Moving: A Year On

And just like that, it’s been a whole 12 months since I first moved to Leeds.

It’s insane how quickly time has flown! It feels like it was literally a month or two ago when I decided to leave my family’s house to discover what life is like after university and away from home.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’d know that I actually found it difficult to settle in during the first few months. It was expected, heck, even I expected it! But admittedly, I put a lot of pressure on myself to adjust as quickly as possible… when in actual fact, some things take time! (A recent lesson I remembered: things. take. time. It’s not always go, go, go!!)

The whole process has been a huge learning curve for me, but as a result I have totally levelled up and grown as a person.

⭐️ What this time last year looked like…

I had just moved to my first flat with Matt, and around the corner, I had a summer internship starting the following Monday.

My family helped us move, and as soon as they left the realisation that this was the next chapter of my life hit me hard. Matt and I went to have dinner that night and I actually ended up crying in the restaurant, sobbing along the lines of, “they were the best roommates ever!” I probably didn’t look so hot then. 😂

Today is my first day in my graduate role as a Communications and Engagement Executive at @EMISHealth — excited to get stuck in! #LongerHealthierLives

— Pauline P. Narvas (@paulienuh) July 2, 2018

But then Monday arrived, I was eager to start my internship and make some new friends. I had to take a 45 minute bus there, and I remember feeling crazily claustrophobic in the bus as it got further and further away from the city centre and train station (which were my comfort zones!) When I did eventually get to work, handed my laptop, met my manager and colleagues, I started to finally feel settled.

Until, on the way home, I didn’t know where the bus stop back to the city centre was so I ended up walking around in circles trying to find it (it wasn’t immediately obvious to me, but maybe at the time I was stressing out which affected my vision 😅)

Was I tearful at the time? You bet! It was like this for a few months, even though on the surface I tried my best to hide it. But like everyone who commented on my blog post last year, it takes time!

✨ Things that helped me adjust

• Meeting like-minded people at meet-ups
• Booking in time to see my family; my calendar is always full of plans to go back to Sheffield.
• Equally though, spending some weekends in Leeds to get used to my environment and explore the city!
• Being honest about how I was feeling – it’s OK that life isn’t perfect all the time. So I was ugly crying openly when I needed to, it helped a lot.

😊 Today

So where am I now? 12 months on…

• Moved into our new apartment 🏡
• Over a year since I started working life, leaving my university life behind 💻
• I am now part of several local communities that share my interests and hobbies 💖
• I feel fully adjusted to living away from home 💪🏼
• I realised that being independent rocks 🔥
• Although I do go back home often to see my family, I’d started to appreciate my new home and city a lot more now that I’ve adjusted 😁

As I wrote on my birthday post on Instagram, I’m so proud of my personal growth over the last few months. It was difficult to adjust at first with unfamiliar surroundings, but now I totally feel unstoppable. Talk about a level up on life!