Day 24: 5 memories that make me smile!

Hello everyone!

They say pictures are worth a thousand words so here are some amazing memories of mine...

Holidays in Egypt with my best friend & our families (2006)..

My 18th birthday celebrations (2010)..

Snow days from school..

Rome for my 18th birthday with my Aunt..

Being bridesmaid in New Zealand (2007)..

Day 23: I miss...

Hello lovelies! 

 What do I miss? There's quite a lot!

Living in halls

My family

New Zealand

My best friend

My pets

Having to not pay bills

When homework was the most worrying thing

But it's never good to dwell on the  things we miss, but more on the amazing things all around us.

Day 22: To my 16 year old self!

Dear Gabbi...

One, stop spelling your name 'Gabbi'. It just looks silly. And a little chavy! 

Two, put the bloody black eyeliner down! You look like a panda. You can have it back when you actually understand that lining your eyes does not need to be sharpie-thick! 

Okay, so on to the real stuff.. The next couple of years are going to suck. Trust me you will hate them, cry a lot and feel completely lost. But it will end sooner than you think. 

If I promise you that you will get out of Sandbach and you will get into university, will you work a little harder? 

6th form will be rubbish, you'll never fully understand chemistry but you'll finish it! Enviro will turn out to be your best subject so don't skip class.. Mr Leonard will figure you out! 

Mrs Thornhill will be your hero, trust her completely. Especially with the tomato project. It will be your best work ever and worth the endless chopping. 

I know all you want is to be popular and have loads of friends, but seriously stop trying so hard to make everyone like you. The sooner you do, the happier you'll be. 

Stop acting dumb and dressing to look like everyone else, you don't look cool and you honestly don't need to be like them! 

Don't forget to apply to Waitrose, and when you're there stick with Rach. She's still your best friend now!

Stay away from the boys, don't get angry about not having a boyfriend. When you get one, he's a jerk. And he'll make you cry. He'll pick her so get out first!

They're still all jerks now, even if they're older. Jerks. Listen to Rach when she tells you to stop seeing the footballer/barman. He's mainly a barman and doesn't deserve 2 years of your time. He's also a big jerk and don't pretend to be shocked. You knew all along.

Pick the guy that makes you laugh.

Listen to mom and dad more. I know they piss you off and you think they don't get how you feel, but everything they say is right. If you need to cry, go to mom. She won't question it, she knows you're ready to leave.

Dad is just awesome at everything. And get him to write your personal statement with you. He's good at that stuff. Oh and when you decide to find them, he won't be sad so don't hesitate so much!

Don't worry about what everyone thinks, just keep going. You'll get away soon!

Have fun back in NZ :D

Love,

Gabby

x

P.S The october after your 18th birthday, don't drink the sambucas! The wine is enough. It won't end well, mom and dad will laugh at you and you'll feel horrid!

Day 21: My favourite subject!

Hello lovelies! 

Hope you're all having a great start to the week! 

Day 21 and my favourite subject...

Back at school and college, I only ever really had one interest and that was science. 

I'm still completely the same, zoology is primarily a biological subject.

For GCSE I took all three sciences as separate awards, and for A Level I continued with chemistry and biology with the edition of an environmental science course. 

Science for me, is generally the only thing that makes total sense. If I can find a solid, repeatable explanation for something, I can believe it. I'm a highly logical personal. It's not always a good thing though! Some things can't be explain yet, but I guess that just makes it all the more interesting to me! 

What was your favourite school subject and have you stuck with it?

Day 20: My 'what if' moment!

Hello lovelies!

So for day 20 I'm supposed to tell you about my big 'what if' moment, but I couldn't pick one. I am the biggest 'what if' person in the world. Honestly, not a day goes by without me questioning a decision, or thinking 'what if' I said the wrong thing...

But at the end of the day, we ca't go through life second guessing ourselves. There's going to be moments that are completely perfect, but when we think back, we'd change what we said or what we did.
As much as we'd like to, we can't. It's that simple. 

Those moments are what make our lives interesting. So next time you sit questioning what you would have done differently, stop and think about something amazing that could be about to happen because of something you chose. 


Look to the future, because we can't change the past. It's been and gone. 
Look to the future and all the possibilities you have!

Day 19: Five items I love!

Hello lovelies! 

So Day 19 and the 5 items I love! 

These are all quite sentimental to me and heres why...

1. My locket, this was a gift from my Grandma who is no longer with us but this helps me feel close to her.

2. My picture board, my mom helped me to make this before I left for uni and it has pictures of everyone I love in it and parts of congratulations cards I got after getting into ARU.

3. My blanket. I don't have a picture of this as its at home with all my things to keep safe. Its a pink and white blanket knitted by my Nana who passed away a few years ago and I love it so much! 

4. Pob. If you've read Day 7, I talked about my childhood toy. Pob is a racoon hand puppet (random I know)! And here he is again, rough around the edges and well loved! 

5. My phone. Yes I hear you, it's not the most inventive item. But I couldn't be without my phone, especially being away from home it helps me to keep in touch with so many people.. Especially my family! 

Let me know something that means a lot to you!

Day 18: Five dream jobs!

Hello strangers! 

Major apologies for taking an unannounced break away from posting, but finals week hit and I really had to focus!

But I made it through my killer exams and summer is finally here, so lets kick it off with day 18 of the blogger challenge...

My 5 dream jobs:

1. Research zoologist specialising in primates.

2. Head primate keeper at Auckland zoo.

3. Primate caregiver at the Born Free Foundation rehabilitation centre.

4. Research assistant. Anywhere. Studying any animal.

5. Primate keeper at Chester zoo.

If you hadn't noticed, they follow a bit of a theme.

Anyone who's read my previous posts will know that studying zoology and a love of primates has lead me towards a very particular field and my dream jobs totally show that!

What is your dream job or are you already in it? 

Day 17: I'm proud of...

This is a very wordy post, but I hope you all enjoy reading a little about how I got to where I am now..

I'm proud of many things in my life! My amazing family, brilliant friends, I'd  be here for ever telling you everything. But my biggest accomplishment in my eyes is following my dream. 

I don't have many memories from primary school, but one year, we gave an assembly to our parents. We all dressed up as what we wanted to be when we grew up. There were the expected doctor, fireman and of course, a train driver.

 But then there was me, I've never done things by halves and there I was dressed all in green carrying a stuffed monkey. I stood up there and said "When I grow up I want to be a zoologist". 

As I got older and learnt more, I went through phases of wanting to do other things but it always came back to working with animals and zoology. 

I'm a firm believer that if you want something enough, no one should be able to discourage you. And trust me people have tried! Everytime I think  back to my meeting with the guidance counsellor at the end of high school, I can't help but laugh. When he asked me what I wanted to do, I simply told him I wanted to read zoology at university and work in conservation. The reply I got? "Everyone wants to be the next David Attenborough. They can't be".

 The look he got from my parents and I definitely made him backtrack a little!

 I never aimed to be the next Attenborough, I have my own dreams and thing I want to experience. But that moment when he said I couldn't do something, well it was like a catalyst for me.

 I wanted to work harder. I wanted to prove him wrong.

After 3 years of horrid A Levels that I thought I would never escape, my dream had honestly never seemed further away. When the day rolled around for UCAS results, I couldn't sleep for nerves. The moment I read that I had a place at my first choice university to study the course I had worked for, I cried so hard my parents couldn't tell if they were happy tears or sad! 

 As I write this, I'm preparing to finish my second year of studying zoology.

So all in all, my dream came true. I'm doing something I love which has sparked many new dreams for me!

And I can now say, I am proud of myself for never giving up on my dream till I made it come true. 

Day 16: My favourite Disney character!

Hello everyone! 

I hope you've all had a lovely day in the sunshine, I wished I'd got to enjoy more of it! 

Well we've made it over the halfway mark of the blogger challenge, and I'm enjoying it more and more! 

Day 16 is all about my favourite Disney character, a surprisingly tough question! Theres so many amazing films, I just can't pick one! So I'm going to answer this slightly differently! 

Here are a few of my favourite characters and a lesson that can be learnt from them!

-Belle-

Never judge a book by its cover.

 The most brilliant things often appear in the most surprising way. Give it a chance.

-Mulan- 

You can be your own hero.

Don't do something just because it'll make someone else happy. Work to make yourself proud

-Rapunzal-

No dream is too big.

If you want something so badly, its all you think about, you can achieve it. Don't ever give up on something that means a lot to you.

-Tiana-

Your hard work will pay off.

You will get there, it may seem like you're getting no-where, but keep going. You'll get there in the end.

These may seem like pretty simple lessons but remember them. 

We could all do with having a little more faith in ourselves and I hope you all follow your dreams, no matter how far away they seem.