Letter 91

Finally it’s over. Months of hard work, weeks of long days and a number of sleepless nights. Architecture is not a healthy subject to choose and this year has been a killer. Despite half loosing my mind at the end and putting in more time and effort than ever before, I feel I managed it well. Seeing my classmates sleeping at their desks, surviving solely on energy drinks and having to submit late due to rushing at the end made me realise how well I’ve done. So I’m proud of myself and I want to share that with you guys.

I am not one for nights later than 11 or living on fast food and redbull. Instead I focused hard all year on keeping up with work and therefore only had to slightly step up the intensity at the end. Frankly, some of the hard core architecture students have done better work than me and will get better grades, but I’m content. I knew there was more I could do but I refuse to make myself ill just to get one more drawing done. What I’ve done is enough and I’m confident that I’ll at least pass.

I did have a few dramas towards the end. Exactly 1 week before my final deadline, the day before my history exam, when everything was going swimmingly, my laptop died. My bad luck was almost comical – I mean it couldn’t have held out for one more week?! This would have been the perfect time to freak out but after some quiet anger, secret tears and a chat with my mum, I realised that it could be worse. I first tried to get it fixed, which failed. My beautiful, expensive, extremely powerful laptop, that was only 2 years old, was fried. Then I toyed with the idea of using the university computers to finish my work and quickly concluded that this was not an option due to the late hours I’d need to put in. So I spent an afternoon with my boyfriend learning laptop lingo and choosing a suitable device, and then shelled out £600 so that I could finish my course. Pretty stressful 48 hours but everything worked out well in the end. Not a totally stress-free end to the year but I survived.

At the end, it’s all worth it. I designed a building that I’m proud of. The things I’ve learnt from my incredible tutor, along with the literature I’ve studies have influenced my work and will stick with me forever. My final presentation was something I felt proud of and I have achieved (mostly) what I set out to. I may not be the best architecture student, but I’ve done my best and made myself proud.

Now I’m putting it all behind me.

Since the second I finished I’ve been getting ready for summer. The countdown to jetting off was 1 week and now that’s down to a measly 3 days. Not only do I have to finish gathering things for my 2 and a half month trip, but I also have to pack up all of my stuff to go into storage and do my part of cleaning the flat. Pretty busy week. So far I’ve sorted all my stuff and began packing, washed a ton of things ready for storage and deep cleaned the bathroom, oven and fridge. It’s been a fun few days. (Not even joking, I love cleaning.) I’ve also had a lovely catchup with a good friend of mine who will be going home to Vienna today and then studying in Copenhagen next year. Can’t wait to visit! I’ve caught up on sleep and my body is slowly un-tensing and I can feel my mind returning to its normal state.

Did I mention I was flying out in less than a week? Oh yes, in 3 days actually! I am beyond excited and can’t wait to get travelling again, what I’m always dreaming about doing. I completely live for my summers and this one will be particularly special and different. Everything for the first month is booked because it’s mainly holidays with friends and family, and after that I have free reign! From Wednesday the 17th you can expect posts about Spain, including Nerja, Malaga, Cordoba and Seville. That’s only 2 weeks of my trip, there’s lots more to come after!

I hope you’ve all been well, sorry for my absence on here but that’s all about to change and I’m so excited for the next few months! I’m alive again!

Happy travels!

From Lou

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