An Open Heart: The Joy in the Unexpected

November 24, 2025 Juliette Page 0 Comments

1 Embracing Life One Open Heart at a Time When something good happens to you just when you least expect it, that’s serendipity. Such moments unlock a long-sealed chest of joy, bringing a sense of fulfilment you didn’t realise you were waiting for. When I reflect on this further, I realise the deep confusion that …

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Becoming Yourself: Embracing Change in Your Twenties

July 13, 2025 Juliette Page 0 Comments

Figuring Out Who You Are in Your Twenties What does being yourself actually mean? When I was younger and unsure how to handle a social situation, my parents would always say, “Just be yourself.” I don’t disagree with that advice—if people don’t like how you act normally, then they are not your friends. But what …

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Who Makes the First Move Now?

June 3, 2025 Juliette Page 0 Comments

Confidence is down, fear is up and making the first move has become rare I can’t even blame men. I cannot even recall a time when I walked up to someone I liked. I’ve never thought in much detail about why I’ve not approached anyone, until I started my second term of this academic year. …

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Second Year: A Lesson in Belief

May 27, 2025 Juliette Page 0 Comments

Learning, Crying, Running: A Second Year Story Returning home in December, I realised by how quickly the term had passed. In reality, a great deal had happened over the past two months. As I began my second year in September, I barely stepped through the door before I found myself bombarded with warnings of how …

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One Percent

October 4, 2024 Juliette Page 0 Comments

A few months ago, I began following a YouTuber from Derry in Northern Ireland who goes by the name of Eireann Sharkey. I subscribed to Eireann’s channel because I was interested in following her unique story after she was diagnosed with brain cancer in late October last year. Overall, I find Eireann’s videos, both the …

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Essay: The History of Hinduism and Buddhism

August 11, 2024 Juliette Page 0 Comments

1 Q: What can historical artefacts from South Asia tell us about religious practices in the past? Answer with reference to at least two items from the Durham University collections. In this essay, I will be discussing religions in South Asia in relation to two historical artefacts, one linked to the Hindu faith and the other linked …

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Summer in the Algarve

August 7, 2024 Juliette Page 0 Comments

Back in June, I went on holiday to Faro in Portugal with my sister, her boyfriend and her friends. We booked an apartment near a marina for a period of 5 days, splitting the cost of the accommodation between us. It wasn’t a long holiday but it was enough to get me to relax after …

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End of First Year

July 7, 2024 Juliette Page 0 Comments

My last exam of my first year of university was on the 16th of May and I was due to have my summer ball on the 3rd of June. During exam season, we have no scheduled lectures or seminars. Instead, we just do revision for any upcoming exams we might have and we sit the …

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We’ve All Been There

June 2, 2024 Juliette Page 0 Comments

Me and my friend met at the entrance to the library, negotiating the best place to sit down for revision. We went down a set of stairs and then another. We meandered past some students studying diligently in silence. Then we found a table and two chairs, in a semi-quiet corner of the building. In …

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Reflections on the Rwandan genocide: a continued peace?

May 5, 2024 Juliette Page 0 Comments

“Our people will never be left for dead again,” said Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame. On 6th April 1994, a plane carrying the former Hutu president, Juvenal Habyarimana, was shot down over Rwanda’s capital of Kigali, launching a massacre across the nation against the Tutsi population. From 7th April to 19th July 1994, 800,000 Tutsis and …

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