Anti-Bucket List: May

May has been mad. Madder than mad. The whole year seems to have been building up to May and you may (get it? ha ha ha ha) have gathered from previous posts and general online chatter that it's been dissertation months. It's in, it's over, it's done, and I still feel weird about it - I've talked about it here if you're interested.

I finish uni all together at the end of this week so that's something I'll surely reflect on next month, but  this month feels very much like the end of things. I'm equally looking forward to starting new ventures and feeling like I'm not ready to leave uni yet. I've got myself into a nice routine and I finally feel like I've got the hang of it after three years, but the gushy stuff's for another time. Instead, let's look at May, a month in which I finished things and almost started acting like a real grown up:

• An obvious one to start with - I HANDED IN MY DISSERTATION!! (yay woo etc etc). 10,029 words entitled Answers on a Postcard: A creative exploration in 21st century epistolary fiction. What a mouthful. It was a long old slog and we didn't think we'd get there but we did. Hurrah!
• A story I wrote was put in a book! Remember the Fresher Writing Prize Awards I mentioned last month? Well, I didn't win (a very worthy writer did though) but I had a lovely evening surrounded by creativity and I got to take home a real book with my work in it. Mental.
• I fell in love with the Hamilton soundtrack. Cannot stop replaying.
• I applied for my first real grown-up job. Nothing to report yet and I don't want to get my hopes up, but it made me feel like I was being a proper person for once.
• I voted in the PCC elections. Voting makes me feel super good and it's so very very important. Register to vote in the EU referendum. Please.
• I finally finished reading Longbourn by Jo Baker. Four stars. Made me think things about my beloved Pride and Prejudice.
• I finally washed my car for the first time in a year - it's the little victories. 
• I managed to enjoy some much needed family and friend time in between my hours and hours in the library.
• I celebrated my darling cats' 12th birthday. Yes I'm the kind of person that does that. 

Although some of this month was a bit of a blur I feel like it's one that I'm going to remember for a long time. People always look back fondly on their days at university and as mine draw to a close I'm trying to make the most of them. Even if that just means crying with a Starbucks. 

Goodbye May.