So it's somehow already August and that means it's the time of year when students about to go into their last year of school are having to think seriously about university - at least that's how it works for UK universities which is the system I'm familiar with. As someone who has gone through the whole process in fairly recent memory I thought I'd put together some tips for the whole process and explain my rationale behind the choices I made at the time in the hope that it might help anyone who is facing some tricky decisions in the near future. In a way I'm currently reliving the experience because while my brother still has two full years of school to go he's already starting to look at the courses available, so naturally I offer my two pennies' worth at every opportunity whether he wants to hear it or not!

Basically speaking I think there are four main things to consider when narrowing down the long list of universities, so I've divided the rest of this post into sections. I'm also just going to briefly summarise my situation so you have an idea of where I'm coming from with my thoughts and perspectives on all this: I've lived in Belgium for nearly my whole life but I am actually English and I've always known I wanted to go back to the UK for university. However, not having an extensive knowledge of the country or indeed a school which was really geared up for the transition (we had some careers advice sessions but it was pitiful) I didn't really have any preconceived ideas about where I wanted to end up specifically. Also, I did the European Baccalaureate instead of A-Levels which was fine in the end but the two systems are very, very different and it just made everything a bit more awkward in terms of the grades universities typically ask for. I also knew I wanted to study geography because while I didn't love the lessons at school I realised that all the topics I was really interested in fell generally into the spectrum of geography, specifically the human side of it. Finally, I knew that despite the trickiness of moving from the European School system into the UK system I was capable of aiming high in terms of a university's academic reputation. In the end I applied to Cardiff, Southampton, Bristol, Exeter and Durham, receieved conditional offers from all five and eventually accepted Durham as my firm choice and Exeter as my insurance. Then I got the grades I needed to Durham and the rest, as they say, is history.

Okay, now onto the actual advice!

The course

You'll be able to find some of the more common courses, such as business, English literature, physics, history, maths, economics and law at nearly every uni (although some unis have a better reputation for a particular course than others, which I'll get to in a minute). However if you want to study something more specific that might already narrow down the list for you - linguistics, for instance, isn't offered in a huge number of places, and neither is American studies. I was surprised to find geography wasn't offered universally given that it is a standard school subject, but that helped in a way as I was able to rule our some places (like Edinburgh and Bath, for example) simply because it wasn't available there. So if you already have a concrete idea of a slightly unusual course it's worth looking to see which universities offer it.

Also if you still have no idea what you want to study I would recommend looking at the websites of a bunch of universities to see what's out there, or alternatively ordering a bunch of prospectuses (these are essentially brochures about each university and what they offer) and flicking through them at your leisure. In terms of general courses that leave lots of options open, things like business, economics, history, English, law and geography are always a good bet. Having said that, if you truly have no gut instinct as to what you want to study it might be best to take a year out to work out if uni is really for you or just give yourself a chance to realise what you want out of your education/career.

Once you have decided on a course another important thing is the detail of the course content, which is available to check out on the universities individual websites and of course in prospectuses. This is an important consideration as courses can differ a lot between unis, even if they have the same name or code. So be sure to read the detail and compare it between universities, and if possible get in contact with people who have studied that course. You might also have extra considerations: for example, I originally wanted to apply for only human geography courses as opposed to straight geography, which proved tricky because only three unis in the whole of the UK offered the human-specific course - so I ended up compromising on that which wasn't ideal.

University rankings

It's good to be ambitious about where you're aiming to apply, but it's extremely important to be realistic. Obviously Oxford and Cambridge are well known as the top universities in the country, but if you don't have much of an awareness beyond that (as I didn't) the best way to get a general idea of the esteem institutions are held in is to look at a website which has a list of rankings, or preferably several lists for comparison. I always relied on the Complete University Guide, which is apparently independent and great because you can see the rankings by course too. Of course this may not be the most important factor for you, but it can help to provide some context.

The next step is to check the entry requirements for each course. This can really make or break your feeling about a particular university because you'll know whether the grades you'll need are achievable for you personally - if in doubt, ask a teacher who knows you and your academic performance well. This works both ways too: if you know you're unlikely to get the grades they're asking then it might be better to look elsewhere, but if you're sure you'll easily achieve them then it's worth keeping that uni as your insurance option and aiming a bit higher if the situation is right.

The location

This may or may not be important to you - having a limited knowledge of the UK, I wasn't overly bothered and ended up about as far north as one can be without being in Scotland, but for some people it's a major factor. This can be because they want to stay close to home or actually want to move a significant distance away from it. And then there's the pull of London, which I basically avoided by reasoning that I'll probably end up living or working there at some point in my life so I wanted to experience living somewhere else first. Another thing to think about is travel costs and accessibility. If you go to uni in London then you can pretty much guarantee that there will be some easy form of transport between there and home but other than that it really depends. It takes me about 6-7 hours and £100-200 to get home by train and Eurostar so I knew I wouldn't be going home apart from between terms. This set up worked out more or less okay as for me it was a significant mental step in knowing that I was going to uni in a different country, and so that separated those two parts of my life quite distinctly. On the other hand you might still have commitments at home and need to be back on a regular basis, in which case it's worth thinking about how much time and money that will take.

The type of uni

I realise this sounds vague but bear with me: I mean in terms of the way the university is laid out, which is kind of linked to the location. I tend to mentally divide unis into campus, city, and campus-city and this was one of the other big factors I thought about when I was considering where to apply. Some universities are very much campus-based, by which I mean there is a distinct area, usually some way outside a city, where all the academic building and accommodation are concentrated in such a way that there is a more or less a self-contained area. Others are city-based, so the university buildings can be dotted around the city and might be quite spread out, meaning you need to get public transport to get to lectures. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages: campus unis can end up feeling like you're trapped in a bubble and you're cut off from the real world, but they can also feel safe and it can be handy having everything nearby. City unis might make your experience more vibrant and interesting, but it can be easy to feel lost and alone in a large place. I really had no idea which I would prefer but it's worth mentioned that it's not always such a clear distinction and luckily Durham fits somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. While there is a campus-type area (commonly referred to as the 'science site') where a lot of the academic buildings are located, some departments have their buildings in quite random locations around the city. The college system complicates it even further as there are 14 mini campuses about the size of schools dotted around the place. The other thing about Durham is that it's so small that in a way the university is the city, but everything is walkable and close by. For me it's the perfect balance between city and campus as you can get out and about easily and feel like you're not always 'at uni', but there's is a still central place where I go for my lectures and academic stuff. It will completely depend on the person as to which you prefer and this is one of the main reasons why I think it's important to go to open days or even just turn up somewhere and have a look around to get a feel for the place and the dynamics. 

I think this post is getting stupidly long now so I think I'll leave it there. Obviously there are loads more factors to take into account when choosing universities to apply to and I've just covered the ones I think are most important here, but at the end of the day it's a very personal choice and not one anyone one else can make but you. Also different factors will be more or less important to different people. Finally, don't stress - you only have to narrow it down to five to begin with and even if you realise you don't like the one you picked when you get there it's always possible to change. I hope this helped in some way and wasn't just a long rambling mess, please leave me a comment if you found it useful and good luck to anyone starting the uni process soon!

x

Yesterday was my graduation ceremony, or as we call it the 'proclamation of the results' since we also got all our final exam results. It was a really lovely occasion, as everyone more or less dressed up despite the terrible heat. The ceremony was held in the gym, which was made to look relatively fancy with plants dotted around and a blue carpet leading up to the stage, where we all had to get up on to get our diplomas. We all sat in alphabetical order, which meant I was nowhere near my friends, but I suppose it was kind of necessary to ensure some order in the proceedings as there are roughly 250 people in my year! Lots of important people made speeches (including our headmaster who we see all of once a year, but anyway) mostly focusing on the advantages our school system has brought us, such as a broad education and an appreciation for cultural diversity. Then there were a few performances by some of the students, including one of my best friends who was simply fabulous.

Of course, the big moment for everyone was when our names were called to go up and receive our diplomas. I was wearing heels, but they weren't massively high so I was fairly confident I wouldn't trip or anything, but it was still kind of nerve-wracking! Anyway, I got my diploma, shook hands with all the important people, was given a rose because why not indeed, and went to have my photo taken. It was only when I was sitting back down that I got the chance to open it and find out that I'd got the grades I needed to get into my first choice of university, which I am immensely happy about!

Afterwards we all milled about outside where there was food and drinks, just chatting to people and coming to the slow realisation that this was the end: we survived the Bac and we had the diplomas to prove it, and meanwhile this was the last time we were going to see some of these people and walk through this school as students and not visitors.

I've been at my school for 12 years, and for me they've truly been 12 wonderful years. I've met the best people and received an education that is excellent and quite different to what I would have had if I was still living in the UK. While I know it's time to move on to bigger and better things, it's still hard to realise that my time at my school truly has come to an end, and that I won't be going back to those familiar orange buildings come September. This post is beginning to sound very much like the one I wrote about my last day of school so I won't repeat myself too much, haha.

There have been so many endings over the past 2 months: Bal du Bac (prom), the last day of lessons, Bacday (in which we trashed the school and attacked people with water guns and shaving foam - it's a tradition I swear), the end of written exams, the end of oral exams and now finally graduation, which really is the definitive end as now we all go our separate ways. I'm so excited, but the nostalgia is strong!

x

Bonjour,

Yesterday was my last ever day of school and I still haven't quite recovered from the realisation that I am very nearly free from compulsory education! It's safe to say it truly is the end of an era, as I've been at my current school for all my primary and secondary education and known the same people for twelve long years. We've been through so much together, from running around playing made-up games when we were six to becoming the mature adults we are now (not to mention the awkward puberty stage) with countless memories along the way. There are so many school trips, memorable lessons, projects we've worked on and other general experiences which are unforgettable - the people I've known for most of my life are the ones who have shaped me as a person growing up and I like to think those parts of me will stay with me forever.

But while I'll miss the people I know I'll miss the place almost as much. Those orange brick buildings, nestled in the heart of Brussels and surrounded by a mixture of sparse greenery and concrete, will always hold so much meaning for me. I have quite literally grown up there, and the thought of not spending eight hours each day on the campus is more destabilising than I might care to admit. When you've spent so long in what is essentially a bubble of education and friendship, where you have such a feeling of safety and being at home, it's the scary to think that that safety net will no longer be there - you're on your own from now on.

And of course, an end like this means a new beginning is on the horizon. In the autumn I'll be off to university in the UK - the country change is an adventure in itself, but I'm so excited for all the new opportunities I'll have, both academic and personal. I can't wait to live in a country which has always been a sort of ideal for me growing up, a strangely magical kind of place which combines the feeling of coming home with the feeling of going on holiday. I can't wait to soak up as much information as possible and learn about things that I'm really passionate about, rather than being forced to take certain subjects I have no interest in. And I can't wait to meet new people from different backgrounds and hopefully make friends for life.

But there'll be no forgetting the friends who I've known for two thirds of my life so far - I don't think that's even vaguely possible. The struggle is going to be letting go enough to be able to move on, while also keeping hold of the past. As you might have noticed, I'm a very nostalgic person, so here are just a few things I'll miss most about these twelve years at my school:

Every time exam season approaches, I find myself struggling to remember how to simply get my head down and study. There's always something more pressing to sort out (like my passport application or uni stuff, gahh), or something more appealing such as the entirety of the internet. While it always just about works out in the end, time after time I feel like my studying techniques could be a lot more efficient, so I decided to properly assess the situation and come up with some top tips for studying - which I should probably also take note of!

Get organised, NOW

I find this is often the most daunting part of actually getting down to studying: facing the stacks of sheets and piles of folders vs preferring to take the ostrich approach and pretend it isn't there. Instead, take the plunge as early as you can! Go through each subject in turn and make a list of everything you have to study. It might still fill you with dread and panic, but at least your mind can stop massively over-exaggerating how much you have to learn - and you never know, there might actually be less than you thought.

Once I know exactly what I have to study, I make a list of everything I plan to do every day. This was I can spread the workload out over the time available and I can tick things off as the day goes on and end up feeling like I accomplished something. But it's easy to plan to do too much and end up feeling like you didn't get anything done in comparison to what you set out to do, which is why it's important to be realistic. You're never going to review 20 pages of notes, read that book, make notes on that entire section AND go over all those character analyses in one day, so be reasonable and don't give yourself too much to do. If you manage to get it all done, treat yourself!

I've realised lately that some studying is just so boring. If you can, try making your revision more interesting than just staring at your books and notes: make flashcards so the process is less monotonous, write things out so you're active, or get someone to test you on what you've just learnt. Or go even further: if I'm really trying to get to grips with a character I like to make a collection about them on Polyvore with some character analysis, or draw a family tree to remind myself how a bunch of characters are connected, or construct a timeline for historical events. And of course, if there's a film of your book then you have the perfect opportunity to make revision more fun: turn your phone off and give the film your full attention, pausing it to take notes or follow the play's text for added productivity. I tend to reserve this kind of 'fun' studying for late in the evening when my brain can't cope with the more traditional methods.

This applies to just about everything. I have a weird thing where I automatically associate each of my subjects with a different colour, so that gives me a starting point. Then I use a standard combination of pink and green for writing key words and definitions in my notes, so I can always spot a definition because I know it's in pink, no matter what subject we're talking about. If you're going through some handouts, have a few highlighters to hand to highlight different elements, such as causes and consequences, important names, key words and so on.

It might seem like a paradox, but if I'm going to put off starting the next section of my revision by half an hour I tend to commit to tidying my room or sorting through some scrap paper or even writing a blog post (for instance I am currently procrastinating maths revision to write this post), so that at least I can maintain the illusion of productivity. This technique also gets more done in general, as all those things you keep meaning to do aren't there to distract you while you're studying.

If you can't do anything without your laptop being less than a metre away (I am guilty of this), at least lock the screen so you have to actively put a password in before you can get to your internet browser, which will hopefully make you stop and think. I use the internet a lot while studying, for looking up definitions, online translators and just generally googling things to clarify what I'm learning, so I could never turn my laptop off entirely, which for me works okay. But if you can't resist the temptation to check Facebook, Instagram and Twitter every five minutes, you might want to at least put some distance between you and the interwebs.

Have a clear workspace
I do everything at my desk, from studying to blogging. Which can sometimes be a problem since my brain associates that workspace with both fun and studying - I wish I had a separate space for both, but I don't really have the option. Instead I just make sure I move everything unnecessary off my desk before I start any revision, so I won't get distracted by it. Equally I like to have everything I might need within reach, including relevant books, folders, pens, pencils, scrap paper for scribbling on etc.

There are a bunch more things I could say about studying, but I think I'll leave it at that for now. If anyone reading this is doing exams anytime soon, GOOD LUCK!

x

I don't tend to do many personal posts about my life, but I thought this occasion definitely merited more than a couple of instagram photos. Last Friday was the Bal du Bac, or Bac Ball, so named after the European Baccalaureate exams we do at the end of our final year in my school - essentially our version of prom. It's basically a huge event held at the Colonial Palace just outside Brussels, and everyone gets dressed up all fancy to celebrate the end of the year and the end of all our years together before we sit the bac and go our respective ways.

A huge amount of preparation went into the event, from the Bal du Bac committee who've been working on it for months to all the people (including me) who've been planning their outfits since last year! My class actually hired an old red London bus to travel there, which is the traditional mode of transport for the English section to get to BdB every year - it was really awesome driving through the streets of Brussels in such a distinctive vehicle and we got a lot of attention.

Next was the dinner, which was only for students and some teachers who wanted to stay (and were willing to fork out for it). There were two menus, one normal and one veggie, which I had. The normal one was salmon tartar followed by turkey, potatoes and a kind of stew, and the veggie option was pumpkin tortellini and then wok with vegetables, lentils and various other unidentifiable things - it was okay, but it was the dessert that really took the biscuit in my opinion. It was a huge buffet of tiny little desserts, like chocolate mousse, tiramisus, fruit tarts, panna cotta with orangey compote, and a load of other incredible-looking things I was too full to try.

My agenda is fairly essential to me as I write all my homework in it, as well as just general notes and things to remember. I bought this one at my local stationer's but it was really too flimsy to withstand the battering my agendas usually get, so I added a layer of card to the front and back to make it sturdier and also covered it with patterned paper, ribbon and finally sticky-backed plastic.

My pencil case is another essential as I obviously need pens and things in all my lessons. I got this stripy one from WHSmith, which is my number one go-to place to shop for stationery (my love for Smith's is endless and unconditional). These days I'm quite minimalist with what I keep in my pencil case - I have a couple of pens, a ruler, pencils, tippex, pencil sharpener, glue stick, highlighter etc, but no coloured pencils or pens. 

The purse I'm currently using is from the Spanish shop Lefties, which I adore. This is really the perfect size as it fits my ID card exactly, which isn't always the case with purses. It holds my school card, bank card, bus card, money etc, but I don't tend to keep lots of unnecessary stuff in my purse as it just adds to the weight of things I have to carry around.

I usually listen to my iPod (I have the 7th generation nano) on the bus on the way to and from school, so I always have it with me, along with my earphones - these ones were quite cheap but are still intact after 3 months of hanging around in my bag.

I don't always carry makeup type products, but I happened to have these two lipsticks in my bag today. One is fairly cheap pillarbox red from HEMA, the other is more of a pinky shade from No. 7.

Although my school isn't overly IT-orientated, a USB key is still an absolute essential for some of my lessons such as geography, as we often go to the ICT rooms to work on projects and do research. It's also a useful thing to have generally, as you never know when you might need it. This is one I got free at an open day at the University of Southampton.

Obviously I have my phone with me at all times - I use it for checking my emails and kik, as a calendar, often as a calculator and all sorts of things. It's a Nokia Lumia 800 which I've had for just over 2 years. The case (not that you can really see it) is very bling-bling as it's covered in little silver glitter gems - I've had it since the summer, and it was only a few £ so I'm really impressed it's lasted this long!

I often have a few random pieces of jewellery in my bag, as I tend to put a necklace or bracelet on in the morning and take it off by break time because it's irritating me and getting in the way. This is a clock necklace I bought in Ale-Hop a few years ago - the actual timepiece is sadly broken but I still wear it quite often because I love the simple design.

Another essential for me is a little pocket mirror, because you never know when you might need it.

My keys are also pretty vital, as they have my locker key, house key and a spare key to my brother's locker (in case he loses/forgets his, haha). I also have my blipper for the cafeteria at school, which replaced our chip cards at the beginning of this school year - how it works is still a mystery to me as I've never actually used it!

I usually have a comb hanging around at the bottom of my bag, just for those occasions when the lovely Belgian wind and rain decide to wreak havoc with my hair...

Finally, I usually have at least one book in my bag, whether my own or a school book. I'm currently carting about the play Translations by Brian Friel which we're reading in my advanced English class, but Rouge Brésil, Ik ook van jou and Angela's Ashes have all spent some time in my bag recently.

As for the bag itself, I'm currently using the Michael Kors Selma bag I got for my birthday last month. It's my baby and I love it a little too much, as it's all I've ever wanted in a bag! It works really well for school as I can usually fit everything I need into it, and it has lots and lots of inside pockets to keep things organised and to hand.

And that's what's in my bag - I hope you found this vaguely interesting, if you're as nosy as I am!

x

It's not the biggest of deals, but I was so excited to finally get my jumper the other day - the colour I got the jumper in was 'maroon' (it's a lot less pink than it looks on the photo, but anyway).

As I said, I just thought I'd share this here as it's something that was quite important to me and I love the finished result!

Bonjour,

How are you? Personally I'm unbelievably tired and school is pretty stressful, but I can glimpse the Christmas holidays on the horizon which gives me hope. Of course, I've got exams the second week back in January so the break isn't going to be work-free by any means, but Christmas is one of my favourite times of year so I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as possible.

Last Wednesday was really exciting, as the English classes in my year went to London for the day! The whole point of going was to see the play Electra, but we also went to the Imperial War Museum which was brilliant, especially as the whole theme of war is very relevant to the periods we're studying in History this year. We went through the Second World War bits, but we spent the most time in the section on the Holocaust which was really intense and harrowing - I think I actually started crying watching some of the witness accounts.

After the museum we took the tube to the area the theatre was in, and had some time to go off and have lunch. My friends and I went to Wagamama's, which was divine, and then we wandered round the Christmas market on the South Bank and drank hot chocolate and inhaled a lot of mulled wine.

The play was brilliant, it was actually a Greek tragedy but obviously translated into modern day English so it was really easy to understand, more so than Shakespeare. It was interesting to see a Greek tragedy performed though, because in my advanced English class we did a lot on the tradition of tragedy and read Oedipus Rex and Medea in class so we have the background and were able to pick out the typical characteristics and discuss it in detail afterwards.

Then we had some free time in St Pancras Station, which was really lovely as it was all Christmassy with lights and garlands and whatnot. Most of us went to Marks & Spencer for food, as is kind of traditional, and wandered around window shopping. Then it was back on the Eurostar and home in less than a couple of hours!

I also got a sneaky few books in a discount bookshop (of course). I already have a copy of Dracula, but it's hardback and quite big so I when I saw there was a '3 classics for £6.99' deal I jumped at the chance and got Dracula, Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Possibly not what you might expect, but I'm half planning on analysing some examples of gothic horror fiction for this year's extended essay in advanced English, so I thought I'd better invest in a few relevant works (obviously I'm not counting Dorian Gray in that, ahah).

Every time I go to London, I realise how much I love it. Even though I'm not technically from there and I've only been a handful of times, I feel such a connection with the whole city - for instance, we were walking down the pavement on some random street in the dark, looking up at all the bright lights of the Christmas decorations and I just felt so exhilarated and happy and just completely at home. Maybe it's the history or or the culture of just the anonymity, but I just felt completely at ease, and I definitely want to live there at some point later in life.

How are you all? I've been so busy lately, I've hardly stopped. Homework is coming thick and fast, and I've already got tests coming up in the near future, as well as my personal statement to finish off and my UCAS application to submit. In short, things are crazy, but there's something about school that keeps me sane too - it's the routine of it, the way I'm completely worn out by the end of the day and never have any problem falling asleep because my thoughts aren't whirling around my head like they were during the summer. Although I love a holiday just as much as the next person and I'll admit I complain endlessly about being so busy, I think I thrive best under pressure and when I have a schedule to stick to.

Anyway, back to what I wanted to talk about today. Recently I made a new Tumblr blog for somewhere to reblog everything which doesn't fit my other two main ones, the-decadence-of-decay and ihadnocaresinthe1990s. I originally made the latter for this purpose, but somehow it evolved from being totally themeless and just full of interesting things to actually having a blog type (although I'm not sure how I'd describe it, maybe 'whimsy nymphet retro floral'?). So as I find it impossible to scroll past anything interesting or visually appealing without reblogging it, I decided to create yet another blog for all that kind of stuff, which is how queenbananafrog was born.

There's not much of a story behind the url, just that bananafrog is a username I use for a lot of stuff, and that was taken so I just had to add something to it. I think it says a lot about me that my brain automatically tends to lean towards a particular aesthetic, no matter how hard I try to resist...

So if your Tumblr blog type is just a general, personal kind of thing, check out

queenbananafrog

Bonjour,

I don't go back to school until the beginning of September, but because I'll be away for most of the time between then and now I've sorted my school supplies out already, and I thought I'd share all that here on my blog.

I absolutely love stationery, and I can spend hours in shops like WH Smith when I go back to the UK, just admiring all the pretty folders and trying out interesting pens and things. Unfortunately we don't have a WH Smith in Belgium, and our stationery shops (AVA and Club) tend to be very pricey. Partly because of this, partly because I get quite attached to stuff, and partly because it just doesn't need replacing, I don't buy everything new each year, so this is a mixture of stuff I bought recently and old bits and pieces recycled from previous years.

This will be my last year of school and I have all the same subjects and teachers (mostly) as last year. By now I know exactly what I tend to use, what I need and what works best for each subject and teacher. For instance, some hand out a lot of sheets and don't expect us to copy much down, so a folder is all that's needed, while for subjects where there's a lot of writing as well as extra sheets I use a thin folder and a notebook together. There's no set requirements for materials any more, we're just expected to be able to organise ourselves in a sensible way.

After having intended to do so since the beginning of the summer holidays, I've spent much of today conducting research into how to write a personal statement for university applications.

Applying to UK universities involves completing a UCAS application, which comprises several elements including roughly 600 words on why you want to go on to higher education, why you want to study your chosen course, what interests you about it, what proof you have of this interest, what makes you an ideal candidate for a place, what work experience/hobbies/activities you've done which relates to the subject, and basically why the admissions tutor should pick you over hundreds of other potential applicants. It has to read well, summarise everything clearly and concisely, and not contain too much superfluous language - I know the latter will be my downfall, as whenever I have to write anything formal (or just anything, really) I tend to throw in a good few sophisticated and/or elaborate words without really thinking about it.

Anyway, I scoured the UCAS site meticulously for pointers on what to include, read a few examples, and finally started drafting a few lines and paragraphs out. I immediately encountered one major difficulty - I am not used to writing about myself. Sure, I have a myriad of short bios on my various social media sites, and I write on my blog and for school, but never about myself, and never talking about my achievements and good qualities. For years the only lengthy pieces of writing I've done are analysing poetry and prose, or writing essays on themes. The whole concept of writing about myself is alien to me, and I found it pretty challenging in the beginning, although eventually I decided to try and pretend I was writing a story about someone else who has always been inspired by the world around them and the relationship between the Earth and humanity.

The thing about Geography is that whether people like it or not, they can't help but let their lives be affected by it, wherever they live in the world. People who live in difficult conditions due to the weather or landscape have their day-to-day existences controlled by rivers, mountains and tectonic plates, and the flooding, avalanches and earthquakes which can result from these geographical features, while everyone on the planet either has or is going to be affected by the consequences of globalisation and a increasingly global market.

Although a lot of Geography comes back to it, not everything is about the natural world. Personally I am far more interested in the human aspects of Geography, such as development, migration, political, urban & economic geography, politics & space, the geographies of health, transport & society, and - my particular field of interest due to the fact that it involves numbers and graphs and rates of change and other wonderfully complicated statistical data - population evolution.

I'm not so bothered about volcanoes and weather patterns, and all that physical Geography stuff people learn about in school - it's been around for hundred of years and if there's anything about it which no one has discovered yet, I'm not sure it's worth discovering. The thing about human Geography is that it's so current, so relevant to today's world that it surprises me constantly that there are people have no interest in it whatsoever. Take the ageing populations of Germany and Russia, for instance. It's a trend which is likely to spread to other western countries with large populations within the next 50 years, but does anybody care that they're going to have to fund a generation who will live longer and be accustomed to a more affluent way of life, to their own costs? And what about the increasingly consumer-orientated world we live in, and the inevitable consequences our selfishness is going to have on both the planet and future generations?

As someone who has grown up in such a multicultural, multilingual environment (thank you, Belgium, I can finally use you to my advantage - it's about time) I have always been fascinated by the world beyond my country's borders. There is so much happening out there, and I've never been one for small goals and ideas. I dream big, and the future of the planet is the biggest scale on which it is possible to study and (hopefully) work - why would I want to do anything else?

As I said not too long ago in my Back to School Advice post, choosing what to wear for the first week back at school can be tricky, but today I came up with a few outfits that I think would be good for wearing at school. I put the outfits together on Polyvore, and I've done four ideas each for warm and colder weather.

Outfit 8

Last but not least, this quirky style is something I've been loving recently. It's all about bright colours, denim, glitter and crazy elements (which pretty much describes my Tumblr, actually) and everything about it screams summer. I put yet more jellies with this outfit, as I think they characterise this style perfectly.

I hope you enjoyed my back to school outfits, or at least found some inspiration. I would personally wear all of these to school, but then again I'll wear just about anything :P

If, like me, you're in the last week or so before you go back to school after the summer holidays, you'll know exactly how horrible and disheartening the prospect of school starting up again is. Going from the lazy routine of getting up whenever you like, doing whatever you like whenever you like, and going to bed whenever you like, getting back into the school routine is always a chore. Here are some hints and tips for how to make your transition back into term time as painless as possible:

1. Get organised

Needless to say, organisation is everything. If you have to buy your own school books, make sure you have everything off the list at least a week before school starts, so you'll have time for them to arrive if you're ordering online. Sort out any stacks of books or papers that might be hanging around from the last school year, and either recycle them or put them in labelled boxes to store. Make sure your gym kit is washed, and that any other supplies you need are ready to go.

2. Get more sleep

When it comes to sleeping during the holidays I'm not the worst culprit by far, but my summer sleep routine is very different from during school time. I tend to wake up around 9am during the holidays, whereas I need to be up by 6:45am for school - my plan for the last week of holidays before school is to wake up 15 minutes earlier each day, which will hopefully help prepare me for the shock of being conscious before 7am. The same thing applies at night: try and go to sleep a bit earlier each day. I rarely get to sleep before 2am during the summer, so my ultimate aim is to be out before midnight.

3. Deal with stress/apprehension

It's okay to be nervous about going back to school, whether you're going back at the same place with people you know, starting at a totally new school in another town or country, or going to high school/secondary school for the first time. Remember it's highly likely there will be other new people too, and also that the school will probably have a tour day so you can have a look around before the actual first day. I've been at the same school for ten years now, so I know the place like the back of my hand and I have tons of wonderful friends, but every year I get butterflies on the night before the first day back - what if I get this or that teacher, who I really don't like? What if I'm in a class with no one I know? What if this turns out to be a terrible year? For me this really only lasts up until the first lesson or so, when I realise I feel totally comfortable to be back, especially as there's no homework or tests to study for yet. If you're at a new school it might take a few weeks to get used to it, but I guarantee before long you'll feel at home and make new friends.

4. Plan ahead

If you're feeling stressed out by the idea of school, it will help a lot not to be rushing and panicking on the first day back. You want to be calm and put together, not running around looking for things or doing last-minute outfit changes. Shower the night before so you have more time in the morning, and pack your bag. Make sure you have everything you need - for me that's a purse with money, my caf card and last year's school exit card; my pencil case with new pens and pencils; a bottle of water; an umbrella; tissues etc etc. Unless you know which subjects you'll have on your first day, there's no need to take in schoolbooks on the first day. However, I always have a stack of books and exercise books about a mile high, so I tend to take in a few every day for the first week, and put them in my locker, rather than carrying the whole pile in all at once.

5. Decide on an outfit

Another thing to do the night before is plan what you're going to wear - if you wear school uniform this is a no-brainer, but I know only too well the crucial decision of deciding your outfit, weighing up the pros and cons of each item of clothing and finally running out of time and settling on any old thing. I'd say keep it low-key and not too anything, if that makes sense: don't try too hard, but make an effort to look presentable, as you want to make a decent first impression and your clothes can say a lot about you. Unless you're sure of the impression you want to give off on the first day, stick to jeans, plimsolls or Converse, a nice top and a cardigan (depending on the weather of course - I'm planning a separate 'First Day Back Outfits' post soon). Make a note of what other people tend to wear, but don't change yourself and your style just to blend in. If your school has any rules on what you can and can't wear (e.g. no makeup, no heels, no shorts etc), make sure you're aware of them and that you dress appropriately - I'm lucky that my school has no rules whatsoever!

6. On the morning of the first day

Wake up as early as you can bear, to allow for oversleeping and anything you haven't already anticipated the night before. Eat a decent breakfast (cereal, toast, fruit - whatever you need to give your brain a kick start and keep you going till lunchtime). Make sure you leave some extra time for getting to school - if you're going to a new school, practice the route you'll take beforehand so you don't get lost. If you take public transport allow time for delays, and if you go on a school bus be aware that on the first day the routine isn't quite so defined, so the bus isn't likely to be on time - get to the stop extra early just in case.

And that concludes my back to school advice! I hope it was marginally useful to you, and I wish everybody good luck for the new school year.