On Friday, my college took a group of us to a UCAS fair at Winchester University. It was a huge event with Universities from all over the country, and would supposedly help us with deciding where we wanted to go to study.
Many of the stalls had real students from the universities there as representatives, and talking to them was really interesting, as they were able to answer questions not found in prospectuses and on websites. They could tell me what the social and night life is like as well as whether they like living in that town or city. I even found out about what it is like to study a certain subject area at degree level when I was lucky enough to come across one who studies in the area I want to. However, the staff of the Universities were not so helpful, as quite a lot of what they said wasn't even true! They were just desperate to make you think their Uni was the best!
Once we had found out all the information we wanted, we started a new game: freebie hunting! By targeting the stalls with the best free stuff on offer, I had managed to score a set of good quality earphones, a canvas shopping bag, a packet of seeds to grow flowers, a balloon, a rubber and 3 pens. However, I missed out on a beach ball, because by the time we had worked out which stall was giving them away, they had run out!
I would recommend going to these days as they are fun, but I would suggest focusing on talking to students at the university rather than staff, as they tend to be more honest, and can tell you more about what it is actually like to go there. Have you been to any university fairs?
Monday 30 April 2018
Saturday 21 April 2018
Am I Normal Yet?
When my mum handed me a book with the title "Am I Normal Yet" just over a week ago I had to laugh. Mostly because the answer for me was "No", and probably always will be! On closer inspection, it was about a girl who was recovering from an anxiety disorder going to college and trying to act just like everyone else so they wouldn't know what is wrong with her. I recognised author Holly Bourne as the writer of another book I like, Soulmates, so I decided it was well worth a read.
When I read it though, I realised it was about feminism as well, as her and her new friends set up a group called "The Spinsters" to discuss feminist topics. They are trying to prove that they can be happy without boyfriends, and not become totally dependant on them when they do get them. It also discusses friendship, boyfriends, music and general college life, as well as what life is like when mental illness is slowly closing you off from everyone around you. The way it is written realistically portrays what it is like to be constantly attacked by your own thoughts.
I would recommend it to all girls at college, especially if they have ever been effected by mental illness.
When I read it though, I realised it was about feminism as well, as her and her new friends set up a group called "The Spinsters" to discuss feminist topics. They are trying to prove that they can be happy without boyfriends, and not become totally dependant on them when they do get them. It also discusses friendship, boyfriends, music and general college life, as well as what life is like when mental illness is slowly closing you off from everyone around you. The way it is written realistically portrays what it is like to be constantly attacked by your own thoughts.
I would recommend it to all girls at college, especially if they have ever been effected by mental illness.
Saturday 7 April 2018
University Choices
As I am heading toward the last year of my A levels, I am starting to properly think about University choices. Up until now, I have always thought it would be fairly straightforward, as I thought I knew I wanted to study graphic design. However, it turns out that every Uni's graphic design course is slightly different in content, and there are other courses like illustration and visual communication that are also interesting.
I guess the problem is we are no longer in the world of A levels, where there is a limited choice and they are all fairly standardised from college to college. Now, I am in a position where there is a huge range to pick from, and as the choice will determine which area of design I end up working in, that is pretty daunting.
And then there is the problem of where do I want to go? Home or away? City or closed campus? Huge lively University, or friendly art college? It is proving to be a lot more complicated than I thought. And one look at the employment statistics from each Uni prove how important this decision is. The percentage of people with a career after 6 months can vary dramatically. For my courses, it can be anything from 80% to only 32%.
At least I have some idea though. If it is this hard when you know what career you want and are just trying to work out the best way to get there, how difficult must it be when you have no clue? How are you coping with the decisions?
I guess the problem is we are no longer in the world of A levels, where there is a limited choice and they are all fairly standardised from college to college. Now, I am in a position where there is a huge range to pick from, and as the choice will determine which area of design I end up working in, that is pretty daunting.
And then there is the problem of where do I want to go? Home or away? City or closed campus? Huge lively University, or friendly art college? It is proving to be a lot more complicated than I thought. And one look at the employment statistics from each Uni prove how important this decision is. The percentage of people with a career after 6 months can vary dramatically. For my courses, it can be anything from 80% to only 32%.
At least I have some idea though. If it is this hard when you know what career you want and are just trying to work out the best way to get there, how difficult must it be when you have no clue? How are you coping with the decisions?
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