My last day as a student

Today marks my last day as a university student, or a student in general.
My university student card expires on this day.

Mixed feelings. Bittersweet. Redemption, relief, anxiety, sadness, melancholy...

I started going to primary school in Greece when I was six years old. I remember how excited I was to learn the alphabet, the tool of the writer. I immediately started keeping a diary and then writing stories, and later poems and lyrics. Primary school was easy and fun, and then not so much fun when the school shut down and I had to transfer to a bigger one. Then senior school was ok, I was reading a lot of literature at the time, and I started learning about all sorts of different subjects at school. High school was when I started questioning the knowledge passed on by the teachers and books, and when my ability to think critically really evolved and started shaping the person I am today. Then, came prep school to get to uni. Next year, off I went to uni in Greece. Two years of learning things I wasn't sure I was interested in. I decided to go to the UK to study music. To push myself to do that which I have always loved. My time as a music student was eye opening. I learned, I lived, I experienced, I grew, I lost myself and I found me again. After that I took a gap year to decide what I should do next. Then, off I went to my masters degree. Little did I know these would be the hardest three years of my life. I went through trauma, mental breakdowns, I learned, I rediscovered myself, I improved my research and writing skills and I became an adult. Yes, at almost 28 years old I became an adult.

Overall, I've spent 21 years of my life in education. And that chapter of my life is coming to an end today.
I'm not sure what the future holds. The future is terrifying territory for me.

What I'm sure of is that being in education helped me become the best version of myself. It helped me become aware. It provided me with the tools I need to be a decent human being. And not necessarily because of the teachers, even though I encountered a few of them that were exceptional -not a majority unfortunately. It was my effort, my resilience and research that gave me the tools, but had I not had education as a platform, I doubt I'd have ever made that effort and engaged in such research.

So, if you ever have the chance to go to college, university, or anything similar, grab it. Make sure to use that time creatively, meaningfully, lose yourself, find yourself, do crazy shit, learn crazy shit, question everything, and above all,  _________ .
No, I ain't telling you that part. That is for you to discover yourselves.

Just fly,
Lara

Fabric just got shut down

So Fabric was shut down.
Islington council thinks we're stupid if they actually believe we were convinced they care about young people.They didn't shut Fabric "to protect the children" (there were never any children in Fabric anyway since you have to be an adult to enter). They shut Fabric because they want to focus on house development and they had eyed the Fabric building for a very very long time. I can't begin to imagine how many people will lose their jobs and how much money the owners will lose. I can't begin to imagine the financial uncertainty this will cause.I can't begin to imagine how much this will impact DJs, London's nightlife and tourism...People were coming to UK just to visit Fabric. I have seen people online infuriated and disappointed by this decision to shut Fabric, as they have already booked tickets to fly to the UK just to visit Fabric.
If Islington Council really cared about young people, they would stop this petty "War on Drugs" and start educating young people on how to be safe. They would make sure no club goer is ignorant when it comes to drugs, and they'd be giving free drug test kits outside clubs, as other progressive countries do. So that people know whether their drugs are what they were said to be or not. This has successfully worked in other countries. Islington Council needs to realise that people have always been taking substances to alter their perception since the beginning of time, and that practice won't change, no matter how many clubs they shut. Shutting safe spaces where people are monitored, have access to medical professionals and are protected by security personnel perpetuates archaic practices which push people underground. And the underground is a lot more dangerous. A lot more people have had accidents or died in illegal raves than in legal ones (analogically). Thousands of people have visited Fabric over the years. Yes, six people died in Fabric since 2011. Out of thousands of people, 6 died. Of course this is tragic, but statistically this is a very small percentage. I understand that the loved ones of those people must be devastated, angry and desperate to blame someone. But Fabric isn't the enemy. The enemy is a system that perpetuates the drug black market, putting persons at risk.
London -and UK in general- has been adopting very conservative tactics in the past few years. And now, after the Brexit and all the uncertainty that that entails, we see the capital's nightlife being viciously attacked in the name of money making. But the people need entertainment, they need to have places where they go to unwind, and let go of all the worries and stress of this fast-paced and tough life they live in London. You turned London into a place where you can't live comfortably, where you can barely survive. Now you take entertainment out of the equation. What do you think will happen? The people will find new ways, possibly more dangerous ways -and places- to replace the lost clubs (Cable, Fabric etc.). And then, when more people lose their lives, because these spaces aren't nearly as safe as Fabric, who are you going to blame?

Random Thoughts XXXXX

Whilst we all fight our own battles, we tend to forget we're all together in this thing called life and on this planet called Earth.

Light and love to all of you, it can be hard to see them and accept them, but maybe that's the point of our journey.