The end of an era, the beginning of something new.

Ending university is a big step for everyone. The three years have flown by and I cannot believe I am in a position to say I’ll be graduating this summer! I have throughly enjoyed my course and the last 3 years have been pretty significant years in terms of the work I have done. I guess this is the biggest life update of all life updates, so I hope you are ready! This is a long post, but I promise it is worth reading to the end!

*TWO exciting announcements heading your way!*

Despite absolutely loving my degree and having a really interest in psychology, it became apparent in my second year that I was more suited to the world of journalism. My blog somehow started to get noticed and more incredible opportunities came my way. Getting involved with film, radio, TV and print gave me a real insight into this world— and I was hooked! I knew writing was what I wanted to do, even if this wasn’t due to turning my blog into a career. There’s something magical about a hobby forming the basis of a career. It’s surpassed everything I had hoped to achieve when writing a blog about being a student with Cerebral Palsy, yet writing a blog has given me so much.

Going along with this hope of pursuing journalism as career, I applied for a Masters in Journalism at Leeds Trinity University, the same place I have completed my undergraduate degree at. I don’t think I have ever been so happy to receive an email confirming my place (not to mention it was the day after my interview!) and a few tears may have been shed! This was it, the time to make the dream a reality. I chose against running for President of the Students’ Union and ran for Disabilities Officer instead, with the hope of being reelected. This isn’t to say I would have loved to be the President, I just felt it would be better for me to get the Masters under my belt first. When I did get reelected it was unbelievable, it’s a role I have throughly enjoyed over the past year, especially being able interact with the whole student body and raise awareness around disability.

So that was that! Time to get my head down, get through my dissertation and other assignments, with a Masters sat there waiting for me in September! I chose to do my dissertation on Cerebral Palsy (surprise, surprise!) with the end title being, “Unexpected Battles“: The Lived Experiences of Young Adults with Cerebral Palsy and the Transition into Adulthood. The participants I had were incredible, I honestly cannot thank them enough. They were so honest and gave me so much that could be used to form part of my findings. This also is a piece of work I am so proud of, I really did put everything into it as I wanted to do their experiences justice. I practically moved into the library and at one point was convinced I would never get the project done (*cue emotional breakdown in the library). Yet carrying out research about your own condition is no easy feat. At times it actually was quite difficult to continuously read about negative experiences that I could fully relate to. To fully understand I wasn’t alone in the sometimes consuming world of disability was a large part of it. Yes, I knew I had the backing of the disability community and I am extremely lucky to be surrounded by the support I have, but this seemed to look at things on a deeper level. Despite this, I absolutely made the right decision to choose this as my dissertation topic and enjoyed exploring the findings. You’ll be glad to know, I did finish the project in time and even had a day to spare!

However, university has proven more difficult this year. Of course third year would be no walk in the park, I was completely aware of this fact, but my sight also wanted to make things a little bit tricker! I have had more extensions this year than ever before and have had to spend even longer on work— but things always got done. If you read my blog you’ll already know my sight has continued to get worse over this past year, and the practicalities of this can have its challenges. Reading textbooks and spending hours researching only seem to aggravate my vision, with my sensitivity to light increasing, it has not been a welcome advancement.

But then something very exciting happened!

The position of Online Community Officer came up at Scope. This is essentially the same role I had during my internship last summer, but permanent and with more responsibility. If you haven’t read about that, then it can be found here. After SO much deliberation, it seemed foolish not to apply. Yes, I was aware I’d accepted a Masters offer and was set to remain on the student council. Yet this is why it was such a hard decision to make. Both routes really were the dream: studying journalism and pursuing a career in that, or working for one of my favourite charities, in a role that encompassed writing. I am insanely lucky to even have two options to consider. However, I applied for the role, had an interview, and got the job!!! I am the new Online Community Officer at Scope and couldn’t be happier! April has been an absolute whirlwind with my dissertation, to come out the other side with this news seems pretty surreal to be honest. I start very soon and it’s so exciting to be joining such a fabulous team of people.

When I started university, one of my biggest fears was not being able to get a job. At the time, I was using my wheelchair most of the time, having pretty frequent seizures and really just couldn’t envisage what would happen at the end of university. Of course the determination was there (when isn’t it!) but I also had to be realistic. I’m not exactly suited to the standard student jobs of working in a bar or retail— as amusing as that would be! It was something I really worried about. Yet this is what has made me so grateful for all of the experiences I have had over the past few years. I showed myself there were still roles I could do and that I could put my skills to good use. I’ve got a full time job I know I’ll love and that’s not something I thought I’d be saying three years ago!

Yet the lack of a Masters means something else. It means I am no longer a student (I know that’s pretty obvious) which mean Life as a Cerebral Palsy student is no longer valid. This feels so much more than a stepping stone into life, it’s a leap that changes everything. The entire reason this blog was created was to document my experiences as a student. It would be a fair comment to say that it has wavered from this slightly, with me now covering disability topics in general, but the core of being a student is still there. This is not me waving goodbye from blogging, far from it! But it is the end of this blog. I plan on migrating all these posts onto a new platform so they won’t be going anywhere! It’s a really exciting move for my blog and means it really is the end of an era. You don’t write a blog for 6 years without developing some form of attachment. Life as a Cerebral Palsy student will always be something I am extremely proud of. To look back at everything I have managed to achieve during this time is pretty crazy. To look at how much I have grown as a person even surprises myself. My new website should be up and running by the end of May, so be sure to follow me on Twitter or Facebook so you don’t miss it!

I guess that’s it. I ended the first ever blog post with: “I’m glad I have final jumped on the train of blogging and who knows what the future holds.” and this couldn’t remain more truthful.

Hopefully see you all soon, but goodbye from Life as a Cerebral Palsy student.