School is in Session

Why hello again... its time for a new post. So first of all, the answer to the last quote and who said it is... Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer... Now this is an oldish show as it started in 1997 and finished in 2002. I was looking through Netflix for something to watch and fell upon it so I thought I would give it a look see and ended up watch it I am currently on season 7, (14 more episodes and I will have finished) but it has a spin off series called Angel so I may give it a look too...

Anyway on to the purpose of this post. I thought I would let you know a little more about me seeing how this blog is about the random things that happen in my life. So this week we are going to talk about something normal... school... boring I know, but we all go through it so I thought we would get it over with. Now in my very first post I stated that I was attending university and studying Educational Studies with English language. However starting there is at the end of my education when really we want to be at the beginning so we are going to jump back 15 years to when I first started school.

So at the age of 4 I started nursery (I believe this is Kindergarden in America?). Basically what I did here was learn basic skills like writing my name and expanding on skills like reading which my parents would have slowly started teaching me at this point as well as playing with toys and learning to interact and socialise with other children who I would learn alongside for the next 8 years. I spent a year in nursery before going into reception (Elementary?)... this is where the more school based learning happens so I can vaguely remember having lessons in maths and learning to count and do basic maths (my level and understand of maths stayed here as my ability to do maths is horrendous). Now my primary was only small, there must have been 25-30 children in my year alone... I don't even think there was 150 students in the whole school. Anyway from this point on it was all lessons and very little play. Like I have just said I spend 8 years in primary and left in 2006 where I went on to secondary school. 

I started Secondary (Middle school/High school? I think) at the age of 11, but because my birthday is later in the year I had basically only turned 11 three months prior to starting secondary so I really didn't feel old enough to be starting secondary school. Similar to my primary, my secondary was only small school, a bit bigger but not by a lot... there must have only 300-350 in the whole school. This might not seem small but compared to other schools it was. There are some schools in my area which have 800+ students. Due to the little amount of students being admitted into my secondary and the neighbouring secondary school, the two schools had to be amalgamated in 2010 as there just was not enough students to keep running 2 separate school.

I spent 5 years in secondary from the ages of 11 to 16. It is also the place where I met my best friend (we have been best friend for 7 years now). Like most of the secondary schools near me, the school I attended had a specialism which just so happened to be Performing Arts meaning that my school was VERY big on Dance, Drama and Music. Every year we put on a production, a winter showcase, a couple of various things like talent shows or dance shows on throughout the year and then at the end of the year, when we had the award ceremony the teacher would performe a number which had been kept secret to everyone except though performing... I will never forget, 4 of my teachers and the head teacher dressed as students singing "teenage dirtbag". In the last 2 years of secondary I completed my GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) for these I completed numerous amounts of coursework for each subject (5 for English, 3 for Drama, 2 for Music, 18 for Health... the list goes on). I left secondary with 9... I think... GCSE and a BTEC which is equivalent to 4 GCSE... Should I list them? Do you want to know them? 

After secondary, I spent two years at college (I think this is the end of High School) from the ages of 16-18. Again, my college was only small, maybe 200-250 of us altogether. In my first year I completed my A/S Levels (Advanced Subsidiary) so this was like the first half of my A-levels and then in my second year I completed my A-levels. So basically, in my first year I took 4 A/S Levels in which I completed coursework and sat examinations for. In my second year, I carried on with 3 of my A/S subjects in order to gain a full A-Level in them and dropped one, however in order to gain the points I needed to enter university I picked up a new A/S Level. In the end, I left college with 3 A-levels and 2 A/S levels. Also this is where I met another one of my best friends... I met her though my best friend from secondary.

And finally I started university (College or sometimes university to) last September at the age of 18. Like the other education establishments which I attended my university is kind of small, compared to other universities that is. I have already completed my first year of university, I still have 2 years left before I complete my degree. However once I finish my degree I have to take an additional course which will give me my QTS (Qualified Teachers Status) and allow me to teach. So really I have another 3 years before I qualify as a teacher. Due to attending university away from home, I lived in halls on campus where I met my 3rd best friend. Even through it has only been a year it is as if I have known her my whole life... I am living with her next year and hopefully the 2 years following that. 

That is it really.... 16 years worth of education in one post and I still have 3 years to go, we haven't done bad really have we? Now I know most people say they hate school and that they can't wait to leave but honestly if I had the chance to do it all again, I would... I have met some of my best friends through school and I would never change them for the world. I wouldn't do anything different, I would complete school in the exact same way as before. So without sounding like some old lady, all of you who are still in education you get out of it what you put in. If you work your butt off it will be worth it in the end, you will meet some brilliant people who may turn out to be your best friends for the rest of your life and it will lead you to do amazing things... 8 years ago I never thought I would be were I am now, attending university away from home and working towards being a teacher.

Well this post turned out a little advisory towards the end... Anyway that it for this post. Here is this weeks quote - "I don't have a skull... or bones" you know the rules, who said it and where is it from... leave a comment below and tell me where you think and I will post the answers in the next post :) 

Until next time x

All the Best People Are Mad!

Hello my lovelies!! So the quote from the last post is from "Pretty Little Liars" and is said by Hanna Marin (I love the things she says) 

Well this time we are going to talk about the little things we like to have a certain way or the odd things which we do. Now you're probably thinking what is she talking about but I'm talking about the little things we all do that have to be just right. So for example I have this Christmas mug which I have hot chocolate in but I have to have that cup for my hot chocolate even if it's not Christmas it has to be that mug. Now I'm probably causing you to worry about my mental health but I promise you I am sane or close to sane as I can be. 

One of the main things I do which isn't that mad as I know a few people who do it but I talk with my hands... When I'm talking to friend or family or anyone really I wave my hands around as if I'm landing a plane or conducting an orchestra. I don't mean to do it but I have no control over it. Even if I don't start waving them around you can guarantee that by the end of the sentence or explanation I will be waving my hands around like a little bird trying to fly. 

Also related to hand moments... When I'm speaking and I go blank on a word I will do an odd hand movement which often involve my hands circling one another like a predictor circling its prey or I will outline the shape of whatever it is that I have forgotten the name off... Or at least I will try to outline it. Again resulting in my hands circling one another and it is often accomplished by a very odd sound which I can't even explain. 

Another thing is that when I'm having dinner I have to have matching cutlery... You know what it's like when your parents go out and buy new cutlery for what ever reason they sometimes don't throw away the old cutlery so you end up with a complete matching set and a couple of odd knives and forks here and there. Now when we have dinner if I'm provided with a knife and fork that don't match I will change one so that they match. 

When doing any written work whether it's notes from my lectures or writing a letter I will always use a blue pen. I don't know why but I prefer writing in blue it just seems more bright and cheerful than writing with a black pen. Also I won't change between ink colours in one book. I can't have it where one page is in blue and the other is in black, it irritates me so much. 

Things always have to be even, whether I'm turning the radio up or the volume on the TV or deciding things. It has to be even, I don't know why but it makes me feel uncomfortable when it's on an odd number. 

When I read a book I can't just stop in the middle of a chapter. It's just not right to put the book down, mid sentence in the middle of a chapter. I can only put it down when I get to the end of the chapter. However this usually leads to something exciting happening at the end of the chapter and me needing to read the next chapter to find out more which inadvertently leads me to reading 6 more chapter. This happened once and because of it I read a 50 something (57 I think) chapter book in one day... 

I also talk to myself. Quite often really. I can be sat with my friends thinking however I usually end up voicing the end of my thoughts rather than voicing the whole thing OR not voicing it at all therefore causing my friends to think I'm talking to them. But once I start voicing my thoughts I will continue to voice the rest of whatever is going through my head. 

Also I talk to myself or to my books when I'm reading. Where as most people often think internally about how shocked or mad they are at whatever happened in their book but some times my brain isn't always connected when I'm reading so if I'm shocked or angry or praying my favourite character lives I will voice these thoughts; often in the presence of my friend which leads to questioning looks. I also laugh to myself quite often... Recently I was trying to explain to a friend a funny incident which happened awhile ago however I started laughing hysterically that I couldn't form a full sentence to tell her so it started off with the whole "oh a few weeks ago..." And then me falling in a fit of hysterics that bad that I couldn't tell her why I was laughing...

Now I could probably continue with a load more "quirky" things which have to be done in a certain way or some of the odd things I do but we'd probably still be here come Christmas of next year... My friends often call me OCD or insane because I have to have things in order but I swear I'm not OCD and I'm also not insane. Is there any quirky traits which you have? Maybe leave a comment of anything which stands out to you or you do it the most and I'll let you know if I do the same or something similar. 

I may do a follow up post about the quirky things my friends have noticed me doing to see if they have noticed things I haven't 

Now time for the quote "Homework? Hmpf I don't believe in tiny Jewish Santa anymore!!" Now you know the drill... Where's it from and you said it!?

Until next time!! 

And My Hobbies Are...

Why hello!!! So I know it has been about 3 weeks since my last update... sorry about that! I did have this post pre-written and sort of forgot about it until the other day. I have also been struggling with a post name for this one... not many puns include the word 'hobbies' and I was having difficulty making one up.... Anyway the answer to the last quote was... The 50th anniversary episode of doctor who "The Day of the Doctor" hehe I couldn't resist putting that quote in on that post it just seemed so fitting!

So this week we are going to talk about hobbies. Now I have four main hobbies... Two are normal and the other two are not so normal at least not for my age... My first hobby is writing... I've been writing for about 6 years now. I use a site called wattpad where I post my work and people from around the world are able to read it, comment on it and even vote for it. I currently have an on going piece on there which I upload weekly on a Monday night. I suppose my love of English language was bound to push me down this road eventually or maybe my love of writing is what pushed me down the road of loving English language.

My second hobby is Cheerleading. Now I use to do this when i was 7 till the age of 9 at a dance school and then started again when I was 13 in year 9. Unfortunately this only lasted for one year as it was for a Christmas showcase rather than as an actual sports team. When I started university we were encourage to join a society or a sports team which allowed us to interact with other people that were not on our course or that we didn't live with ,as I lived in halls for my first year of university. So I joined the cheer team, The Hope Hurricanes which it says on my bow in the picture to the right. Our uniform consist of a long sleeved top, skirt and spanks in the colours Black, Pink and Silver and our training uniform consists of black shorts, a black top with our logo on and a black hoodie which also has our logo on. We currently have a squad of 28 girls, however 4 years have left at the end of this season due to graduating university.

Now my third hobby is a little odd, especially for a girl aged 19. I like to collect 50p's which are used to commemorate evenra which have happened in the UK such as the 2012 Olympic, the suffragette movement, Johnson's Dictionary, the scouts movement, 100 years of the girl guides and so on. In total I have 34 50p's. 19 commemorating the Olympics (10 more amd I will have a the complete set) and 15 commemorating other events. I can't really tell you when I started collecting them, I just did, I've had them for as long as I can remember. The earliest 50p I have is from 1994, obviously i didn't start collecting them then as I was t even born but at some point I have been handed it and added it to my collection. Every time I receive a 50p in my change i always check it and it it has a picture om it I keep it ans refused to use it.

My last hobby is collecting pressed pennies. If I can remember correctly I started collecting pressed pennies in 2001 when I was about 6 years old. I went away with a family member to a place called 'Centre Parcs' and it has a pressed penny machine. Now at the age of 6 years old I was amazed by it and I still am to be honest. The first penny I pressed should hopefully be in the picture to the left (it's not a very good picture as the penny is a little mucky but I have had it for over 10 years) but it say "My Lucky Penny" with an imprint of a four leaf clover and a horse shoe. From then on whenever I see a press penny machine I will press a penny, I have been known to disappear when I see a machine. In total I have 19 pressed pennies, including ones from Madam Tussaudes (London), Edinburgh Zoo (Scotland), Dymanic Earth (Scotland), RMH Titanic Maritime Museum (Liverpool) and many others. Now whenever I go anywhere like a theme park or an attraction I check to see if they have a machine (I'm not obsessed I promise) and if they do I ensire to have a spare penny and a pound for the machine. 

I've just realised in both picture I'm wearing the same PJ bottom, these photos were taken about 2 months apart...

So this is the end of this post, here is this posts quote... "fool me once shame on me... fool my best friend and you're dead freaking meat" you know the drill... where's it from? aaannnddd who says it? 

Until next time :) x