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.