I miss uni :(

So, Clearing is well underway, the new team members are in the office and all is well except…I miss uni :( It’s so weird, the majority of my best friends are getting ready to start their second or third year in September and are beginning to receive their timetables and finalise accommodation, and I’m…just…here :( I miss the stress of deadlines and sense of purpose and direction; I’ll still be around for cheerleading, but it’s not the same :( University is a wonderful experience, folks! Don’t take any of your time for granted! 

On a brighter note, I’m off to the Dominican Republic in less than a month; 40 degrees plus, here I commmme :D It’s been said many a time that I’m a tropical creature :) Give me sun, sand, a body of water, a book, some music and a mojito and I’m happy :D Okay so that’s actually quite a list but, still!

I hope everyone’s been enjoying their summer and for those of you who recently received you’re A Level results: CONGRATULATIONS!! If you didn't do as well as you’d hoped, never fear! It’s honestly not the end of the world, and there are more routes to your chosen degree and/or career than you might think!

So, I know how desperate you all are to see Eric’s progression, so without further ado, here he is:

He’s amaaaaazing! Full credit to my supervisor, Spencer, of course :) I’m thinking of growing some cress; not quite as ambitious as an avocado plant, perhaps, but still – I really like it in sandwiches with ham or egg!

As I've been working full time lately I don’t really have much to tell you all about :( Besides the fact I miss university, of course…Ooh – I’m going to Carnival on bank holiday Monday! Woohoooo! :D I’ll be sure to take some pictures for you for my next blog :)

Until next time, see ya later, alligators! :)

I graduated!

As the title suggests, this month’s blog is going to be about my graduation :D

I can proudly say I graduated on Wednesday 24^th July 2013 at 2:45pm with an Upper Second Class Honours (2:1) in Business Psychology :)

One thing I will say is that the day itself is pretty long. You are advised to turn up an hour and a half before your allotted ceremony time, and I’d recommend you turn up even sooner – I arrived at 12:45 and had plenty of time to collect my gown, get my professional photos taken, relax and have something to eat, and get to the Chapel where my ceremony was held.

Another thing to note with regards to organisation is the importance of ordering your gown and pre-paid photography package(s) in good time. Working in the Enquiry Unit, I had one lady phone on a Tuesday saying that her ceremony was on the Thursday and that she hadn’t ordered her gown and didn’t know what to do! The University of Greenwich don’t provide the graduation gowns or professional photography (it’s all done via Ede & Ravenscroft, London's oldest tailor and robe maker: http://www.edeandravenscroft.co.uk/) so there wasn’t much I could advise besides contacting Ede & Ravenscroft!

In order to avoid a similar situation, our students are advised to order their gowns at least three weeks prior to graduation. This gives Ede & Ravenscroft enough time to put your personalised order together and get it to the correct campus on graduation day.

So, what’s next for me? Well I have this job in the Enquiry Unit until September/October time, then after that I need to find another job! I’m thinking of doing some more clerical/administrative work until I work out what I’d really like to do; I’m toying with the idea of starting my own business, but it’s really hard work and I’m terrified of failing! I shall keep you posted on the job front! :)

To conclude this fortnight’s blog: Eric :)

Here’s how he looks now:

He’s certainly recovered well after his minor accident during transportation! :)

Until next time folks…

:)

Clearing

Helloooo, readers :)

Another fortnight, another blog! :) How have you all been?

As you may or may not know, we are now officially in the Clearing phase of the UCAS application cycle (and have been since July 1^st). We've already taken lots of applications, but I know this is nothing compared to the torrent of applications that’ll be made come A-Level Results day!

If you’d like to keep track of what’s going on with the University of Greenwich over Clearing, please feel free to check out our Clearing Diary, where a different member of the Enquiry Unit will be blogging every day until the end of Clearing: http://greenwich-clearing2013.blogspot.co.uk/

Another interesting link for any of you interested in joining us to study is this one: http://www.ucas.com/apply/key-dates It gives you all of the key dates in the UCAS cycle, so even if you miss out on joining us this academic year, you can be well prepared for the 2014 intake :)

So, what else is new? Oh, did I tell you what I’m graduating with? I don’t think I did…a 2:1!! I’m so pleased! I honestly thought I’d be getting a 2:2 as I took on far too much this year, but it seems I’m not so poor at managing my workload after all!!

I am very proud to say that alongside attaining a 2:1 in BA Hons Business Psychology, I have been an active member of the University of Greenwich Cheerleading Squad for three years, a very successful Social Secretary and member of the Cheer committee for one year (organising a tremendously successful fund raiser, initiations, socials and tour), an enthusiastic Senior Student Ambassador and Enquiry Unit Assistant (recently promoted to Senior Clearing Assistant) and a popular candidate in the Student Union Elections during the time I ran. I’m not telling you these things for the sake of promoting myself to you all – I’m telling you this so you can see that the possibilities at university are endless!! It is indeed possible to juggle your degree, a job, and your social life and excel in each and every category!

I've said this in previous posts and I’ll say it again, folks – university (and life!) is what you make it! University is so much more than a degree – it is an opportunity to gain skills and experience that, combined with your degree, make you far more employable than a multitude of other candidates going for the same jobs as you in the future. Not to mention all of the friends you make along the way! They are the people on your course, in your halls of residence, at work and in any sports club or society you may join – really putting yourself out there is a great way to network and make friends that you never would have known otherwise :)

How to end this fortnight’s blog? With Eric, of course! Here he is aged approximately 11 weeks:

He had more leaves, but they fell/were broken off during transit (from our usual Enquiry Unit office on Southwood Site to the big Clearing office on Mansion Site) :( Still – he remains alive and seems to be recovering nicely :)

Until next time, my lovelies :)

Dee xx

Clearing starting soon :)

Hello all!

Another fortnight, another blog! I have a couple of updates for you today :) So, on July 1^st, Clearing starts, and the Enquiry Unit office moves into a bigger building to accommodate all the extra staff :) Clearing is always very busy, but I’m looking forward to meeting my new colleagues :) All of the existing staff will be contributing to the 2013 Clearing Diary – I’ll post a link to that blog page once it’s fully up and running :)

What else is new? Well, I finally joined the gym! Hahaaaa! I’ve now got access until this time next year, and if any current students are reading this, if you act now, you can pay £100 for full use of the University of Greenwich gym (in the Dome, Avery Hill campus) from the day you pay until the same day next year :) It’s a bargain, really! Far cheaper than you could expect to pay at any non-university gym and the facilities aren’t bad! I've been a handful of times already and plan on continuing to go three times a week – I’ve got two holidays coming up and want to look my best! Here’s some more information on the gym if any of you are interested: http://www.gre.ac.uk/about/sports/ahdome

Oh! I promised to keep you posted on Eric’s progress, didn’t I? (For those of you who don’t already know, Eric is the avocado seed that one of my supervisor’s has planted – read last fortnight’s blog for more information! :D) Well Eric is coming along nicely :) He’s been in a pot with some soil for the past couple of weeks, and he’s due to be re-potted within the next few days; here are some progress photos:

As I promised before, I shall continue to keep you undated each fortnight :)

Back to meeee! I went to the cinema a couple of times this month with my best friend (and colleague) Kelty (http://gre-kelty.blogspot.com/); she’s a Sky customer so gets free tickets to film previews. We saw “Stuck in Love” and “The Internship”. “Stuck in Love” was alright…a nice storyline with some funny bits but fairly predictable to be honest; I wouldn't pay to watch it.

“The Internship” on the other hand is SO GOOD!! It’s hilarious!! It’s stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, and I would pay to watch this multiple times! The film is basically about two middle-aged men who apply for an internship at Google. The storyline has a great balance of comedy, sorrow, romance and action, and you should definitely go and see it for yourselves :)

Unfortunately that’s it for this fortnight! It seems I've run out of interesting things to say! I’m sure I’ll have more by next time – I always do! ;)

Until next time, folks!

xxx

Summer Ball

Hello all :)

So what to tell you about this fortnight? Hmm..well last week I went to the University of Greenwich’s Summer Ball; this was held in Ministry of Sound and was really good! I’d never been there before and it’s pretty big!! Rudimental performed alongside our regular Student Union DJs and, naturally, they were all amazing :) As usual my friends and I were the ones dancing on the speakers :D hahaaaaa I don’t know what it is – anywhere we go, the minute we see speakers or any sort of raised platform, we’re all over it!! I have no idea if any photos were taken inside the club, but here’s one of some of us on the train there :)

What else have I been up to? Life is pretty quiet now that’s university’s over…I've just been working here in the enquiry unit and trying to decide what car to buy at the end of summer with the money I plan on saving! I currently drive a 2002 Ford Fiesta (named Betty) and I've had her for four years! I desperately NEED this car in my life:

Here is the link to it on Autotrader just in case any of you lovely readers want to buy it for me:

http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201203010230565/sort/default/usedcars/model/r8/make/audi/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/1501/quicksearch/true/postcode/se207pq?logcode=p

*I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!!*

OOH – I know what to talk about!! Basically, one of my colleagues in the enquiry unit (Spencer) ate an avocado at the beginning of May and decided to “plant” the stone and try to make it grow. I was very sceptical initially, but guess what!?? IT’S GROWING!! He (the avocado) has officially been names Eric, and I shall take progress photos for each fortnight so you can see how he’s doing :) Here he is at approximately seven weeks old:

Speaking of growing things, I’d love to have a proper garden one day. I currently live dans le petit appartement avec mes parents, and one day I’d like to live in a lovely house with a lovely garden so I can grow lovely vegetables and flowers and have a lovely herb box on my windowsill and it will be just lovely ^^ Loooool I’ll plant things like pumpkin and tomatoes, bluebells and alstroemeria, mint and rosemary :) It will be lovely!!

My dad used to have an allotment, actually. I decided one day that I wanted my own little patch to work on, so dad gave me the fork and away I went, digging up one small corner of earth…until I unearthed a worm and some earwigs :( I quickly decided I didn’t want my own patch anymore :( Hahaaaa! To be fair, I was only about 7! Or maybe 9? I don’t remember exactly…my mom’s really good with plants :) She always remembers to feed and water and rotate them so they last years! I hope I’ll be as good with my garden someday :)

Oh how could I forget!? I went to Wales! Cardiff, to be precise :) It was SO NICE! I had to capitalise that just to indicate HOW nice it was!! With all due respect, I didn’t think it was going to be as pleasant as it was! Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think it was going to be UNpleasant, but everyone was so friendly and the weather was amazing – we were very fortunate! I went there with Kelty (whose blog I always encourage you to read: http://gre-kelty.blogspot.co.uk/) to visit one of our best friends (Caitlin) from Secondary School. On the Saturday we went on a boat trip at Cardiff Bay, and we all caught the sun; it was so hot! :) Over the weekend we also enjoyed face masks, a wander around town, frolicking in the park (yes – frolicking!!) and bubble tea ^^ For those of you who don’t know about bubble tea, it’s about time you got to knowwww!!

I have had bubble tea in four different places so far, and here are my reviews:

1. SM Fairview (Manila, The Philippines) – I’ve been having bubble tea whenever I go there since I was 10(ish), and it’s amazing (as the majority of food in the Philippines is) :)
2. HK Diner, China Town (London, England) – Just like in the Philippines, amazing :) Sweet and slushy, and really taste like the stated flavours.
3. Bubbleology, Westfield (Stratford, England) – Rubbish. Instead of being thick like a smoothie, this tea is literally like cold, fruity tea and has a weird, herbal aftertaste.
4. Bubblebase, Queens Arcade [sic]  (Cardiff, Wales) – Nice :) Not as good as proper Asian bubble tea as it is still pure liquid, but the flavour is good and the tapioca “bubbles” are cooked well :)

I hope these reviews help, and I think that’s quite enough babbling for one fortnight!

I hope this blog has been entertaining – ¡Hasta luego!

The next step

Cheerleading is finally done and dusted for this year :( Sad times :( I’d say it’s the end of an era, but I’ll be back next year anyway so I’m not too devastated :) I just need to work on improving my fitness and flexibility over the summer!

Ooh, in addition to Cheer next year, I’m really keen to try American Football! I know I’m only 4’11.5”, but it seems like a lot of fun! I’m going to go and try out the first few sessions (if they don’t clash with Cheer) and see how I get on; if I get toooo battered and bruised then I’ll stick to Cheerleading ^^ As I won’t be working for the university by then I won’t have my university blog to keep you all updated, but I may well start up a personal blog, just to keep you posted :)

So, I suppose now it’s all finally over I need to start working out what to do with my life. I have decided to try and plan the next three years just to get me started, and what I’ve got in store is really exciting!! First thing’s first: I NEED to get a job at the end of September. I’m moving back into my parents’ house tomorrow so I won’t have any rent or big bills to pay, but I’m a lady of leisure who likes to eat out (see my previous blog!) and spend ridiculous amounts on shoes and clothes! Okay, so in addition to getting a job I’m going to need to learn to seriously curb my spending habits – I need to save save SAAAVE! In a couple of years I’m looking to go travelling, so I’ll need money for that…here’s where I’d love to go:

Australia (9 months – I’d love to work there)

• New Zealand (2 months)
• Fiji (1 month)
• Latin America (1 year – literally start at the bottom in Chile and work my way up through every single country until I end up in Mexico)
• America (3 months – ROADDD TRIPPPP)
• Canada (9 months – I’d love to work there as well!)

As you can see, this is going to take a lot of time to plan and money to execute, but I know it will all be worth it in the end (if I actually go ahead with it)! In order to prepare I’ve been looking into CELTA courses (CELTA is an internationally recognised “Teaching English as a Foreign Language” qualification) and would also like to learn some languages. I did French and Russian at school, and would love to get back into them! Additionally I’d like to learn Spanish and Portuguese. So now you see why I need a job, eh?

Life after university doesn’t seem SO scary now I have a rough plan, but it’s still a bit daunting! What if something comes up? What if I invest time and money in a course and then change my mind? What if, what if, what if? Owwhhh okay maybe I am still scared :( Damn!

Right, well I’m off to stew in my own panicked thoughts now lol, so I shall have to say au revoir until next time – hopefully next fortnight’s blog will be better, full of fun and happy thoughts ^^

Take care, possums! Baiiiiii ^^ 

The end is nigh!

He-LLOOOOOOO, blog readers :)

Long time no read, eh? Sorry about that – I've had yet another crazy month of deadlines and such, but now it’s finally all over! I had my last ever exam on Monday 13th May 2013, and I am officially done and dusted with my degree! It’s such a relief, but also a bit surreal at the same time; what do I do now? Fortunately I have my work here at the Enquiry Unit up until September, and cheerleading is on for the next two weeks, so I have something to bide my time with for now…

This month is indeed a sad month; at the end of it I have to move out of my house in Blackheath :( It literally feels like I’ve just moved in, and the past seven months have just flown by… I've grown fondly accustomed to seeing my housemates every day, and suddenly living without them is going to be something to get used to :( Still, it was one of their birthdays last fortnight, and two of them are celebrating their birthdays next week, so we’ll have had lots of time celebrating together by the time we all part ways! :)

So what else is new? Hmm…ooh I’m going to Wales at the end of this month! :D One of my best friends from secondary school graduated last year with a degree in food (okay that’s not the official name of the degree but never mind loool) and is now working in a cake production factory in Cardiff :) A CAKE FACTORY! She spends many of her shifts tasting cake and giving development feedback – what a cool job! I’d definitely get fat, though! I have noooo self-control when it comes to cake! Hahaaa :P

But yeah, my trip to Wales will be the first of a few trips this year; I’m going to Spain for my uncle’s birthday in August, and Dominican Republic with my family in September :) I’m soooo excited! I’m a tropical creature at heart and I love a bit of sun, sea, and sand! :D I’m hoping to find time to go on a party holiday as well, but we shall see! :)

As we are nearing the end of the academic year, our friend, Mariner and photographer, Patrick Hollins came in and took some squad photos for us:

We’re really hoping to recruit some great new members next year :) (Although I’m graduating, I’m still coming back for cheer)

As you may or may not know I LOVE food. So, just to show you all what a piglet I am, I’ve compiled a list for you of the places I've eaten out at JUST THIS MONTH – hahaaaaaa (I’ve included links and mini-reviews just in case any of you are interested):

-  McDonald’s (Multiple times)

-  KFC (A few times)

-  Tozi (This is an AMAZING – albeit pretentious – restaurant in Victoria!)

    http://www.tozirestaurant.co.uk/

-  Blue Elephant (This is an AMAAAAAZING Thai place in Imperial Wharf – I would eat here 100 times  over!)

   http://www.blueelephant.com/london/

-  Frankie and Benny’s

-  TGI Friday’s

-  Chip shop (More than once, I’m sure!)

-  Jimmy’s World Bar and Grill (Absolutely awful – certainly not worth £17.00. It’s like a disgusting version of Cosmo’s on Croydon which is sooooo good)

   http://www.jimmysworldgrill.co.uk/

   http://www.cosmo-restaurants.co.uk/find.php?rst_id=26

-  Wetherspoon’s

-  Papa John’s

-  Tea and Tattle (A teeny tiny tea and sandwich shop underneath a bookstore in London – overpriced, but yummy ^^)

    http://www.apandtea.co.uk/

-  Upper Crust

-  Trafalgar Tavern (This is in Greenwich, and where this year’s Sports Awards were held; the starter and dessert were disappointing, but the main course was alright)

    http://www.trafalgartavern.co.uk/

There are some I've missed off, I’m sure! But there is a snapshot of my life as a hungry hippo :) I just thought I’d share the list with you as I, personally, am astounded LOL

Now, with regards to Sports Awards, this is basically an end of year ceremony where students are awarded “colours” for their dedication to a sports team, and sports teams are recognised for their achievements throughout the year. CHEERLEADING WAS VOTED CLUB OF THE YEARRRR!! :D Words cannot express how happy I am! All of our hard work and dedication really has paid off :)

On another cheer-related note, I have officially given up my position as Social Secretary of the University of Greenwich Cheerleading :( Basically, non-students of the university aren't allowed a committee position, and as I graduate this year, two new girls were voted in (we decided to have two instead of one in order to lighten the workload). I’m very sad, but I know my successors will do a great job :) Plus, I’ll still be around for cheer next year so I plan on remaining very much involved! :P May I present to you the two Social Secretaries for the Greenwich Mermaids 2013/14:

Anyhoo, I think that’s quite enough for one blog, folks! Until next time…xx