Goodbye!

Hi everyone! Well, I guess now that I am leaving the enquiry unit this will be my last blog! *sob*

This year has been the best year of university so far, no doubt about that, so much has happened this year and I've had some amazing moments with some fantastic friends! It’s been tough, not going to brush that aside, but it has all been worth it! Living in Greenwich only a walk away from the university was also good, it made it so easy to see everyone and get to work (enquiry unit and research centre).

I think I’m going to start my last blog by saying… congratulations to one of my best friends Avneet on her wedding over the weekend just gone! Her and her new hubby Leo got married in India! I’m very proud of her and I want to wish them both all the best for the future! J

I also have some good news, I applied for a job a couple of weeks ago at the University of Sunderland London campus at Canary Wharf, within two weeks I was called in for the interview, I did the interview, I got a call the next day and I got the job!!! :D I’m starting in 2 weeks which is scary but the area is lovely and the people seem really nice. My title will be ‘Student Relations Assistant’, which will involve advising and supporting students about university life. It goes well with my degree and my experience J. I feel lucky as it was my first interview and I've only just finished university so I’m happy J.

So I have that to look forward to, everything feels like it’s coming around so fast and I cannot believe that this is my last day in the enquiry unit. My degree is done, the final results come out next week too which I’m kind of looking forward to but I know what I’m coming out with now anyway which is a high 2:1 J.

It’s been such a great experience, and anyone reading this, I hope you give university a serious thought as it has honestly been the best experience of my life and the best years of my life, and I feel it will be the same for anyone. I've met amazing people, I've had eye opening experiences, it’s made me mature, it’s made me aware of so many things that I probably wouldn't know about if I didn't go, and also, living on your own in a multicultural capital really does help you become independent! My degree, along with my work experience and all of the fun stuff I've done here really has made me the person I am today.

I really want to thank everyone over the past three years, mainly the lecturers and my managers for helping through university and making me come through as the person I am today and with the qualifications and experience I have achieved. The lecturers were amazing, they gave us advice and helped us get good grades and even though they were very busy with their own research, they gave as much help as they can! My managers in the enquiry unit and the research centre were also lovely J I've had a great time and gained really valuable experiences from both work places. All of the supervisors need a good thank you too as they were all great with helping us all in the enquiry unit! I had so many questions all of the time, but they were always happy to help us J.

To end my last blog, I’m going to bid you all farewell, and I hope you give university a good think, as it’s not just about getting a job at the end, but it’s the experiences you gain throughout which makes you a more mature, knowledgeable and independent person. It’s also about the friends you make and discovering yourself as a person J. So, I’m going to now enjoy my time off (2 weeks until my new job) by going on holiday to Spain with my family and boyfriend! I hope you all go away and enjoy the sun as it doesn't look like we’re getting any here!

It was great blogging to you all over the past year, I hope you've enjoyed my blogs and what I've been up to J.

Hayley 

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End of exams, end of an era…

Hey everyone! Well, I did say that I would do another blog before my last exam but I was literally revising so much and working alongside that I honestly didn't have the time! I've finished all of them now though, and surprisingly I have received some grades back already!

I got a 1^st in my sociology exam, which was the first one I did, and I found out my dissertation grade too! I got a high 2:1 which I’m really happy about considering it was a huge chunk of our degree. Based on that I think I’m going to come out with a high 2:1 overall now, as really this year I have received mostly 2:1’s and then a few 1sts here and there J.

The last 2 exams I did were pretty hard not going to lie! The Intro to Educational exam was very long (3 hours) and quite confusing. We had to answer 3 shortish questions (about half hour on each) and then one massive one at the end (hour and half). The big one was based on self-concept and self-worth which thankfully I knew about, but for an hour and half we obviously had to write other things! So hopefully what I put in there was right. The Developmental exam however was a seen exam, and it was 2 hours so we had to answer 2 questions. I prepared a lot so I knew what to write when I was in there and I remembered all of the theorists, but I’m hoping what I wrote was good enough. After I came out of my last exam the relief was incredible, we were all so happy and I got rather jittery knowing that we don’t have to revise anymore or go to the library or get really nervous for an exam.

It really is an end of an era though, it’s quite sad as I’m going to miss everyone at uni so much, even the lecturers as they've really helped us through everything. I can’t thank them enough, and they’ve made our journey highly enjoyable. Thinking back to first year in Macmillan halls, it feels like a lifetime ago, probably because we've all matured so much, not just physically and socially, but also mentally; the way we write, the way we organise, the way we approach our work, etc, it’s a great feeling. I would recommend the University of Greenwich to anyone as I really do feel you come out as a much more mature and intelligent person, and very independent, that might be down to the fact that you live in London! I also believe that the GET team are amazing; they've helped me with the jobs I've had and university which are great experience and will help you get a job after. They not only help you get a job, but they help you with your CV, interview skills and much more. Moreover, I think that the writing fellows in the humanities department are fantastic, if you feel that your work needs looking over or you feel that your grammar isn't up to spec, then go and visit them as they will sort it out! They've helped me gain my high 2:1’s and 1sts so I would recommend seeing them.

Overall my university experience was great; I've made some lifelong friends and have gained great experience from my university jobs. There is also so much to do in Greenwich, plus it’s only 20 mins away from central so there’s always so much to do. I've really made the most of my time here, and if anyone is thinking about coming here then you should definitely make the most of it by getting involved with societies, jobs, leisure activities, invites to places, etc.

Other than rambling on about my time here, I’m now going to tell you about what I've been up to recently! Last weekend was so good, on Friday quite a few of us went to the pub with the psychology lecturers which was hilarious as some of them got rather drunk, as well as the students might I add. We went to Spoons in Greenwich and took up a 1/3 of downstairs which was quite impressive haha! I thought it was going to be a quiet evening in the pub with a few drinks, but it got to 11pm and we began playing truth or dare and have you ever!! It was one of those nights. The following night (Saturday) me and my close friends from my course went to Venue in New Cross. It was so good, one of the best clubs I've been to, and it has 4 floors of different music so all night we were moving around, we all got ridiculously drunk and ended up getting in at 5am, the sun was even up! This week I've been chilling really, but tomorrow I’m going to central London with my friend from home who I haven’t seen in ages, and then we’re meeting my boyfriend and another friend in the evening, so that will be nice. This weather is lush so it’ll be nice to chill in central. I might as well make the most of it as I’m only living up here for another 2 and half weeks and then I’m going back to Essex L. It’ll save us money, but I love living up here in my little flat with my boyfriend, I think that’s also made this year amazing.

Anyway, I’m going to stop waffling now, but I’ll speak to you before I leave the enquiry unit (which is only 3 weeks away!), as I’ll be working with the research centre after for a while. Hope you enjoy this weather!

Speak soon,

Hayley

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Exams!

Hi guys, well exam period as crept up on us fast hasn’t it? It’s crazy to think it’s been a whole year since May exams! Well come to think of it, I can’t believe it’s been three years since I started university, I'm not going to lie, it sort of makes me feel old.

My first exam is on Friday, which I’m okay about actually (shock I know), for some reason I’m not as panicky as I usually am about exams as I do feel prepared for Friday. However, I do have another exam on Monday which I’m not as excited about haha! It will either be amazing, or horrifically bad. I have revised but for some reason they decided they wanted to make it an unseen exam this year worth 100% of the module, we have no idea what will come up which makes it 10 times worse, AND it’s 3 hours long. So yeah, I am a bit worried about that one, but once that’s over and done with I can face my last one which is a seen exam on the 29^th… and then I’m done. So it’s not too bad. I think I’ll come out of my last exam with so much relief that I may cry haha.

After Friday’s exam the lecturer’s in the Sociology department have arranged a get together at Spoons in Greenwich with all the students, which I think will be lovely as it’s a proper goodbye that way. It’ll be weird not seeing all of the people in my class who I see every week, so it’ll be nice to have a farewell drink J.

The only problem however is that my closest friends finish after Friday’s exam because of module options and stuff, so they’ll be celebrating in Spoons loving life whilst I’m sitting there worrying about my other two exams L. Kind of wish I picked modules with more coursework elements in, but I suppose the upside of doing more exams is that I had more time on my dissertation. So either way there’s up’s and down’s to it. I am however, making my friends wait until I've finished so we can all go out together haha! Otherwise I’d feel so left out and lonely revising on my own for a week and half whilst everyone is having fun :P. We’re going to Venue in New Cross on the 1^st June, that’s the big night out we've had planned for ages. However I think some of us are going out on the 29^th to Sparrows (the SU) as that’s the date I finish ;).

In other news… I got a little bit excited on the Monday just gone as we found out our essay marks for our Crime module. The essay was worth 40%, bigger than the exam… and I got 72! I was rather thrilled as you could imagine so that’s made this week more bearable with all the revision. Just got to get good marks on these exams J. 

This blog must seem that all I think and do is revision but when you’re in third year and finals are literally so close you can touch them, then you’ll know how I feel :P. I have however been thinking about my holiday in June, I’m going to Spain with my boyfriend, mum, dad, brother and his girlfriend, staying in a villa with a private swimming pool! I actually can’t wait; I need this in my life haha, especially a tan. We’re out there for 9 days so we have plenty of time to relax ;). I have a feeling that we get our final results in the beginning of July though, so I may be finding out my final degree classification whilst sitting round the pool in Spain sitting there nervously on the laptop LOL. It will probably be the most nerve-wracking moment in my life but I’ll be happy with what I get as I've tried my best and it’s been such a great experience. I will probably do a bomb in the pool to celebrate or something haha, or go straight on Facebook and talk to the girls and celebrate somehow through that!

I’ll do another blog before my last exam, which means I’d have done two by then eek! Is it sad that I’m kind of excited? Probably because they’ll be over and done with haha, or maybe it’s because I’m a freak and look forward to exams?! I don’t know.

Anyway, hope all of your exams go well if you have any. If you don’t, then enjoy your time off! J

Hayley

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Dissertation is complete!

Hi everyone! Well, as you all know, over the past 9 months of moaning about my dissertation; how many words I have to write, how long it’s going to take and how much research is involved… I have finally finished it! It’s a good feeling knowing that there’s no more research to do, theorists to find or more editing to be done! If your reading this knowing that your dissertation is also complete then you will know what I’m talking about, however if you have all of this to come, it’s so worth going through it, as you feel more independent and confident about your writing.

I think the best thing to remember when you’re writing a dissertation, is that you should make it sound like a story, a really gripping one which makes the reader to want to read on and to find out what happens at the end. Make sure there’s loads of theorists within your literature review, this is crucial as when your analysis comes around you will need to refer back to the theorists mentioned suggesting how they compare to your own findings. The literature review is one of the most important parts to the dissertation; it needs to be like an essay in a way, with an introduction, middle and conclusion. I put my theorists into themes so that it’s easier for the reader to understand what these theorists are going on about, as well as being easier for me to remember where I put them all! In total I had about 3000 words for this section which is about right if you’re word count is supposed to be 10,000 words +/- 10%. I have around 30 references in total, which might sound a bit :O if you’re used to writing essays which consist of about 8-10 references, but you will need this much by the end because of the theorists mentioned in the literature review, the books/ journals for the methodology, as well as any other theorists mentioned within the analysis chapter! I was worrying this week as I had gone up to 11,400 words but the references don’t count and that consisted of 600 words alone, so I’m in the +10%.

Other than rambling on about dissertations, I have actually had a social life! The Easter holidays ended a week ago, but I did a lot throughout them 3 weeks! In my last blog I mentioned about my birthday surprise from my parents and boyfriend and guess what it was… ALTON TOWERS! It was amazing!! The weather was sunny and there were hardly any queues, we walked onto most of the rides! Felt like we had the whole park to ourselves most of the time! It was such a lovely weekend; it was so nice to get away from everything. We stayed in the Alton Towers hotel, the rooms were huge and it was so peaceful there, the other hotel ‘Splash Landings’ was nice but the Alton Towers hotel was more for adults, it was peaceful which is just what you needed after a day of going through loops and corkscrews on the rides! I didn't really want to come home as it was so nice there, but it was my 21^st birthday the Tuesday after so there was that to look forward to! I went out for a really nice lunch with my family on my birthday, and then went to the pub that evening with some good friends :)

However ;) you are probably sitting there thinking ‘is that all she did on her actual 21st birthday?’ well, not exactly. Me and about 15 of my really good friends decided it’d be a good idea to go to a club we’d never been to before down Southend (I live in Essex during the holidays, but I have a place up here for term time). It’s called Chameleon; it’s small so you can easily find your friends throughout the night when you all go off in groups! It was such a good night out, if you ever go to Southend with some friends then I’d recommend there. We initially went to the Last Post (a very popular pub in Southend), us girls were so far gone at this point drinking our pitchers and what have you, so by the time we got into the club we were rather drunk! :P the boys were pretty drunk too actually, and I can’t quite remember the music but of what I can it was good haha!

The Easter holidays overall was a rather chilled out one, didn’t do loads of work but I made up for it this week! Now it’s on with the revision I guess *yawn*. Oh but I do have a 22^nd birthday house party to go to tomorrow! It’s retro style so that’ll be fun, it’s for my friend Jasmin’s and I’m going with some of the uni girls so I’m sure it’ll be fun. I have vowed to myself however that I’m not going to get munted as recently I’ve become the local chunderer; always throwing up the day after from all of the alcohol I had the night before. I was never like that in first year, maybe it’s because it’s a sign that I’m getting old? Who knows haha.

Anyway, I will speak to you soon about my last term at university *cry*, and my revision for 3 exams! Hope you all have a good term :)

Hayley

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Happy Easter!

Hi everyone J sorry I haven’t done a blog in a while, it’s been pretty manic (as usual), however it’s now the Easter holidays! Woo! I think we all deserve to have a bit of break don’t you think?!

As you all know I work for the Research Centre in the Psychology department, so I’ll start by telling you about my mentoring work I did last week for the English exchange (the French students came to England). It was for three days, might I mention long days and I think the second day we were working for 10 hours straight! The first day was meeting up with the French kids and teachers at midday at the University’s Medway Campus in Chatham, Kent. We did a couple of ice breakers to get back into the swing of things and so the students interact with each other. We also played sports (but in the freezing cold!), the kids moaned a bit but once they were out they had a good time! We had lunch and dinner on campus in the canteen, the food was actually really good and considering we were moving about all day doing activities we were all pretty hungry! We got home about 8pm on the Monday, but knowing we mentors and researchers had to be on the coach at Avery Hill campus at 8am in the morning, I got home and went straight to bed! (Wild student I know)

So we were all on the coach at 8am, freezing cold, as the weather refuses to enter the spring season. We picked up the mentors from Medway campus and then drove to Faversham in Kent. We met the English and French students there to go on a history related activity; looking at gun powder works. We did this for a couple of hours and then went onto Canterbury, which was lovely! We went off into smaller groups; however I say small, my group consisted of 17 students! Eeek! We ended up in smaller groups though as you can just imagine that they all wanted to see completely different things and go into different shops! We had lunch and looked around the shops for a while, the time zoomed by and by the time we looked at the time, it was time to go! We then went bowling in Whitstable; it’s lovely there, very picturesque. The bowling was near the harbour, but we didn’t really get to see much of Whitstable as it was so cold and the students just wanted to play, not to mention us mentors! :P It was really good there, I think the bowling was the best part of the trip for the students, as they were all interacting with each other, which was the whole point of the widening participation project!

The next day was more of a relaxed activity; the French students came to the English students’ school in the Isle of Sheppey. It was a good day, however I think the French students were so tired by this point they just wanted to go home! They left around 1pm, and so the English students went back to lessons and the rest of us went back home. Overall, it was a really good experience, and I've come to realise that I like working with that age group. I've been considering for a while now about becoming an ‘A’ level teacher, teaching Psychology and Sociology. I think it would be a great job, however I do still like the idea of working in psychological research so we shall see!

Other than that, I’ve been getting on with my dissertation. I need to amend my analysis, write up my conclusion and a small introduction and then… I’m done! Just revision after that, which I know sounds geeky but I don’t mind, as you can take revision with you wherever and I can write notes down, and it’s not like an essay where you need to check over it and amend it. I have four weeks to make my dissertation perfect so hopefully I get a good grade!

Over the Easter weekend I went back to Essex to see my family and home friends, it was very chilled which I needed! And of course, like we’re supposed to, I ate so much chocolate that it should be illegal.

Oh and last night, Monday 1^st, me and my friends got together and watched the first episode of the new Game of Thrones season! It was amazing, as always, I literally cannot get enough of that show! If you haven’t watched it yet, watch it now! Season 3 is now airing but season’s 1 and 2 are available to buy. It’s soooo worth it!

Oh and before I forget to mention it, it’s my birthday next Tuesday the 9^th. Yep, I’m going to be 21. I don’t mind so much, but I’d rather be 17 loving life in college with no worries! I’m going on a surprise outing this weekend, my mum, dad, brother and boyfriend have arranged a weekend away somewhere and I have no idea where we’re going! All I know is that we’re all leaving super early Saturday morning! I’ll let you know what it is when I blog next! Exciting ey J.

Right before I ramble on anymore, I’m going to be off! Hope you all had a good Easter and ate an obscene amount of chocolate!

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Coventry shenanigans!

Hello everyone! Well, as we’re now in March and the time seems to be zooming by yet again, I will tell you what I've been up to in Coventry with my friends and what I've been up to at uni/ home. It’s been pretty hectic over the past couple of weeks since I did my last blog; like I said before, I went to Coventry with my college/ home friends to see a friend who’s at uni up there on the 1^st March. It was such an awesome weekend, there were 11 of us in total and we stayed at our friend’s house for two nights (Friday to Sunday). On the Friday we just chilled out, watched a film and had dinner and stuff, to be honest we were all so tired from working all day/ at uni and from the travel up to Coventry that we just wanted to sit down and do nothing… we sound like such old farts but we were shattered haha!

On the Saturday we went round the town and looked around the shops, the weather was so nice, I even took my jacket off at one point, and considering it’s snowing again this week taking my jacket off outside felt so good! We then went to a nice little restaurant in the town which was good, the town was actually really nice, had a cathedral (so I suppose it was a city) but it felt kind of cute and quirky like a town, and the university was spread out over the town too which was nice. Later that night we started to get ready to go clubbing, we then played a drinking game, kind of like snakes and ladders but whatever you landed on you either had to do a shot or someone else had to drink, and yeah you get the gist! I was rather tipsy before leaving, we all were, but it was so much fun, we got to the club about midnight and danced the night away until 4am! We walked back from the club, my god my feet were killing me! (I was wearing flats as well!) The next morning we all were all feeling pretty rough, probably from all of them vodka shots and jagar bombs :P. Overall it was such a good weekend, was lovely to see them all. J

So, apart from that, I've been super busy at uni doing my dissertation! I’m proud to announce that I have finished my first draft of my analysis and I’m onto my discussion woo! I've done 8,500 words now, so I have another 1,000 on my discussion and then around 1,000 on my introduction and abstract… then I’m done J. I've got an essay due in in a month’s time, wasn't worried about at first but now I need to get the essay plan done! Everything is coming around so fast, I break up for Easter next Friday eek! Then I only have revision classes after for exams. Can’t believe I won’t be a student L. However, I’m looking forward to working and gaining some experience and the money :P. I’m applying for a master’s degree and a PGCE this September though, as I’d like to work for a year and then enter education for one more year starting September 2014. I’m applying for both as both appeal to me, and really I’d like to teach and then perhaps go down the clinical/ educational psychology route later on, but yeah we’ll see! I’m keeping my options open J.

I went home the weekend just gone, as we all know it was mother’s day! Hope you all treated your mum’s and did something nice J. All of my family got together at my nan’s, it was really nice; we had a Italian buffet going on, different to the boring roast haha. It was nice seeing all my family too, about 16 of us were there, I haven’t seen most of them since Christmas (sounds ages ago but when you’re busy it seems like last week!). I’m now back at uni for 2 or 3 weeks, slaving away with uni work, however I’m going to enjoy seeing my uni friends and living in London as much as I can as time is going so fast and before I know it, I’ll be moving back to Essex *cry*.

I better stop there as if I ramble anymore I’ll be writing an essay! I’ll ramble on again soon with all my crazy shenanigans and uni work haha, hope you all had a good weekend!

Hayley

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So many things coming up!

Hey everyone! Well I haven’t been up to a lot since my last blog; however I have been getting on with lots of uni work! I’m now doing my analysis for my dissertation which is a relief as I've got around another 2000 words for my analysis and another 1000 for my discussion and I’m almost there! Just the introduction and abstract and sorting out references J. Sounds a lot but when you’re constantly doing university work and thinking of the amount of words you have to write, this amount doesn't sound too bad haha!

Other than that, there are loads of things I’m looking forward to, my 21^st birthday is coming up in the Easter holidays (which are only about 3 weeks away!) and I’m planning on going on a Central London pub crawl with some mates which will be awesome! Plus, my family and my boyfriend have a surprise up their sleeves… my mum said to me that I have to keep the 6^th and 7^th of April free as we’re going somewhere! No one will spill the beans so I’m anxious yet so excited about it! I’ll tell you what it is after I've been but knowing them they won’t tell me where we’re going until we've arrived there! Like I said, it’ll be the Easter holidays but as its third year and there’s no rest for the wicked, I’ll be editing and making sure my dissertation is the best it can be and also writing a 3000 word essay for my crime course, but obviously I’ll fit in seeing friends and family ;). I’m also seeing the band Biffy Clyro on the 3^rd of April, which I’m so excited for! I’m seeing them at the o2 in Greenwich which is good as it’s not far away at all! There are so many other things I have planned where to begin?! I’m going Lake District in June sometime with my boyfriend, which will be lovely as exams will be over and we can just relax! I’m also planning on going on a hot holiday in July, and then planning on going to Reading festival in August woo! So yeah, loads planned!

Ooh I found out my exam timetable yesterday, it was scary as I was hoping I didn't have two or even three exams on the same day like last year! But this year my exams are quite spread out which is good, my last one is developmental psychology on the 29^th May… I will be finishing my degree on that day at 11:30am! J I think I’m going to come out of that exam not quite believing that I've finished!!! I was talking to a friend yesterday and I think we’re going to plan a big night out in Venue in New Cross at the end of May, all of us together celebrating! Can’t wait!

I’m going Coventry this weekend by the way to see my college friends which will be amazing! So I’ll let you know how it went when I next talk to you guys!

Speak soon,

Hayley

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