The countdown to freedom

There are seven days standing between me and sweet, sweet academic freedom.

The final semester of my third year at university has been pretty shit, there is no denying it. And if you need any proof, check out the a-symmetrical layers that have appeared in my hair created by my hair stylists, anxiety and OCD. 10/10 would not recommend.

But before I put you off uni forever, perhaps I should state that I am probably the biggest stress-head and worry-wort in the world and you, the laid-back, care-free student I dream to be, may not be able to relate at all.

I never thought final year would be easy, especially after returning from a blissful, stress-free year in Aus, but boy, that was something else.

The stress is unavoidable and all-consuming. As someone who used to boastfully pride myself on my invincible immunity to any illness, I seemed to be struck with 21 years worth of diseases in one semester. These included about five colds, two cases of conjunctivitis (which obviously coincided with the coldest winter in the UK, leaving me trekking through mounts of snow BLIND may I emphasise, to the pharmacy), one week of bed-bound flu (that shit is serious) and to top it off, my bloods came back last week to tell me my iron had plummeted. What a fun year to look back on, hey.

Thankfully, I have seven days left and I am so excited for this nightmare to be over, at the least for my hairs sake! But for some of you, this year is yet to come so here are a few little tips I can share that may help you survive the most stressful, miserable six months of your life.

1. Prepare yourself: As much as you want your final year of being a student to be fun, it won't be. Five assignments in five weeks sucks the joy out of everything, but you will get through it and you will finally see those friends you'd planned to meet in February, just 3 months later.

2. Let it out: As an admittedly rarely emotional person, who knew one stressful day in the library and a last-minute cancellation of a 5pm dissertation meeting I'd only been waiting for all day could ignite the waterworks inside me. But I felt better for it. Cry it all out and start again tomorrow.

3. Use your housemates for all they are worth: They are the one's who see you at your worst, and frankly the only one's you will see in general, for a while anyway. You are all in the same sinking boat, so get in and rant away about your diss for five hours straight to the people can't escape. I mean after all, it's all you know to talk about anymore. But honestly, I have made miraculous sense over things i'd been torturing myself over in my head all day, just by speaking out loud to my poor, poor housemates. I do apologise.

4. Goodbye wild nights, hello pj's: What is a club? This year, I was lucky if I made it out to one night a week if that, to let my hair down and drown my sorrows. A night out for me usually means the next day is a right-off which I couldn't afford to have this semester, so I was most likely found in my PJ's at 6pm, my hair scrapped up with a face mask on. A tip for having fun (but may make you feel like you live in a OAP house): buy lots of board games. My house also baked and had movie nights. You may not be dancing the night away, but at least you have B&J's.

5. Just get it done: I am the biggest hypocrite writing this whilst wearing my crown as queen of procrastination, but it is something that I was repeatedly told and helped me. I would endlessly moan about how much work I had to do rather than actually doing the work and reducing the stress. I would put off starting to write an assignment in fear that it would be bad, but as time became more of the essence I had no choice and soon learnt that improvements can be made afterwards, so if I had just started earlier I would have avoided a whole lot of worry. Anyways, the quicker you get it done, the sooner it will all be over.

This chapter of my life is ending and I am so ready to move on. Although I am yet to know where that will be to, it's something future-me can deal with, as for now I'm jetting off to America for the Summer. Goodbye stress, you will not be missed!!