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It's that dreaded time of year again. Summer has come to a close and people are back to reality: work, school, college or university. A lot of schools across the country have returned over the past two days but my college only return tomorrow and, for possibly the first time, I am genuinely excited! 

I'm going back into year 13 so it is my last year before university so the last year with a lot of my friends so in determined to make it a good one! At the end of the year I'll have to sit my A levels to gain a place at university and will have to work extremely hard all year to ensure this happens but I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to enjoy the new opportunities that a new year offers! 

I certainly hope that you are all looking forward to the year and if not, that it turns out a lot better than you are expecting. A lot of you will have important exams at the end of the year too. Just remember to keep on top of the work; do little bits every day instead of cramming work all at once and you'll do absolutely brilliantly! (And feel a whole lot less stressed!) Good luck for whatever the year brings you! 

Keep smiling,

Kathryn x

Durham

Another little bit of travelling I have done over the summer entailed a couple of train journeys to reach Durham. Absolutely nothing in comparison to my other journeys as it is only quite a short distance and it wasn't quite a holiday I was going for... 

I left for Durham on the Sunday after results day for a summer school at the university. Whilst I was there I took part in daily academic sessions (mostly mathematics), many different social activities as well as team building excersises and competitions. I have to say, when I first signed up I didn't expect a summer school to be anywhere near as interesting or fun as it was. And I most certainly didn't expect to meet some of the best friends I could ever have asked for. 

The summer school was intended to give AS students a taste of university life and to help them to choose the subject that they want to do at university if they're still unsure. I was one of the unsure ones! But the summer school helped me to realise exactly what I want to do in the future a lot more than I immediately thought it had. 

We also enjoyed plenty of activities such as Salsa dancing, yoga, quidditch (!), journalism, photography and other challenge-type activities. There was still time to fit in a full tour of the city so I had chance to visit Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral as well. It was fantastic to see the areas which had been used to film scenes from the first two Harry Potter films! Though I was extremely shocked when one of the girls in my mentor group hadn't watched any of them! 

Overall, I completely enjoyed my week away; it flew by! And I was absolutely gutted when it was over but I know I'll be catching up with a few of my new (and old - Zoe!) friends in the future!

Keep smiling,

Kathryn x