Category: Life

Meeting Bianca del Rio!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment
Last week my friends and I went to our first ever drag queen show. We were super excited because the drag queen we were going to see was one of our favourites. Last year we all got addicted to the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race and ever since then we have been wanting to see a drag queen from the show. And we finally got the opportunity.
So we bought our tickets, got all glammed up and mentally prepared ourselves to meet the one and only Bianca del Rio. Bianca was the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 6 and considers herself to be an insult comic. She is hilarious. And even more, glamorous in person.
When we first got to the venue we had no idea what to expect. We had never been to this club before, much less a drag queen show. The vibe there was pretty good. Lots of good music, lots of fabulous people. But as we got closer to the start of the show, the more people showed up and soon we could barely move because everyone was pushing to get a good view of the stage.
My friends and I were were lucky that we got there kind of early. That way we could claim the area we kind of wanted to be in when the show started but we still got pushed around quite a bit. That was the only downside to the whole thing. Too many people.
But once the show started you didn’t think about that. All you could focus on was the fabulousness that was taking place on stage.
The first two performances were by the two drag queens that host the special guests at the club. They both did lip sync performances which were amazing. Most drag queens are known for their lip syncing and these girls were perfection. And their backup dancers were giving me life.
And then finally, the queen herself appeared on stage. She looks flawless in person. And at first, I had my doubts because it had been a few years since Bianca was on drag race so maybe she looked different from when she was on TV. But no. She looked perfect. In a fabulous black gown no less. Kaftan realness.

She opened the show by explaining how everyone thought she was going to be on Big Brother and how she wasn’t going to be releasing an album anytime soon. Of course, she was her hilarious self.
So worth the wait.
Next Bianca turned to ask for people in the audience. She was going to hold a lip sync contest. But she wanted it to be a fair competition so she was looking for four different specific people. And I was one of those people.
I was in shock.
I had no time to process and next thing you know I was being brought onto the stage.
I couldn’t believe it. I was on stage with BIANCA DEL RIO.
It still feels like a dream.

When I found out we had to lip sync I was worried. My first thought was: oh my God what if I don’t know the song?!
I’ve watched enough Drag Race to know if you don’t know the words to the song you are lip syncing to then you’re out. And I was the first one to lip sync. So if I didn’t know the words but the other people did I was screwed.
Luckily, when the music started to play I got into it. They played Sissy That Walk by RuPaul and that’s when I felt more at ease. That was the one and only RuPaul song I knew the words to so I knew I could do this.
I was hesitant about it at first. Because I was on stage with about 200 people watching me and a bright spotlight blinding me. But as soon as I started to lip sync I just owned it. It was go big or go home and I went big.
It was a blast.
I have no idea how to describe the experience I just thought it was so much fun.
Unfortunately, I didn’t win the lip sync battle but I came in second. So I’m taking that as my victory.
When I got off the stage and was reunited with my friends we all freaked out hysterically. I mean no one was expecting that.
Later at the meet and greet, Bianca was so nice! She hugged me and my friends and thanked me for being such a good sport. And I got a photo with her.

I still can’t believe it happened. It all just happened in such a blur. But luckily I had friends who decided to document my lip sync performance. That was uploaded to Facebook the next day. I could have cringed about it but instead, I embraced it. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was going to do it. I mean ever since Drag Race I have wanted to walk that runway and lip sync for my life. So I guess this was me half fulfilling that dream.
And if you guys are interested in seeing a little bit of how my night with Bianca Del Rio went I did vlog about it. Of course. So check that out below:

It was a fab night and I really enjoyed myself. And I think that’s the most important thing. So my advice for this year is to embrace the opportunities that come your way. And have a blast. Because life’s too short so live it up and party.
I have recently found myself saying “party” a lot and I owe it all to Adore Delano. She’s another drag queen from RuPaul’s Drag Race season six. I think that’s a great catchphrase to have. Because life is to be enjoyed. And what better way to enjoy it than to party?
So I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience meeting Bianca del Rio. If you wanna see me lip sync for my life check out my vlog. And let me know in the comments below what song you would lip sync for your life to.
~ Courtney

My New Phone

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I always love getting new technology. Especially when it comes to my phone. It’s the one thing you use everyday and having the same phone gets boring after a while.
So I always get excited when it is upgrade time. I currently have a 24-month contract with Tesco mobile which means I have been using the same phone for two years. And I was so happy to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new.
It’s not that there was anything wrong with my old phone but over time technology progresses and what was the latest phone two years go is now old news. And like I said, it gets boring using the same phone after a while.
And yesterday I was more than happy to say goodbye to my old, Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and say hello to my new Samsung Galaxy J5.
If I’m honest, there is no real reason as to why I chose this phone. I hadn’t actually given any thought as to what phone that I wanted to get. I just knew it had to be reasonably priced. With contract phones, you don’t pay for the phone upfront. You pay off a little bit of it each month as part of your monthly bill. And the more expensive the phone, the more you have to pay per month.
I have never really been one to know what phone I want to get. When I got my S4 Mini it was because I needed to get away from the horror that was my BlackBerry phone at the time. And I only really chose a BlackBerry phone because I liked their hardware keyboards. But the actual operating system of the phone was a letdown and I couldn’t deal with it anymore. And before the BlackBerry I had my last Nokia phone…those were the good old days before smartphones.
Anyway, I decided to get the Samsung Galaxy J5 as it was a recommendation from the guy at the store. And it was the same make as my current phone. This was good for two reasons, one it has the Android user interface I am used to. And two, it would make transferring the data from the old phone to the new phone so much easier.
So really, the Samsung Galaxy J5 isn’t that different from my old phone but it’s an updated shinier version. Upon obtaining the phone, I did look up the phone model online because I had never heard of it. The J5 was released in June 2015 and is supposed to be a good gaming phone. I don’t use my phone for gaming but I suppose if you did this would be one of the phones to go for.
One thing that is very different between the two phones is the size of them. I hate big phones. That’s why when I got my Samsung Galaxy S4 it had to be the Mini. Because the actual regular S4 was too big for my liking. If you’re like me and have small hands, a big phone is just not ideal. But the J5 is about an inch bigger than my S4 Mini. As shown below:

J5 on the left and S4 Mini on the right

It will take a while for me to get used to having a bigger phone. I just don’t see the appeal of them. Unless you like to use your phone to watch videos and things it just seems like a lot of hassle. Remember when we used to try and make phones small because they used to be the size of bricks? Can we go back to that?
Other than that the transition between the phones was very smooth. Like I said earlier because the phones are the same make and have the same operating system the backup and restore was effortless. All I had to do was log into my Google account. Sure, I had to sign back into all my social media accounts but all my contacts were transferred over. So most of the work was done for me.
The only thing I had to take off of my old phone were the photos which were saved on the device and not its external SD card. Which was fine, I just put them onto my computer instead of transferring them to the new phone.
Overall my first impressions of my new phone have been good. I like the android operating system and I love the option to add a theme to my phone. If you guys saw my tweet yesterday I was talking about how much I loved a cute pink theme.

The current theme on my phone

I like to customise all the settings on my phone when I get it. That way I can really make it my own. Also, going through all the settings on your phone when you first get it is a great way to familiarise yourself with it. So I definitely recommend you do it. Even if you do it one day out of boredom. You might learn that your phone can do something cool that you didn’t know about.
As for my review of my old phone…I can’t say anything bad about it. Apart from how it would sometimes freeze when it was updating its app and I was using it. However, I think that is just a result of the phone getting old. Which can happen after you use a phone for a long time. It can just slow down and malfunction. But for my first android phone, I would say the S4 Mini was a good choice.
And in case you weren’t sure where I was on the Apple versus Android debate I am 100% Android. Apple is nice if you can afford it, but Android phones prove to be more durable when you drop them and are more reasonably priced.
So I think that’s everything I have to say on the whole phone front. I wish I was more technical with this kind of thing considering I’m a software engineering student but honestly I only use my phone to text people and check Twitter on the go. So I am not one to come to on advice on which phone you should get. Still, I hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to leave a comment below letting me know what you’re considering for your next phone. I for one will have to wait to see what phones are available in 2018 to decide what my next one will be. Oh the possibilities!
~ Courtney x

2015!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Well guys, it’s the end of another year. And that means it’s time for a reflective blog post.
I used to make these blog posts all the time back when I had Bebo. I used to blog about all the big things that happened that year and talk about what I hoped for the next year. I actually think it’s a really good thing to do because I like looking back and seeing how far I’ve come.
This year in particular has been insane. So much has happened and I have no idea where to start with it.
I think I’m going to start chronologically and work my way from there because it seems like it makes the most sense.
So according to my Twitter, 2015 started off quite boring. I was pretty lazy. Which tends to happen when you are off school for Christmas. And even though you have a ton of work to do that’s due for when you go back, you always leave it to the last minute. Luckily the work didn’t seem to weigh me down too much as I still had time to tweet about it.

On top of trying to get through my a levels, I was also very distracted fandom-wise. Four words. Fifty Shades of Grey. For the first two months of the year I was busy trying to get as much information about the movie as possible. And I was freaking out at every glimpse of Jamie Dornan in a grey suit.
Unfortunately the movie was not all that I had hoped it would be. Yet I still enjoyed it for what it was. And I am still excited for the sequels, even though we will be waiting until 2017 to see Mr Grey again.

The start of 2015 is also when I started this blog! I have had many a blog in my life and I decided that this would be the one that I stuck with, for better or for worse. This would be the one I stuck with. I have taken many different directions with blogs before but I feel good about this one.
The only other blogs that I have had for more than a year are my Tumblr blogs, and while they are great I wanted a more serious blog to post to. One that I could look back on and read like a journal. And so this fabulous blog was born. Here’s hoping we make it through another year here and I don’t randomly change my mind and start a new one. *Fingers crossed*

2015 also saw the start of my love for Tanner Patrick. His cover of Love Me Like You Do was a related video on my YouTube and I clicked on it on a whim. Best decision I ever made. Since then I have been loving Tanner’s music and have been an active part of his fandom since around March maybe the end of February. He’s a talented musician and I would definitely recommend that everyone check him out.

In April, I was introduced to the show RuPaul’s Drag Race and that opened me up to the world of drag queens. I have to say that I love it. I find it so fascinating and I enjoy the show a lot. Everything about it is just fabulous. From the drag queens themselves, to their amazing costumes, to the challenges, to the shady drama. It’s all very entertaining and so much fun to watch. I also think it’s interesting to learn about drag culture and how much people give up to do something that they love like drag. It’s an amazing commitment, and I commend anyone who does it because it’s amazing.
After that, school was stressful as we headed towards exam time and the end of an era. Officially leaving secondary school was a huge accomplishment this year. I didn’t think I would make it haha. It’s crazy to think I left school seven months ago. I don’t even feel as if I really left. It just felt like the natural next step which was good.
If I had to say anything about my time at school I would say it was good. I know that it wasn’t always that great. There were always stressful times and you didn’t always get along with everybody in your class but overall I had a good school experience. I worked hard, got the grades I needed and made some amazing friends I know I’ll have for life. And some really great memories but also some not so great ones. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect but I had a good time there.

Once exams were over and I hung up uniform for good summer had officially started.
Over summer, I decided to put my focus on YouTube and begin posting videos on a regular basis. I aimed to post five videos a week, one for every weekday. It was a challenge, but I did enjoy posting regular content to my channel. I felt like I was being productive with my time rather than just sitting around playing Animal Crossing.

During the summer I also started watching two new TV shows, Orange is the New Black and Young and Hungry. Both really enjoyable shows. Both completely different. I’m really excited to see where they go with the new seasons.
Another big event that happened in June was that marriage equality was brought to the US as gay marriage was legalised in all fifty states. That was a really big step for the world and I couldn’t be happier about it.

June was also the month where I turned 18. However, I don’t feel any different than I did when I was any other age haha. Are we supposed to feel really different when we hit a big milestone age? I never have. I just feel the same, it’s just that now I say I’m 18 when people ask me my age hahaha.

I also went on holiday with my friends in the summer. We rented a house for the week in Portrush and it was a lot of fun. I did manage to vlog a little bit when I was there and I got to spend some quality time with all of my friends before we went to university. It was very memorable and I’m sure we will be planning many more group holidays in the future.

The rest of the summer was spent playing Sims or working on YouTube. I still made the occasional plans with friends to keep in touch too. All of this was just a distraction from the approach of results day.
Results day was pretty nerve wracking. It’s the moment when you find out if you are going to university or not. I tried to remain pretty calm about the whole thing but there was a tiny part of me that was worried that I didn’t do as well as I thought I did.

Luckily I didn’t have to worry much because I was able to get the results I needed to go to university.
That’s when the real nerves started to kick in.
I was about to start the next chapter in my life. I was going to be in a new place with new people…I didn’t even know if I would like my course.
Something else I knew that would really suck would be my friends leaving to go to university. I had went from spending everyday with them to never seeing them. It was an adjustment to say the least.
I was so happy that my transition from school to university was pretty smooth. Like I said, it felt like the next natural step for my life to go in. And I am so grateful for that. I know a lot of people that go to university because they were told to rather than that they wanted to and it doesn’t always end up going so well. So if you are thinking about further education then it has to be your choice, someone else shouldn’t be making the decision for you.

So for the past few months my life has been all about getting used to university and trying to make sure that I balance everything in my life again. Since starting university, my everyday life has changed dramatically and so I need to establish a new routine.
I have really enjoyed everything that university has been able to offer me so far. I have made some new friends, while still being able to keep in touch with my old ones. I find my course interesting and I am enjoying what I am learning. And I have been enjoying university nightlife.

Also during this time I was also trying to keep up with my TV shows. Most of them return after summer break in the autumn and so I always had to make time for them. In particular I have really been enjoying Nashville and The Vampire Diaries. I also decided to start watching Scream Queens this year as there is no more Glee to look forward to.
This year, my TV shows have really been on point. They have been so good lately that I really can’t get enough of them. And I haven’t even mentioned Pretty Little Liars in this post yet. Y’all know about how much I have been freaking out about Pretty Little Liars this year. It’s been insane.

The latest TV show that I have gotten hooked on is 90210. I started to watch it just before Christmas and am almost finished with season 2. I wasn’t sure what to think of it at the start but I have really gotten into it and am really enjoying it so I’m excited to see where that goes. I know the show is over now but I prefer to watch shows like that so I can binge-watch it all in one go. Waiting for new episodes of TV shows sucks.

And finally, the last big thing I can really think of that I have done this year is Vlogmas. If you don’t know what Vlogmas is, it is when YouTubers vlog for 24 days leading up to Christmas from the 1st of December to Christmas Eve. It’s actually not as easy as it looks to produce daily content like that. I was always staying up ridiculously late at night to make sure my vlogs were edited and uploaded for the appropriate times.
But I have to say it was definitely worth it. I really like vlogs because it’s just another way to capture memories and look back on them. So I felt really accomplished about that because I thought that I was going to get through the first few days of Vlogmas and then quit.

So overall, it has been a successful and productive year for me. It’s probably been one of the years in my life where I have experienced the most change. It hasn’t always been plain sailing though, like everyone I have my ups and downs, good days and bad days. But I would say that the good definitely outweighed the bad this year.
I am definitely looking forward to next year and all that it will bring. I have no expectations at all other than I just need to keep doing my best and see what happens. And of course I will keep you all filled in on anything big that happens.
So thank you so much for reading, I hope you all had a wonderful 2015 and that 2016 will be equally as wonderful. Or if your 2015 wasn’t so great that 2016 is your year and that it is so much better to you than last year. At the end of the day, I think the year is only as good as you can make it. Things might not always go your way but I think if you keep trying and don’t give up then life can be amazing.
Happy New Year guys! Make it count!

~ Courtney x

Merry Christmas!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment
❄️ Merry Christmas Everyone! ❄️
I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and that you get everything that you want from Santa!
If you don’t celebrate Christmas, then I still hope that you have a great day and are able to spend it doing something you love.
My Christmas gift to you all is first of all, that photo of me above. That is indeed a snapchat filter thing. Looking fabulous.
Secondly, I wanted to let you guys know I have officially completed vlogmas 2015! Yes, that’s right I vlogged for 24 days straight. I’m very proud of myself for doing so because I could have just given up and been lazy but no I stuck it out.
So if you are interested in seeing what December was like for a first year uni student who is not so festive then please feel free to look at the following playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-A2-2r_dIQxI2tDqUg0HXwZIjW4yyve
Once again Merry Christmas guys! And I hope you have a fabulous day!
~ Courtney x

Attempting Vlogmas!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey guys,
So I just wanted to make a quick little blog post to tell you that I am attempting Vlogmas this year!
If you don’t know what Vlogmas is, it is the name that YouTubers give to their daily vlogs in December as they vlog from the 1st to the 24th December. And this year I have decided to try and take part.
I did attempt Vlogmas last year too, however it was not very exciting. I was so bogged down with school work that 99% of my vlog was me complaining about all the school work I had to do which is not fun.
Vlogmas vlogs are supposed to be festive and happy and so this year I really want to try and make my vlogs festive. So I hope that you guys will join me and get into the Christmas spirit because I really believe that this year I can pull off a really festive Vlogmas!
Earlier I uploaded Vlogmas day 1 to my YouTube channel so check it out below! (And don’t forget to subscribe so you know when I post a new vlog!)

~ Courtney x

Finding Balance

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey guys,
So today I wanted to talk about balance. Mainly trying to find a way to balance your life so you aren’t spending too much time on one thing.
I have always had a problem when it came to balancing in my life. Specifically when it came to balancing school work and slacking off and having fun. I either do too much school work and nothing else or I just do nothing for ages and then feel super lazy.
And since I have been at uni this hasn’t gotten any easier. In fact, it’s a lot harder than ever to maintain some sort of balance.
I’m sure you guys have all seen the photo of student life and all the things we have to balance:

It’s kind of insane.
Lately, I have definitely spent a lot of time going out with friends and enjoying myself. Which is definitely a huge part of student life. You are finally old enough to drink and go to clubs and so it’s exciting and new so you go out a lot.
Yet, on the other hand, you also have a lot more work to be doing and deadlines and assignments and it can be a lot sometimes.
And of course, there is budgeting money if you are living away from home and trying to manage adult responsibilities like cooking and cleaning and the problems that come with living with roommates.
It’s such a crazy time in your life.
And so yes it has definitely been a huge adjustment for me. I definitely feel as though I am doing so much more than I was at secondary school. Especially in going out with friends but also with university work.
It’s kind of crazy how exhausted you can be from just a couple of hours of class a day. Meanwhile when you were in secondary school you were doing six hours of school, five days a week but now it seems next to impossible to turn up to a 9 a.m lecture.
If anything I know that you will never find the perfect balance of life. You are always bound to spend too much time focusing on one aspect of your life to let the other parts of your life suffer. It happens. There’s no stopping that.
But what you can do is realise there is an imbalance and work on trying to even things out again. And not to beat yourself up about it too much.
Lately for me I would say I have taken the time to overindulge in sleeping and socialising and have not paid as much attention to uni work as I know I should  have been doing. So since then I have been working hard to keep up the workload of uni. But at the same time I will still find time to go out and see my friends and spend time with them because that’s an important part of life too.
You just have to find a happy medium that works for you and it might take a while to achieve but I think you can do it if you really try.
Unless it’s about getting enough sleep because that’s just something I have never been able to achieve haha. I sleep too much or I sleep too little there’s never usually an in between. But again, I just need to work on that.
But other than that I’d say I have a good balance going on. I go out with friends about once a week and I attend all my classes and work on things when I need to. I also remember that is important not to overwork yourself. You can take a break from life every so often and not do anything.
I fully support those days that you just decide to take off and do nothing. It’s a really nice way to spend the day, especially when you have been working really hard. So I definitely think it’s important to have that time to yourself too.
I think that’s all I really have to say on the topic. It’s just been something I have been thinking about lately because I have really been struggling to find a good balance. Which is to be expected when going through big changes but I think I have found my happy medium again. And I hope that you guys reading find your balance. It just means you are living a more well-rounded life and that your life isn’t always focused on one thing because there’s so much more to life than that.
So yeah, I hope that you enjoyed reading this blog post. I wasn’t really expecting to talk about it in a serious way but I guess I did. I mean it is important to have balance in your life rather than focus too much on one thing. Because life’s too short for that.
Anyway, like I said I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope that you are able to find your “happy medium” in life 🙂
~ Courtney x

Happy Halloween!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment
🎃 Happy Halloween guys! 🎃

I just wanted to make a quick little blog post to celebrate the night. I hope you’re all having a fun and spooky night. And I hope you all stay safe!
I have never really understood the fun of Halloween after you are told you are too old to trick-or-treat but lately I have. It’s so much fun to get dressed up and go out with friends, I went on a pub crawl the other night and it was really cool to see everyone that dressed up for the occasion. I particularly enjoy seeing people who have put a lot of effort into their Halloween costumes, to me it’s not enough to put some fake blood on, you gotta go all out.
That being said, there is also nothing wrong with staying in and having a scary movie marathon. Sometimes it’s also good just to stay in and enjoy not freezing outside in a costume made of thin material.
I don’t usually have Halloween plans, but this year I did go out and celebrate so that meant I got to buy a costume! Yay! It’s really hard to find costumes for girls that aren’t revealing though I think mine is pretty fab.

So what do you guys think? I think I made an awesome crayon. And no one else was dressed up as one so I felt special. 😛
What did you guys do for Halloween? Were you dressed up, if so what as?
~ Courtney x

Student Life…So Far

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey guys,
So today I thought I would give you an insight into my student life so far. I wouldn’t say it’s the most exciting thing in the world, but it’s definitely a huge change from school.
After the whirlwind that was Fresher’s Week, classes began and I had to develop a new routine for myself. Which I have to say, was harder than expected.
With university, the timetabling for classes can be very awkward. Especially for me. My timetable goes something like this:

Monday 9-6
Tuesday 11-6
Wednesday 9-11
Thursday 3-4
Friday 1-4

Doesn’t sound like the nicest timetable in the world does it? One thing I will say though is that even though I am in all day on Monday and Tuesday, I am not constantly in class. I get breaks!
Even though my timetable sounds horrible it’s not as bad as it seems. I mean over the past month I have been adjusting quite well and have established some sort of routine for myself.
Mainly for me, if I’m not in class I am in the Student’s Union. If you don’t know what that is, it is a place with shops and areas for students and extracurricular clubs to meet. It is also a source of information for student’s and holds events from time to time. I spend a lot of time there because I don’t live on campus and can’t go home between classes. But the Student’s Union has quickly become a second home. I know some people prefer to go to the library between classes to work but for me, I can’t work in that silence. And the Student’s Union has just the right level of noise that is enough you can still work there.
Other than that, I do spend a lot of time in classes. Which was to be expected for my course. I knew going into it that I was going to have to work hard and so far I have. Overall the course hasn’t been so bad. I find the pace easy enough to keep up with and I haven’t been having too many difficulties.
I have had a few problems with programming (which if you follow me on Twitter, you know all about) but I have been working on it a lot and I understand things better now. Considering I have never coded before in my life, I think I’m doing well. Which is a great because I wouldn’t want to be failing out of uni in the first year.
We are also learning about databases right now and since I studied that at a level it’s nothing to worry about. We are also doing another module which is also new to me but is easy to understand.
As for homework…I don’t get any.
I know, it sounds great, but we always have work to do even if it’s not set homework. If, like me, you have never programmed before it is best to practice programming at home and do the recommended reading. Otherwise, it can be hard to keep up with class. So I always have something to do even when it seems like I have nothing to do.
 Even though we don’t have set homework, we do have assessments. These are things that count towards are final grades so we have to work for those. But like I said, so far everything is fine. No major problems so far.
Moving away from school and talking about the other half of student life….socializing!
If you guys read my Fresher’s Week blog post then you know I met a lot of new people on the first week of university and luckily for me, I have made friends with them. I am so glad that we had to do team building on the first day because otherwise I would find it so hard to talk to people. Especially because I am staying at home for university, I don’t have the advantage of meeting new people in university accommodation.
So I now have a small group of people in my lectures that I know and we all sit in our little area in the lecture hall which is fab. It also means that I have friends that understand the ups and downs of my course and that I can talk to about it. Which I appreciate because my other friends don’t understand anything I say about computing haha.
It is so great to be around new people. Especially when you have been going to school with the same people for seven years. It is also amazing to find new friends who have similar interests to you. One of the first people that I became friends with also loves RuPaul’s Drag Race and that’s when I knew we were going to be great friends.
It’s things like that that make me really happy.
As for going out and partying…I haven’t been out much since Fresher’s Week. I mean I am not one for going out a lot anyway but as a student it’s a rite of passage to go out and party. Which isn’t for everyone. But for the vast majority of student’s it is.
For me, I feel I am somewhere in the middle. I can appreciate a good night out, but I can also appreciate a night in a whole lot more. So I have enjoyed the occasional night out since Fresher’s and it’s been a well-needed break from class and coming home every night.
When I am not at university I do prefer to stay home rather than go out most of the time anyway. Mainly because after spending so much time at university I just want to sleep! Haha. One of the downsides to being a student is that sleep can sometimes be lacking. And I know it’s no one else’s fault but my own. Especially when I don’t live with noisy roommates and I’m in my quiet house haha. But oh well…you can’t be a student without sacrificing something.
On a whole, university so far has been amazing. At first I was a little bit unsure about the choice of studying Software Engineering in case I didn’t like it but honestly, I don’t regret it at all. We have been getting so many talks and emails about the opportunities that are available to us and it makes me super excited for the future. Which is something I thought I would never say.
So if I’ve learnt anything from being at university so far, it’s that you need to follow your passion. Because if you don’t you won’t enjoy it. You study what you want and it will motivate you to do the rest. It sounds really cheesy, but it’s true. If you make choices for you and not for others you will be happier. Because I don’t think I would be fine with studying anything else and I don’t think I’ve made a huge mistake either.
I’m content with how things are going and I’m just excited to see where they go next. 🙂 Thanks so much for reading, and I will keep you updated as the school year progresses.
~ Courtney x

Results and The Future

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Well, guys…
I did it.
I passed my A-Levels and I am going to university.
Who would have thought?
Well actually everyone I know. Everyone had so much faith in me haha. I also had faith in myself. I mean I know I worked hard. My mock grades gave me a lot of hope and so I knew that I would at least pass.
I didn’t just pass, I exceeded what I thought I would do. I never know exactly what I’m going to get. I just knew I’d never get my mock grades they were too high.
For those of you who are wondering what my mock grades were they were 2 A*s and an A. I didn’t actually get that but if I had I’m sure you would have heard about it haha.
My actual results were more realistic. I just always feel weird sharing them with people. I don’t know why either, it’s not like they are bad by any means I just don’t feel like it’s other people’s place to know. Other than my friends and family.
So I don’t think I’ll share my real results.
Y’all just need to know I’m going in the right direction.
So, it is now 8 in the morning, I haven’t slept and I’m just…content.
I don’t know what else to say I mean I know I have to be down at the school in an hour to get my paper results – not the actual certificate but just the piece of paper that says what you got because, it’s tradition.
I’ll see my friends, we will go and celebrate. We can enjoy the rest of our summer without having to worry about the future. We have a plan. And it’s great.
I’m so nervous about university, though…It’s going to be so different from secondary school. I mean I have been doing the whole school system thing for 14 years of my life and so to do anything else seems strange…
I know I’ll adapt, but initially it just seems scary. It is also exciting, I mean it will be good to meet people who have the same interests as me and to begin focusing on learning about something I’m interested in.
It’ll be exciting to be in a new learning environment and to have that “university experience”.
I guess I just have mixed emotions about it now. I mean for the longest time I didn’t even know if this was something I really wanted. Being thrown into the process of applying to university and having to choose a course wasn’t exactly what I thought. It stressed me out a lot knowing that this one choice would determine my whole life.
Although as time went on I knew this was the right decision. I know what I want to achieve in the future and this will be something that will help me along the way. I know not everyone chooses university as their next option after school but for some, it is the right choice. But that’s a choice I needed to make on my own, I had to know it was right for me and not right because someone pushed me into it. And I think that’s the most important thing about this whole thing, your future has to be your choice, no one else’s.
So the future does indeed look bright.
I have no idea how university will actually go for me. If I’ll love it or hate it or just be okay with it. I just know it’s where I’m going for the next four years. So I better saddle up.
Wish me luck!
~ Courtney x

Happy August!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Hey guys!
Pinch, punch, first of the month. Welcome to August.
It feels so weird that it’s August now. I mean to me, July lasted forever. Which I know isn’t the case for a lot of people but because I spent a lot of time at home during July the days sort of just went on forever.
One thing I will say though is, I’m glad my months don’t feel like they are going by too fast. I mean…I like when life goes slowly. I am so not ready for everything coming up in the next few months. So maybe time going slow isn’t such a bad thing.
Anyway, I just wanted to make a blog post welcoming the new month and talking about the things I am looking forward to in this month…
The first thing is VEDA – a.k.a vlogging every day in August. Now this only applies to some vloggers out there, but I enjoy when YouTubers take on the challenge of vlogging every day, because it’s not easy. I mean…I’ve tried and even though my life wasn’t that exciting to vlog, it was still a lot of work. I guess people don’t realise but to film your day and then upload it to the computer and edit it and then upload it to YouTube is a long process. So I definitely applaud those that do it on a regular basis and I, of course, enjoy watching their adventures.
Another thing I love about August YouTube-wise is Auguest which is Tyler Oakley’s month of collaborations. I always enjoy these because they are always so much fun and always look like a good time. I love when any YouTubers collab, especially my favourites because it just always looks so fun and enjoyable. I mean, that’s why I would love to have YouTube friends to collab with. Because, they understand what it’s like to be a YouTuber and also they’re always up for being weird on camera.
Other things to look forward to this month are…results day. Which probably doesn’t sound like anything to look forward to but I only look forward to it because that’s the day we find out if we passed our exams. It’s also the day we find out if we’re going to university so there’s a lot riding on it. I’m nervous but excited at the same time. It’s just something we’ve all gotta do.
Of course, what comes after results day is usually some celebration/party type thing with your friends which is always nice. I mean especially when you get to catch up with those friends you actually haven’t seen all summer…
Something else I look forward to in August that isn’t exactly to do with real life, are the fireworks shows in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Every Sunday in August they have fireworks shows and I really enjoy playing the game during that time. Back in 2013, I used to always play during the fireworks shows with my friends and it was really nice to just sit and catch up with them. And by friends, I mean my internet Animal Crossing friends. That summer I made a lot of them and I thought it was really fun, finally I had met a group of people who loved Animal Crossing just as much as I did!
And as always, I hope to spend some more time with my friends, mainly because we’re all headed to university in September so it’ll be a while before I see any of them again after this summer. I don’t know what we plan to do though, but I’m still hoping we get some good days out and things like that.
I don’t know what else August holds for me since I don’t really ever have proper summer plans, but these are just some things I know for sure are happening this month. Hopefully, some more exciting things happen too but I guess we’ll see.
~ Courtney x