A Year of 2016: Summary

When you ignore the mound of celebrity deaths, this year hasn't been too bad for me. It's normally something that goes unnoticed, but with all of the social media coverage the stories are everywhere. The death of celebrities doesn't tend to effect me and with what seems to be an bottomless list this year I have only really connected with a few, but that doesn't mean that the rest are unimportant. Alan Rickman, Victoria Wood, Ronnie Corbett, Gene Wilder and George Micheal are those that I will miss the most. RIP.

I feel like I have achieved most of the goals I set for myself this year, the lager goals and some unexpected. Let's start from the beginning of the year, shall we?

In January this year I had my audition for NCN Clarendon, which went really well apart from failing my music theory test and having to re-take that another day. I did pass that the second time, thankfully. In February, I had my audition of MMU. I remember the long drive wth my friend Joanne to the Crewe Campus which vaguely reminded me of Ilkeston School with it's layout. It was a very enjoyable day and I was surprised that the lecturer that interviewed me knew of Dmitry. I continued to write more songs when I found the time from the inspiration I found from a combination of visiting Clarendon and MMU and later released my first original music video on 22nd February. This was a big achievement for me, made possible from the use of my Mac and new camera at the time, my Samsung WB350F and made only within a few days once the editing process had started.

This year has been a strange one for new obsessions. I currently have a storage unit rather like a bookcase apart from it has three cupboards and three shelfs, on top of which sits the entirety of my larger figure collection. Most of them are either Nintendo or Doctor Who themed and it's just something thats continued to grow through this year. No doubt I will add more to the collection soon. I now collect Doctor Who comic books and novels and I am already up to well over fifty between them both. An even more recent obsession is my new found love for the Nintendo Gameboy Pocket. I have three of those now.

I did start to make another music video with my good friend, Kieran. It is still in the works and I think we still need to record a few extra parts, that and I still need to re-record the vocals for the song. I'm debating now whether I should do it again or ask around the college to see if anyone wants to do a better job than myself. I'm still not comfortable with my vocals. I know my confidence has improved massively over the years, but I've still never sung live on stage and I'm not sure I want to. But, I do. It's really difficult to explain. I really want to get this one finished and released early in the new year. Maybe I could use it as a part of my course? ... hmmm.

A lot of this year has been a waiting game and that is probably why I felt so let down on Enrolment. I don't really want to mention what happened all over again because I've already wrote about it back then. I think I'm over it now, but thinking about it still angers me. If I wasn't waiting I was probably working, but then theres a certain contrast where the two become the same thing.

Regardless, there's no better feeling than achieving something. Or at least, at the end of the year there isn't. I just re-read through my blog post summarising last year, "Hopefully, this time next year I will be a University student." I remember wondering if I'm going to get on with Uni and if I was even going to get in at all. I had just sent off mu UCAS application. Where would I be exactly? I suppose you can never really know what's around the corner.

For this new year, I feel like it's only a necessity to set myself goals again. Resolutions tend to be things that go amiss, so I shan't bother with those. Without goals, how will I be able to know if it has been a successful year at the end of it otherwise? My main goals are as follows:

1. To pass the first year of my course - This one is must and completely obvious, but I would be stupid not to include it as a top priority because otherwise there would be no point in myself being back in education. 
2. Not to get too distracted from work - This applies mostly to my Uni coursework, but then also to the extra work I do outside of my course such as recording. I have noticed patterns in how I distract myself from doing the work needed to be done. This needs to stop if I want to be successful and achieve a better grade.
3. Enrol for second year of my course - Another one that again shouldn't need mentioning, but I still need to turn up, right?
4. Collaborate - I want to work with those that want to work with me, this could be anything from a simple practice, sharing theory knowledge and even recording a track either with them or for them. This should be something that happens natural throughout the year, not a once only thing.
5. Enrich myself in knowledge - If I finish my first year feeling like I haven't really learnt anything, I must have done it all wrong.

I am debating finding a new job in the new year, but it's not something I want to focus on although arguably it could be something that helps improve my focus. The weekends are just something I can't look forward to at the moment. I just feel like there is no respect for me at work as there is when I'm at Uni. Is it the subject I've chosen to study? Is Music not academic enough? Is it because I work part-time now? Either way, I still pull my way and don't understand how it's fair that I should feel undervalued.

I may add more to this within the next week. I'm still currently in the state of accepting the new year and the fact that it is now nearly January 2017. I'm not happy about the January part. I don't want to experience January. I have a few deadlines coming up shortly. I do wonder if there will ever be a year when I don't ask "Where does all the time go?", but for now I'll leave it here.

Happy New Year, everyone! Hello, 2017.