End of School Year Report

My school year for 2011-2012 has officially ended with my results letter coming through, and now I present to you my own (completely unbiased and honest) reflection of the year using my school year resolutions blog from last year.

1) GET A FIRST THIS YEAR! I actually didn’t go too far off with this one- 3 marks off a first overall was an achievement for me. The one downfall again was the inconsistency- my lowest mark was a 51 and highest was 80. Sure this is less than the 45-83 range from last year, but I want to gain more consistent marks. It would help that I have teachers that wouldn’t take 10 marks off an assignment purely to “maintain the overall year group average”.

2) CUT THE SOCIAL NETWORKING No comment. However, my grades weren’t as impacted as they were last year, so surely tweeting on a semi-frequent basis isn’t harming me, right?

3) SAVE MONEY! I’m pleased to say I have actual money saved! In my first year, I ended up being broke twice (I blame Miami), but nevertheless I’ve been very good with my spending. My trick was to act like I was broke- every time I see something in the shop, I question if I actually need it and 99% of the time the answer is no. It’s worked well for me!

4) STAY ACTIVE! I chose not to splash out on a gym membership because of the lack of time I have to do anything, so I thank my dog for helping me to achieve this target. I’m basically responsible for taking him out on walks, and they turn into hour long jogs! He’s only one and is still growing, so taking him out on walks on a daily basis is a must to ensure he grows as much as possible. I’ve managed to lose some weight and inches thanks to me walking my dog Max around. It’s also fun…unless you get pulled around everywhere like I do when I’m with Max…

5) FIND A SUMMER INTERNSHIP. As you can assume from the last blog, I failed on this. The circumstances weren’t in my favour, but I’m surprisingly OK with not fulfilling this resolution. I mean, how many people can truthfully say they’ve stuck to ALL their New Year’s Resolutions?!  Also, I came to a realisation during my break- I’m actually really good with children in primary schools, so I’ve decided to apply for a Primary PGCE course for when I am finished with my Business Management degree! Luckily, I have a lot of experience in primary schools, so I’m hoping to get onto the course starting in September 2013.

Now that I’ve evaluated my targets from last year, I have a few going forward that I would like to achieve:

• Do not score below 60 for any assignment. My final year is worth 75% of my degree marks, whereas my second year is worth 25%. In order to get a first overall I can’t drop below 60 in any assignment. Also, think of the bursary that comes with the Primary PGCE course…
• Get over my fear of exams. I may have got a 67 overall, but I was dragged down because of my exam results. I literally ran out of the room once I finished my Cross Cultural, and rambled in my OB2 exam. I aim to change my mentality of exams by the time May 2013 exam season comes.
• Find a hobby! There are times where I can spend hours mundanely staring at a computer tweeting and taking photos for Instagram. Finding something useful to spend my spare time doing would be helpful in keeping me sane during my final year!

A Series of Unfortunate, Ill Timed Events

It’s been a long time since I last blogged! I was hoping to write a blog coming from sunny California, letting you know about my internship and all of the things I was doing while out in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, a series of events led to the downfall of my internship. Despite AEG being a multinational company earning millions a year, they couldn't afford to help me out with my visa costs even though they had agreed to do so if I asked. Financial issues became more prominent and without help from AEG, I dropped out. This all happened within the space of a week of me finishing my exams. I was disappointed that I had to miss out on the internship, but I had no choice in the matter. I know that one day I will go out to California, but for now it wasn't the best thing to do. I’ve learned that you can’t always get what you want, but there will be something that comes along that’s better than what you expect. I'm hoping that comes around soon- this weather is awful!

So what have I been doing for the past two months since I last blogged? The saga with AEG did have a silver lining of sorts. As a way for apologising, AEG offered me a new job while merchandise is shut for the summer (thanks a lot, Olympics). You can now find me here on weekends:

OK, I’m not going to be on the platform greeting you with champagne, but I am working at the new attraction at the O2 Arena, Up at The O2! You get to climb to the top of the O2 at a price of £22 (you get a 15% discount if you are an O2 Priority customer, and 50% off if you work within the O2. If you are an employee of the attraction, you get as many free goes as you wish!). It’s helping with my financial issues, but I do need other means of help. This is why I’m back in the Enquiry Unit taking your calls for Clearing 2012 at the University of Greenwich! We’re not scary to talk to- if you want to apply for an undergraduate course starting in September 2012, call us (0208 331 9000) and we’ll help you out as best as we can.

One plus side for me was getting my second year results- I got a high 2:1 (67!) and I couldn’t be happier with the result. This year has been tough, as a lot of things were going against me, but I am extremely happy with a 67 going into my final year. My next blog will be about my school year’s resolutions from last year, and making new ones for this upcoming year. 

May The Odds Be EVER In Your Favour!

Exam season is fast approaching, and I admit I haven’t started revising! Why? I don’t know if I’m being honest- I have a tendency to put things off until to the last minute, and this can either be a good or bad thing. Most of the time it turns out good for assignments, but now it’s exam season, it can only mean bad things. 

Like most of the student population, I HATE exams, from the small desk in a cramped hall to the actual content of an exam. One thing I've done to help with my loathing of exams is use my love of reading to help me through my exams. It is called How to Succeed in Exams & Assessments, and I use it to give me tips on how to revise effectively based off my learning style. If you want to buy it you can get it from Amazon for a minimum of 1p!

Speaking of my love for reading, I am officially hooked onto The Hunger Games book series. While I’m working at the Enquiry Unit, I take the time to read the book while the phones are quiet. I’ve now finished the series and it has dawned on me that I need to start my revision. I figured I’d give some tips on how I revise and I hope this helps you out in some way.

• Don’t be afraid of colours! Whenever I revise, I colour code EVERYTHING. I do this for several reasons, but it’s mostly because it makes my revision process more interesting. I mainly write out shortened version of notes I've made in lectures, but others use spider diagrams and mind maps. Either way, there’s no need to be afraid to use a pink pen now and then!
• Study your past exams. Most exams are written in the same style (and in some cases the same subjects, questions etc). If you study them and spot the similar patterns, you’ll find revising much easier to do. It gives you an indicator of what topics you need to revise and how they will be placed in the exam.
• Practice your time management. In university, you may be faced with the daunting task of writing 4 essays in 2 hours. Sounds impossible, right? Not if you practice writing out 4 essays in 2 hours, or 1 essay in 30 minutes. I find this technique the most beneficial, especially if I do it on a variety of subjects- in one of my exams last year, one of my practice questions was an actual question in my exam! If that happens to you, then you've done well.

So these are my main tips of revision. They may not necessarily suit you, but try to find what bests suits you in terms of revision style. I shall end the blog the way I started it...

(Thanks to kiranaputri01.blogspot.co.uk)

Evil Penguins, Shufflin’ Dolphins and Wrestlemania...

It’s been a while since I have blogged on here, so I figured better late than never, eh? March has been an insane month for me- I spent one half on completing assignments a month in advance so that I could spend the second half in Miami! For the sakes of not thinking about my pending exams, I will write about the second half of March which I spent on South Beach.

I will admit that for the first 3 days I didn’t do much. I mainly explored the area I was in and spent time lounging on the beach. Despite the fact it was packed, I found it surprisingly peaceful while I was sunbathing...although I didn’t realise until I got back to the apartment to find that I had got sun burnt! I officially have the worst tan line you could think of, but at least the burning has now turned into a tan!

One of the first things we did when we went to South Beach was go on an Air Tour of Miami. The photo on the right shows the plan we flew in. While my plane to Miami was my first flight ever, this little plane scared me a LOT. I feared a wing would break off and that would be the end of me, but luckily I did survive. If I didn’t, you wouldn’t know about any of this right now...I took some really great photos from the air, which I will show at the end of the blog. I felt a bit sick afterwards but I had fun nonetheless.

Now onto the first part of the title of this blog: Evil Penguins. I went to Jungle Island, and got to see some...interesting creatures. The one that stood out was this penguin. It wouldn’t stop giving me evil looks, so I took this photo to show you that I’m not lying about it. It then decided to peck me, and I ended up in trouble! How does that work out?! I also got the opportunity to feed a baby kangaroo- while I don’t understand why there is a kangaroo in Miami, it was a really great experience.

Another highlight was going to the Miami Seaquarium. I have always wanted to see dolphins up close, so this was my opportunity. I went to the showcase of their dolphins and killer whale, Lolita...and they were able to do the shuffle as seen in LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem! You really couldn’t make this stuff up. This was my best picture from the Seaquarium. I didn’t get a good photo of Lolita, and when I Googled her, she had pictures from anti-Seaquarium protesters!

In amongst the crazy shopping I did and acting like a tourist for a week, there was a reason why I went to Miami at this particular time...Wrestlemania 28. It’s been a childhood dream of mine to go to one Wrestlemania, and I figured I would take the opportunity to go while I could. In hindsight, I really shouldn’t have gone because of California, but I didn’t know about that beforehand, so I’ll take the trip for what it was. Plus, when you have Dwayne Johnson in the same area as you, it’s imperative to go! WWE celebrates Wrestlemania for an entire week, which meant that they were running meet and greets in the form of “Axxess” sessions. I went to three of them and met a wide variety of wrestlers! One of the best things about going to the sessions was seeing my friend who I haven’t seen in six years, and she is now one of the wrestlers who took part in one of the sessions I went to. I decided to surprise her (I didn’t tell her I was going to Miami), and she was IN SHOCK! It was great seeing April after a long time apart (for the WWE fans out there, she’s known as AJ), and I’m excited to see her again this week when she comes to London! She also introduced me to one of her fellow wrestlers who I am now friends with. Maybe I can blag free tickets to shows...?

While the cost was high, I felt the experience of going to Miami was worth it. I need to find a way to get money to go to Los Angeles in June, and I need to sort out my visa (which is turning out to be a LOT more complicated than I initially thought). I’ll be sure to update this blog with my progress, but I am determined to make it to California! To end this blog, I thought I would share some photos with you that I took while in Miami...

  

Top left- my view from the airplane; Top centre- a view of South Beach; Top right- the artist work outside the Miami Children’s Museum (I didn’t go there but I went past it during my Duck Boat Tour)

Middle left- My view of South Beach from my Air Tour; Middle centre- me feeding a baby kangaroo; Middle right- me and my friend, AJ who is now a WWE Diva!

Bottom left- Former WWE Superstar Edge & I; Bottom middle- Sun Life Stadium when I arrived; Bottom right- My view for Wrestlemania. Over 78,000 people attended!

Working Abroad from a Student’s Perspective

Following up on my blog about obtaining an internship in California, I wanted to write a blog that was a lot more...informative. I know there are students out there that would love to travel, and I am one of them. Even though I live at home, I've always wanted to work in another country, namely America. This is why this internship means a LOT to me, and I would love if this blog here gave you some insight into what it is like to apply for international opportunities, and give my story about why I want to go California, and how you can do the same if you choose to come to the University of Greenwich.

I’m not going to lie- applying for work in the UK is HARD!!!!!  The amount of rejection emails I have received could fill up my entire bedroom. I’ve been applying for summer internships because I want to have some sort of advantage when I begin to apply for graduate vacancies next year. I will drop names...Microsoft, Sainsburys, BT and a whole host of other British based companies have rejected my applications. Whilst this did lower my confidence, I figured that I would start to expand beyond London. This is when I decided to apply for national internships, but I still had no response. My manager at the o2 Arena then suggested that I applied for international internships. He said he would forward my CV to various AEG branches across the world, and it resulted in the branch in Los Angeles contacting me. I found it bizarre that the first international application I made resulted in an internship offer!

One thing that inspired me to say yes to this offer was a lesson I had earlier this year in Value Chain Management. My lecturer, Mike, arranged for a guest lecturer about applying for work in America from an expert in the field, Dr Al Infande. He is based in Florida, and he talked about how British graduates are a high commodity in America, and how it would be wise for us to go over and work over there. Did you know that an undergraduate student in America earns (on average) $50,000?! If you choose to carry on your education to a postgraduate degree, your average earnings shoot up to $75000!! Even though I’m not using that lecture in my assignment, it is the one lesson this year that really taught me something I won’t forget.

So...how do you go about it? One thing that is IMPERATIVE is you go to a CV Clinic. In the University of Greenwich, you are able to book a CV clinic, which is when a member of staff will go through your CV and help you adapt it to make it a graduate CV. I did one with the Business Placements School Office, and Sarah helped me out with it. If you are at/going to come to the university, that would be the best thing for you, especially if you don’t have work experience.

Another thing I chose to do was speak to my programme leader. As I mentioned in my last blog, my internship will be worth university credits, and I will be piloting the Business Management Internship module. I’m one of the lucky ones that actually managed to get an internship (albeit in another country), and I’m glad that this module I am going to be doing is not exam based!

If you don’t want to travel so far like I am (11 hours away!!), I would suggest asking your student centre about the ERASMUS Scheme. Do you know how in movies such as Sixteen Candles they have the foreign students coming over to study? You can do the same through the ERASMUS scheme, but you can do it while you are at university and for one term only!

I hope you found this blog somewhat insightful into what it is like for me to apply for jobs and my thoughts about working abroad. I will keep you up to date on my progress of getting my visa and flight. My accommodation is now officially sorted! Check out the place below...

You have no idea how happy I am to be here while the Olympics are on. HA!

CALIFORNIA, HERE I COME!

After a long, gruelling 6 month process, it finally happened. Tuesday night, I FINALLY got accepted onto a summer internship programme!!! It is at this point where I officially present the celebratory clip art...

 There is a slight catch to it though. As you may have gathered from the title of this blog, this internship is based in California!!! I've been accepted onto an internship with AEG, which may be unpaid and will require me to find my accommodation, visa and pay for my flight (until they reimburse me), but still...IT’S IN LOS ANGELES!!!!! I'm going to be spending three months in LA completing the “AEG College Internship”. It is going to be worth university credits, as my programme leader for Business Management is piloting a new module for second year students going into their final year. It will be worth 30 credits, and it means I won’t have to take up an extra option next year!  Think of it this way- I’m going to be gaining credits while working in CALIFORNIA!!!! Can’t get much better right?!

I’m going to Miami this month! I have about 2 weeks to get my final submissions done, but I’m doing it all in good stride. I have also buried my debit card in the black hole known as my bedroom so that I can have enough to go to both Miami AND Los Angeles! No more spending for me. I have an audition for the television show The Chase on Sunday, and if I get on and win money, I can actually afford to go and have change to spare! If that fails, I have my applications for Million Pound Drop, Deal or No Deal, or my many competition entries for ITV morning shows to fall back on. One needs to work...

WISH ME LUCK!!!

Wir Lieben Schadenfreude!

For all the Germans that read my blog, you’re probably wondering why I am loving a subject that involves the pleasure of other people’s torture. I'm not psychotic- I am simply referring to my presentation that I did a couple of weeks ago, which was about schadenfreude’s presence in reality television. Our group got a 90- that’s just TEN marks off perfection! So of course I'm going to love the concept of schadenfreude, especially since it got me my first 90...EVER! I have to admit that pronouncing the word was hilarious. We used an online dictionary that pronounces the word to help our group out. I told my German friend, Jasmina, about learning a German word, and when I told her it was schadenfreude, she laughed her head off! I surely impressed with my vast grasp of the German language! :P

Now that the presentation is over, I’m finding myself swamped with work that...to put it nicely, isn’t enjoyable. Did you know you can relate culture to FURNITURE? For a topic that I enjoy so much, my course leader managed to find a way to make it boring! I am also plowing my way through a Value Chain assignment which is 4000 words, but that’s going better than expected. MIS (Management of Information Systems) is driving me nuts with the amount of presentations we have to do alongside our individual report. A group presentation a week is making me go more crazy than what I was like in my last blog! My evidence for this is the fact that there was a PELICAN on my roof this morning. Yes...a PELICAN.

In addition to this, Frugal February is in full swing. I’m halfway through, but  I have been an incredibly good scrounger and not spent on anything other than travel...and a present for my sister. But otherwise, I’m doing well! I think I’ll have enough in time for Miami (once my mobile phone bill is paid). I found out that you can get money in such stupid ways. For example, on my website, I got asked if I wanted to advertise FoxyBingo.Com. Thinking it was spam, I initially ignored it, but then I found out you could get money for it. I decided to go for it to see what would happen, and I got $170 for subliminally advertising an online bingo company! Don’t believe me?

Talk about a result! That roughly translated to £105.45 for me to have for Miami. I will give a progress report at the end of the month, and hope that I have the $1400 that I need in order to go. Wish me luck!

Image Credit: http://pixar.wikia.com/File:Finding_Nemo_Nigel.png