So 2012 has been and gone. This is the last blog I’ll post about 2012, I’ll stop looking back and look to the future instead. But I want to reflect on what I learnt in 2012, what I achieved, and what I missed. And while I’m here, I might as well tell you what I’m most excited about in 2013.

Well, 2012 was a defining year for me. I made the active decision to stay in Cardiff for the foreseeable future, I got a new job, I graduated again and I made some of the best friends I have. And there were some great films and music too.

So I moved into my new flat in January last year. It was pretty amazing. I’d been threatening to live on my own for so long and I finally did it. Granted, my parents were paying the rent, but still, I felt a little bit more independent than I had before. I was working hard on my masters at the same time. I remember the day I moved in… it was a friend of mine on my course’s birthday and I went for a drink with him (soft drink) knowing my parents were arriving in Cardiff with all my stuff. But that one soft drink became a beer… then that one beer became 3 or 4. Safe to say my parents were little impressed that I turned up 4 hours later a little tipsy, without my car and they’d done all the heavy lifting.

Then came the Exposure project. We all bonded over the loathing of the thing, but I was pleased to see an improvement in my work over the course of the project, and made more friends on the BA Radio course.

My dissertation was the other major project of 2012, but I left it too late and didn’t work as hard on it as I could have done. I let myself down, but that didn’t really matter. It was my supervisor that I had cared about. His opinion meant a lot to me, and I had barely even bothered to meet his standards. Fortunately he’s a good bloke and he realised that it wasn’t my best work and we’re still in touch. Despite my terrible commitment to my dissertation.

Other than my dissertation, I did work really hard on my MA and I’m very pleased to say that I achieved a merit and graduated in December 2012.

In May 2012, I started working at the cinema. It’s really pathetic, but it was my dream job at the age of about 14. I spent every weekend of my youth at my local cinema watching films. It’s no secret that I’m a film fan. My DVD collection is astounding, and I do know some pretty useless trivia about films and actors. When I got the job, I couldn’t have been happier. And the most pathetic thing is, the job is everything I could have hoped for. I spend my days making our customers cinema experience the best it can be. And that, in my mind, is pretty awesome. But putting aside the job itself, I have met some of the most incredible people through working there.

I discovered that in 2012, people use the term “friend” very loosely. To some people it means as much to them as it does to me. But to others, it actually means very little. I spent my birthday alone in my new flat because my “friends” didn’t fancy seeing me at all. But on the other hand, when Christmas rolled around, I even had offers to spend Christmas day with friends. I’m very lucky to have the friends I have now. If they’re reading this, thank you. 🙂

2012 also saw me confirming my faith in Christianity and being baptised. It was a wonderful day I spent with my family and friends. Writing my testimony was difficult, but when I stood up to read it to everyone, it felt right.

I said before that 2012 saw some great music and film. I found a strong love for Example in 2012, I fell in love with Train and continued my relationships with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5 with their new releases. As for film, you can read my top ten for 2012 here.

So, 2012 was a bit of a roller-coaster. It really saw some highs and lows, but it’s now time to look ahead to 2013. So what can I expect? I’ll be turning 24 in less than 2 months. I’ll be seeing Example, The Killers, Train, Kaiser Chiefs and Maroon 5 live this year… I used to always have live music on the mind, but it’s been a while since my last gig. I’ll be going on holiday with a close friend to Hungary, which I’m super excited about. Django Unchained is in cinemas in less than 2 weeks, and I’m filling in an application form to return to university in September to work on a part-time Graduate Law Diploma (GDL) course to qualify as a lawyer. So there’s plenty to do in 2013, hopefully it’ll be a good year!