The First Birthday Blog Post

To celebrate the first birthday of Student Lola Blog, I thought it would be fitting to recap some of the most valuable lessons I have learned since beginning my blog writing journey. Being a blog writer is more than just committing to a monthly post on random topics. It’s about exploring things you are passionate about while learning more about them along the way, and realising what gets you thinking about things in ways that really make you ponder. Even though you are bound to be hit with obstacles and negative opinions, it makes the end result of whatever you are doing that much more satisfying. These are the ten most important points I have picked up on out of the countless lessons that have been thrown my way.

1)      Never let ill-mannered opinions obscure your creative vision.

Whatever you choose to do, whether it be something artistic, humanitarian, scholastic, sports, etc, you will ALWAYS be met with the negative opinions of miserable people. In a sea of support, that one negative opinion can often stand out like a beacon and really damage your confidence. When I first started this blog, I didn’t receive as much support from the people around me as I would have thought. In fact, to this day, I am still met with rolling eyes and negative talk on what I do. In the early days of this blog, I contemplated shutting it down, until I realised that the negativity always came from those who were jealous or miserable. Now, I have grown an amazing little community on my social media pages with so much support and I really enjoy blogging. You must have tunnel vision in instances like these. If it will make YOU happy, do it (to a certain extent). Who cares what everyone else thinks, right?

2)      Embracing failure.

The number of times I failed to do something when creating this blog is crazy. From messing up the format of the website four times to failing to reach accounts online, failure is always certain. The frustration that came with messing up the site so many times often had me on the verge of giving up, but I always utilised my mistakes and used them to learn something. It sounds pretty generic but it’s so true. Whenever you fail at something, if you can learn from it and try again, always do so.

3)      Your passion should never be a chore.

For me, this extends past the blog. I play piano, and I re-started learning pieces for exams. I often felt like practising was just another thing on my to-do list. If you feel like this about something you usually love, change it. It isn’t fair on yourself to let go of something you formerly loved to do. Instead of practising for exams, I decided to learn pieces that I enjoyed instead, like songs from my favourite movie, Tangled. Maybe one day when I have less things on my to-do list, I might revisit the idea of exams. If you feel like this about something you love, I implore you to explore other avenues.

4)      Never feel embarrassed being who you are.

Starting a TikTok account to promote my blog, but also to share with others my love for books and history, was so scary. To put yourself out there into a world full of opinions can be daunting, but if you are thinking about it, you just have to do it. ‘But what about what they think?’, ‘but what about what they say?’. But what if they don’t say anything at all? What if they support you and can relate to you? You never know. If content creation is something you are thinking about, with the right hashtags and content, you will attract people like you. If it is something entirely different you are thinking about doing like delivering a speech or entering an art competition, whatever it is, this concept still applies. The right people will find you. Who cares what everyone thinks. You have to choose not to feel embarrassed.

5)      Asking for help makes you stronger.

It took me a while to accept this one. I always wanted to be the strongest who could handle everything on her own. Don’t be a hero. Ask for help and advice where you need it. Everyone views life with different perspectives – whoever you ask help from, I can guarantee you they will offer an ulterior perspective for you to view your problem from. Do not let yourself or whatever you are working on suffer just because you feel like you don’t need help. Large problems often feel miniscule when you are with others who can help.

6)      If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.

You will radiate the energy that you are likely to receive. If you are like me and about to take your A-levels, if you don’t have faith in your abilities, how can you expect people around you to return your energy with support? You need to believe in yourself before you can expect others to believe in you. If you don’t believe in your abilities, change so that you do. Effort gets you where you need to be.

7)      Your thoughts will always become a reality.

If you truly believe you will fail at something, you will. Contrary wise, if you truly believe you will succeed at something, you will. The brain is extremely powerful. It has the power to not only consciously decide what is going to happen, but also subconsciously. I’m not saying you have telepathic powers, but I am saying that whatever you set your mind to and focus all your energy on, that will ultimately be the outcome of your situation. Make sure to channel your thoughts into something positive. That’s something you can always control.

8)      Your education is never finished.

Every day, you learn something. Whether you learn something useful or useless is up to you. You must always be prepared for what your life has to teach you by being completely open to learning from your experiences. Never leave an experience without taking something valuable with you. For example, the first few videos on my TikTok about my blog didn’t do as well as I had hoped. Always be analytical. I thought ‘how could I boost my account?’, and proceeded to research trending sounds and hashtags, I followed every single account like mine that I came across and gained traction within the hour. Keep learning, and don’t let anyone stop you from doing so.

9)      Comparison is the killer of all happiness.

If you compare your progress to someone else who has been doing something for longer, or someone who has more experience, or someone who has a different way of thinking, you have already failed. You always must remember that you are a different person who will do things at a different pace to the people around you. If you do something slower than someone else, it doesn’t mean that you are bad at what you do. It just means you’re paying more attention. Your journey is totally different to the person next to you, in-front of you, or behind you. Tunnel vision, remember?

10)  Always enjoy what you do.

If it isn’t compulsory and you don’t love what you are doing, stop doing it and find something else that you love. Life is too short to waste time doing things you don’t like. Always have fun with whatever you are doing. Your life will be better for it.

I hope in the past year of this blog being live, I have made you think, or smile, or taught you something you’d never thought about before. And if you’re a new visitor, I hope that you stick around. I would like to say that I greatly appreciate all my supporters both online and in real life. Happy birthday Student Lola!

XOXO,

Lola