This is goodbye!!! For now :)

Hello everyone,

This is my final article before the summer starts. I know I have been quite late with this one but I wanted it to be very special because it will be the last one for quite some time. June is almost over and it makes me realise how much things were different one year ago today. I have made so many new friends and met so many incredible people which makes me realise how lucky I have been. I can safely say that this has been the most amazing year in the UK so far. It has been a mixture of everything – it was life changing and exciting, character building and tough, fun and different. It has been such a change from uni life but it also made me realise how many of the things I learned in uni are actually really useful and I can see the value of what I have worked so hard for in the past few years.

I have come to appreciate the wonderful university and professors that we have and how the things they taught us are applicable to real life problems in the workplace. It allowed me to put in practice a lot of what I have learned and challenged me to learn even more not only about technology but how technology interacts with every aspect from our lives – from everyday trivial things we take for granted to huge scientific discoveries. It made me realise that I love what I do and study and I want to keep developing my skills.

I still cannot believe that my placement is about to end soon. I am going to miss my team so much and the work we have done together. The project I joined a few months ago was just starting and I was able to be a part of it from the beginning and see the development in our product. It has been amazing to work in an agile team where there are constant challenges and new skills are required all the time. It motivated me to do my best and it was mainly because of the amazing and talented people I work with. It’s surprising what we have achieved in just a few months time and to see our client being pleased with the work we have done. I am really happy to have played a part in that process. Saying goodbye would definitely be very difficult but I am going to focus on the positive side and the exciting things that will surely come.

One thing I am going to miss as well is London. I have fallen in love with this city and I am going to miss it’s magical atmosphere next year for sure. I love every minute of being here and I am constantly reminded of the many exciting things there are to do and see in here. Like Samuel Johnson has famously said:

“Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

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(I am sure going to miss the view 🙂 )

I guess there is some truth to it and I will definitely miss it but I am glad I had the chance to live here for a year and enjoy a tiny portion of the vast majority of things that London has to offer. I am going to try and make use of my last few weeks in here as much as I can – going full on tourist mode again! 🙂

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(Chilling in London – Greenwich park – in between time itself )

Another thing I would like to share with you guys is a personal goal I managed to achieve this year – running a marathon (a tiny one but still 🙂 ). A few months back when a colleague from work asked me to join a 10k run I was excited but also nervous as I was the kind of person who did lots of other sports like swimming, tennis, dancing, zumba, yoga … but I wasn’t really much of a runner so I decided that I am going to try my best and see how much I can improve. Even if I could only run 3 km it would have still been 3 km more than I could do at the time, so it was still a win.

So I started preparing for it. The first Sunday I ran 1.2 km and every Sunday I would try and do 1 km more. I was happy that I was getting better and better but I was still not sure if I will be able to do the 10 km without a break. It might not seem like a lot to anyone else but it was a lot for me because I have never really done running before and to be able to do 10 km without stopping was an achievement! Thank you Nike for giving me that chance and making me feel like a champion for a day! 🙂 The day of the race was both exciting and tiring and crossing the finishing line felt so amazing! I am so glad I signed up for it and I am definitely going to try and keep running and get better and better with time.

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(A tiny portion of the people in the race 🙂 )

 

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(Personal goal achieved 🙂 )

A week ago right before the 10k run I came back to Manchester for a day. Not just any day but an open day! I could probably write a whole article about it but I can definitely say it was fun and it reminded of how lucky I was to be studying in such a good university. I do hope that lots of the people I met on the open day would come and join the university soon.

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(Btw loved the bracelets – they were just phenomenal! 🙂 )

I realise that all good things must come to an end so I guess this article needs to end soon as well. I just want to say one final time thank you to all the wonderful people I have met this year, Thank you for all the amazing moments – winning a pumpkin carving competition, celebrating Dhavali, going to a medieval dinner, eating weird but surprisingly good things like duck and waffle, seeing London on a boat and from the sky, participating in charity events, the many great team dinners, visiting new towns and cities like Bournemouth, Newcastle, Edinburgh, celebrating New Year’s Eve and my birthday under the famous London fireworks, canoeing, having drinks in an ice bar and completing a 10km run! It was an unforgettable year! To everyone that is still not sure if they want to do a placement I would say – Just do it! 🙂

Before I say bye I would like to leave you with one final quote I read recently and hopefully inspire you for the summer 🙂

“You did the impossible, because you didn’t realize it was impossible.”

Cheers,

Veneta Haralampieva

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(Afternoon tea at the fan museum’s orangery )