Brief catchup!

Hello everyone :), I know I haven't posted in months and I apologise for that! Good news is that I have finished my first year of university and I receive my results in two weeks time. To be truly honest I am having a bit of a dilemma deciding what career path to take which is why I haven't been too active in looking for opportunities and posting about events. I know from previous blog posts it seems I have been so sure but I am trying to make some decisions. First year (planning for career wise) hasn't been too eventful as I am planning to do a placement year (a year I take out between my 2nd year and final year (four year degree programme)) so there wasn't many opportunities that I can really apply for because of that as a lot of them require me to be in my second year of a four year degree. I am hoping that as I am entering second year in October I will have a lot to share, especially my journey on looking for a year placement and perhaps applying for spring programmes as well but I will see. I'm really honoured that people are still reading my blog and I hope that my previous blog posts have been a great help to you!

God bless xoxo

First Semester!

Soooooooooooooooo it's the end of the first semester at university. I actually cannot believe how fast these three months have gone. It felt like just yesterday I was leaving home and moving into halls and now first semester has ended, it's the Christmas holidays and I'm back at home for three weeks (might shorten it to two instead). To be honest, I do miss university. One thing I have appreciated is independence. I have definitely changed since I went to uni, trust me being away from home is not as bad as it seems.

In terms of my course, I think I'm enjoying it so far. I will not lie dropping out has crossed my mind but I was seriously over-exaggerating. In my opinion, at the moment the workload isn't as much as I experienced during A- levels. I do have quite a lot of free time during university when I think about it but that doesn't mean it's acceptable to slack. Fair enough first year doesn't count to your degree but it's very important if you want to apply to internships in your second year and in my case, a year in industry.

The beginning of university life..

Hey guys :) It seems like I've been neglecting my blog but I've just been quite busy as I moved into uni three weeks ago. For the first time readers I go to the University of Surrey and I'm studying Economics. This blog post is pretty much about my first three weeks at university and what I've been up to.

The moving in process was quite relaxed. My family and I decided that it would be best for me to move in on a Sunday which I had mixed feelings about because I didn't want to be the last person to move into my flat but then again I get to spend a bit more time with my family before I leave :) Luckily for me I wasn't the last person to move into my flat which was great. The people helping out on the moving in weekend were really helpful and we managed to get help with my bags to my room which made life a lot more easier.

I really like my room, it's much more spacious than my room back home lol. I was allocated a band C room meaning that I have a sink in my room but I share the toilet and showers with my housemates (There are 3 toilets and 3 showers). Now.. I share my flat with 13 other people! At first it seems like a lot but honestly it's quite fun. Before I arrived I had this image in my head that every morning will be quite stressful because people will be fighting for showers but it's totally the opposite. I feel like I'm really blessed because my housemates are really friendly so there's a good vibe around. In terms of the showers situation every since I have arrived there has never been a time where I've struggled to use the shower.

Now on to my course.

A Level Results Day!!!

After waiting for sooooooooooooo long on Thursday 15th August 2013 I finally received my A Level results. This results day wasn't the same as others. This results day was extremely important as I was finding out what university I would be going to in September. Especially the night before, I was so so nervous but the day arrived..... I logged into UCAS Track at 7:30 am and discovered that I got into my firm choice the University of Surrey!!!!

I was extremely excited when I saw this as I REALLY wanted to go to Surrey. The campus is beautiful and the university is now 2nd in the Guardian League Table for Economics above universities such as LSE, Cambridge and UCL. I'm so relieved that all this stress is over. Literally, I spent half of my summer worrying about results day and now it's come and gone just like that. This post is a bit late but I have exactly a month left before I move in. I have so much shopping to do and prep in this space of time but surprisingly I'm really relaxed. It's quite daunting the idea of moving away from home. I question myself sometimes if I'll be able to cope but I guess this is all part of growing up.

In relation to my career progression, these were my A Level results:

Economics: A
Government and Politics: B
Maths: B

Update: Exams & Work experience

Hello everyone. I feel so bad for not blogging for so long but I must admit not much has been going on lately. I've been so consumed with revising and completing my final A Level exams so I haven't been extremely involved in much.

I just wanted to do a post just to show that I definitely haven't abandoned my blog. I just have a couple of updates:

1. Firstly, from the beginning of July I'll be starting my unpaid work placement at HSBC that I previously blogged about. I think I initially mentioned that it was a one week placement but after talking to the branch I will be working at I managed to extend it to two weeks which is great! At the end of the placement I will be sure to do a blog post about what I got up to.
2. I've finished my A Levels!!!!! This is an extremely huge relief for me. The past two years have been so intense especially the last couple of months but I'm done now and and I hope I've worked hard enough. Now, I'm awaiting my results to find out if I've got into my first choice university, University of Surrey  or my second choice, University of Kent. If you want to know more about that follow the link http://madetoaspirehigher.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/results-day-7th-march-2013-ucas-update.html where my choices are explained.
3. I'm just awaiting confirmation at the moment but I should be starting my virtual work experience throughout the whole of July. Yes, virtual work experience. I first heard about it through an email I received from Directions which is an online career service (http://www.directions.org.uk/). The virtual work experience is done through a scheme called Get In. Get On. I don't want to talk about it too much but I will do a blog post on it at the end of July.

That's all for now but like I previously mentioned my next blog post should be about my work placement at HSBC. I'm currently on my summer holidays and I know it's really important for me to relax but I'm trying my best to make it as productive as possible. I still have a job and I will be getting back into volunteering to complete my retail skills certificate after I took a break for exams.

Until next time :)

Update: Realising opportunities and what to look forward to in 2013!

Hello everybody, I have a really quick update about the Realising Opportunities programme I am part of :) Firstly, a few months ago I mentioned in one of my posts that I am writing an academic assignment. I recently received a letter through the post informing me that I have passed the assignment.

Update on UCAS!

I've officially received all five offers for university. I'm really happy right now and grateful that this has happened. Now all I have to do is choose my firm (1st choice) and insurance (2nd choice) out of the five but I have until May to make my decision which is quite a lot of time.

My conditional offers:

Essex: ABB but if I achieve a pass in Realising opportunities BBC

Kent: ABB

Surrey: AAB

Queen Mary's, University of London: AAB

Royal Holloway, University of London: AAB

Offers!!!!!

I was going to wait till I got all five replies but I don't know how long that will take. So luckily for me I received three offers last week from Kent, Surrey and Queen Mary's.