Dear Mallory, You Made It.
This was an assignment for MIT 3856 Blogging and Opinion Writing. If my prof sees’s this before marking, ‘Hey whats up hello, I’ve added a little bit.’ I’ve also added some fun pictures from my year so enjoy those!
As I sit down to write this. I’m starting to think back on the journey that was my university career. I’m struggling to put this into a few words, and I feel like I could honestly write a whole book about this. It would definitely have a fun name like ‘Navigating Technoculture through Procrastination & Coffee. Wouldn’t that be fun?
My University experience was unlike most. It was short lived as I only did 3 years, but was it ever an adventure. It was full of firsts and full of crazy memories. I discovered my passions, started some cool projects and made some awesome friends along the way. I also lost a couple but we’ll talk about that.
First year was a shock. I remember my high school teachers telling me I was in for a surprise and they were right. I was an honours student throughout my entire high school experience. I entered Western with an 86.6 average (.4% would have given me the entrance scholarship, yes I’m still mad). I got a 72% on my first University essay. I will tell you right now that I went home and cried. My days of being an honours student had come to an end for a little bit and I wasn’t ready for it at all. And yes, I got some good marks but I also did get a couple of bad marks.
I have learned that it’s not just about your grades, yes they matter now, but your employer doesn’t really care about your first-year marks, or the bad essay that you submitted in 2nd year, that won’t come up in conversation, I promise. If it does, don’t work at that place. It has been 3 years but I’ve started looking at the bigger picture and it was something I definitely had to come into.
In first year, I met some great friends. A few stuck around, and a few others that I thought would have, unfortunately, ended. I learned a lot about friendship in my 3 years and it is definitely something I’m going to continue to work on. Friendship requires effort and trust. The golden rule of not talking behind people’s back can really bite you in the ass if you’re not careful and I may have learned this the hard way.
The friends who want to stay around will, and unfortunately, not everyone is as genuine as you think. Some people may use you just for notes and then completely forget about you and proceed to delete you on Facebook. (lol) You just need to figure out who is genuine and who isn’t and it takes time.
I also may have made a couple of mistakes, but none of us are perfect, you just gotta work it again and again till you get it right (cue Hannah Montana)
One of the first official friends I made here at Western dropped out of my life in November. I then proceeded to fall off the grid and throw myself into school work, my mental health wasn’t so hot but I did really great in school and managed to get 10% higher than my previous years average. I suffered both socially and mentally Not every friendship lasts and its important to hold onto those who actually care about you and not push people away when you need them the most. Friends want you to succeed.
There is a lot that goes into a university degree and you’ll remember the positive moments, but it is important to also acknowledge some of the not so great moments. There were times where I suffered in silence. I’ve learned that it’s important to reach out to people and if something isn’t getting done, advocate for change. My struggles with mental health in 2nd year prompted my 3rd year activism with a club on campus called Active Minds. I didn’t like how the services on our campus were run so I joined a club that also wanted to change that.
3rd year also brought creativity. I got into a photography course and I met a great friend in it. We bonded over our passion for photography and she’s become one of my best friends. We also started an arts collective together that focuses on promoting local art but we hope to expand it. You may know this as 519 Creatives if you keep up with me on Facebook and Instagram. We hosted 2 events that brought together our photography friends and allowed us to bond with new creatives. I was dedicated to providing a space where artists could bond and create cool stuff and I succeeded. It was such a rewarding experience and I’m sad to leave London because of it. If we met because of photography and you attended one of my Instameets I love you with all my heart.
As I’m counting down my final days in the 519, I’m starting to realize that I’m actually going to miss it here. In my first year, if you’d ask me about London, I’d tell you that I couldn’t wait to get out. Now if you’d ask me, I’d probably answer differently. My 3rd year gave me a new perspective of London. I met people who were actually from London and they showed me the beauty of it. I think there is beauty everywhere and although it took me 3 years, I have finally discovered what it is about London that makes people stay. So thank you London for giving me a home away from home for 3 years. I’m sad that I didn’t have more time to explore, but I may be back soon.
Thank you to all the people I’ve met, that makes it so hard to leave. But it’s my time to move on and start yet another school program, one that places me in one of my favourite cities, Toronto. I’ll always remember my experiences at Western and the friends it gave me. I will be back to London sooner than later due to graduation and I just realized that I can finally experience hoco as an alumnus next year, we’ll see where life brings me.
Until next time,
Your Social Media Queen
Mallory T
Songs I’ve been listening too
- Pride by American Authors
- Broken Pieces by 5SOS
- High by Sir Sly
- Obsessed by Maggie Lindemann
- All The Stars (with SZA) by Kendrick Lamar, SZA
- No Tears Left To Cry by Ariana Grande
- Always by Andy Grammer
- Safety Pin by 5SOS
- Slacks by Valley
- Glorious (feat. Skylar Grey) by Macklemore, Skylar Grey
- Famous by Mason Ramsey (aka. Walmart Yodelling Kid)
As always, for more cool tunes follow me on Spotify @supmallory
Welcome to My World 