A Level Results day & University Freshers advice video!

A terrifying day for hundreds of thousands of 18 year olds today, who find out if they have got into the university that they have been pining over for the past 8 months at least.

I was in the same position myself last year and results day for me was an utterly traumatising experience, to think of it now makes me feel a bit nauseous in my stomach. I wish I could go back in time to hug my past self and reassure them that things would turn out okay in the end.

I won't go into the too grim and technical details, as you will probably fall asleep on the keyboard. However, I will say that I was horrifyingly rejected by my first and second choice universities (If you don't know how the system works... there is no third choice, you get a first and second choice and that is your lot!) So I was then thrust into a process in the UK called 'Clearing' which is sort of how it sounds, but if you're still confused then Google can enlighten you on that. It was a huge rush of urgent and frantic telephone calls, waiting on hold, keeling over the toilet bowl with nerves, loss of appetite, begging universities shamelessly, breaking down in tears at any given moment, refreshing my email every 10 seconds and a general feeling of being an absolute failure. However, 36 hours after everyone else, I was accepted by my second choice university who had decided that it wouldn't be so bad to have me on board after all. After initial apprehension at not being at my favorite university like I had expected, I just begun to get very excited. That is where my story ends and this video will be able to fill in all the gaps from that point onwards...

If things haven't gone the way that you expected today, and you're perhaps feeling like your life plans have fallen off the tracks, I plead you not to get disheartened. Life has a wonderful way of springing us away from what we think we want to a place that is even better than we could have ever imagined. I am so unbelievably thankful that I was steered away slightly from what I thought I wanted a year ago, now I have ended up in the place that I am supposed to be.

Take it from me: Letting go of the little things

It's time for some wise words with me and Furby! I have my wisdom beard on, and Furby is wise enough already... lets go!

It is all too easy to get all wrapped up, emotional and distressed about what someone has said to you or how they have acted towards you, it's so annoying because what feels like a great day is completely tarnished by another persons words or actions!
If this has happened to you here are my key things to think about to calm you down:

Did they mean what they said/did? (Has it come across in the wrong tone in your head, often the case with texting)
Have they said/done what they mean? (People make mistakes, they may not have thought before they acted or spoke. They may not understand or know that something is important to you)

and most importantly...
Will it matter a year from now?

Often it never ever does matter in a years time so there's no point wasting all your energy getting upset and emotional. It's much easier to give the benefit of the doubt to someone and to let it go.

But, if you know a person had malicious intent just think in your head 'Am I going to let this person make me feel the way they want me to feel?' No way!
If all else fails it's always great to kill them with kindness, it avoids confrontation and wrong things being said in the heat of the moment.

After doing that, I like to have a good long shower, it just makes me feel better and calm and refreshed!

Wise words from me and the Furbz

Push for University

This is a more 'serious' post, as far as my posts go, hopefully you'll still find some of it fun, but I want to put a diclaimer that this is not me telling you what to do with your life or how to get your dream career or what to do after school, it's just a little issue that I'm responding to.
Lot's of people have asked me what I think of going to university since the tuition fee rise, and this now is old news as the plan to put it in place was made last year, but this year is the first year that it is being utilised. Tuition fees have tripled for students beginning university this September. So people have been asking

Is university still worth it?

I would say, of course it is.

Now, just because I say 'yes’ does not mean that I hold the right answer, or that you need to agree with what I am saying as of course many, many success stories exist of people making their own way into established jobs with their skill set and dedication and being really reaaaallly good at interviews to beat other candidates with a degree.

This may be a ridiculous way to look at it, but my attitude to the fee rise was ‘it’s such an extortionate amount it’s not even worth thinking about’

So yes, this may be a ‘bury my head in the sand’ mentality, but that really is the way it is.
Kind of like when you dare to look at the amount of fat and salt in a McDonalds burger- it’s such a huge amount I can’t even think about it, but I’ll eat the burger anyway.

This is not me trying to make a joke out of something serious. Debt is a serious issue but the debt will go one of two ways for all graduates

Scenario number 1:
You earn over £21,000 a year, so you pay back your loan in monthly instalments for 30 years (or less, depending on the percentage they take and how much you earn) and the remaining amount after 30 years is wiped.

Scenario number 2:
You earn under £21,000 a year for 30 years and never pay a penny back.
 
It’s estimated that 50% of graduates will not pay a penny of their loan back, this can be seen positively or negatively. Negatively, because it’s depressing to think you did all that schooling to earn way under the national average for 30 years. Positive because gosh darnit you just got a free education!
 
So that’s my two cents, whatever your situation I wouldn’t let the fees put you off doing what you want to do because the loans are in place to allow university to be accessible to everyone, not just those whose parents can afford it.
 
For more fun information on this and universities in general I really found great comfort in reading www.push.co.uk it’s not boring, and I would read it as a nice break from reading all that stiff jabber about ‘higher education’, on many occasions ‘Push’ has made me really laugh out loud with their funny articles.

 
Now is the point where people in the UK are beginning university applications for the new year, so I hope this was a little help in that maze!