Can’t wait for Christmas this year!

Hi everyone!

I hope you’re all safe and keeping well. With the new lockdown, things will definitely be harder for a while but staying positive is key. To keep motivated I’ve bought some new books and planned a schedule for upcoming assignments. Right now, I’m awaiting feedback for my first dissertation draft. From my advisor’s comments I’ll be able to improve my work, and hopefully my grade. I’m also taking Country Risk Analysis, so in the meantime I’ll be working on the essay for that class. As I won’t be up to much else, my main focus is going to be improving my GPA for my final year at Richmond.

Over the last few weeks I’ve enjoyed being with family. My sister and I spent a day in London and visited The Ivy restaurant in Covent Garden. We also went to Bicester Village last weekend and did a mini photoshoot for a start-up company. My cousin launched an acrylic nail business during the previous lockdown and needed some content for her second collection. My sister and I were happy to help as during this pandemic it’s important to support small businesses.

I had a couple of plans for November which have been postponed, such as dinner at Oblix in the Shard and visiting Harry Potter World, but they’ll still be there when things have calmed down a bit. Last week, the NHS sent me a letter asking if I would participate in an at-home antibody research test. Luckily, my results came back negative which means I have never had coronavirus.

Seeing as November won’t be very eventful, I’ve started to look forward to Christmas instead; I spent most of yesterday decorating my tree. A year ago today, my family met me in New York as my dad was running the New York marathon; here’s a photo from Times Square. I will be coming to Richmond on Thursdays and may see some of you then!

Until next time,

-Zara