The Battle of University: Week 4

Dear Readers,

Long time no read, eh? Well, the matter of the fact is that this year has already been flying by and I haven't had time to filter through what to do for my next blog post. However, it being the weekend, I thought this would be a nice little reminder that I still exist and still very much active and dedicated to this blog. So what's been new in my life?

Well, I have had a flurry of lectures throughout the last month. Formative season is coming up, so I am packed with various seminar activities to complete, essential reading to do, group work and also attempting to have some form of a social life. The latter one being far more neglected than some of you might think! That's right, Vlad Marin has not gone to the clubs in the past month and has been to two house parties! So it's clear the stress is getting to me...but in all seriousness, I want to do well and forget about who I was in first year. I am focused, determined and ready to do well this year.

Unfortunately, due to all the stress I have become a lot more frustrated, agitated and just need some form of relief. As many of you know, I am not a very chill person when stressed. So to try and remove all this negative energy within my system, I have done a few things that I find useful. Out of curiosity, I googled 'yoga positions' and it came up with a YouTube link to a yoga instructor who has created a 30 Day Challenge. So far I am on day two and am ready for day three. It has made me feel so much more relaxed and has helped me sleep better. 30 minutes a day of physical and mental stamina build and I am ready to tackle the day!Last week, I also decided to be a tourist for the day in Liverpool and go to Radio Tower where I could get a panoramic view of the entire city. It was breathtaking. In addition to this, I also took a retail therapy trip to Manchester today with Fran and we went to the Arndale Centre and just had a day out, away from all the distractions and had a genuinely lovely time. I made an absolute fool of myself nonetheless....for some reason, every time I walk through a store, the alarm goes off. On top of that, I sneezed and it was so loud that there was an awkward silence for a split second in the room and then I overheard a lady ask 'what the hell was that?'. Oops...my bad. When I went into Zara, I asked someone, thinking he was an employee, where the bomber jackets were....he just turned out to be a well dressed customer. Maybe, I should've just stayed at home, eh?

Anyways, this is my little update on my life. One of the things I intend to do with this blog, is make a new and improved version of it so stay tuned. Since I have so much work to do, I haven't time to think about the design, concept...its in the works but it will take a while. Promise you will not be disappointed.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Week 1 Of Uni

Dear Readers,

The summer has officially gone and I have been in university for 2 weeks. My lectures started last week, finally giving me an activity that I can work really hard on, in parallel to this blog. I am having several concerns, because obviously, one of my main aims is to make this blog bigger and better for you guys to read. But, where there's a will, there's a way they say!

Since being here, I feel like I have become a lot better at 'housey' stuff. What do I mean this? Well, I have been developing my skills as a Masterchef in the house, cooking an array of platters such as pasta, pasta and more pasta. Miraculously, I have not set anything on fire although I wish I could say the same about my housemate. Word to the wise, never chuck a frozen piece of meat on spitting hot oil. A fire WILL happen!

With regards to painting the town red, I haven't actually gone out to the clubs as much as I did the first year of university. When I was a fresher, I always considered second years to be moody creatures. Although, now I have come to realise the reason for this is that the amount of freshers that are around town in the first week is shocking. It is all about them and obviously all of the freshers are scurrying quickly to try out every drink and every single club that the famous Liverpool night life has to offer.

With regards to seeing all of my friends, one of the few genuine disadvantages of living in a house is that you cannot see all of your flatmates as easily or even people from different flats. Second year feels like nothing has changed apart from the geographical setting which unfortunately could cause certain friendship ties to be lost. But, at least we will always have the memories, eh? With regards to seeing all my friends on my course, it was awesome to have a catch up session between lecture breaks and find out how they celebrated their summers. Everyone has a cool story to tell.

But all in all, this week hasn't been very exciting....hopefully the future weeks will have a little more 'pizaz' to them. Let's see how I feel after week 2. £10 bet that I will feel like I'm behind on 50 modules although I'm only taking 4...

Moving Into University

Dear Readers,

This week has been a busy one. After 4 months of working at Royal Ascot, The Swan and going to Azerbaijan, I packed my bags to prepare for the next university year. That's right! I'm a second year student...time flies so quickly when you're having fun. Seems like yesterday I was in my shoe box of a room in Carnatic halls surrounded by all my friends. Now, it seems as dynamics haven't changed, just the geographical nature of them have.

This Saturday, I moved into my first ever house. 4 of us have arrived and there is one more to go. Ever since stepping foot into it, I feel as if I am closer to adulthood than ever. More responsibilities have arisen, for example cooking for myself day in and day out, making sure that the entire house is clean and that I obviously stick to my academic studies.

With regards to my house, it has several communal areas that are far more comfortable than Carnatic. For starters, it has a kitchen that is large enough to have a table installed, as well as a gas hob and oven. This means, that I can now finally start to cook for myself a variety of foods as well as meat which I couldn't do in a catered environment. Goodbye microwaving pasta with pesto and grated cheese everyday! Another benefit is that me and my house mates can all have a social dining experience instead of standing up or sitting down on the counters.

Secondly, in terms of bedroom size, my bedroom is the largest and its in the shape of an L. I find this extremely useful as my desk is hidden away in the corner and my double bed and my storage is in the other part of the room. Unlike Carnatic, this means that I am not squashed into a cube of a room, barely being able to move and mentally fighting over where to do university work. The bed usually won and I ended up waking up in the middle of the night spooning my books instead of reading them.

Here are some photos of my amazing room! I am so proud of it and I intend to print some photos to decorate it with and a few posters to add a little colour to it.

Have a lovely week!

The Walking Dead: My Summer Series

Dear Readers,

As many of my close friends know, I've started watching The Walking Dead and Orange is the New Black this summer to eat up the time between socializing, going to work and going on holiday. Despite being weary about the idea of a zombie apocalypse, my friend Rokas brought me out of this narrow minded view and I gave it a shot. And do you know what? I was pleasantly surprised! I had no idea that I would be into such an awesome TV series. ME! 

So I decided to do my Friday blog on this TV series, giving it my hardest attempt at not giving away too many spoilers. Currently, I have just finished Season 4 where the prison gang have reunited in a train cart, at a so called 'sanctuary' called Terminus. And what a hell of a journey it has been for all of the characters! 

What I love the most about this TV series is that the producers and writers have formulated such a realistic masterpiece, portraying a diversity of different personalities and how naturally, the human race would potentially cope if the world was coming to an end. Its interesting how each character has their own story to tell and how the main characters have survived through thick and thin, a flurry of emotional and action packed twists along their mysterious journey. 

For people who are interested in the Walking Dead, I say 110% go for it because its such an excellent TV series. The only disadvantage to binge watching the entire show is that each season is like a little chapter of an overall massive story, so the pace is quite slow as it feels like the story is taken day by day. But the good thing is is that its never boring and often quite thrilling. What could be better than watching a group of armed people running away from a herd of bloodthirsty monsters? FYI, it's not for the very faint hearted. You are constantly on the edge of your seat due to the growing tension that arises as a result. You never know who is next that will face their fate with the Walkers.

If you still need a little convincing, then maybe some statistics could tip you over the edge. The Waling Dead has the highest ratings in cable television history, including the most 18- to 49-year-old viewers of any cable or broadcast television series since Season 3. It is clear that this series attracts a multitude of people of all ages. Rotten Tomatoes has rated it over 80/100 which is the same as the overall average of reviews, clearly indicating its a top notch series to watch. Also, to all of you Game of Thrones fanatics like me, it would surprise you to know that average views of each episode in the Walking Dead is twice as big as GOT. It just goes to show the massive impact of this television series too!

So there you have it, if you have nothing better to do with your weekend guys, I suggest you make some popcorn and have a blood splattering night of watching the Walking Dead. Lucky for me, I only have two seasons to go before I am fully caught up and I can rest easy knowing Season 7 is just around the corner...!

The Colour Run Diary

Dear Readers,

As many of you know, I participated last Sunday in the famous Colour Run at the London O2 Arena. After spamming my friends on Facebook and Instagram with prismatic pictures of me covered head to toe in powdered paint, I thought it would be a great idea to bring you a little colour through my blog.

Essentially, what is the Colour Run? Well, these runs are an international popularity and are sponsored by a variety of companies and charities in order to raise money as well as provide a fun experience of live music, exercise and to reconstruct the festival of colours popularly adopted in countries such as India This year, Capital FM, NSPCC, Capri Sun, Renault, Skittles and Alpen Granola were at the forefront of the O2 campaign and all had their own stalls to promote their products. Try the rainbow, taste the rainbow, right? In terms of charitable success, Sunday alone raised over £70,000 which is a massive achievement in order to try and eradicate child abuse once and for all.

This blog will essentially will be a log or journal of what me and my friend Abigail did throughout the entire day. Our story begins at...

7:45 when the alarm rang. After a boozy night at Propaganda in Fleet where we celebrated Abbie's 20th birthday, we decided to eat some food and make our way towards the station. Despite being hungover, we were mentally prepared for what the day would bring us. We walked around Waterloo looking like a pair of lunatics until we found a lovely family of three that assisted us in our journey to the O2. Having arrived, we squirmed into the army of white, bonding with a group of drunken teens who were having the time of their lives listening to the radio bangers playing on the giant speakers. The atmosphere was extremely bright for a not so sunny day. When the race started me and Abbie began jogging although, let's be honest, we gave up after 1k and occassionally jogged after each colour stop. We were greeted with a group of people playing the steel drums, to add to the Tropicolour Experience.

Afterwards, we passed through several clouds of red, blue, yellow, orange and purple where me and Abbie went from white to multi coloured in a heartbeat. Every nook and cranny was full of powder. Today, I sneezed and my snot was blue, no joke! Once we reached the finish line, we entered into the O2 car park, where a stage was constructed for the live music element of the run, as well as adorable stands for food and merchandise. We were given a bag of colour which obviously me and Abbie threw at each other in battle motion. Next we headed to the stage, where Capital FM's Will Manning provided us with a delectable palette of chart music in the midst of a crowd filled with packs of coloured powder. The stage fired colourful streams and provided us with powder to chuck in the air once the bass dropped on the occassional song. If you weren't head to toe in colour on the run, guarnteed you would have been by the time you left the stage crowd. The two presenters also chucked a variety of knick knacks into the crowd such as rainbow socks, neon tutus and plastic sunglasses. Unfortunately, me and Abbie recieved no prizes, maybe next time...We partied so hard to the sound of club music that eventually, a few sun rays did seap through the stormy clouds and it just added to the fantastic atmosphere already present.

Once the show was over, we took the underground tube still looking like victims of  unicorn vomit. All of the passengers gave us the look of confusion and potentially disgust. As we walked through the station, we stood our ground and many civilians were trying to walk around us without being touched. If you ask me, we completely blended with the crowd?! Have you never seen a rainbow man or woman walking around the streets of London. Once we both got home, I decided to take a shower. Since my hair hasn't chopped for a few months, I soon discovered that it had sponge like properties. As soon as the water made contact, my head essentially became a bath bomb, with blue purple and red splattering against my walls and the bathtub! That was probably the most exhilarating shower I ever had. It's not everyday your hair becomes the victim of paint powder. Perhaps I could grow out my hair and become an 'edgy wall/street artist' who makes it famous by making art through whipping their hair. Imagine the money I could make...

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my little Colour Run journal. I had an amazing time and I would absolutely recommend it to write it on your bucket list. Don't believe, just look at the pictures I have posted at the bottom of this page!

Come Dine With Me: Vlad's University Secrets

Dear Readers,

Having had a solid 8 months of university, there are a few wise life lessons you pick up. First and foremost would be cooking for yourself. To go on to cook for yourself the entire year after being dependent on your parents is no picnic. Pardon the pun...but equally, university is the opportunity to bring out the absolute Master Chef in you. Don't believe me? Well, you are in luck because today I will be sharing with you my secret (not so secret anymore...) cooking tips and how I ensure I have the best dining experience as well as being able to maintain an obvious healthy diet.

1. You have to maintain a balanced diet.

• To clarify, the food pyramid that everybody reads nowadays is completely false, so please get the idea out of your heads. Many nutritionists refuse to give away the 'secret' food pyramid because it is only exclusive to a university students. With regards to servings, you will have to double your intake in order to survive a day of constant procrastination, Netflix, clubbing and skipping lectures. The time span is completely up to the individual but I highly recommend midnight snacking particularly during group events, post break up blues or exam periods.
• You will need to focus on the ratios of what you are ingesting, essentially, let's put this statistically. 80% of a typical student meal should consist of fats, sugars, salts and oils. A lot of carbohydrates are essential into fueling you up for a busy day of absolutely nothing. I personally recommend a wide variety of culinary treats such as pasta, pizza, chocolate, biscuits, crisps and a healthy serving of takeaways. Warning, your wallet may suffer from symptoms of emptiness and anxiety of a credit card gone into overdraft.

2. Your microwave will become your best friend.

• Personally, I lived in a catered accommodation and one of the primary tools I used in order to heat up my meals was the microwave. The microwave is an essential tool in replicating what a stove does. Living like Bear Grylls in the jungle, with a kettle and microwave has taught me that I can make a mean pasta. Want to know how I make it? Simple, I boil up a kettle of fresh water and pour it into a container. Usually, food packets will try to manipulate you and tell you that half a bag of pasta is for 3 people. Absolute baloney! There is no such thing as too much, you shake that bag until its penne-less. Next, you place a lid, not seal, into the microwave and wait for 10 minutes. After waiting a generation of your life and having endless chit chat with your flatmates, you drain the water and add an entire jar of pesto onto the pasta as well as grate half a block's worth of cheese. This is may seem like extreme measurements, but like I said, there is no such thing as too much, you need to stock up on fats and carbohydrates in unfriendly environments.
• For breakfast, boiling and scrambling eggs on the stove is a thing of the past. Whilst there is a risk of an explosion, please do not take to heart too much. Exploding an egg in the oven essentially removes the process of scrambling. It is a time efficient process that requires minimal manual labour.

3. Another man's treasure can also be your treasure apparently...

• Sharing a communal kitchen or fridge means that your food is at the risk of being taken by certain snakes on your floor or from other flats. But don't be alarmed, essentially morals go out the window as soon as you leave home and the war begins. One cost efficient pro to the act of theft is that you can selfishly enjoy what someone else wanted to treat themselves too. This goes far beyond food; alcohol and contraception too. My advice? It's survival of the fittest...if you do not want your food stolen - then lock dry foods or hide them in your room and place laxatives in others. Karma comes back around right?

4. The kettle will become your best friend.

• Signature dishes prepared at university will often include Pot noodles with a glass of tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Coffee proves essential when it comes to revision and cramming a week's worth of work into one night. In addition pot noodles, are an excellent starter to your lunch as well as artificial flavors. Repeat, artificial, not fresh!

5. Snack loading.

• Your shopping basket will primarily consist of this. Vegetables and fruits are not necessarily the best options to go for, only because they do not provide the same amount of nutritional value as a chocolate bar, digestives or a tube of pringles. Take it from me, these are essential snacks to keep you motivated. During the night before my coursework deadlines, I spent the entire night in the library with a bag filled with another 24 bags of cheesy wotsits as well as 3 packs of Oreo. Despite looking like a gremlin, it allowed me to get through the night and still not understand a word of what I was writing. 

6. Takeaways! AKA Takes away your money...

• You will find yourself on lonely nights craving a Dominos pizza. Despite being one of the most ridiculously priced takeaway foods ever, it will definitely fill up that cholesterol-lacking hole in your heart. My favorite dining experience in university was me and my best friend sat on her bed, eating a large pizza each, with a bottle of pepsi to share, cheesy garlic bread, potato wedges and a box of Ben and Jerry's brownie ice-cream. Is your mouth watering yet? 
• If say you cannot afford the luxury or are just a sensible spender unlike my friend and I, JustEat provides you with a flurry of food to eat - Chinese, Indian, Italian, your pick. Good thing about it, if you do not finish it all, you can refrigerate it and pray to the Lord Almighty it isn't stolen during the night. 

7. Alcohol is the new Water

• Your first year of university will consist of a lot of partying and alcohol drinking. Alcohol will essentially take form of your own blood by the end of the year.  Only way to cure this is to exercise or abstain from constant drinking. Who knew the cure sounded worse than the disease?! Going to a free wine bar was probably one of the highlights of my year, I simply couldn't resist and I ended up drunk, swapping two taxis to find my way home. That night, a fire alarm woke me, and the entire building was waiting outside for it to stop. Usually, when a fire alarm goes off, people take one prized possession with them to make sure it doesn't catch ablaze. My choice was a box of Maltesers that I drunkenly offered to all of my exhausted flatmates. Priorities eh?

8. Crying yourself to sleep....<Tears are essential>

Once you have completed the day and get ready for bed, take a good look at yourself in the mirror and begin to cry at the blob that you have become. Tears, loathing and self pity are the fundamental foundations that the rest of your university life rests upon.

There you have it. Essentially, buy cheap, buy fatty foods and drink plenty of alcohol kids. You have a rough three years ahead of you, make sure you are nutritionally balanced. Do you even succeed first year of university if you don't put any weight on?

Hell no!

P.S. to any confused readers, this is a sarcastic and ironic post...please do not follow instructions above. Have a lovely weekend.

Surviving First Year of University

Dear Readers,

As September is along the horizon, I thought it would be a terrific time to tell you about my experiences at university and how I seemingly managed to 'survive it.' Across social media, there are constant memes that provide you with some witty quotes, but maybe it will be better to take a minute of your time and read university through my perspective.

1. Freshers week - This is probably the social event of the year apart from celebrating end of year exams. This is the opportunity to make some hilarious memories with people you have just barely met for several hours. My story begins with me arriving late for pre-drinks at my flat. I entered a small and cramped laundry room where 20 people were attempting to socialise in a very compact space. Then, entered little innocent me and 20 pairs of eyes darted in my direction. After forcing everyone to tell me their names, I sat down and they offered me a drink and then the ice was gradually broken. After a few drinks, we all became a lot more comfortable with each other and began to head towards the bus. Outside were a thousand more of us who were equally drunk and ready to party. The university held a lot of events for us throughout the week and it felt as if we were all on a lads holiday. Essentially, clubbing, drinking and lots of other mischief shall we say...With regards to my flat, this was basically the golden opportunity to get closer with them and see them at their worst. Of course, I was stupidly the first one to take the bullet after eating just an apple for dinner on the second evening. I was carried back to my room at 11pm which is just embarassing....To put it in short, you WILL become best friends with everybody in your flat in the first few weeks of university, then all the friendship groups will form...

2. Alcoholism? - Essentially, your first year will consist of you testing your waters of drunken-ness to the maximum. I certainly have had several moments where the level of alcohol I consumed just didn't agree with me. There are countless stories that I could dive into but I don't think that's particularly necessary...Your facebook page will blow up with different types of events or raves that you or your friends are interested in therefore, you will not have an excuse not to go. One of the things you will find with this new found independence is that you will feel a lot less guilty going out. For example, say you want to have a quiet night in and you hear banging on the door with someone asking 'Do you want to come out to 'insert club name' tonight? By the second time they ask you, guaranteed ladies and gentlemen, that you will be trying to get ready in 5 minutes and getting drunk in the next 10 before the bus arrives. That's all part of being a student...

3. Sleep? - This will be one of essentials you will have to sacrifice during the night and do during the day. Night time is basically the time where you party with your friends or spend a night in watching a flurry of Netflix movies till the crack of dawn. The daytime is for napping and bracing yourself for the upcoming night. Napping will also become a very big part of your life, I was living in a shoe-box sized room where the bed was right next to my desk. I once woke up in the middle of the night with the lights still turned on, spooning my textbook that I attempted to read...

4. Money? - First year students listen up! This will be the year where you will learn from your mistakes. At the start of the year, you will end up spending a solid amount on textbooks and stationery. The rest of the year, you will either be spending it on a smorgasbord of food or on alcoholic drinks. My advice? Find the cheapest local stores like Aldi, Lidl, Asda or even Tesco if you are desperate and do a weekly shop and try to stick to that amount. Cheap or shop branded alcohol tastes vile but with a dash of 50p Tesco Coke, that will keep you buzzed for the night. In terms of buying food, do not buy everything you want at once, try and stick to a budget. You will need some healthy items on the list because you will be a hungover, homesick depressed mess if you are don't have something to liven up your day. Cheese, my good friends is probably one of the most expensive items I have come across in the supermarket. Do not buy grated cheese, it is a complete rip off and you get about 3 times less the amount than you would with a regular block. Also, deals, student discounts are something to keep an eye out for if you are a big spender. If you go shopping or have meals out, just be careful how much you spend because restaurant meals aren't designed to be cheap nor is Topshop. Primark will probably end up being your best friend for the year. With regards to nights out, drink cheap alcohol at pres and try and buy a very minimal amount whilst on a night out. Remember, people also have the tendency to go to the nearest burger or kebab shop to fill their stomach. Believe me, if you are to have the food sober, you would probably gag, but when all your senses are diminished by good pal Vodka, you will honestly think its heaven in your mouth. With regards to taxis, try and uber or alpha or delta it. Never get black cabs or at least do not get them on your own as it isn't worth spending a tenner, you might as well just sleep in the 24 hour campus library...

4. Dropping out? - There will be at least one moment in your uni life where you will consider to drop out. I personally, had 3 breakdowns on the phone to my mum explaining to her that I need to find myself spiritually and that uni has gotten the best of me. Do not be fooled by this, its just a small phase or a moment of weakness everybody will have. Everyone who spends a few hours on their own will start overthinking and becoming homesick. It's simply an adjustment and essentially, university should provide you with the best years of your life.

5. Studies? - What I have found with studying is that you will have constant fear that you are behind on something. You will feel like you have 100 modules even though you have 4 at the most. Procrastination is a very dark demon and walks hand in hand with napping and stuffing your sorrows away with jars of Nutella. Essentially, try and be organised, push yourself in the short term and feel better in the long term. I made the mistake of being too lazy and I had to catch up with a lot during the Easter and Christmas holidays. The good news out of all of this is that you only need to pass first year for most modules and even if you do badly, it will most likely scare or wake you up for the next year when **** gets real. With regards to exams, make sure you revise on time and not try to cram in half a year's worth of work into one week. It just won't happen. During exam time, you will lose interest in how you look, smell or behave and you will just have to battle through exhaustion, stress and deprivation of absolutely everything you can think of. You never realize how much your parents push you or encourage you to do your work than at uni.

6. Snakes in the nest? - Of course, everywhere you go, you will find drama from someone or other. Essentially, having flat relationships is considered very incestuous and not to mention risky. It can change an entire group dynamic and especially if you have one at the start of the year, it could jeopardize your opportunity to make other friends. One of my personal hates, is having food stolen by other members of your flat. The countless times I have had to wake up with a message on the group chat reporting a missing milk or slice of ham is unbelievable. The best thing to do would either to put laxatives in your food or get a mini fridge. One of my saddest moments in university was when my father brought a kilogram of olives from Costco for my birthday and the next morning to find that half of it was gone. May that greedy goblin choke on the seeds....Another source of heat in the kitchen will be the anger boiling up inside you by filthy roommates who refuse to wash up their dishes and cutlery. Just to clarify, soaking it for 2 days straight is not an excuse not to do it. Mouldy, smelly dishes are not something you should put up with. In terms of other drama, you never really know what could come up around the corner. There will be a lot of opinionated people and of course views will clash. Religion is one of my all time favorite. The Atheist vs Christian debate where one tries to convince the other how they are wrong...

7. Sex? - Let's just say, university corrupts you in more ways than one...But sex is a perfectly normal and fun thing and just enjoy it. You will often find pleasure in finding out about your flatmates' one night stands as long as your head isn't sleeping on the other side of the wall. The beds in my accommodation had like a beam going up into the ceiling. I once woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was tossing and turning due to a bad dream but once I tried to go back to sleep, I realized it was people upstairs having sex like a sailor on payday....That was extremely grim. In addition, ever heard of a little app called Tinder? That 'little' app will be on a lot of people's phones and it is the perfect place to find a horny teen in your neighborhood. Who said chivalry was dead?

8. Societies? - Every year your university will probably have a society fair and it will be your opportunity to sign up to what interests you. Since I was still drunk from the night before, I ended up signing to every single society including Hindu society, Pole dancing society, Anime and reenactment society. I ended up getting emails from all of them and I did not go to one. I did try out the swimming and water polo societies but apart from that...I preferred a nice nap and Domino's pizza.

So there you are! hat's just an insight into my first year of uni. I can't wait to share many more memories with you guys in the future...Hope you enjoyed this extremely long post and can relate to it if you either have been or at uni or just about to go into uni. May this be your little guide for the social aspect of university...

My Goals

Dear Readers,

Its been a while since I have written a personal blog post about myself.
During my relatively non eventful summer I've started to make a list of certain goals I would like to achieve in the near future and I thought it would be fun to share with you my aspirations. One of the things people close to me would know that I am very ambitious and very pro the idea that once you have achieved a goal or dream, your next step is to set up a new one. The only way is up right?

So, let's begin....

1. Firstly, I would love to create a travel blog. In fact, I am thinking of converting making a few blogs based on different passions but one of my main hobbies is to travel. This summer I went to Baku in Azerbaijan as part of the ELSA law programme where I had the opportunity to learn about business law and see what the mysterious city of Baku had to offer. Essentially, I feel that on all my travels, I have interesting stories to tell and they are worth telling.

2. I would love to create a YouTube and Vine channel that incorporates the different slices of my personality and give people a variety as to who Vlad is and what he loves. Essentially, I like making people laugh, telling them interesting stories, being sassy, I could go on...Essentially, it would be an excellent opportunity to increase more confidence talking towards a camera. Like every person, I do have some shy traits, for example, I tend to laugh an awful lot when I'm nervous or stumble on my words. Hence, this could be a good idea to try and tackle that...

3. I would love to do something really spontaneous like modelling because again, I tend to have some insecurities and I think its important to tackle in some shape or form. I've often been told I've got a good jawline, so why not give it a go? Hey, even if no one wants to see my 'mug' then it doesn't matter, you've got to try something at least once haha...

4. I would love to write a story. I would say I'm quite imaginative and I think I could create some short or long form of a story. It would be interesting how that work out. Obviously, this is a long term idea and I hope to one day pursue it. My English tutor used to always assign me various creative writing ideas and I would always pursue them. These are some of the projects I created when I was younger - a gothic horror story of a man coming home and seeing his wife murdered (intense...I know), a woman who suffered from domestic abuse and how she overcame it, a small story on the Titanic, a futuristic adventure where a teen boy hero rescues his town from oxygen deprivation (lots of action) and I could go on...Imagination never has any limits.

5. Next summer, I would love to go inter-railing with a pack of friends across Europe and discover what this amazing continent has to offer. I have traveled it extensively myself, but it will be far more different with a giant rucksack on my back, living on trains and cheap hostels for a month. That is a true adventure..

6. In addition, hopefully after achieving good grades and university and doing a masters, I would love to take a gap year out and travel from Asia to Australia to South America and create a lot of lifetime memories. This goal is also very long term and I have been working this summer to begin my funding. Essentially, I want to work and earn the entire funding for it because that is equally an accomplishment. This summer, I have worked at Ascot Windsor through a catering agency and now at a gastro pub in Farnborough, The Swan. I've earnt about £1.5k so far...a good foundation and I am going to create a savings account and keep fuelling it with my monthly payments.

7. I would love to start going to the gym and participate more in sports in order to gain a bit more muscle and obviously to improve my health. Junk food, TV and napping isn't really the way to go haha so it will be interesting to see if I can push myself to get stronger and more muscular. But essentially, I want to get both physical and mental strength that can be transferred into other areas of my life.

And there it is essentially! These are my 7 main goals in the future, I hope to tick these off one by one throughout the years to come and to aspire to make more goals and continue to achieve.

Hope on the Horizon

Dear Readers,

Perhaps our dreams have finally come true and we shall soon be graced with Madonna's old music videos on Vevo. This is essentially the perfect chance to improve this new generation's awareness of Madonna's iconic music videos, live performances and increase her streams and youtube views, one of the primary drives and promotions to getting an artist nowadays to number one.

What should have been done so far?

Realistically, last year, we were graced with so many amazing live performances by Madonna across international television shows, music awards, etc. Performances such as the 2016 Grammys, infamous Drake kiss at Coachella, iHeart Radio Awards with Taylor Swift, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Jimmy Fallon, the 2016 prince tribute, and the 2015 jimmy fallon perfomances should all have been posted on her account by now. It would be the bear minimum expected bearing in mind her intention was to crack and dominate the younger generation. The more awareness and promotion she receives, the better. Not to mention, the iconic 2012 superbowl, 2014 Grammy perfomance with Macklemore, Miley Cyrus' MTV Unplugged episode that should have been published. It is honestly such a shame, that so many talked about and iconic performances are not posted whilst other artists get to have theirs posted. Showing this level of interaction with the younger artists gets Madonna's name across a lot more.

What should be done next?

Essentially, what hasn't been done yet. All of her live performances (festivals, award shows etc) across the four decades of her career should be released. All her interviews should also be published throughout the years. Audios from her albums, remix albums, compilation albums, soundtracks, tour videos, documentaries, behind the scene footage, single remixes, should all be published on her page to increase streaming. And above all and most importantly, ALL and I mean ALL of her music videos should be altered into HD and published on her Vevo account in order for people to get access to Madonna's insanely long career. Simple - the more views she gets in accumulation, the more followers, the more streams, the more awareness, the more popularity and she can get a lot more Vevo certified videos like all current artists. That way, she keeps her name across and adapts to modern societies dependence on youtube and spotify and tidal.

What she should do next is pull out a Beyonce style album with all music videos and publish them on her Vevo account. For now, she should try and get a lot of cameos in her videos to again show she is in touch with current music but obviously give it her own twist or do something completely daring to captivate the fans and get new ones.

Here are my fingers crossed that this will be achieved!

More Ideas for Madonna's 14th album...

Hello fellow readers,

This post isn't any hint that Madonna has gone into the studio and begun the stages of producing an album. However, I do think that it would be fun to give you some of the ideas I have for her.

Currently, house music is extremely popular right now and we all now Madonna is the Queen of Dance. She boasts over 40 number one dance songs, more than any other artist on the Billboard Dance Club Songs. So it would only seem fitting that she should create an album that contains some deep house music. Not to mention, that we are gearing towards an era of tropical house, what better way to fuse some Indian, Latin, Arabic, Afrobeat or reggae fusion into creating a summer jam of an album? Potentially with the help of Diplo and Skrillex, they can attempt to evolve from Unapolgetic Bitch and make more tracks with a similar good feel vibe.

In addition to this, Sia is on of the most remarkable and talented song writers of our generation, it would only seem fitting that a few pop songs or ballads should be created for Madonna, particularly to train her voice and make her hit stronger notes like in the late 1990s era during Ray of Light and Evita.

Recently, we have seen The Weeknd dominate the charts with some incredible music that one can only describe as alternative RnB. I would love it if Madonna and him would come up with several dark, sexual tracks together to give her a more alternative edge and prove to the world that she is still the queen of reinvention and experimentation. In addition to talented vocalists and song writers, Ryan Tedder from One Republic, Timbaland, Pharrell, Max Martin, Dr Luke, Bonnie Mckee, Diane Warren, Bruno Mars would be extremely pleasing to create some fresh hip hop, pop, ballad like music. Potentially Ed Sheeran and Daft Punk could join the mix to give Madonna a fresh appeal.

Potential collaborations to boast could involve some Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Drake in order to increase her streams, popularity and media coverage. The reason I  choose these artists is because whilst they are not vocally weak, they are not the strongest but neither is Madonna. They function more on the lyrics or the creativity in nature. A collaboration with Katy Perry seems almost like a fitting idea due to the fact she is one of the hottest artists out there.

What do you guys think?

Madonna's Prince Tribute - Flawless or Flop?

Yesterday, Billboard Music Awards was graced with the presence of the Queen of Pop herself to pay tribute to the recently deceased music legend, Prince. Both of these famous icons reached astronomical success during the 1980s and along with Michael Jackson, have been labelled as the 'Holy Trinity' of music. However, only one remains to rule the kingdom, and that is none other than Madonna herself. Prince and Madonna have a lot of things in common - their provocative and sexual nature in their music, they were both born in 1958 (along with Michael Jackson) and both have collaborated on a duet on Madonna's eternal Like A Prayer album. Mixed reviews came flooding in on social media when Billboard announced that Madonna would pay tribute to both her ex and her friend at the Billboard Music Awards. Whilst diehard Madonna fans couldn't wait for this iconic occassion, many people felt that this was a weak choice and would have preferred someone like Stevie Wonder, Beyonce or Lenny Kravitz to take on such a mammoth of a responsibility. This consequently led to mass protest as well as petitions in order to stop Madonna hogging the stage. However, Billboard stood by their choice and allowed Madonna to carry on.

The highly anticipated performance consisted of a Madonna singing 'Nothing Compares 2 U', dressed in a purple suit, on a purple throne with a diamond encrusted cane. Afterwards, the lights turned purple and Stevie Wonder made his iconic presence and assisted Madonna in lighting up the room with the rendition of 'Purple Rain'. Whilst many fans and celebrities showed their support and admiration, media scrutiny soon followed as well. Many felt that this tribute was subpar, Piers Morgan referring to it 'as a karaoke session'. To be perfectly honest, I do not believe that her tribute was poor one yet I don't feel it was very satisfactory to the level of either artists. Whilst the costume itself was iconic and the performance emotional, it didn't THRILL me. Remember the Lady Gaga David Bowie tribute? Gaga incorporated various songs and costume changes in order to show off the amazing catalogue of music Bowie had to offer. This is what I feel Madonna should have done. Perhaps she could've blended in the infamous Prince symbol guitar or done a medley of '1999' 'Cream' 'Kiss' 'Raspberry Beret' 'Controversy' to show off various reinventions of Prince - sex, disco, rock. I feel merely singing Purple Rain was a bit predictable. That would have definitely turned some heads and would have gone as the most memorable moment of the night. Whilst it was the most watched event of the night, it definitely received attention for all the wrong reasons, mostly by ageist, sexist commentators who felt that the only reason Madonna shouldn't do the tribute because she has no talent and that she should retire...

Sorry, are we still talking about the revolutionary Madonna that has managed to remain successful and one of the most relevant artists for over 3 decades, managing to sell a whopping 500 million records and managing to outsell many 'fresh artists' of this generation? I'd think again about the reasons why people dislike Madonna. Sure, the performance wasn't her greatest, but age and gender does not come into play at all and as much as the media tries to destroy Madonna, she always comes out on top as the winner.

Madonna - 'The Perfect' Role Model?

As it has been clearly established, I am a deeply religious Madonna fan which to many of you seems absolutely crazy. But hopefully this article could give you some insight on as to how Madonna is a lot more important to not just pop culture but to our lives in general and how we should look up to her. Recently, after finishing her Rebel Heart Tour she has had severe online media backlash for her late concerts, her custody row with her ex husband and her apparent meltdown. With regards to the concerts, deeply exaggerated and with regards to her being drunk on stage and having a meltdown, far from it! Take a look at the insane routines she must perform every night and how perfectly she does them, someone under the influence would not get past segment 1 of the show. With regards to the custody row with Rocco and Guy, it is honestly none of our business and we have no clue what is going on, only time will tell the truth.

Over her 30 years in the business, it cannot be denied that she has been deemed as a love to hate figurine. The more years that pass, the more we realise that what Madonna was doing at the time was either relevant or a very good thing therefore it can be seen as she is being underappreciated. Let me take you through a few ideas.

During the 1980s, she was one of the primary activists in raising awareness of HIV, feminism, homosexuality, religion and race equality. The danger of HIV lacked concern and Madonna raised awareness of this through actively speaking about it in concert, dedicating songs to her friends and encouraging people to use condoms. With regards to feminism, she is one of the first women to take full control of their musical career and opt what to do next - she was at the forefront for empowering women to become more comfortable as sexual beings without being judged by an older generation - remember the days of Justify My Love, Express Yourself and Erotica? These all potentially laid the foundations for women of our generation to embrace sexuality and know that it's ok to show some skin and your curves. Now look at our generation, teenage cute popstars like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Britney Spears, who all at first had a cute pop persona dived into a more erotic, sexy reinvention for their music yet they barely receive any negative criticisms. Essentially, when someone steps into an unfamiliar zone, people criticise. Now everybody is making a song about being a strong person or about sex and people are so cool about it. Madonna essentially picked up the sledgehammer and smashed the metaphorical judgemental wall of society, giving the future generations the ability to love themselves more.


In 2005 and 2009, Madonna decided to adopt from Malawi two children that were both suffering in extremely poor conditions, suffering from pneumonia, with relatives plagued by HIV and Malaria and gave them a proper home, support and education and love. This is something that they most likely would not have gotten had they grown up in the poorest country in the world. Madonna has not done this as a public stunt, it is because she is passionate about helping others. Don't believe me? She released in 2008 a documentary on the children of Malawi, documenting the harsh truths of the LEDC. In addition, she has created several charities such as the Ray of Light foundation and Raising Malawi. Since 2005, she has been able to build 10 schools and hospitals for children in order for them to have a potential future and to protect them from danger. In addition to this, she has made visits to the Philippines to see the local nurseries and the orphanages.

Take a look at many legends that have graced our planet - Michael Jackson, Elvis, Britney, Whitney Houston, Kurt Cobain...One thing they all have in common - drugs. They all have promoted the idea both directly or indirectly that living the rock star lifestyle provides you the ultimate dream - drugs, sex and money. What happened to them? Essentially, most of them have passed due to drug use, have jeopardised their longevity of their career or have come to a standpoint where anything they do now will never be good enough. As for Madonna, at the age of 57, she still lives which in rock star years is like fossil years! No one has ever come this far to having over 4 decades worth of success with no sign of stopping. Whilst she has tried drugs in her youth, she is human for god sake, she has gone around showing off how amazing it is or gone off the walls and ended up in rehab! Instead, we see her exercising non stop, still producing top notch music, promoting exercise and healthy diets and looking like she is not a day over 40. Her dance moves and routines on tour prove how significant she is and the hard work she implements. Her fitness levels are probably higher than our generations' teens put together. You try looking like that at 57 and working out as hard. At that age, many people say 'enough!' - retire in the countryside and have a nice occasional cruise from time to time. Madonna is clearly not finished.

Madonna started her career from nothing. She came from an extremely poor background where she was learnt that hard work ethic gets you places. She stuck to her studies throughout her adolescent life and then pursued a career in New York, one of the largest cities in the world with only $35. This is no exaggeration. She slept in stranger's houses and worked in Dunkin Donuts for a living as well as doing the thing she dreamt of doing the most - dancing. One of the worst experiences she had was that she was raped and held at knife point in the city. None of this got in her way, as a rape victim and someone who was alone in a whole new environment she managed to make become one of the biggest inspirations to women and men.
Essentially, even before that, she had lost her mother to cancer at the age 5. This was one of the hardest things for her to endure and this pain never went away until the birth of her first child began cementing her heart back together. Her life has never been easy but essentially she hasn't just thrown in the towel either. She carried on living, surviving and being the person she is. That is what people should strive to do, to achieve greatness regardless at how much hatred is thrown at you because essentially you are not here to please anyone - you are here on this earth to make yourself and only yourself happy.

When looking at the Brits, despite people found this hilarious, many people failed to see the true powerful message behind that song and that performance. Fall down, you don't just lie there, you get up and continue. No one could have been more embarrassed than Madonna falling off the stage and so many people would have cried and cancelled the show however she got up and carried on like a champion.

Essentially, looking at her life in general she is the mother of 4 who manages to balance her time with both her children, her health and her music career, which many people struggle to do and usually sacrifice one of them. The fact that Madonna is so hard working is a testament and should be inspiring our generation to reach for our goals and stars and not give up at the age of 20 and become a couch potato.

After Rebel Heart....

Now that the Rebel Heart Tour has finally concluded after a whopping 82 arena gigs, what is next in line for the reigning area of Madonna? As a diehard fan, what should she do next to continue pushing boundaries?

 But before we go on to answer this question, let's just reflect on the massive success of the Rebel Heart era. Like the MDNA era, many people have considered this a flop as the album has gone onto to sell a million copies. Sure, it looks small when you look at The Immaculate Collection that was released over 20 years ago in an era where streaming, leaks and illegal downloads were non existent. Bearing in mind Madonna's album suffered 4 waves of unfortunate demo leaks, lack of radio play and merely 3 singles released, her accomplishments have none the less been huge.

Whilst she didn't top the Billboard Hot 100 with Living for Love and Ghosttown, let's take into consideration why. Well, the simple answer is because she released 6 songs Beyonce style, prior to the set radio airplay date and the production of music videos and in the middle of the week, meaning first week sales would've of course been small. Had she released Living for Love on its own, with the music video, radio airplay and the Grammy and Brit performances all at the same time, there is a high possibility she would've once again reigned in the top 10. Bitch I'm Madonna, whilst seen as a very poor single choice inevitably scored her a Hot 100 showing her relevance still.

Despite not scoring her consecutive Number 1 in the US and UK, let us remember why. Sam Smith just released his Lay Me Down, with 3 music videos and 3 versions of the song so of course the Brits went wild over that. Had he not done that, Madonna wouldn't have been dethroned 1 day before the charts were in. In the US, she had the most digital downloads, album sales yet 2nd highest weekly streams. This seems rather stupid bearing in mind the charts are based on sales of albums, not how many people listen to it. Weight should be placed more on that.

Now let's get on to the good achievements. The 3 singles produced scored Madonna the most number ones of the Billboard Chart of all time. She now has a stellar 46 number one dance songs. Bitch I'm Madonna made her 4th in the ranking of women with most appearances on the Billboard Hot 100. Living for Love, despite the BBC Radio 1 controversy generated her 71st top forty single, more than any artist.

Critically, her album was the best she had in a decade, since Confessions on the Dancefloor, shaming all pop albums released by current female artists this year. Rolling Stone and other magazines ranked the album in the best albums of 2015 and Ghosttown as the best song. With regards to her streams and Youtube views, the Rebel Heart era generated over 250 million views on Youtube in comparison to MDNA which generated about 110 million. Had she released more videos and more singles, imagine the success.

Her promotional endeavours definitely caused her to create a social media uproar. This was particularly evident at the 2015 Grammy awards were she practically mooned the camera and gave a dazzling performance, the BRITS where she tumbled off the stage yet carried on like a true champion and the awkward kiss between her and Drake. Despite what people say, it definitely showed that Madonna was once more the centre of attention. Her Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram accounts have inflated with new followers and likes.

Her Rebel Heart Tour, like her previous tours indicated that Madonna is the Queen of touring. Accumulating all the tours, she has generated over $1 billion and over 15 million people in attendance. Like the MDNA tour, the Rebel Heart Tour was a sold out success, covering Australia, Asia, Europe and North America. Her many controversies onstage also generated massive social media outbursts however, these were due to false allegations that tied in with her lateness, technical problems and her intelligent humour. The media enjoy taking using the most powerful respected musicians and trying to downgrade them. However, with over 1 million people in attendance, with rave reviews, sold out shows, it is hard to understand where the media get all their facts from. As an accumulation of all these achievements, she went on to be called both the richest female artist of all time and the most important woman of all time for breaking boundaries with her music, visuals and politics.


So what should be next for the Queen of Pop herself?

In my opinion these are just a small list of things that I think she should do to ensure her next era is even more successful than the next:

• Release a live DVD/documentary - its been almost 10 years since I'm Going to Tell you a Secret and it would be interesting to see the behind the scenes of the Rebel Heart Tour and the life of Madonna on the road. The DVD and live album would give people who were unable to see the tour the 'at home' experience they deserve.

Direct a new film - since W.E., despite it receiving unnecessary mixed reviews, Madonna is clearly a very intelligent and talented director. It would be interesting to see what she would do.

Write more books or autobiographies - Remember he English Roses? It would be really fresh to see Madonna pen some new books, maybe for even a different audience? A new Fifty Shades, a new love story, who knows? Let her imagination do all the work. A massive autobiography on the life of Madonna that has no boundaries would be really interesting to see what the Queen of Pop feels about her 30 years in the business and her intentions for the future. It would definitely make her feel more human to her fans bearing in mind her aura is supernatural. Maybe a new coffee book table like SEX to push the boundaries of ageism and show that a woman's body at 57 is just as beautiful as one at 30.

• Make a new album - potentially one in a new direction? Potentially a rock, a latin, a Ray of Light 2.0? It would be really cool to see Madonna push boundaries like she used to back in the day. Time to get political, spiritual. Maybe a Christmas album with original material to fill the void? A bit generic I know but just to tick it off the list perhaps. New collaborations would be definitely encouraged but they should be both new and old and some songs should just be pure Madonna as she has become overly dependent on new artists helping her compose an album. Let Madonna do what she does best? Her new album should definitely produce more than 3 measly singles, the whole point is to get yourself out there. Bearing in mind Madonna is getting older, she needs to also appeal to her new audience too. So, promotions like interviews, live performances and a catalogue of music videos should do the trick. In my opinion, she should take a leaf out of Beyonce's book and release an album with music videos by surprise.
• Compilation/Remix albums?  - Potentially Madonna should release a new Something To Remember 2.0 or pull a Kylie and rework her catalogue of songs and make them stripped down? I think it would be cool to show a simple and contemporary version of Madonna once more. Then again, she could release a compilation album that has never been done before?
• A new tour - this time it should go back into the light of the Sticky and Sweet Tour. She should attempt to try and beat the records produced by U2 by going on a massive stadium tour. A stadium tour that should cover all the continents. Fans in South America and Europe are of guaranteed loyalty and the bigger the venues and the more venues she plays in the US, Asia and Australia, the more popularity she will recieve. In addition to this, she should try and take her tour to South Africa so she can increase her popularity there too. An all continent tour at the world's most massive stadiums, parks and arenas are exactly what is needed for Madonna to bulldoze all other artists' achievements.
• Acting - despite receiving box office bombs and panned reviews, this shouldn't stop Madonna from continuing to experiment and develop her acting technique. It would definitely grow her audience in the movie field. She could then produce soundtracks or soundtrack singles too.  In addition to this, guest starring on TV shows or sitcoms will also get her face out there. 
• Collaborations - the more collaborations she does and potentially the more features, the more chart success and sales she will receive. Since she is Madonna, she could easily get almost any collaboration she wants. She should take advantage of young artists such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and make something fresh with them so she can continue her chart success and her relevance. She should work with Sia, Diane Warren and potentially songwriters like Ed Sheeran so she can fit in with current generation. You are never too old to make music.
• Business endeavours - Madonna should continue promoting products, doing fashion endeavours and increase her entrepreneurial skills so she can once again branch out into different markets and maintain her powerful status.
• Comedy - continue her Tears of a Clown show and perform her songs that never became singles and have been fan favourites for a long time. Since she wants to do comedy, she should definitely try and make more friends in this business to give her tips and potentially make her own late night show.

I feel if Madonna does all these things, which to be fair sounds like an awful lot for a 57 year old mother, it would definitely bring her back to the absolute top of her game. I sincerely hope her management team will take better care of her career and stop making her so underrated. She deserves way more success, promotion and praise than she gets. 

The Life of 19 A Year Old

Dear Readers,

As many of you are my beloved friends, it would be no surprise to you to know that my birthday is just upon the horizon. I tend to have this tradition to prepare people by simply counting down day by day and acting like an annoying alarm clock you want to throw out the window. Since I will be 19, I thought it would be interesting to do a 'fun fact' kind of blog consisting of 19 things I would consider fascinating about myself, without sounding too boastful.

1. What is the best adventure you've had during your 19 year life span?

• One of the best adventures I have had was when I volunteered in Kenya. I was 16 and to me it felt like my first taste of independence, a whole month away from all my luxuries, families, friends and pet pooch. The first week consisted of climbing Mount Kenya, and let me be the first to say that this was not easy. Walking through heavy rain and mud in an increasing minimal oxygen environment was no picnic. The higher we got up, the more frequent the inner Beyonce would come out. 'Are we there yet?' 'Why are not there yet?' 'Who stole my Kit Kat?' - many infamous quotations. The food was disgusting, never in my life have I ever eaten pink porridge but there is always room for a first! Only, 8 of us, including myself, actually made it to the summit due to many people feeling extremely nauseous. I would definitely consider this a massive achievement as it proved I have a strong mental motivation and despite not being the greatest athlete, my body was clearly capable of overcoming obstacles. Remember kids, anything is possible! ;) After living in rat infested shacks, we went back to our camp and we went on a 5am safari to see the Big 5 and many other animals you wouldn't find in their natural habitat around the world. It was as if stepping into a postcard.
  
• The second week consisted of wildlife project conservations, where we had to make elephant dung paper which would be provided to the local communities for educational purposes. We also had the opportunity to lay the foundations of a classroom in the local area which was extremely rewarding. All the children wanted to help and fetched us water and other raw materials so we could make the mortar and lay the bricks. It was incredibly inspiring to see how ambitious and happy the children were and how this was a labour of love. My scrapbook is filled completely with me and the kids having our thumbs up and me racing them around in the wheelbarrows.
• The third week involved the group participating in local housing projects, we created a concrete floor for one of the houses to prevent parasites infecting the residents as well as this, plastering the walls of another house in order to ensure that its longevity and strength is increased. The community welcomed us with open arms and all the school kids held our hands and starting singing Waka Waka. One of the sweetest memories involved me giving my shoes and science textbook to one of the children I made friends with and my friend had to piggyback me across the entire village back to the campsite. And on top of that, the child actually wrote my name in his science textbook and promised he would never forget me. It is really startling to think how people can be so grateful for what we would normally consider the little things in life and things we take for absolute granted.
  
• There are plenty more stories and crazy antics that occurred in Kenya but this is just a brief overview of some of the amazing memories I had in this beautiful country.
• Morocco would also be an extremely memorable holiday. Sleeping the Sahara desert, riding camels at 5 in the morning to see the sunrise, it was as if I stepped into the Disney world of Aladdin.

2. What are 19 things you would like to do by the time you die?

1. Travel the world, hitting all 7 continents. 5 so far...so who knows?
   
2. Continue to do things outside of my comfort zone i.e. skydive, bungee jump
3. Meet Madonna, my absolute favourite icon.
4. Potentially become a celebrity - I don't know how, why or when - that is a work in progress ;)
5. Be able to make a difference to someone's life - continue doing more volunteering projects, maybe set up my own organisations
6. Learn more new languages - I can speak Romanian, English, partially Spanish and a bit of Japanese.
7. Learn to play more musical instruments- maybe go back to playing piano or learning to play the guitar.
8. Have kids and potentially be married - who knows when?
   
9. Get a rewarding job - not necessarily in monetary value. My passion is to travel so I would love to travel and help people, without caring too much about how much money I receive.
10. To get a really good university degree and have a high standard work ethic.
11. Overcoming my insecurities and helping others to as well.
12. Have a healthy lifestyle - exercise regularly and potentially get the body I've always desired to have.
13. To write a book/s - I have a creative imagination, so who knows? Or maybe a sassy autobiography
14. To leave my mark in the world - no clue how yet.
15. To save someone's life
16. To go into space - technology is advancing so who knows?
17. Contribute to the solution of world problems - extinction, war, global warming
18. To continue making friends and taking every opportunity life throws at me - similar to Yes Man
19. Be who I am and feel like I've lived a fulfilling life, at the end of the day, you only have one.

3. 19 words to describe you?

• Sassy, stubborn, confident, extrovert, immature, childish, crazy, flippant, fun, smart, adventurous, ambitious, hard working, disciplined, loving, imaginative, funny, unique and above all PERFECT obviously ;) !

4. Favourite foods?

• Pasta, Pizza, Steak, Fried Chicken.

5. Lucky Number?

• 3 - anything divisible by it also. All of my family's birthdays have some aspect of it that is divisible by 3 including my own.

6. 19 Favourite Musicians?

• Madonna, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Lana Del Rey, Sia, Katy Perry, Michael Jackson, Nicki Minaj, Adele, Abba, Bruno Mars, Kylie Minogue, Cher, Jennifer Lopez, David Guetta, Avicii. As you can tell, I have the iPod playlist of an 11 year old girl!

7. Favourite day?

• Thursday - it is said, the day you like the most, is the day you were born on. I was born on a Thursday so I am willing to believe that...

8. Star Sign?

• Pisces

9. Favourite animal?

• Without question, Pippa, my adorable miniature sausage dog. All of my social media is covered in adorable photos of her, some people seem to think I have a weird religious connection to my dog. I am starting to think that too nowadays, particularly being at university it is so hard not seeing her face everyday. Some weird fun facts about her include: she has her very own winter coat that I make her wear on walks, whenever I played piano, she would always sing/howl with the melody, she likes to eat carrots and strawberries and has small dog syndrome.

10. Fictional Character that accurately describes you?

• Olaf from Frozen - Friendly, ditzy and always there for you whenever you need him.
• Ross from Friends - according to Buzzfeed and many of my friends.

11. Biggest fears?

• Falling from extreme heights, creepy crawlies and not living life to the fullest. Basically, me and a tarantula in the same room, you can bet that one of us won't make it out alive. My money's on me!

12. Biggest regret?

• No regrets, move on with your life, learn from your mistakes.

13. Favourite sports?

• I have been part of many competitive and demanding swimming clubs.
• I used to do gymnastics but unfortunately, when things were going well, at an unrelated dodge ball event, someone broke my finger leading me to not do any gymnastics for a few months.
• I used to be part of a rowing team however, I could honestly say I was better on water than on land. Having said that, I did capsize once into the water and got stuck in a tree for 15 minutes. Navigating has never been my strong point.
• Skiing - I am hoping to do this on a more regular event however, my wallet appears to disagree significantly. Honestly, on a student budget, I wouldn't be able to even rent some snow boots! One of my favourite moments skiing was when I skiied straight into a plastic mesh fence and it flipped over it, causing one of my skiis to come off. Another time, I somehow managed to skii twist my skiis and I ended up skiing backwards, causing them to get twisted. I had to get 3 people to get me back on my feet, including two Austrian tourists! Finally, the creme de la disaster would be the time when I went up a blue hill and instead of going down the hill in an S shape, I gained full velocity and I went down in an arrow like fashion. Thank god I didn't kill anyone or hurt myself. I narrowly avoided this as I skiied onto a 10 year olds skiis, which caused me to fall. Had I been 2 cm to the left I would've crashed into the poor child! Anyways, practice makes perfect... so they say, clearly they don't know me!
  

14. Favourite things to do at university?

• Eat, sleep, rave, repeat - to summarise, the life of a uni student. Sometimes, the best nights involve just me, myself and I with my laptop playing a movie or playing some music that chills me.

15. Advice you would give to your younger self?

• It gets better - the bullying eventually stops, although there will be people that you meet that will not like you.
• Be happy, appreciate everything you have.
• Watch out who your true friends are and keep them close to you.
• Do not pretend to be someone you are not because it inevitably will make you more unhappy.
• Work hard because it really pays off.

16. People that inspire you?

• My family - encourage me to not make mistakes, to be a respectable citizen, to help others, to work hard and achieve my goals.
• My friends - inspire me to become a more social person, to make more well rounded and aware of the world around me. One good example would be, one of my two best mates from secondary school have taken a gap year to Australia on their own. That honestly takes balls and my Facebook lights up with so many fantastic pictures and memories that they created. They have seized life by their horns and that is exactly what I want to do. Inevitably, friends make you want to live your life to their fullest. People that make a difference inspire me basically...
• Musicians - have inspired me to imagine, to think outside the box and simply enter a world that I can relate to. Whether its to feel empowered, to get out of this world or to simply have a good time, music inspires my personality as much as physical things do.
• Teachers - they aren't given enough credit for what they do. Without them, your possibility of a future career is almost bleak. Be grateful they spend endless hours your benefit.

17. Song that describes your life?

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

18. How do you feel about becoming 19?

• I honestly feel terrified - I feel like I almost out of my teenage era and ready to become a full functioning adult. For everyone that knows me, it is fair to say, one year will definitely not transition me. At the same time, I'm not in my deathbed, I'm still young, healthy and can do what I want with my life. Life is an experience with lessons along the way that will get checked off. Live your life, check off your list and enjoy it!

19. How you celebrating your 19th birthday?

• Dinner with my amazing flatmates, day out with my dad and my mum will be coming up so we can see Ellie Goulding in concert. Overall, a very exciting week to look forward to, however, tonnes of work to get done.

That being said, over and out, I hope you enjoyed this blog!