new stuff and new people and new adventures! I did miss home, though (and still do!), but when I left I had decided that I wasn't going to come home until I had a clear plan of what I was going to do with myself. So whenever I felt really homesick, I'd brainstorm all the things I could do if I went home right then and worked out if that was really what I wanted to do with my life. One of these things was studying. It's something that has fluttered around in my head since I finished school, but I never found a course that looked interesting. Eventually I stumbled onto a few subjects at Swinburne that looked pretty good. The more subjects I looked at the more interesting it got. So I spent MONTHS debating whether or not I really wanted to study for three years and if I really wanted to go back home.  I decided that I pretty much wanted to stay here and go home to study equally, so I might as well apply for uni and If I got in, I'd go home. If not, I'd stay here.

"Why does the idea of going to uni scare you more than the idea of moving to the other side of the world on your own with no job, no accommodation and barely any money? That's NUTS! Uni's really not that bad!"

Most of you know that I really did not like high school. I was really not very happy for the last few years (for various reasons that I won't go into), so I have formed an association between "unhappiness" and "studying". That said, I love learning things. I love researching things to find out everything you could possibly know about things. If I'm really passionate about something (Disney) I will stay up all night reading stuff about it and then tell everyone I know all the crazy and interesting stuff I have found.

But as much as I am excited to go to uni, there is still a nagging fear that some of the things that made me sad in high school will come back. They probably won't because I'm older a wiser and awesomer now, but at the moment, it feels like a huge gamble.

I'm not promising I'm going to stick at it for the whole three years (my dad hasn't set an excellent example on that front!), but I want to try it and see what all the fuss is about!!

xoxo

Birthdays, Europe and the Next Crazy-Awesome Adventure!!

Hey Crazy Kids!!

I'm off to Europe in about two weeks. First I'll spend a few days in London and then head off one this tour. It's 12 days and goes through Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. I'm super excited!!
I bought a coat today to keep me warm and dry as it is getting very cold and wet. It's the middle of Autumn, but the weather is more like the middle of Melbourne's Winter ... with more rain! It's amazing seeing all the leaves changing colour. I know SOME trees at home lose their leaves for winter, but this is ALL of them. It's so pretty!!

Autumn in Stirling

I'm still working in the Careers Centre at Stirling University. I was supposed to finish last Friday, but they want me to keep doing a few hours this week while the lady I was covering for settles back in from being on sick leave. It's only two hours a day but it's something to do that's making money rather than spending it. YAY! Money!!

Last week was my 20th Birthday. It's kinda weird not being a teenager anymore, but I'll probably get used to it. I guess I'm supposed to act kinda grown-up now or something ... Naaaaaah!!
It was the first birthday that I can think of where I haven't had some kind of super-awesome party. That was really strange. It was kind of nice in some ways ... no obsessive planning for months, no rush to get ALL THE THINGS baked and pretty-fied, no searching every $2 shop for random decorations and costume-type things and then realising that Dad won't let them in the house because they have a tiny speck of glitter! All that is my second favourite part of birthdays (my favourite part being when all that crazy planning falls into place and  have an awesome day (or four) with my favourite people in the whole universe), but it was a nice change. (Don't worry guys, I'm already brainstorming ideas for my 21st! I don't know how yet, but it WILL top the Disney party ... wait how do I top that cake? That cake was a masterpiece in amateur cake decorating! Anyway ...)
It was a nice, quiet birthday. We went out to a restaurant a few nights before for Tapas (My parents used my birthday as an excuse to go out for Tapas, so we decided to do the same. Ours was nicer.) It was so tasty but there was so much food!! We managed to get through all of it, though!
Ralph was out on the actual day, so me and Mairead went to a little Italian place for dinner. It was a nice restaurant, but nothing too fancy. And that was basically my birthday.

Except for one tiny little detail that completely blew my mind.
But before I tell you about that. LOOK! It's Pinkie Pie singing the Nyan Cat song ... FOREVER!!

Okay, so now I've tortured/adorabubbled you to tears you are probably close to the emotional state I was in when I woke up on the morning of my 20th birthday, read all the lovely birthday messages everyone left for me on Facebook and, before rolling over and dozing for a little while longer, casually checked my emails.
And found that Swinburne had sent me an email offering me a place in the Arts degree I applied for a few weeks earlier.
On my birthday.
I got accepted to university. On my birthday.

So, yeah, I am going to university next year to do Arts at Swinburne. Which means I actually have to physically be in Melbourne. So I'll be home before Christmas (and there will be cupcakes).


I will write a post soon about what led me to this crazy decision to apply for uni, why the whole idea terrifies me a million times more than the idea of moving to the UK with no job, no accommodation and enough money to last about 4 days and why I'm still gonna do it anyway!!

Love you all!!!
xoxoxo