For Those Who Make Me Smile

Hey loves!

Some of my friends and I recently got together for a short video on my channel. Editing the video made me realise how often these amazing people make me smile and simply make my life so much brighter. I am incredibly grateful to have them in my life.

The busy and stressful environment of Cambridge often makes me forget to take a second and reflect on all the good things I have in my life. I have two habits to counter that: My morning and evening list. Every morning, I make a mental list of the things I am grateful for while walking to the faculty. This puts me in the right mood for the day and ensures that I remember the good things despite the workload of my course. In the evening, I take five to ten minutes to write down some things I am grateful for today. I heard of this habit through YouTube and decided to try it a few months ago. It has really helped me to reflect on my day because it makes me calmer in the evenings and allow me to put the bad days into perspective. It is also amazing to flick through the pages once you have written about a few days - it makes you realise how many incredible experiences you have had so far.

My friends kept popping up on both lists and I cannot say how much they have shaped my Cambridge experience. It's those small moments that make our friendship special: cooking pancakes on a lazy Sunday morning, doing laundry at 6.30am on a productive Wednesday, or dragging my friends to McDonald's for the fifth time in a week. And despite the fact that they are all equally stressed and burdened with commitments, I know that I can count on every single one of them if I ever needed help. If you would like to see my friends, me, and a lot of food, you can get all that in my latest vlog:

I would also like to use this article to say thank you to my friends around the world. When I left my boarding school in Hong Kong, I was afraid that I might lose my friends as soon as a few time zones are between us, but this was not the case. In fact, I just had an amazing chat with one of my friends from Hong Kong. It has of course been harder to stay in touch once a few continents and not just a few doors were between us, but we have all put in the work to stay friends and so far, it has paid off.

Thank you all for always being there for me. For caring. For having my back. I love you guys.

Lots of love,

Elena