Packing

   For someone who hates packing, packing for university was horrific. I can barely pack for two weeks to go on holiday, let alone for a whole year away from home?! Thankfully, I have some very wonderful friends who were willing to come and give me a hand and make the whole process a hell of a lot more enjoyable.
   I did leave my packing until the last minute, as I was on holiday the week prior to moving, so I only had 4 days when I got back to buy everything and get it all boxed up before I was off! This is something I definitely do not recommend to anyone! It's absolutely killer. However, everything is now boxed up ready to go tomorrow so I can breathe a massive sigh of relief as I look at the million boxes and bags in my hall. 
   Although I did have to buy a fair bit of new stuff to take with me, such as bathroom towels, bedding, cleaning products etc, it's really handy being able to take so much of the stuff I already have at home. I'm a massive stationery hoarder, so I didn't need to buy any new stationery apart from a FiloFax! 
   Packing was a really useful way to rediscover things I'd completely forgotten I had, I've found so many old clothes that are absolutely lush, so they're definitely coming up with me for the winter months! My friend Katie wants to work in fashion when she's older and she's always up to date with the current trends so she came round and we spent the afternoon choosing which clothes, bags, shoes,  jewellery, makeup, nail varnish, perfume, bags, shoes and other accessories I should take with me. I'm so grateful she was able to help because it would have taken me days on my own! 
   Now I'm packed I'm genuinely so so excited to get up to university, it's a completely new chapter in my life and I just can't wait to start it!

My advice to first years:

• Do not leave packing until the last minute - trust me, you will regret it!
• Get your friends to help you out, it makes it so much more fun!
• Have a thorough look through what you already have before you buy anything new - you never know what you might find
• However, do buy some new things, it'll make you feel a lot more grown up
• Pack underwear and stationery in bags you want to take to university - the less boxes the better!
• Hang any hung clothes up in the back of your car, then you can just transfer them straight into your wardrobe rather than having to faff about with hangers once you're there

Shops I recommend looking in:

• Dunelm Mill - everything in there is such good value for money! I got a lot of my bedding and bathroom accessories from here
• Argos - if you need and/or your university allows you to have one, Argos is the perfect place to get a good value, good quality mini fridge
• Tesco - all my food, cutlery and crockery is from Tesco and it's been incredible value for money! I also got my duvet and pillows from here. They have a lot of student offers on in August, so definitely go and have a look!
• Primark - this is the place to go for bedding, hangers and cheap and cheerful pyjamas!