Tag: student

Read, Write, Sleep, Repeat

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It’s that time of year again. The library is my second home, books are replacing pillows and I think I could quite easily sleep cuddling my laptop. I finally finished one assignment today and I have three more to go, all in different stages. After this mornings 4.30 wake up call from the hamsters and their wheel, it’s safe to say that I’m writing this feeling more than a little sleepy.

All in all though, I’m pleased I’ve had a focused and productive day. People say that being a student is all Netflix marathons, sleeping until noon and nights out but if you actually want to do well there is so much more than that. So I got myself up, to my physio appointment, then spent 3 or 4 hours in the library trying to force myself to get things done. Add to that Dani’s company, followed by dinner with Joe and I think I’ve spent today wisely. With that in mind though I’m hitting the books again tomorrow, wish me luck!

Living in the Library

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For the last two days, I have spent my life in the library. Laptop, piles of books and a large amount of sugar to get us through me and Eleanor hit the library, hard. There are a lot of assignments to get through, I have Independent Research (4000 words), Victorian to Modernist (1500 words), 20th-21st Century (2000 words) and Locating Literature (2500 words). So all in all 10,000 words, the amount of words I’ll be handing in  for my dissertation this time next year.

So for the foreseeable future I will be camping out with library, possible falling asleep on piles of books (as I did last year) before settling down for some time to myself before starting my reading for next year. It’s not that interesting but I did have some good company to keep me going. Only 4600 to go words to go!

So many positive things!

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Today was my last day of lectures for my second year! The next time I go into a lecture it will be the final year of my undergrad degree! It’s gone stupidly fast! So to celebrate that fact, yesterdays good news that I’m going to Athens( !!!) and that I’ve been feeling really good about myself lately.

So this morning I got up (admittedly after hitting the off button on my alarm and missing my lecture) and got to work helping Ali finish his assignment, while also buying myself tickets to see Sarah Millican next year and booked my flights and hotel for Athens. Then off to uni, the hospital for blood tests, lunch with Dani, a quick Primark dash (seriously, one of my FAVOURITE shops on the high street) and then off to band practice. I never stop being busy.

I’m finally doing it, I’m finally taking hold of my life and making things happen. I’m travelling with a few breaks planned this year, Durham, Prague, Athens and Amsterdam for my birthday. The band and I are getting ready to have a busy summer, I’m going to be working, writing and hopefully a lot more swimming and riding.

I wanted to write this to all of you because I’m aware I haven’t been as perky as usual and while I’m trying to to fall asleep while I write this, as well as having a stack of blogs to upload this weekend, I’m finally really happy. I have incredible friends, family, an amazing relationship, my band and of course my education, which means so much to me. Basically I’m feeling positive and I’ll hold on to that as long as I can.

10 Reasons being a student is the best.

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We all know that being a student is that beautiful time between being a teenager and becoming an adult (gulp), so here are just 10 of the reasons being a student is THE BEST.

1.  You actually get to study what you want 

No more P.E! Can I get a woohoo! There is nothing worse than the classes you hate at school (for me P.E and Maths) and at degree you get to study what YOU want to!

2. More independence! 

Whether you’ve moved away from home for the first time or you’re commuting, you get to be independent. Sorting yourself you is actually a lot of fun. I know most people really enjoyed their first food shop on their own while lying to their parents that yes they had bought fruit…strawberry ice cream is kind of fruit 😉

3. Taking up new things 

You might take up things you’ve never thought of before in societies, I took up horse riding, I have friends who do rugby, fencing, and once I knew someone who attended Wine Society, no word of a lie! It’s cool you can try something out and make friends along the way.

4. Being able to explore 

Whether that be the world, new culture,yourself, your sexuality, university is the time to explore!! You can try new things and see what you like and don’t like.

5. You can eat what you want….seriously

Want cake for breakfast? Go for it. Want a bowl of cereal for dinner, why not? Ok so it might not be that nutritional but it is fun.

6. You make friends! 

Ah making friends. Something which before we all come we’re absolutely terrified of. I met my band mates and some really good friends since being at uni, all of which accept me for the things that I used to get called weird for.

7. You learn some life lessons 

Like going out on an empty stomach and downing shots all night…don’t think you’re going to want to see daylight in the morning.

8.STUDENT DISCOUNT! 

I love student discount to the point that I’m a total dork about it. Most places offer a student discount, even 10% can make a difference, my NUS card was totally worth it and nice shops will check if you have it so you can spend money. I got a damn good haircut at a great salon with my discount that would have cost me nearly £50 at home !!!

9. You can decide what you want to do with your life

Most of us don’t know what we want to do at 18, so having 3 years to work it out is a good idea…even if most of us still don’t completely know at the end of it.

10. It’s  fun. 

I never thought I’d be this in love with uni. It is definitely not easy but it’s a great thing to do and I feel like a different person 2 years in!

Have I missed something off? Add with your comments below!

Last Night.

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Last year I didn’t really go out, I think I went out three times on a Wednesday, now I have strong group of friends on my course and they also double up as a bad influence. I casually mentioned I wouldn’t mind going out after I got home last night and Eleanor got straight on it. Within an hour I was changed, make up on and sat on a bus to one of the Student’s Union bars. I’d already had a Jack Daniels , 3 doubles, 2 Jagerbombs and some brilliant dancing to the Spice Girls and Eleanor and I were ready to hit Pryzm.

I danced so much, met loads of new people and a few I already knew as well as having an amazing time with Eleanor. I also made it to my 9am lecture this morning with a raging hangover, ended up having Mcdonalds for breakfast but made it though the day despite also aching from Horse Riding. I count that as a win.

Shoppiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!

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It’s a quick post for you all tonight. I’ve just gotten back from student shopping night at the Bentalls centre with some of the girls, we queued for a fair while and I got there later than I planned due to all the meeting I had again today (no rest for the wicked!). The event was mostly a load of shops doing discount, some freebies (although not nearly enough) and I managed to get a far bit despite not feeling so well. We got adorable photos taken and then I grabbed a cheeky bar of chocolate on the way home. A good night in all.

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Getting healthy?

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A healthier lunch than my normal pit stop

I’m not a gym bunny or a healthy eater. The thought of hard exercise makes me feel ill and fruit makes me sick (I can hear the cries from health conscious people, hang on I’m going somewhere), so for me getting my 5 a day is really hard. When I went shopping yesterday I was a little bit more conscious in picking up healthy things. I wanted to start eating a little better for a while now but I wanted to do it for me, quietly and not because of anyone or anything. I wanted to at least try and get 3 of my 5 a day, an achievement for me. I already drink Orange juice, Ali makes me each portions of veg with dinner but I needed something else.

When I was tiny I’d eat everything, my Mum had no trouble with me eating healthy meals. I loved snack time at nursery school and would eat what they told me too. Skip a few years and fruit made me feel sick, something to do with the texture, and I would only eat set vegetables. My parents tried everything but I had a limited amount of fruit and veg that I would eat. The rules soon came in that only fruit could be eaten at break, not my normal cereal bars. It was a long fight and it set me up for the rest of my life.

There was one break through, School Bars real fruit, one of your 5 a day and they didn’t taste too bad. So last night I picked up some more at shopping and thought that’s an extra one a day. Adding my OJ and then some veggies with dinner I start to look, well, healthy. Which for me is terrifying. I’ll say now I’m not doing this to lose weight, I’m not cutting out any foods and it’s not because of negativity. with me the more someone pushes me to do something I don’t want to do the more I’ll resist, when people have tried to make me their ‘project’ in the past I’ve resisted. Similarly in halls I had what I eat questioned, so I either hid when I ate or ate things I knew would piss them off. IMG_0482

Why now? I have no idea. The thought of excercising is because I have a friend who also has knee problems and wants to get into light exercise again and we support each other. I’m kind of also hoping that this could be good for my mental health, that said I needed to get to this point before I could even consider exercise or anything like that. Will it last? No idea. We’ll just have to see and who said students can’t be sensible!

Get Set For KU

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I’ve spent the past two days getting up at 6.30am and getting home at gone 8 at night. I’m not complaining in the slightest, especially as I actually woke up before my alarm on both days (proving just how excited I was). I’ve wanted to work a job like this since I became an ambassador so getting the confirmation was incredible. Believe it or not, I was nervous talking to my first attendee.

I became a bit of a match maker over the two days, I wanted the students to make friend at feel at home. I know how nerve racking it is and these students had never even been to Kingston before because they had come through clearing. I was pleased that when they left at the end of the day some of the groups I’d introduced were now friends, with some even looking for houses to share together now.

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Lunch with some of the lads at the event

As well as students I also had the chance, although not planned, to talk to a lot of parents annd had a good chat about university and the worries they had for their children. More than anything I loved talking to people, making them feel better, answering any questions that I could or pointing them to the right services.

The confidence and pride that I felt working this week was overwhelming. I felt good at what I done. Student’s thanked me, my bosses commented on how hard I worked and one of my ‘top tips’ won a student a prize. I got to laugh and make so many more friends with other ambassadors, we really hit it off and I can’t wait to work with them all again. I got especially close to another ambassador, Jo who made my sides ache from laughing so hard.

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Me, Jo and some new students on Campus Tours

As well as that? The food was incredible constant food, snacks, everything. I love my job so much and I can’t wait to get back and do more because this is something I know that I’m good at and it makes me feel incredible. How many people can say that their job makes them feel on top of the world?

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More than anything these past few days gave me what I needed. They reminded me that I am good at my job, that I’m a likeable and good person. I also got the news that I achieved my full grant scholarship, meaning that the likelihood of applying for my masters and being able to afford it is becoming more and more possible and that makes me happy beyond belief.

All in all an amazing few days and a great boost, I can’t wait to book more work now! 🙂

Be your own cheerleader (I’m awesome!)

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I have one of THE most confident people in the world as a best friend. We got into a conversation a few days ago about being more confident and knowing when to applaud yourself, I know for a fact us Brits aren’t very good at it. Oh that’s another thing Rhys is American, that’s not to say that all American’s are super confident but it seems like there is a better attitude out there towards promoting yourself. 

I’ve been really up and down for the last few days, so when I started going down again today I decided to get out of the house and head to the library and try and write in the quiet. I ended up with a very different afternoon, a long walk in the sun, bumping into loads of people from school and college as well as an old teacher. While I was talking to people I realised something. I’m pretty awesome and I’ve done damn well. There I said it. It even feels awkward to write it down because, well, I don’t think that it’s something I’m really not used to. 

You know what though? I feel like it’s something that should be done more often, we should be able to shout out when we’ve done well and just be able to say (like Rhys does frequently) I’m awesome. We should be able to have that confidence when we walk into interviews or classes and just be like I know what I’m good at. Not in an arrogant way but just to be happy about what we can do and not always trying to play it down. 

So here’s mine: 

I’m great at being able to read and analyse for my degree, just send that first my way! 

I’m a great songwriter and performer 

My organised self has been known to save a lot of people’s asses! 

 

Be your own cheerleader or you may not have one! 

 

Post the reasons why you’re awesome below 🙂 

5 Top Money Tips for new students

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1. Know what money you have from the start 

If you know what you have, you know what you can spend. I saw loads of charts and things saying how much will you spend on food and things and I had no idea. First things first have a plan for each semester and take your rent out before you plan ANYTHING, that way you have somewhere to live…that always helps.

2. Make a budget 

This is vital. From the money you have divide it into either a monthly or weekly budget. It’s still the same key thing, knowing what you have to work with. I had two bank accounts and transferred my budget each week, that way I couldn’t overspend without making a transfer and thinking about it. Anything I didn’t spend that week went into a savings account.

3. Stick to it! 

It will make your life so much easier, but if you have to go slightly over that’s ok. It helps if you have some emergency money stashed…it’s up to you if beer means emergency or not. 

4. Make sure you have food above all else 

This is vital. After rent, food is a must! I know some people who lived on stupid food just so they had enough for 3 nights out a week…I wouldn’t advise it! 

5. Treat yourself every now and again! 

I hate horrible visions of having no money and living on plain rice and being miserable but you can treat yourself! You are allowed! You’re a human being after all!