Jenny Caroline Leggott's diary

Ahhhh the 31st December and yet again I'm working. Could be worse I suppose...could have my head down a toilet vomiting up copius amounts of alcohol...hmmmm. Instead I'm doing my little bit helping those who are in that situation, as well as those who are in a more dire need of medical help

I'm sitting here just pondering over what has happened in the past year: the fun productions I've been in, the awesome people I've met, a lush holiday to Croatia, the untimely death of my nan, volunteering projects I've taken part in, the inspirational people I met at random conferences - oh the list is endless! Scary to think that the next year holds so much and I wont know until it hits me. But being a bit of a control freak (when it comes to my own life anyhow!), I've decided to give myself some actual, proper goals to reach within the next year (not the ususal "one will lose weight and tone up").

So here goes:

• Pass my degree with a 2:1 or higher and actually manage to complete a half-decent dissertation
• Use more of my time to make a stand and campaign for what I believe in - the big issue for me at the moment is regarding tuition fees and making the higher education system fairer and more accessible to all
• Help to make the Societies Takeover the best it can be (mail me if you'd like to get involved)
• Travel to somewhere different for a purpose other than relaxing on a beach - I wanna travel more and my Croatia trip taught me that I prefer touring round interesting cities to lying on a beach all day!!!

I'm sure there are many more that I will think of for the next few days, but these seem to be the main one's. Your time at uni really does fly (as cliche as that may sound) and I just wanna savour every moment I've got left. For me, the Societies Takeover is a little idea that has been festering away in my head since my first year as a little cauldron of ideas. Now, with the help of some amazing people it seems to be taking shape and is set to be one of the biggest nights of the year. I'm as excited as a little kiddie in a candy shop!!! I want it to be an event that everyone can have their say in, especially our societies so if you have any ideas then get in touch!!!

With regards to the issue of tuition fees and making the higher education system fairer, I am willing to commit to any campaigns or peaceful protests and am going to become more actively involved with the Campaign Coalition (a wicked project set up to help campaigns gain more publicity and supporters). I always used the excuse "but I have sports on Wednesday" - but as it's something I feel is highly important and relevant to my life as a student I am going to make an extra effort to get back in time for the meetings and do what I can.

Now, I'm not a goody-goody or a suck-up: I just care about our uni and our Union and feel it's something worth fighting for. Everyone moans and groans about certain aspects of it, but at the end of the day we enjoy it here else we wouldnt've stayed! So how about we all try and make at least one resolution this year to do something different and support our Union and uni activities...you never know, you might just gain more from it than you thought  

And so we end for another semester...Phew! Then I realised that I haven't done nearly as much work as I need to (being in my final year and all ) so my Christmas "holiday" will be filled with the joys of essay writing, journal construction and the eternal deliberation over what one should do for one's dissertation..hmmmmm any ideas???

"At least I have my job" I think....then bam in at work at 7am and ready for more 999 calls, "at least I'll be broken in easily I think to myself" - WRONG again. A day of cardiac arrests and poorly babies - makes you wonder where all the festive cheer is. See that's what I love about my job, it makes you think about what really is important in life.

Some people at this time of year are so wrapped up in the stress that the Christmas period brings; from the shopping to the family dilemmas, that often they fail to remember to pop by a mate's or family member's house just to say hi. And unfortunately sometimes this can have dire consequences. Being part of the volunteer team at the OAP Christmas Dinner last week gave me a chance to speak to some people who are lonely at Christmas and I felt really selfish. I realised that my biggest worry was my uni work and whether or not I have enough cash for a Snakebite and that in the grand scheme of things I am a very lucky girl.

To be honest, it hasn't been the best of years for moi, but at least I've got my health, mates, happiness and some close family. So my message to you is just take 5mins today to call a loved one - you never know when someone's lonely until you call