Did anyone else flip to July on their calendars this week and experience a moment of profound discomfort? We’ve blown straight through to July without blinking! The halfway marker is now looming large and terrifying.

A brief mental playback and it seems like January – June screamed by like episodes in a podcast programmed to double speed. Wait … whaaaaaaaat have we achieved? What have we learned? What do we wish we didn’t learn?

So we thought it was about time that we eased our foot off the accelerator for a while, took stock and reflected on the last 6 months. A few of our BucketOrange Magazine writers boldly stepped forward to share their most memorable life lessons of 2017 so far in our inaugural half year review.

You’re welcome?

Sarah Lynch: Editor-in-Chief

So far this year I learned …

• You can take an orange out of a bucket, but you can’t take the bucket out of the orange.
• If you work hard enough at something, it eventually starts working for you.
• People are amazing! They are also jerks.
• Sleep is a precious, precious thing. If you have it, cherish it.
• Related: Never shop online late on a school night. Opening a smart jewellery parcel, bought specifically for the heart rate monitor, and tumbling to the realisation that your device does not, in fact, monitor heart rates is a self-esteem crushing situation to be avoided at all costs (especially the financial kind).
• The Killers ‘Mr Brightside’ has never left the UK charts since it was first released in 2003. Meaning that teenagers celebrating at current end-of-semester parties would never have heard the song when it originally came out. This makes Hot Fuss to them what The Joshua Tree is to me – music that was changing lives before I was old enough to listen to the radio. I feel weird inside.
• Limes are everyone’s best friend. Especially gin.
• The trick to surviving winter? Travel south till your skin turns warmer.
• Dairy is scary. Milk is actually permitted to contain a certain number of pus cells when packaged and sold. (You read that correctly the first time). But really chew on that idea for a moment. And don’t forget to savour your extra hot pus latte tomorrow.
• Switch to a plant-based diet. It’ll change your life.

Amy Thomasson, legal journalist

So far this year I learned …

• Season 3 of Twin Peaks is simultaneously the best and worst experience I’ve had this year.
• Don’t start taking a move overseas seriously only a week before you leave.
• Instagram’s story feature is superior to all other story features on social media.
• Don’t leave it two years between visits to your dental hygienist (seriously, blood EVERYWHERE).
• Acrylic nails are not suitable for anyone who wants to use their hands to full capacity.
• You’re never too old for Tumblr.
• Louis Tomlinson was aware all along that he was the dud member of One Direction.
• Prophets are not exclusive to the Bible (a fun fact I learned while playing the board game “Articulate”).

Chantal El Khoury, legal journalist

So far this year I learned …

• After trying and failing to learn code that tech is not my forte (best to stick with law).
• Everything happens all at once – assignments, exams, births, deaths and more.
• Mastering the art of making the perfect cheese platter is a skill to be coveted and a skill that I now possess.
• Writing a thesis is much harder than expected.
• It could take years before the United Kingdom officially withdraws from the European Union, not the immediate and dramatic ejection I originally imagined.
• Bitcoin is a thing now. It seems there are a finite amount – 21 million bitcoins – in existence. Once 21 million Bitcoins have been mined, no new ones can be created and they must be traded unless there is a change in policy to increase the supply. Confusing, right?

Bec Torsello, legal journalist

So far this year I learned …

• You never know a place until you visit it. Travel with an open mind and dismiss prejudices about possible travel destinations.
• Embrace the unknown, it may surprise you.
• Young people are powerful. After Brexit and Teresa May’s wake up call in the UK election, this really hit home. You have a voice, so make sure it is heard.
• Identifiably “Australian” things like Vegemite, Tim Tams, potato cakes, chicken parmas and politicians doing ridiculous things – like eating onions or having sandwiches thrown at them -should never be taken for granted.

Have anything you’d like to add to our “half year in review?” What have been your best / worst lessons or experiences of the year so far? Let us know in the comments!