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

x

3 more months to go!

So as you all know from my last blog, I went to Amiens, France, last week from Monday to Wednesday for the research project I’m involved with. The research was on widening participation and social cohesion and involved research fellows, student mentors (one of them was me), teachers (English and French) and a large number of English and French children/teens! The trip was awesome and we did a lot considering we were only there for 3 days! The kids loved it too, although they seemed shattered by the time we were back in England!  Speaking of which, I think everyone was tired by the time we were back, and us mentors only got about 5/4 hours sleep every night as we worked from 7:30 in the morning until about 11 at night! The first day was exciting as we had to be at the Greenwich campus at 4am (which meant us lot had to be up at 2:30ish, some even earlier!), we went to pick up the kids at 6am and then we were on our way to the Eurotunnel and off to Amiens. We met with the French children in a university Business school which was interesting to see, we sat and had lunch with them and had an ‘ice-breaker’ exercise so that we could get to know them. Later that day we had numerous tasks to do and place’s to visit in the town which was interesting! Here’s me and the other mentor’s (I’m at the front!) ---------------------------------->

<--------------------- The second day was good too; all of us, around 40 of us, went to a WW1 battlefield, the battle of Somme, which was really interesting and I think it opened up not only the children’s eyes but ours too! We saw no man’s land and the front lines. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great; this was the North of France so it was bitter cold with sleet and snow! We also went to a museum for a bit of education on the battle of Somme, looking at trenches and the machinery/ weapons they used. That night we all got together (English and French) in the hostel we were staying at and had ‘free time’ all evening. There were loads of games and snacks and it was really relaxed, which was nice as we had to stick to a strict schedule for both days! It was lovely getting to know the French children and I think the English kids loved it, just to get out of their home town and go on a free trip! :P 

The next day was more relaxed, half of us went to a French sixth form nearby Amiens and the other half attended a secondary school. We got to learn all about the different subjects they get taught as well as their culture and foods they eat for breakfast/ lunch. After attending the schools we all met up again and were on our way back to England! Overall it was an amazing experience; we mentors had an amazing time and such a laugh! I have never experienced anything like it and was a great opportunity for all of us to be involved within such a large scale EU funded project. There will be an English exchange too in March; the French children we met are coming over to us for three days, so that will be awesome! I’m sure I’ll update you all on that ;)

As for university work, I came back from France and had to conduct my focus groups that week. The first group was 5 girls and the second group involved 6 boys. I got a lot of useful data for my analysis, which I’ll be starting next week (scary stuff). I saw with my supervisor yesterday, who is extremely helpful, and both decided that I will finish my analysis and my discussion (so around 4000 words) in 4 weeks! Once they’re done I have the introduction and abstract to do which isn’t so bad. However, I have to edit EVERYTHING as I need it all to be perfect! Not only do I have this to worry about, as for third year that would be letting us off lightly :P, I have a 3000 word essay to do AND 3 exams in May, 2 of which are worth 100% of my 15 credit modules *cry*. I will miss uni but I really need a break which involves a nice long holiday sunbathing on the beach! 

Other than all of that, I have had a bit of a social life :P. As it was Valentine’s yesterday I was treated to TGI’s in central London which was nice J and next week I’m seeing some friends who I haven’t seen in forever! Oh and I’m going to Coventry university in a couple of weeks with all my college friends to visit a friend who’s there at the moment, so that will be really good!

I will inform you all soon on how I’m getting along with all this work and what I’m getting up to next time!

Speak soon J