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

What to Do When Work Sends You into Crazy Town

It’s officially February, which for me means it is Frugal February. I have banned myself from spending my money on anything other than travel to and from places. February is also my deadline month- in March I am going away to Miami for two weeks, which means I need to bury my head in assignments in February to make up for the fact that I’m going to be sunbathing on South Beach during Deadline Week...dun dun dun....

This blog is going to do exactly what it says in the title. When you get into a world whereby work work work is all you have on the agenda, I’ll show you how to make it interesting...

 

To the left is a slide from my recent Organisational Behaviour- Managing Groups & Teams presentation. I’ve been working with my friends on this, but the problem we faced was how to make the topic of Group Influences on Behaviour interesting. This is why I have a picture from the Disney film, Peter Pan, to explain what the concept means. I showed this to my friends, and they said that I am officially crazy- why didn’t they know this before?! The coolest part of this slide is that it plays the “We’re following the leader” song! Some may say that is creative- others might say it’s a sign of insanity. Either way, it’s going to count for a whopping 10% of my final grade in this course. Might as well make it interesting right?!

If you feel like your assignments are driving you loca, make them interesting. With my assignments, there is a lot of flexibility in terms of what I can talk about, but I have to ensure that it relates to the topic. If there is a chance that I can talk about television or Disney in my assignments, I will use it and make it work. Last year, I had 10 options for an assignment in Context & Regulatory Framework, and I picked the culture option. Why? Because it meant I could research by watching foreign films and other films that I felt related to my question. It worked because I got a first in the assignment! Can I do this in 2012? Maybe, but one of my assignments is about furniture...

I shall leave you with this image which also provides some good advice for you...and me. Happy Frugal February!

Happy Twenteenth!

Something big has happened since I last wrote a blog on here...I celebrated my birthday! It wasn’t just any birthday though...I celebrated my twenteenth birthday. I know you’re thinking I'm crazy, as twenteen isn’t a real age, but I am remaining adamant that it is. To be honest, I am the furthest thing from what a typical 20 year old is. I mean...I made up my own age just to show how much in denial I am! This blog is going to be somewhat of a celebration of many things going on in my life...

For one, I have an interview for an internship coming up! I am happy to say that someone did get in touch with me in regards to interviewing me, and I’m excited for it. I’ve been feeling down over the fact that I’ve not had responses to my applications, so to get one is something that has me upbeat about the future and what it could possibly entail.

I finally got to see “The Artist” on my birthday! For the past week, I have tried (and failed) to convince my friends and family to see this movie with me. Why? It is a black and white silent movie that is set in the 1920s. I even tried the “but...but...it’s my birthday!” trick, but it failed. That was until my sister surprised me by getting us tickets to see it in the cinema. I suggest everyone watches the movie- don’t judge a movie by the poster. It deserves every award it earns. Plus...there’s a cute dog in the movie! You cannot deny a film with a dog that plays dead whenever they see or hear a gunshot. The dog is basically the PG equivalent to the monkey in “The Hangover 2”...that alone should entice you to see this movie. I bet you will enjoy the movie once you go and see it.

Another thing that I’m celebrating is the fact that my online business is making lots of progress! I’m not officially online yet, but I have been able to outline a strategy of what I am going to sell, and I’ve made some designs for my products. I call that progress, especially considering how hectic December has been for me J My trip to Miami is also becoming less of a stress now that the majority of it has been paid for. Unfortunately for me though, I discovered that there is a shop called “Cheesecake Factory”, which is set to throw my diet out of the window!

Well I managed to cram a lot into this blog. I hope you guys enjoyed what I had to say and the progress I’ve made towards the school year resolutions that I made back when I started writing a blog for the university. I shall end this blog with a photo of the present my friends got me for my birthday. This should justify why I am twenteen rather than twenty...

Reflecting on a Rollercoaster Year

It’s just ten days until 2011 comes to a close, and our final year of existence begins (if you choose to believe all of the 2012 hype). For me, it’s been a year of...progress. I found that I’ve grown up a lot more in 2011 (HA!) and somewhat matured (LOL!), but now it’s time to think about how to go forward in my life.

When I was about 9 years old, I said to myself that I would go to New York for New Year’s Eve when I become 20 years old. Whilst student finances and my poor spending habits prevent me from doing that in 2011, I vow to go in 2012 when I am actually 20 (and hopefully a lot more affluent). I’m not just saying this because I watched New Year’s Eve at the cinema yesterday. Every year, we watch Sky News to see the world enter the New Year, and from a young age, New York was always my favourite to watch. I loved seeing the ball drop and the party that preceded it, and I would love to be part of it one day.

Studies wise, this has been a bit of a topsy turvy year. While my grades averaged out to a 2:1, my grades for my first year ranged from 45 to 83. I am currently waiting for my grades for my first set of assignments for second year, so right now I am chomping at the bit. So much for getting them by the end of the first term...

I think the area that I’ve progressed in most is in the workplace. I’m one of the lucky ones that can say that I have several part-time jobs, even when I thought I wouldn’t get them. My internship hunt is ongoing, but at least I’m trying my best to get a job after I graduate!

So what does 2012 hold for me? I’m going to treat it as if it really is the last year of existence and do everything I can to make it a year to remember. This means a first in my degree, a fun holiday to Miami in March, a summer internship and a fluke win in the National Lottery so that I can go to New York in 2012! As this is my final blog for 2011, I hope that you guys have a great Christmas, and don’t destroy your houses in the New Year J