A Final Goodbye

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My friends,

The time has come to say goodbye.

For the past two years I have been blogging away, first on Journey to the Centre of York, then on Pan Ambling. I’ve written guides, covered events and highlighted some of my favourite aspects of York — it’s going to be hard to leave after all I’ve shared with you, my readers.

As some of you already know, my university journey hasn’t been without struggle. I transferred to York in 2012 to follow my dream of studying psychology. Along the way I battled with various mental health challenges, coming out on top time and time again. This was in part due to the support of family and friends, but also because of the many resources York offers, such as free counselling, workshops, academic accommodations and more. I am incredibly grateful for all the assistance I’ve received — I know in my heart that I wouldn’t have got this far into my degree without it. If there is one thing I’ve learned at York, it is that you are not alone; you only need to ask for help to receive it.

Unfortunately, for the past six months, I’ve been faced with the hardest challenge yet in the form of chronic illnesses. Living with constant fatigue and pain has had drastic effects, not only on my work but also on my day-to-day life. I’ve recovered a little since my first three-month flare, but to put my best foot forward, I’ve made the difficult decision to take a step back from work. This way, I can focus the little energy I have on my studies. I’m determined to do everything in my power to complete my degree!

All that serious stuff aside, I also just wanted to say thank you.

I want to say thank you to my workplace. Thank you to my warm, funny and amazing coworkers for keeping a smile on my face — even after I left the office to work mainly from home. Thank you for the baked goodies, the hugs, the funny emailed GIFs and the endless support along the way. And not to underplay my affection for my coworkers, but the biggest thank-you goes to my bosses, Donna and Petra. Thank you for taking a chance with me, and for accommodating me as best as you could even when it became clear that I wasn’t going to get better quickly. Thank you for believing in me, for providing me with one of the most magical experiences in my life with LeaderShape, for inspiring me to be a leader, a visionary, someone fiercely guarding my dreams even when the path to those dreams now may look quite different than it once did. I don’t even have the words to describe how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me.

I also need to say thank you to my audience. Thank you for following my blogs and for reading my posts. Thank you for the Facebook comments and Twitter discussions. Thank you for being the inspiration behind my writing, for providing me with the fuel to push out quality content. Because of you, my blogs had meaning. Because of you, I’m looking forward to a lifetime of fulfilling writing.

I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your summer, and I wish many good things for all of us in the coming school year. Make sure to keep up to date with the YU Blog — I know I will!

In gratitude,

Megan