2017 was defiantly a year to remember, in terms of the political world, it may be a year many want to forget but for me it meant goals being reached and successful new beginnings. Today I wanted to write about my year in review and how 2017 has helped me to further grow and to make 2018 the best year yet! At the beginning of 2017 I was hard at work studying for my final year of University. I had just started to officially write my dissertation and was trying to finish what felt like a mountain of essays. For the rest of 2017 until May my life stayed pretty similar. I worked hard, wrote my diss and seemed to be constantly focused on work. In between writing essays and ensuring the best grade for my degree, I also dreamt about moving to Australia and started planning out the start of the big move. In January 2017 I bought my plane ticket to Sydney, very spontaneously I 'd like to add, which cemented my pipe dream and made it feel real. That's one way to treat yourself for working hard! In March/ April I performed in my last dance society show and celebrated my time spent with the group over the past four years. In April I also went to Amsterdam for my Mums birthday. This was a really special bonding trip between my Mum and I and I'm so glad we were able to experience Amsterdam and the Netherlands for the first time together. You can read more about this trip here. In June I finished my degree and moved back home for the summer. We spent our last few weeks in Swansea exploring anything we hadn't yet done and spending time together. I made some true best friends throughout university and was so sad to leave them. Especially living with them! When I returned home I started working at ASK Italian as a waitress and loved it. Most of my summer was spent working hard and saving money to take to Australia. I worked hard, gymed hard and enjoyed living independently with my parents. I worked hard to improve my fitness over the summer and in September completed a 10k race, the furthest I'd ever ran, in 1.05.00. My love for the gym has grown this year and I've started to take pride in my physical achievements. In July I went back to Swansea for a week and graduated which was one of the best weeks of the year. Graduation day went without a flaw and was an amazing day feeling truly proud of my achievement and celebrating with friends and family. Finally, October rolled around and I moved to Australia! This was a defining moment of 2017 and is going to shape 2018. This move taught me to embrace new people and new opportunities as well as showing me how motivated and independent I truly am. I've impressed myself with the smoothness of the move to Australia and how quickly I've set up a life and support system here. I wouldn't have had such a smooth move without learning determination and resilience at the beginning of the year with my degree. I focused all of my effort into doing the best I could do and it proved to myself that I can do anything if I set my mind to it. The summer also taught me the importance of hard work and the payoff it can have. Both in graduating and the amount I was able to save from waitressing all summer. Going into 2018, I want to continue to push my confidence and ability to be spontaneous. I'm great at planning, however can sometimes struggle to embrace spontaneous plans. I also want to ensure that I keep myself open for new friendships. Having a solid friendship group is great but sometimes stops you from wanting to get to know others. I hope up the East Coast this isn't a factor. Overall, 2017 has been a pretty amazing year personally. I finally got the reward for four years hard work and have split free from the norm and am embracing the travelling lifestyle. Travelling throughout my degree was amazing, but I can't wait to adopt it as a real way of life for the next few years!
2017 taught me new things about myself and my abilities, offered new oppourtnines and experiences and was the end of one chapter and the start of another. 2018, bring it on!
2 Comments
Katherine
6/1/2018 01:52:20 pm
Hi Holly, sounds like you’ve had an amazing year! Congratulations on completing your degree, how amazing, and it’s so exciting that your hard work has paid off and you are now fulfilling one of your dreams of travelling and living in Australia! Best wishes for 2018 and I look forwards to your posts up the East Coast! XX
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Holly
11/1/2018 11:29:36 am
Hi Katherine
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Hi! I'm Holly, a twenty something traveller from the UK. Over the years I've been lucky enough to live and travel in many countries. I've studied in America and working holidayed in Australia and New Zealand! I currently live in South Korea. Learn more about me below!
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