In 2023 I was intending to venture into university education however, after crying myself to sleep every night as a result of my A levels, I elected to take a gap year and fall back in love with academics. From the outset of my gap year I was burdened by feelings of regret and shame while scrolling through endless instagram stories of the girls I grew up with standing in matching dresses holding drinks bought using their student discounts. Of course this is nothing they should be ashamed of but as a perpetual outsider that craves validation this felt like a personal attack forged by the hands of God himself. As a result, I chose to coin this year “my year of decay” (clearly inspired by ‘my year of rest and relaxation’) because during my friend’s first year of absolute independence and adulthood, I’ve been led in bed rotting at the hands of Christmas-crazed customers and 2023’s inane pop culture.

I’ve been fascinated with books since a young age. At 7 years old, I wrote books for a children’s educational magazine called ‘Anorak’ and although I was merely enjoying getting sent free books at the time, journalism became a fun hobby that allowed me to express my unique voice. Now, at 18, although my taste in literature has dramatically changed my love for it hasn’t. My recent fascination is classic Russian literature as I love the subtle political undertones as a result of Russia’s tumultuous political history and after studying politics at A-level I feel more equipped than ever to delve into such a complex pit. I’m also intending to explore the world of non-fiction, mainly travelogues as I adored studying ‘Sea and Sardinia’ in year 13 and celebrities autobiographies such as ‘The Woman in me’ by Brittany Spears, ‘I’m glad my mom died’ by Jeanette McCurdy and ‘Elvis and me’ by Priscilla Presley.