Hi all,
As I type this now I am sat in a cafe in Vienna Austria hundreds of miles from home, I’m just over halfway through a month long trip interrailing around Europe. So far it has been incredible, I’ve seen some stunning architecture, learnt a lot of cultural history and tasted some delicious food.

However, I’d still ike to apologise for the lack of content this month. I am taking hundreds of photos and journaling my trip, but wish to organise and publish the relevant posts when I return to England so I have the technology to sort through and edit.

What I want to discuss today, is an ideal that I’ve embraced wholeheartedly while I’ve been away ; the importance of not sweating the small stuff, and how we shouldn’t let small ‘failures’ discount what we have achieved overall and not let them cloud what is truly important. 

I departed on this trip, just after getting some devastating news regarding my dissertation. My grade was not what I expected, at all, the worst I’d received in my 3 years at uni. It was by no means terrible but it eroded all my chances of getting a first; which in my eyes was the only way to prove everyone including myself wrong after not achieving my target at A Level due to mental health struggles at the time.

But after a few hours self loathing and crying into a massive bar of galaxy, I decided to get over myself. A number written on a piece of paper doesn’t represent me as a person or my abilities (although it was obviously an expensively obtained piece of paper, damn you student loans).

Whatever the outcome of my degree is, it doesn’t change who I am or what I can achieve. I went to university primarily for the experience, it has played a massive role in me maturing and gaining independence. If I was applying for uni now, I probably wouldn’t choose my course or uni (I got in through clearing anyway) but I wouldn’t change my time there for the world, first or no first!

Exploring the continent the last few weeks has really helped widen my perspective on life (in a none GAP-YAH way I promise) as a whole and has highlighted the unimportance of many things that would’ve previously caused me sleepless nights. 

It’s not worth crying over 2 marks when you could be swimming in the river in Munich’s English Garten. What’s 3 more hours I could’ve spent studying, compared to wandering lustfully through the streets of Brussels.

I’m not trying to downplay the effort that many, including myself, put into a university degree. It’s very important to make the most of that £27000 and thus increase your chances of getting a job that you will enjoy. But what I am trying to say is don’t cry over spilt milk, life is far too short for that. 

Whatever the outcome of our degree classifications we should all hold our heads high on graduation day, ready to embark on new journeys and experience real life, far beyond a stuffy lecture theatre or the 24hr library.

Thanks again for listening to me being a preachy Pete,

Em   x

CULOTTES – TOP MONKI (not available online tagged similar) – VANS OLD SKOOL BLACK