Looking Back at 2012

There’s only a few hours left of 2012 so I think it’s once again time for me to look back at my year.

January: I returned to university and life was pretty rubbish. Due to having a rubbish timetable I found myself away from my friends most of the time and by myself. Then we were told that we wouldn’t be able to keep the house for the next academic year and the stress of house-hunting began. All in all it was a pretty dreadful month.

February: Things improved a little as I was a bit more social and even managed to go on a night out. We were told we could keep the house so that was a relief and I also visited a science centre, a local museum and a castle so I had some interesting days out.

March: I spent the month on school placement, working with a class of 7/8 year olds. It was a brilliant school with a great atmosphere, apart from the two days of an inspection where half the staff had a meltdown. I taught more lessons than every before, although the vast majority of them were a bit rubbish. A tutor from uni took great delight in informing me how bad I was and I left having had a good time but facing the horrible thought that I might not be good enough to do what I want to do. I also turned 20, though there wasn’t time to do any more celebrating than a barbecue with a few friends.

April: As usual April was mostly Easter holiday time and it rained lots so I got pretty bored. I did go a few really great walks though and at the end of the month I got to see Example perform which was awesome.

May: I had a lovely month as the weather improved and I had some great fun with various friends. My mate Chris came to stay for a few days and it was fantastic weather, the hottest it has been all year. We spent lots of time out in the sun and hosted a barbecue with more friends that just had a really lovely atmosphere.

June: A fairly quiet month, apart from the week I spent in a nursery. It was so I could experience the stage before primary school and it was really hectic but great fun. I had a good week there and decided I wanted to teach the younger children. My mind has changed since then but I’m still open to the idea.

July: An awesome month as the Olympics started, which I became obsessed with, and so did another brilliant summer of work. I also spent a weekend in Wales on a trip run by one of the uni lecturers, focussing on wilderness experiences. I was with a group of almost entirely strangers but I had such a great weekend and had the incredible experience of walking behind a waterfall, which is something I won’t ever forget.

August: The best month of the year! I spent a week at the Edinburgh Festival with Chris and got to see some of my fave comedians and generally have an awesome time. The Olympics and work continued and both were absolutely fantastic and I got to go on a second holiday, this time with my family to Center Parcs. Plus I had a fabulous day at the Bournemouth Air Festival watching the red arrows and the like. All those great things in one month!

September: It began with an awesome day in London ending with seeing Labrinth at the iTunes festival. I was really lucky to get tickets and both the show and the day in London were phenomenal. It was then time to return to university for the start of my third year and the housemates all got on better and we did lots of awesome things together.

October: I continued being really social and went out and got drunk a few times- in fact I went out more times than at any other period in my life. I was genuinely having fun with a large group of friends for the first time in ages. Plus we won a pub quiz which was very pleasing.

November: My third year teaching placement began with a class of nine-eleven year olds. I knew it was the one that if it went badly then I would be dropping out of my course. At first it was pretty rubbish as I continued to not be very good but eventually something clicked and I taught some brilliant lessons. I even did supply cover for an entire day which was something I could not have imagined ever doing at the start of the month. There wasn’t much time for a lot else but I did get to see my fave band The Hoosiers turn on the local Christmas lights.

December: I had a few more weeks in school and had even more successes. Then it was time to leave and I got really emotional about it because I loved being at the school. I had a few weeks of being lazy over the Christmas period and a quiet and fairly rubbish Christmas day. Not a great end to the year but it could have been worse.

Wow. 2012 was the year when things turned around for me. For the last few years, right up until the early months of this one, I was really struggling with life in general. I struggled to be social and deal with other people and spent far too much time on my own. This year I finally got past it and also changed from a student into a teacher, proving to myself that I can actually be good at teaching. I had lots of awesome experiences and it was the best year in a long while. Now I hope that 2013 can be at least as good, if not better!

How was your 2012, let me know? And come back tomorrow for my look ahead at 2013 and to see my new year resolutions!