Myself and a friend were talking the other day and assessed we are getting on a bit and there is still so much more that we want to do with our lives, so we decided to make ourselves a bucket list. What on earth is a bucket list some of you may be saying ... a bucket list is a list of life goals, things to do before you die, before you ‘kick the bucket’.
So ... my inspiration for this week is to create a student bucket list, a list of things to do before you graduate. I have asked a few others what they think should be on it too and this is what we have come up with:
1. Stay up and party all night with no sleep at all.
2. Use your student discount somewhere posh.
3. Go on a random road trip to somewhere totally unplanned with your buddies.
4. Borrow a book from the library and actually read it cover to cover.
5. Sign up to at least one society and make sure you attend at least 2 meetings.
6. Learn a new skill or language that is nothing to do with your course, just enhances your personal profile.
7. Go to Fresher’s Week at least twice.
8. Build a portfolio of work to show to future employers.
9. Pull an ‘all-nighter’ doing an assignment.
10. Stay in the library until midnight.
11. Go to lectures still in the clothes you had on the day before.
12. Claim your free McFlurry from McDonalds with your NUS card.
13. Eat a Pot Noodle if you have never experienced one before.
14. Claim every type of student finance available, apply for every bursary, fund etc and see what you get.
15. Get a job.
This is the start ... I will post another list up at a later date, feel free to comment to add your additions.
On a FINAL note:
I would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye and thank you to Richard – our current blogmaster, colleague and friend and wish him the best of luck in his PGCE English course at Goldsmiths.
Have a good week cyber-space :)
Friday, 10 September 2010
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
New Month, New Term, New Changes
OK ... so its September already and I have no idea where the last few weeks have disappeared to (probably somewhere hot and sunny on vacation ... which is probably where my brain has gone too). Here in the Clearing office things have been madness; we have found ourselves inundated with applications and, for the first time ever, the University of Greenwich have closed clearing by the end of August. Fantastic news for us, but I fear it will be bad news for those who still don’t have a place.
What can I do now? I don’t have a place ...
Many of you may be in the situation of not having a place and having no idea where to go next. So, here are a few ideas and links to help you. If you have been unsuccessful, think about the reasons why, was it the grades that you have? Was it the quality of your personal statement? Was it the lack of volunteering or experience within the field? If any of these are the reasons – they can be worked on. Try doing a one year access course to improve the quality of your qualifications (www.ocn.org.uk), work on your personal statement – use how-to guides on UCAS (www.ucas.com), volunteer your time (www.volunteering.org.uk) or get some work experience or a job (www.work-experience.org) and finally if you still need someone to turn to, visit your local connexions adviser (www.connexions-direct.com) or check out government advise for young people at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/index.htm .
For those who are on the way ...
For those of you who are successful enough to hold a place at a university, congratulations. It has been much harder to actually gain a place at university this academic year and you have been lucky enough to be one of those who have made it through. Getting ready to start university is a pretty nerve-racking time, you need to prepare yourself for getting to the uni, be it travelling or moving out, making sure you have everything you need to start – pens, pads, books etc and going through the endless paper trail involved in administration for your place.
BUT, don’t be disheartened, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s nearly ....
FRESHERS WEEK!!!!
Fresher’s happens over the first week ... or two ... or three of university and consists of a series of events to welcome you to the university and to get to meet other people.
For what is going on at Greenwich, take a look at http://www.suug.co.uk/freshers2010/events/ to find out what’s going on.
Once again, congratulations to all of you successful applicants and welcome to the University of Greenwich!
What can I do now? I don’t have a place ...
Many of you may be in the situation of not having a place and having no idea where to go next. So, here are a few ideas and links to help you. If you have been unsuccessful, think about the reasons why, was it the grades that you have? Was it the quality of your personal statement? Was it the lack of volunteering or experience within the field? If any of these are the reasons – they can be worked on. Try doing a one year access course to improve the quality of your qualifications (www.ocn.org.uk), work on your personal statement – use how-to guides on UCAS (www.ucas.com), volunteer your time (www.volunteering.org.uk) or get some work experience or a job (www.work-experience.org) and finally if you still need someone to turn to, visit your local connexions adviser (www.connexions-direct.com) or check out government advise for young people at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/index.htm .
For those who are on the way ...
For those of you who are successful enough to hold a place at a university, congratulations. It has been much harder to actually gain a place at university this academic year and you have been lucky enough to be one of those who have made it through. Getting ready to start university is a pretty nerve-racking time, you need to prepare yourself for getting to the uni, be it travelling or moving out, making sure you have everything you need to start – pens, pads, books etc and going through the endless paper trail involved in administration for your place.
BUT, don’t be disheartened, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s nearly ....
FRESHERS WEEK!!!!Fresher’s happens over the first week ... or two ... or three of university and consists of a series of events to welcome you to the university and to get to meet other people.
For what is going on at Greenwich, take a look at http://www.suug.co.uk/freshers2010/events/ to find out what’s going on.
Once again, congratulations to all of you successful applicants and welcome to the University of Greenwich!
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Blog time again, my my, this time of the week certainly comes around quickly. I have found myself having a generally uninteresting, uneventful life for the last week or so, but I have decided to write about the reason why it has been so rubbish as I have nothing better to write about.
The bain of my life this week is ... money!! Surprise, surprise, a student with money problems.
During my job as a CRS ambassador I often go out to schools and colleges and give presentations about student finance and budgeting. The problem is, I am very bad at following the useful information I am disseminating to all of them. So my blog this week is to tell you about my shameful over-spending and to hope that you do not follow in my footsteps and end up with no money.
All new students LOVE that first day of term when you get to your bank account and see that loan/grant money sat there waiting for you to spend it. Some people may have best part of £3000 at their disposal and with the addition of a student overdraft this figure could be even higher. So obviously with that amount of money just sat there, it would be rude to not spend it, just a little, the money would feel insulted right? Wrong, start as you mean to go on. By all means treat yourself to a few moving in gifts for your flat, a few nights out with your new friends and some gorgeous stationary and folders for your new education. But also be sensible and think ... “how long will my money actually last like this?” The answer is, not long at all. During the first term you will have trips home, birthdays, Halloween, fresher’s events and the all important Christmas and all the costs that go with it.
So as dull as it sounds (unless you’re a bit of an organisation junkie like Emily) you need to make a rough budget plan of outgoings and incomings. It doesn’t mean you have to have every penny accounted for, but do yourself a favour and plan a little bit.
In my second year, you would think I would have learnt from my mistakes and with more money coming in from regular work, things should have been much easier. WRONG. The problem is, once you allow yourself to become an addict, you cannot stop yourself. I will make a confession to the world right here, right now ... “My name is Bryony and I am a shopaholic!”
A few of the people I work with here now know just what a sorry state my finances are in and several are trying to help me, but I cannot stop spending. I know as I write this that Laura is going to kill me, but even as I had the last few pounds left on my credit card last week, I found myself buying something on Play.com (sorry, sorry, sorry, bad person, doesn’t listen to good Laura lol). The most important thing though, is that I recognise I have a problem and have asked for help.
So my pledge to you fellow bloggers is that I will no longer spend my money on things I do not need and I will come back to you a success within the next month or two. Leave your messages of support by all means to help motivate me. I CAN beat my addiction!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
It’s the day before payday and everyone is looking at sales and online shops in preparation to have money to spend ... this is hard already ... argh!!! :’(
Friday, 6 August 2010
Working for the University in the Summer
During my summer months at uni, I don’t get to spend my time as a lazy student, tucked up in bed all day watching Jeremy Kyle and This Morning; instead, I spend mine on the top floor of the Queen Mary building in our Greenwich campus. I work as part of the Enquiry Unit staff and it is up to myself and my colleagues to deal with any calls that come in to our free phone telephone number. During the summer months our job gets extremely busy as we take on the mammoth task of ‘Clearing’. For those of you who don’t know, Clearing gives the chance for students who do not already hold a place at university to make a late application to those courses with spaces still available.
A day in the life of …. A Clearing officer
The main task for the teams during Clearing is to answer calls and try to solve enquiries. The things that we deal with could range from simply giving someone directions to the university, to fighting to get them a place on a course so that they can fulfil their dreams of attending university.
Some days we have a lot of fun and talk so extremely friendly people; these are usually the people that are most grateful for your help and hearing their happiness really helps us to get a sense of job satisfaction. There are many cases during Clearing where applicants are putting all of their hopes into an application and we will do everything we can to support them.
Obviously not every customer is a happy one and we do deal with some extremely difficult calls during our work in the summer where people are emotional and unhappy. But at the end of the day we are all experienced in customer service and do everything we can to turn the person’s unhappiness around and solve their problems to the best of our abilities.
During this time we also work in a team, which means that we can share a fantastic bank of knowledge among us. If an enquirer calls and wants an honest opinion about a certain course, then the chances are that someone in our office has done that course or a very similar one and we are able to transfer the call to them for a personal perspective and more information.
All of the staff that work during Clearing and also throughout the year in the Enquiry Unit are current students. This means that we not only know about the information given to us during training, but also personal insights that we have gathered along our journeys. We all come from a variety of backgrounds and have unique university experiences. You can read about many of us in the ‘Student Experience Blogs’ page. Our blogs are a new task for us at work. We wanted to pass on some of our experiences and advice to new and perspective students as we have first-hand experience at all aspects of university life.
The University of Greenwich also has an active Twitter account, which you can follow at @UniofGreenwich.
A day in the life of …. A Clearing officer
The main task for the teams during Clearing is to answer calls and try to solve enquiries. The things that we deal with could range from simply giving someone directions to the university, to fighting to get them a place on a course so that they can fulfil their dreams of attending university.
Some days we have a lot of fun and talk so extremely friendly people; these are usually the people that are most grateful for your help and hearing their happiness really helps us to get a sense of job satisfaction. There are many cases during Clearing where applicants are putting all of their hopes into an application and we will do everything we can to support them.
Obviously not every customer is a happy one and we do deal with some extremely difficult calls during our work in the summer where people are emotional and unhappy. But at the end of the day we are all experienced in customer service and do everything we can to turn the person’s unhappiness around and solve their problems to the best of our abilities.
During this time we also work in a team, which means that we can share a fantastic bank of knowledge among us. If an enquirer calls and wants an honest opinion about a certain course, then the chances are that someone in our office has done that course or a very similar one and we are able to transfer the call to them for a personal perspective and more information.
All of the staff that work during Clearing and also throughout the year in the Enquiry Unit are current students. This means that we not only know about the information given to us during training, but also personal insights that we have gathered along our journeys. We all come from a variety of backgrounds and have unique university experiences. You can read about many of us in the ‘Student Experience Blogs’ page. Our blogs are a new task for us at work. We wanted to pass on some of our experiences and advice to new and perspective students as we have first-hand experience at all aspects of university life.
The University of Greenwich also has an active Twitter account, which you can follow at @UniofGreenwich.
Friday, 30 July 2010
WOW, what a week!
Ok, so last week I was struggling for things to tell you about in my extremely boring life, but this week has been go, go, go!
The Emerald IsleLast weekend we did what students do best and took advantage of a great bargain. We got cheap flights to Dublin, Ireland and a cheap hotel, perfect for a girls’ weekend away. If you book your trip more than 30 days ahead of departure, you can get some great discounts – so always be on the lookout.
While in Dublin we did and saw plenty of things. A few of the sights such as the cathedral, temple bar and the city centre. We then made our way to the Jameson whisky factory where we willing volunteered to be whisky testers and were treated to rather a large amount of free whisky. On Sunday we went to the Museum of Decorative Arts, which much to our disappointment wasn’t much about art, but rather about the uniforms and lives of soldiers and about battles and wars. But still, it was a free day out and lots to see.
After landing home late Sunday night, it was a long drive back to London ready to be here for work bright and early in the morning.
London Life
I know that in last week’s blog I spoke of doing a restaurant review each week, but instead this week I am going to tell you about a really nice area to go for a few relaxing drinks and food. On Wednesday night I met up with a friend at London Bridge and as I didn’t know the area, allowed him to choose our venue.
He took me to a really nice area on the river, just ten minutes casual stroll from the station. If you follow the river along, past ‘The Arc’ building and the fountains and you eventually come to a very rustic looking cobbled street. If you take one of the arches in the building then it leads down to a row of restaurants and bars with fantastic views right along the river and all with outdoor seating.
I won’t lie, this area isn’t exactly cheap, but if you want to go somewhere a little different or somewhere to remind you exactly how beautiful London can be, then this is the perfect place to do so.
Monkeying Around
Yesterday I went on a day out with fellow student ambassadors from the university. A selection of us had been asked to go on the trip as a reward for continual good work and dedication to our jobs throughout the year. We went to Go Ape in Leeds Castle, Kent.
After piling off the coach we were greeted with a fantastic breakfast of pastries, teas, coffees and juices. Then one group at a time were sent off to get harnessed up and ready to go. We had been assigned into pairs and each girl was labelled a damsel and had a guy that was her knight to make sure she was ok. This meant we had a lot of fun doing it and no one ever got left behind on the course.
You then get a safety brief and the instructor guides you through the first zone that is a training ground of mini equipment. From zone two onwards, you are on your own! The course is made up of a series of rope ladders, zip wires, Tarzan swings, cargo nets and a lot of swinging around in trees. The day was very hard work, probably the most physical exercise I’ve had in years, but so enjoyable and most definitely memorable.
The course is around £30 per person but extras like breakfast and BBQ lunch will cost you more. If you think you could take on the challenge, then go for it!
The Emerald IsleLast weekend we did what students do best and took advantage of a great bargain. We got cheap flights to Dublin, Ireland and a cheap hotel, perfect for a girls’ weekend away. If you book your trip more than 30 days ahead of departure, you can get some great discounts – so always be on the lookout.
While in Dublin we did and saw plenty of things. A few of the sights such as the cathedral, temple bar and the city centre. We then made our way to the Jameson whisky factory where we willing volunteered to be whisky testers and were treated to rather a large amount of free whisky. On Sunday we went to the Museum of Decorative Arts, which much to our disappointment wasn’t much about art, but rather about the uniforms and lives of soldiers and about battles and wars. But still, it was a free day out and lots to see.
After landing home late Sunday night, it was a long drive back to London ready to be here for work bright and early in the morning.
London Life
I know that in last week’s blog I spoke of doing a restaurant review each week, but instead this week I am going to tell you about a really nice area to go for a few relaxing drinks and food. On Wednesday night I met up with a friend at London Bridge and as I didn’t know the area, allowed him to choose our venue.
He took me to a really nice area on the river, just ten minutes casual stroll from the station. If you follow the river along, past ‘The Arc’ building and the fountains and you eventually come to a very rustic looking cobbled street. If you take one of the arches in the building then it leads down to a row of restaurants and bars with fantastic views right along the river and all with outdoor seating.
I won’t lie, this area isn’t exactly cheap, but if you want to go somewhere a little different or somewhere to remind you exactly how beautiful London can be, then this is the perfect place to do so.
Monkeying Around
After piling off the coach we were greeted with a fantastic breakfast of pastries, teas, coffees and juices. Then one group at a time were sent off to get harnessed up and ready to go. We had been assigned into pairs and each girl was labelled a damsel and had a guy that was her knight to make sure she was ok. This meant we had a lot of fun doing it and no one ever got left behind on the course.You then get a safety brief and the instructor guides you through the first zone that is a training ground of mini equipment. From zone two onwards, you are on your own! The course is made up of a series of rope ladders, zip wires, Tarzan swings, cargo nets and a lot of swinging around in trees. The day was very hard work, probably the most physical exercise I’ve had in years, but so enjoyable and most definitely memorable.
The course is around £30 per person but extras like breakfast and BBQ lunch will cost you more. If you think you could take on the challenge, then go for it!
Monday, 26 July 2010
Boredom, Barbie and Beautiful Food
Bored.com ...
OK, I really enjoy my job and sometimes I love the fact that we get spare time between calls to amuse ourselves, but right now I am bored, bored, bored, bored, bored. So please can I have some suggestions of light entertainment and links to amusing (office-friendly) websites. I will check them all out and give feedback if anyone sends me anything interesting.
Entertainment News
On another note ... I went to see Toy Story 3 the other day and it was brilliant J I think I would even go as far to say that it was my favourite Toy Story film so far. It made me laugh, made me cry (I know, what a loser!) And some of the new characters were great. Ken being a camp bloke that loved clothes because he is indeed a girls toy was hilarious and the film brought back those fond memories of knowing that Barbie and Ken should be together forever lol!
Munchies ... For those of you who live in the Greenwich area or are soon to move here, I thought I might write a little food guide for you and take it upon myself to try a variety of different things (what a hardship haha). So, this week’s favourite is Mambo Latino, a Cuban restaurant in Greenwich town centre. This tasty place offers a really wide variety of foods ranging from Jerk Chicken to jacket potatoes to tapas and sangria, and all at a pretty reasonable price. Look out for their offers such as Monday’s Spanish night where if you buy 4 plates of tapas you get free sangria. Or their pretty reasonable vegetarian set menu consisting of stuffed veggies, potatoes and a glass of wine or soft drink for 2 people for £20. Good music, good hats and tasty food. Enjoy some Latino culture in this fabulous restaurant.
The week ahead...
This weekend I am off to Dublin for a couple of days, (yes I know, I’ve just got back from Spain and I’m jetting off again, but that’s the hard life I lead!) So news of our travels and hopefully tons of pictures will follow next week.
Entertainment News
On another note ... I went to see Toy Story 3 the other day and it was brilliant J I think I would even go as far to say that it was my favourite Toy Story film so far. It made me laugh, made me cry (I know, what a loser!) And some of the new characters were great. Ken being a camp bloke that loved clothes because he is indeed a girls toy was hilarious and the film brought back those fond memories of knowing that Barbie and Ken should be together forever lol!
Munchies ... For those of you who live in the Greenwich area or are soon to move here, I thought I might write a little food guide for you and take it upon myself to try a variety of different things (what a hardship haha). So, this week’s favourite is Mambo Latino, a Cuban restaurant in Greenwich town centre. This tasty place offers a really wide variety of foods ranging from Jerk Chicken to jacket potatoes to tapas and sangria, and all at a pretty reasonable price. Look out for their offers such as Monday’s Spanish night where if you buy 4 plates of tapas you get free sangria. Or their pretty reasonable vegetarian set menu consisting of stuffed veggies, potatoes and a glass of wine or soft drink for 2 people for £20. Good music, good hats and tasty food. Enjoy some Latino culture in this fabulous restaurant.
This weekend I am off to Dublin for a couple of days, (yes I know, I’ve just got back from Spain and I’m jetting off again, but that’s the hard life I lead!) So news of our travels and hopefully tons of pictures will follow next week.
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Spain, Sunstroke and Stress!
Viva Espana!
So it’s my first day back at work after a fantastic week in Spain. The weather was fantastic and we saw and did so much. I and my flat mate went to Torremolinos, Costa del Sol for a week of relaxing before working full time in clearing for the rest of the summer.
We did some amazing things including a visit to the water park, a trip to Gibraltar to check out the monkeys and do some duty free shopping and a really cool Spanish horse show and flamenco display. It was beautifully hot hitting 43 degrees on our last day but unfortunately relating in me getting sunstroke and suffering all the way home :(
Monkey business!
Apparently people love stories about monkeys and the ones in Gibraltar were rather troublesome little devils, so if you ever get the chance to see them then definitely do it. They have been living in the country for hundreds of years so they believe that the territory is theirs. They often rob the shops in the national park of sweets, postcards and whatever else takes their fancy.
One lady on our tour group was silly enough to have open her bag when it had a couple of bananas in it, which were speedily robbed by the cheeky primates, the lady stupidly tried to steal them back but there was no way they were letting hold of their loot.
Another idiot was the man who had left his car window open then had a fit when a rather large male ape decided he wanted a little sit down in the comfy driver’s seat. As they guy came back shouting and screaming the monkey dived out the other window nearest to the man and he jumped a mile – what a tough nut haha.
So remember folks ... when visiting monkeys, please refrain from taking bananas in your bags, leaving windows open and just generally providing them with entertainment by being idiot tourists.
Here are some monkey pics for your amusement:
Monkey mastermind with a stolen postcard:
Monkey jail where he belongs haha (alternatively known as railings)
Car thieving monkey:
Monkey!!
Back to reality!
Now I’m back and getting into the swing of working for the summer, it’s also had me thinking about going into my final year and what lies beyond my degree ... I’m finding myself contemplating whether or not to do a PGCE (teacher training qualification), this could give me a great back-up career but should I distract myself from my dream career for a year to do the training? With the realisation of many of my friends finding it difficult to get jobs as graduates, it pushes me towards considering this new direction for my career, but I’m still feeling a bit lost ... does anyone have any helpful advice for me?
Other thoughts ...
So it’s my first day back at work after a fantastic week in Spain. The weather was fantastic and we saw and did so much. I and my flat mate went to Torremolinos, Costa del Sol for a week of relaxing before working full time in clearing for the rest of the summer.
We did some amazing things including a visit to the water park, a trip to Gibraltar to check out the monkeys and do some duty free shopping and a really cool Spanish horse show and flamenco display. It was beautifully hot hitting 43 degrees on our last day but unfortunately relating in me getting sunstroke and suffering all the way home :(
Monkey business!
Apparently people love stories about monkeys and the ones in Gibraltar were rather troublesome little devils, so if you ever get the chance to see them then definitely do it. They have been living in the country for hundreds of years so they believe that the territory is theirs. They often rob the shops in the national park of sweets, postcards and whatever else takes their fancy.
One lady on our tour group was silly enough to have open her bag when it had a couple of bananas in it, which were speedily robbed by the cheeky primates, the lady stupidly tried to steal them back but there was no way they were letting hold of their loot.
Another idiot was the man who had left his car window open then had a fit when a rather large male ape decided he wanted a little sit down in the comfy driver’s seat. As they guy came back shouting and screaming the monkey dived out the other window nearest to the man and he jumped a mile – what a tough nut haha.
So remember folks ... when visiting monkeys, please refrain from taking bananas in your bags, leaving windows open and just generally providing them with entertainment by being idiot tourists.
Here are some monkey pics for your amusement:
Monkey mastermind with a stolen postcard:
Monkey jail where he belongs haha (alternatively known as railings)
Car thieving monkey:
Monkey!!
Back to reality!
Now I’m back and getting into the swing of working for the summer, it’s also had me thinking about going into my final year and what lies beyond my degree ... I’m finding myself contemplating whether or not to do a PGCE (teacher training qualification), this could give me a great back-up career but should I distract myself from my dream career for a year to do the training? With the realisation of many of my friends finding it difficult to get jobs as graduates, it pushes me towards considering this new direction for my career, but I’m still feeling a bit lost ... does anyone have any helpful advice for me?
Other thoughts ...
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