It’s Saturday night, the festive season is upon us, and…my GEO8017 presentation is on Tuesday. So, I thought what better time than this (atypically) quiet evening to reflect upon my Master’s experience so far! As usual, the first two months of the uni year have been characterised by confusion, panic and a realisation of the amount of work this year will involve! But now I’m settling in, getting into a routine (going to the right lectures) and really quite enjoying the Master’s experience.

On the Thursday and Friday of this week, we attended a geographical imaginations conference in Durham. The common issues were discussed: how to manage your time, make use of the support available, how to ‘read’ (of course not in the conventional sense, but in a way that doesn’t cause me to spend upwards of four hours on one paper!), and so on and so forth.

I’ve been in Newcastle since 2008 now, having graduated with a BA in Geography in the summer of this year. I really do love this city – the culture, the people, the nightlife, and living five minutes away from St. James Park can never be a bad thing (I refuse to call it the Sports Direct Arena). But this was one of many factors which influenced me to stay on in Newcastle. I’ll admit to loving the academic side of university life just as much – developing original ideas for essay questions, presenting concepts I’m passionate about, working with my supervisor to get my dissertation underway.

Whenever I get in a fluster, or begin to worry about work commitments, I just take time to remember why I love this subject so much, and hence why I chose to study it for another four years! It’s a real privelege to be a part of.