And now....the end is near......

I'm writing this entry from home, sat in my bed, and it is pretty late. I have spent all evening packing my bags ready for Camp- why is that task so difficult! It's like some Einstein theory, it doesn't matter how much stuff you have and how big the bag you have is- it will always be too small :( I didn't give up though, and many reshuffles later I'm done.

I'm going back to Aston tomorrow, more like in a few hours, I'm having a goodbye meal with close friends before I leave. Thats the thing I love about Aston- the friends I've made here are like family to me, I just couldn't leave for 3months without a proper goodbye and send off, I know there will be a few tears :'P

I packed up a my room last week, and you would not believe how much rubbish one accumulates in the 9months of being at uni! From plastic swords to frisbees, and a variety of other novelty items all with a story or memory attached. It took a mini bus to move me, and 2 car journeys and 2 train journeys to move me out- but it is finally done. My room looks bare and empty, not at all like the home I made whilst I was in residence. I'm not looking forward to handing over my keys on saturday- having that small room, in a 40 year old tower block, sharing a bath room and kitchen with far too many guys, has all been worth it for the freedom and independence it afforded me. It takes some adjustment when I'm at home,  my mum still feels the need to run my life for me, insist on my room being tidy and knowing when I will be home from nights out....I've just realised that I've signed my self up for a summer of strict regime and timekeeping and absolutely no privacy- oh dear :O

I'm really looking forward to my summer though- I couldn't stay in Birmingham all summer while everyone else was at home anyway, and I wasn't going to stay at home pulling my hair out over rows with my mum- so I've opted for the most out of this world, 100% original experience I can find and I'm going it alone. Speaking to a friend earlier on facebook, I described my summer as a detox, both mentally and physically, particularly without being able to drink :P I'm hoping it will do something to help me focus a bit more next year, get my priorities in order.

I'm doing something important, working for a charity. I've always contributed to my community, going to the US stretches that concept, but I don't think I would have the maintained that mind set if I hadn't have been at Aston this year- the societies, and school board, and project work, even this- they have all made me keep it up, which I'm pretty glad about :D

Well I'm not sure if I'll be blogging anymore now, but I might do it even in the Uni aren't fussed :D I shall give the odd update from the other side of the Atlantic when I can. Until then, I will see any new Astonites in September! Feel free to drop me a line and ask me questions, I'll be in the LGBT office all of fresher's week on the first floor of the guild, so don't be shy :D

More excuses.....

I'm really sorry that is has been so long since I blogged on here properly, all of May was pretty much a write off between stuff going on at home and my exams, and with the end of term I haven't really been up to much other than packing up and coming home. Regardless, sincere apologies to anyone who has been checking to see if I have blogged some more and has been disappointed.

So starting the furthest back- exams. When I last blogged I told you how difficult I was finding it to concentrate on revising- it didn't get easier!!! My many weeks of planned detailed revising got squashed into a fortnight of actual hard work hitting the books. I just assumed that what I could remember from lectures would act as a basic concept I would easily build upon, but in fact in my accounting and economics modules I needed to be practicing workings out and technique. 

The weather turned really nice the week before exams, and I found it distracting knowing everyone with a much kinder exam timetable was outside sunbathing by the lake. In order to focus, me and a close course mate decided to become nocturnal for a week- we literally spent all night studying in the library until 7 or 8 am then slept until after midday, when we went back to the library and started again- a hard slog but it felt much better than skim reading the powerpoints the night before the exam. I was actually picking up on things that I had missed or ignored in lectures. Thank god for the library being open 24/7!!!! Going to work at the pub a few nights week was nice break away from it, and have cocktails on the wednesday afternoon getting tipsy in Las Iguanas :P Unfortunately my new sleeping regime came with an unfortunate side effect- a dependency on junk food! My diet practically through itself out of the window, to make way for crisps, fizzy drinks and what I fondly remember as Boost o'clock- every night at midnight I would eat a Boost bar, it was a fun tradition to uphold, just don't tell the  security men because they weren't very impressed when they saw me scoffing a banana and walnut loaf cake :P A lesson to be learnt for my library visits next year is to avoid it during the day and early evening when it is packed, and go as late as possible- plug point access became a commodity in the library over the exam period.

I felt pretty confident about the exams given the amount of blood, sweat, tears and sleeping time I had put into my revision, but 2 hours later when I was leaving each exam, that confidence was shattered, I never would have thought that multiple choice questions could be such a stressful ordeal!  Open book exams are the easiest- it all about preparation of notes for the exam, making sure I had everything in the right order and easy to find- I failed the open book exam in January because I only took half the notes in, stupid mistake really :( 

I think I probably failed an exam this term as-well, Principles of Operations Management,  it was 9am on the friday of my 5 day exam week, and I made the stupid mistake of trying to pull an all nighter but then going to bed 2 hours before! 3 alarms and 6 missed calls from my coursemate later and I'm running down to the exam hall with only a few minutes to spare, I may as well have been asleep for the exam, would have been much more productive I'm sure. If I have failed this module, then it will be my 3rd and I will have to cut my travels in the US short and come back for the referral week. The rule is fail two and you can go through to the second year, fail 3 or 4 and you have to re-sit before you can go through, and fail more than 4 you must redo the year again. I'm sure I wont be redoing the year, but I'm going to be gutted if I have to come home early- I find out the results just before my birthday while I'm in the US :( Wish me copious amounts of luck!!!!

After exams were over, and we had all celebrated/commiserated the end of an era, the was still work to be done. LGBT Aston have several big events, one already gone, and it was partly my responsibility as a member of committee to get it sorted it out- particularly pressing for me as I won't be around all summer. We had a summer BBQ by the lake for all students, which went without hitch, except for the rain :( 

Also, we had to plan our Astonbury festival stall. Astonbury is the Guild's annual music festival, and was quite spectacular, even though I had paid for my entrance I didn't see much of it as I was working the stall for 7 hours solid! Aston LGBT had a facepaint stall (none of us had done it before, but thought what the heck) we were surprised how much people wanted to have every inch of the their face covered in pain- I did one girl as a lion, but we both knew she looked like an oompa lumpa :P I did get chance to go on the free bumper cars, and enjoyed the dunking of certain people into the water tank. I didn't catch any of Zane Lowe as I left early, but stayed around long enough to see the amazing firework display- made it well worth the hard work during the day. I think the budget came to £65,000 in the end, but every penny was well spent had to said :D

The next big on the whole Uni's agenda is fresher's week. We have got a bouncy castle and more face painting planned, as well as our welfare info packs and a great fresher's pubcrawl- so for all of you coming to Aston next year, LGBT or not, come and enjoy a bounce and an ooompa lumpa facepaint :P Shame I'm not around to organise it all though eh?!? 

Unfortunately I wasn't successful in applying to be an Auntie next year. I was genuinely gutted about it, even more so than when I wasn't elected to AT editor. I wanted to prove a point after having such an awful Auntie myself, but now I kinda feel rejected even more. I wont stop giving Aston my all though, next year I'm even going to try a bit harder with my degree! :P

I think this (looooong) post is going to be my penultimate one :(

Excuses Excuses

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few weeks- I have been bogged down by a mixture of family crisis and a maniac two weeks of revision and exams. I'm nearly done though, last one on Wednesday :D

Had my last shift at work tonight  before the summer (I'll be back in September though :P)

It's quite late so I'll not get into too much detail about my past few weeks of "fun" but I will put something more interesting tomorrow night.

To come.....The library, revision, junk food, exams, failure, aunties forms, freshers week planning, camp america and more.

Revision :(

I'm back at Aston, the weather is miserable and I have to revise :( 

It's really difficult to drag myself out of bed in the mornings, it's more like afternoon by the time I've managed to get dressed :P I'm making good use of the new Uni Wifi in the common rooms, it means I don't even have to leave the tower! Nice and warm :D I'm going to switch off facebook and BBC iPlayer now and get on with my revision.

That's all folks

I had the last of my first year lectures today (I think :-S). I can't believe how quickly it has all gone by, it seems like only yesterday I was getting my A-level results and now here I am getting ready for my final exams! I've been very nostalgic the past few weeks, I think it's all part of growing older, because I've been overcome by a strange perception of time moving quickly. Time moving quickly is the last thing I want right now though- so much revision to do, even some stuff I have to learn from scratch because I wasn't paying attention in lectures :P.

I've come home today for the weekend, good to keep mum happy, back on Monday to hit the books though. I'm going to become very familiar with the 24 hour facilities of the library over the next couple of weeks- yippee!!!

Sun glorious sun

Spent a good few hours in the beer garden of the Sacks of Potatoes enjoying a tasty lunch with friends, all made so much nicer by the sun beating down on us. I know it will be short lived- like all good weather this time of year, it will probably tip it down with rain tomorrow :( The sun has for some reason made me want to revise, so now I'm indoors, not sure how much I'll get done when I know I have an episode of Eastenders and Holby City waiting for me on BBC iPlayer!

I'm off to Oceana tonight, the Xtreme BBQ Society are having a roof top terrace event and we have a VIP room to enj0y- seems like a bit of a random society but it comes with its perks :D

Post work library fun....

I'm in the library and it's not long until day break - I'm not revising unforunately, but that's not why I'm blogging :P Had a good shift at work, just didn't want to go bed, so I thought I would see what its like to the spend the night in the library! It's ok, quite busy, but plenty of computers left and the books are all still here :D I'm sure I will be spending a lot more time in here over the next month doing a lot more revision than I have been.

Post PJ hop and free toilet roll!!!

Didn't get up up until 1p.m. today- was an uncomfortable night's sleep "top and tailing" with my friend in the bed with me :P Was so worth it after the amazing night out that we had!!! Didn't get in until 4 a.m.- I'd say the pub crawl was a success, in spite of the low turnout we had. I don't know why I was worrying about my friend enjoying herself- she had a whale of a time, I think my friends like her more than me now :(

To top it all off, when  I got in and went to the toilet (sorry about the mental images on that :P ), one of my flat mates had left nearly a whole toilet roll in the cubicle- he is a fool I tell you! His loss is my gain :D In Aston accommodation toilet roll paper, which is not supplied, is a commodity, and if you don't ration it carefully you might find yourself short during a bout of yucky tummy, you have been warned. 

I feel very tired now- but have to go to work until close which makes it all better, yay!!!!

PJ Hop

Tonight is the night, it's been in the planning for weeks now, finally get to go on the pub crawl I have been promising lots of people will be the best night out since new years- worried though. Numbers are low so far, and tshirt sales are still below break even, and it doesn't take a business school student to recognise that this could be bad. I don't think it will affect the night too much though, it's only me and the committee who knows how badly we have done on this, and anyone who reads this of course :P I'm sure we will manage to rescue the night, and make sure everyone has fun- fewer people will just make it more cozy :D Love spin, or is it denial?

I have an old friend coming down from Manchester Met in a few hours to join me on the pub crawl- I've been raving about this to her as well. Really don't want to disappoint her.

While I'm talking about.... it's really easy to keep in touch with old friends once you are at Uni these days. Even more than just letters- Facebook and Myspace, or other reputable social networking sites, can prove invaluable for keeping up with friends and the other way round. As well as this, with rail cards making everything so much cheaper, traveling around the country is an option too. By pre-booking tickets for specific times you can really cut down on travel costs, I've been to Manchester, London, Cardiff, and Hull while I've been at Uni- and home to Hereford of course to see my Mummy :P I understand that international students will find the whole process a lot harder- but rail and air connections to Europe are fairly good from Birmingham and London so it is worth looking into :)

Revision :(

I decided after another week of procrastination, and a day (today) of window shopping with money I don't actually have, that I should probably start revising- shock horror tell me about it! I went to the library to go and get the text book I wanted, but I think the rest of the ABS first years must already have started revising because all but the short loan copies were out!!!!!! I settled for a short loan, hopefully I will try and get something done over the next 24 hours. Top tip for the library is get there early (in the term and in the day), and get what you want because you will not be the only one looking for it. I tried reserving a book once- not sure what actually happens after you click reserve on the computer though- but never actually got it :P 

Was supposed to be going to a friends Sesh  tonight, but an ill friend has convinced me to work their shift at the pub instead- never-mind, more money to go window shopping with!

Fire Alarms and Chav Parties

I've just had to run across campus in the library whilst it is bucketing down with rain- stupid fire alarms! This is the first day time one I've experienced, normally they are at 3am and everyone is running around like headless chickens :P )I was sleeping during this one today- I know you are thinking lazy sod- but was a great night at the guild and was really tired.) If you live in one of the tower accommodations, and it turns out to be the one with all the fire alarms (like mine this year!) you soon get used to being turfed out of your bed in the middle of the night, and me made to stand out in the cold! The fresher's week was probably the worst for it, at least one a night :( It's all good fun though- I've had some of the funniest moments of my life during a stafford tower fire alarm :D

On a brighter note, I had a great time last night at the guild- Chav Party! I threw on an old pair of white trainers, tucked my trackies into my socks and put my mobile phone on a lanyard around my neck and off I went! It was a Pounded night, so all drinks were between one and two pounds each, with soft drinks even cheaper. It only cost me £4 for a ticket, so all round it was a cheap night out, and only a short walk home afterwards :D Even if I did still look like a prize prat!

I think that is sunlight I see sneaking in through the blinds, so I'm going to head back over to my flat to eat some dinner, have a shower and get off to work for another night pouring pints and cleaning drip trays- woooooo!

Next week it's the LGBT pub crawl, as well as the last week of my lectures before exam leave ( I think :P) so I may be making some mad posts driven by my stress!

Back to Uni

That's it the holidays are over, I can no longer deny the existence of my impending university back log of work! I do feel fresh as a daisy after almost a month of not thinking, reading or writing (I recommend this drastic cold turkey regime to really give yourself a proper rest), and quite optimistic about things- if only I had the will power to sit down and do actual revision!!! I've got 4 weeks left until my exams, two of which have lectures- but they don't seem to help with my distinct lack of concentration. The library has just been made open 24/7, so I'm thinking that given my nocturnal lifestyle I might start pulling a few all nighters in there, I will need the text  books anyway as I didn't buy any this term- didn't see the point with them all being in the library :D 

As well as revision, I have also come back to finalising the arrangements for an awareness event this friday being held all day in the Guild Hall. Most societies through out the year hold some sort of event to help raise awareness of their society, whether it be a cause, a hobby, a religion or a sport. Now it is the turn of Aston LGBT to hold their awareness event, and it is particularly important for the fight against the prejudice and discrimination that LGBT face. I'm quite nervous of this event, as it's been someone else who has arrange things so far- I've just been putting up posters :P As part of this Awareness event, Aston LGBT are hosting a pajama themed pub crawl next week- which has been my job to organise. Pub crawls and Aston tend to be considered synonymously, as most societies try to put on one as part of their busy social events calendars. It isn't just about drinking though, because you don't have to drink alcohol to enjoy making new friends and catching up with the current ones, and in the case of the LGBT pub crawl it also helps opens people's eyes up to a world they haven't seen before- gay pubs and clubs. I'm really looking forward to it, I just hope the numbers attending will be high enough to make it a success.

One last thing- we had snow over the weekend! I've heard of April showers, but not April blizzards, it's madness really. When Aston, and Birmingham, is covered in a blanket of fresh snow it looks amazing, made me feel quite Christmasy :P  

Now I'm off to go see if my new mobile phone has arrived yet- something else to distract me. Phone contracts are a must for university though- you will save money with all inclusive text or minutes deals, your mobile phone is the centre of your social life, and your access to emergency services, it's best to be safe than sorry on all counts.

Other results...

While I'm thinking about results, not elections this time, but module results. Remember those essays I wrote and handed in a few days before the deadline? Well I got 74% on them!!!! Much better than my other modules it has to be said. I know it isn't representative of the overall mark I'll get this year, but it shows me I can do it if I try hard enough :D

It's the Easter holiday break now, doesn't feel that long since Christmas, but there we go. I've returned home for a just week, even though I've got almost a month off- I just can't seem to stay away from Birmingham too long! It shows much my friends and I love Aston really, none of us want to be apart form each other, and all the fun things we can get up to in Brum :D It's great that Aston accommodation allows you to stay during vacation time, I know some of my friends have to physically hand over their keys or move out all together!!!! My mum isn't best pleased by my short visits though, it's difficult to find the right balance with going home enough, but she understands I'm sure.

Right I'm off to catch up with old college mates- there are some positives to being home! :P

Guild Elections

Despite being ill last week I still had an election campaign to run. I had to write speeches for hustings and be prepared to answer questions on my position, as well as running around pinning up posters (most of which were ripped down 5 minutes later by someone who has little or no respect for democracy and the student voice- I could rant for hours on that) and then for the 3 days that voting was taking place I had to stand outside the main building in gale force winds handing out of leaflets trying to encourage people to vote for me. I wasn't the only one there though, most candidates, whether running for full time roles like the President or VPs or the part timers like my role, did their bit to earn their votes



I was pretty concerned about being so far behind my opposition, she had been doing tower raids whilst I was in bed ill, and she had a much bigger campaign team running around for her. I know a lot of people, it helps working in the local pub, but she really got her name out there. To cut a fairly long and stressful story short I lost the election :( Personally I think I was the best person for the job and had the best points to put across (of course I would say that!), but in terms of campaigning Gemma deserved to win, I was just so tired that I was really struggling to compete with her. I'm glad I did it all though, I felt like at least I was trying to make a contribution to my community, and did something very few students do. Even if people didn't vote for me to win I gained some support. A part of me is also a little glad I didn't win- I won't have to do all at that extra work next year :P I still need a "project" to keep my scatty brain focused though- so I think I will be running for Aston RAG committee, still need to think about it thought, don't think I can handle to rejections! I'll get back to you on that one.

Apologies/Illness

Apologies for my absence from the web the past few weeks, I've been pretty distracted and all will be revealed if you stay tuned.

The last time I blogged I was happy because I had just got my visa for Camp America, but I didn't get to stay on my high for long. On Saturday (the one before the last one :P) I ate something which gave me food poisoning- I have my suspicions as to which food it was but can't really say for sure. It started with bad indigestion on Sunday morning, and then it got worse to the point when I couldn't sleep all night I was so uncomfortable with stomach cramps :( I didn't really know it was food poisoning at the time- it felt like I was dying on the inside!

Luckily Aston has it's own dedicated NHS medical centre so I knew I would be able to go get help. I went to see a nurse Monday morning, I didn't even have to make an appointment which saved me hassle. Unfortunately with food poisoning, as I discovered, there was nothing to be done other than just wait it out. I went back to my bed and slept all day, with painkillers to make me more comfortable. I needed the rest after having no sleep the night before. I was really annoyed that I was bed bound for the day, I wanted to be out there campaigning for the elections, I knew it was going to put me behind when I had very little time. I didn't feel 100% until about Thursday, and I was glad to be able to eat without it feeling like there were shards of glass in my stomach :D

I was pretty lucky to have gone so long without getting ill like I did, but I was really worried when I did, thank god for the nurse being so easy to get to. I didn't suffer with vomiting or diarrhea from my food poisoning, unlike most, so I was even luckier on that front!

Legitimate reason to miss lectures.

Today I went down to London to attend a visa interview for my Camp America trip this summer. 4 hours of travelling and £100 (plus food :P) of my hard earned cash led to a 15 minute walk from one side of the US embassy to the other talking to a few people at different counters along the way to be told I would be allowed my visa. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I've got it, the process was unavoidable. However, because I was warned that I could be waiting several hours I hadn't planned for this sudden influx of free time. It was only my second time in big city, and so I decided that the most appropriate thing to do was sight see/shop. I did Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Houses of Parliament, Leicester Square, China Town, SoHo, Covent Garden- all the essentials. I also dropped into Hamleys- I was like a kid in a toy store! I picked up my little brother a miniature London red bus- it's not an Easter Egg, but he will like it :D On the visa side of things the Uni were really helpful, they happily gave me a letter confirming my student status etc. which I needed. I know that Aston also has one of the best visa advice services in the Student Advice Centre of all the universities, and is always happy to help out international students with their applications and paper work.

I had my first husting yesterday for my election campaign, a combination of my nerves and the fact my opponent (yes that's right I have had to endure a last minute opponent!) had bought a banner with them meant I pretty much died on my feet. I'm going to go home in a bit an plan my speech for tomorrow a little better, try and make a better impression.

I'm beginning to feel the pressure a bit with only a week left until the end of term and not many lectures left- I can't believe how behind I am on things. Thank heavens for all the free time I have after Easter to revise before my exams! Just found out the coursework I handed in January (remember my rushed 2000 word essays?) is marked and ready for collection tomorrow- should be interesting :P

Right after that 4 hour trek across London, I need to go home and have a shower and write my speech for tomorrow, whilst trying to remain relaxed :D

What a difference....a weekend makes.

I feel like I've had the worst few days ever! Being home wasn't as much fun as I'd hoped, won't bore you with that though :P I get back today and some first term module results are out :( I failed Quantitative Techniques- the easiest open book maths exam since they invented the abacus, I feel like a fool. The resit week in August falls the same time I'm in America, and it's going to be difficult to arrange my exam in the US. I'm going to find out if there is a person I can grovel and cry (seriously it makes me want to actually cry) to about it- it has worked in the past for me. Don't let anyone tell you a degree is easier than A-levels- as I have just experienced it isn't always the case :(

As well as that, I handed in my article late and unfinished, but the current editor seemed happy with it- didn't ask me to do anything else despite the fact the print run is on Wednesday and the paper isn't finished yet, I'm not sure if that is a good sign :P probably me being pessimistic. I still handed in my nomination forms and things though, have a candidates meeting tomorrow if I can remember to go! Will be shadowing the current editor for two days as we get ready to send this months issue off to the printers on Wednesday. Don't worry I will go lectures in between :(

I have to go work tonight, not closing, same as last week until 12. Won't be hanging around afterwards though- I just really want to sleep :P Took someone else's shift for the weekend as well as my own on Saturday, need the money more than a night out. I'm not an alcoholic by the way, its really easy to go out and not drink whilst still having fun, like tour to Brighton the other weekend! Remember boys and girls don't give into peer pressure :D Even fruit juice or red bull costs money though :(

Another exam!!!

I stayed in the main building until 4am last night. I'm posting for today after midnight so all the dates are out for what I'm writing about, but you will get the drift. After I finished my manifesto, which by the way is pretty cool even if I do say so myself :P (modest much), I got hooked on HolbyCity on the old iPlayer. I had to drag myself out of bed this morning to my lectures, and in between spend some time working in the Aston Times on the article for next week- have to get it finished by tomorrow. Suppose I had better get used to these deadlines! It doesn't help that I need to catch the 2 o'clock train back home tomorrow though, I'm going to be rushed off my feet :(

I did give myself chance to go over to the bullring and do a bit of retail therapy and lunch with a friend. Can't beat squeezing the last few pounds out of your overdraft :P I'm joking, I've done quite a good job of budgeting so I know how much I've got to spend and when to stop- unlike my friend who is wild and fast with his credit card, really isn't worth the airmiles! 

Being in the middle of the city centre is a blessing and curse at the same time. I'm minutes away from what I consider to be a city second to none, not even London in my ranking, with great shops and facilities, you don't ever want for something to do. Unfortunately it can come with a cost, and it doesn't matter how many you ask "do you do student discount?" it never makes it free! I really should think more about what I can do for free in Brum, I know there is loads :?

I also had an exam today, it was at 6.30pm and it started half an hour late! Most inconvenient :O It was a class test worth 30% of my Management Accounting module. I was dreading it as I hadn't been paying much attention in lectures (I want to blame Facebook, but it's not it's fault, it can't help that it is so damn addictive and that we get wireless broadband in the main building!) and from what a friend of mine, Tom, was telling me about it, I needed to know some stuff to do well. As it turned out the 30 question multiple choice exam, which is done on the computer so you don't even have to write anything, was easily completed in the half the allocated time. I nearly laughed when some of the questions in the exam were the same ones as we were working through in the revision session! Too easy really :P We'll see anyway, I should have done enough to get 40% and pass, I hope :S

Now I'm going to check how cheaply I can get home tomorrow with my railcard and start drafting my article for tomorrow. Then I have to pack to go home for the weekend! I should probably mention I'm a night owl, and do everything under the cover of darkness. Not all students are like this, some manage to get up in the mornings :P

Aston Times

I spent a few hours in the Aston Times office today. It turns out with issues being published monthly, I will be very busy if I win the elections in a few weeks- so yea I'm going to be running for the position, and I don't think I've got any competition either (I hope). It's a non-exec position so I won't have to get too heavily involved in the politics of the guild- of which there is a whole lot off! To get me going I'm writing an article for next weeks issue about the history of the paper, as it is it's 60th Anniversary- hope I don't let the paper down :S At the moment, I'm in the main building again, middle of the night, watching the Eastender's omnibus on BBC iPlayer whilst writing my campaign manifesto. I'll post it when I'm finished :D

I also had an LGBT meeting today, the new committee is slowly taking over and making plans for the time we are in charge :D Not that I'm letting the power go to my head! Next year we want to make sure that the society is offering a wider variety of options to it's members, less drinking and more cozy nights in watching movies. Aston isn't all about drinking and going out all the time, there is a strong sense of family and belonging, which everyone can get if they involve themselves and make friends with people who have similar, and sometimes different, interests and opinions to yourself. That's what I have found most satisfying and comforting in my short time here. 

We have also been planning next year's tour, like all other societies we have an annual long weekend/holiday away and have good laugh and a rest from the humdrum of university life. Correction humdrum isn't a word I'd use to describe my time here actually, so I guess tour is just another excuse to have more fun :D

Just got in....

I worked a late shift at Gosta tonight, 8-12. Monday night is Quids night, cheap drinks mixed with penny pinching students = ram backed 4 deep at the bar! Good night though, rather than having to work until close and clean up, I got off early and had a few drinks :P with some mates before time. Then I stayed on for staff drinks- perks of the job eh. Thank god I don't have any lectures on tuesdays in odd weeks-I can have a lie in! :D 

I will be going to have dinner with my grandparents though tomorrow. I have two sets of grandparents and an aunt all within 20 minutes of me on bus or train routes- great for washing clothes and getting my weekly portion of vegetables in :P Not everyone gets that luxury, so I'm kinda cheating with the whole leaving home thing. It wouldn't kill me not to go though, it's just nice to see family.

Finally got a text back from the Aston Times editor, he was working elsewhere today. He asked me to come see him tomorrow- I had already moved seeing my grandparents from Monday to Tuesday, I couldn't put them out again. I will be seeing him Wednesday instead I hope, will be a busy day though :( 

And now....

I think with that I shall draw an end to my introductory posts, and just start blogging normally. If you have any questions on anything I might not have mentioned that you want to know about then feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly :D

I'm thinking about running for editor of the Aston Times, the university's historical newspaper, in the upcoming Guild elections. I've been trying to get hold of the current editor all day to arrange to see him- maybe he is being elusive because he doesn't want me to steal his baby? I'm told the job is a big committment, I don't mind that, I just want to make sure I have enough time fit it in. I'm a real glutton for punishment when it comes to workload :P Still, it beats being in my flat watching my Sex and The City box set, or does it?..............

Lectures- the truth is out!

Does anybody remember my flat auntie from one of my earlier posts? Well one the of the few things that she told me during our brief encounter was that she had only had a 4% (I think she made the exact figure up) attendance rate, and was still achieving a 2:1 in her degree(which is over 60% of marks). I didn't believe what she was telling, she was in the Business School like me, but there was no way, I told myself then, that I would go to so few lectures- god knows I'm getting myself into enough debt here I may as well take full advantage of what I'm paying for!

Here I am almost half way through my second and last teaching period, and my attendance is, shall we say- less than perfect :P The University tell you that all timetabled lectures and tutorials have a mandatory attendance requirement, but there are registration sheets in the first two weeks of each teaching period only, so after it really is left up to your own conscience. Almost all lecture and tutorial materials are available on the ABS virtual learning environment called Blackboard, including powerpoint slides, the answers to set work and past exam papers, so if you can't get to a lecture or choose not to go then there is a way to catch up.

I've found that at university there is a much more of a self-reliance when it comes to learning, unlike my A-levels and GCSEs there is no one to spoon feed me exam responses which I can repeat parrot fashion until I'm blue in the face (I'm not knocking A-Levels and GCSEs I had to work to get my good grades, and some people are lot more demanding than the ones I did!). In some lectures you will only have a lecturer read slides to you, I found if I just read them in my own time I wasn't missing out on much because it was a fairly easy content to learn. In others, like a certain Dr. Patrick Tissington's Organisational Behaviour lectures or the Financial Accounting Module, you really can't afford to miss the lectures. The former because they are an absolute hoot (did I just use the word hoot :P), and the latter because it is riddled with surprise class tests and fill in the blank exercises which you actually need :( With only about 24 hours a fortnight of contact time on the ABS first year timetable (not exactly great value for money some might say :P), a lot of learning takes place outside of the lecture hall, in the middle of the night reading chapters from texts books or reviewing slides and notes online, at least that's how I did it. Important lectures which I always try to attend are the first couple when you are A) being registered and B) getting an introduction and foundation for the module, and also the last revision lectures or tutorials, these are a great time to learn the exam technique for the module and review any bits you might have missed during the term. The rest I will leave to your own judgement.

An important note before I go is on textbooks. I made the mistake of buying all the first teaching periods text books, it cost me £15o and most them I barely looked at and probably wont ever again. I will sell some to recoup costs though :) If you don't want to invest in new copies of set texts then take advantage of second years, like me who will be selling their previous years books at a discounted price. If you can't afford to do either, or just don't want to, then there is a limited supply of text books in the library- don't rely on them being there during exam revision time though, because you have no chance of turning up the night before an exam looking for a text book- some of my friends learnt this the hard way. When I was writing a couple of 2000 word essays less than a week before their due date I remember grabbing the last 4 books in the shelves in that area- and still having to share them with a friend! Talk about close for comfort. Still waiting for those essay marks actually- hope it was all worth it :S

Fresher's Summary part deux

Welcome back.

The next thing that comes to my mind when I think about freshers week, and it is supported by my day planner entries, is all the inductions and orientations, registrations and welcome meetings I had to go to! They are never ending, and because you have to do it all twice once for the central University and then again for the school of study, in my case Aston Business School, it seems to be very repetitive. A piece of advice I wish I had been given before I started enrolling- wear a comfy pair of shoes and take a pillow, because you will be doing a lot of queuing, or sitting down in lecture halls :( On the plus side, I did finish the week feeling as if knew absolutely everything I needed to know about being at Aston, and the people I should speak to if there was something I didn't know. Looking at my diary now, I had lots of times penciled for different demo's being put on by the societies and sports club, I don't remember going to any of them I was that busy with other stuff!

Moving towards the end of fresher's week, most of the partying has already happened, a lot of people have discovered what a real hang over is, and fresher's flu (something I'll dedicate a blog to soon) is rife! However, even after all of that, I was still expected to attend fresher's fair. I had read up about this however, fresher's fair is the opportunity to blag as much free stuff as possible all under the same roof. Pens, lanyards, notebooks, mouse mats (I use a laptop but still thought it would be useful), glass coasters, toilet cistern economisers and wooden spatulas strangely enough. I think I swapped a glow stick from one stand for a pint glass from the girls on the Wetherspoons stand- score! Not forgetting me and my flatmate talking to the Christian Union for ages just so we could get a free doorstop, I felt bad afterwards for conning them, but the doorstop has proved invaluable, every student should have one.

I signed up to a lot of societies and clubs that day- big mistake. I spent a lot of money on membership, some for societies that I didn't even start to attend. Looking back I wish I had taken my time, and worked out what I was really going to be able to commit myself to. I still get all their email bulletins though, I really should speak to someone about that :P

Next time lectures!

Let's try this again

Sorry the first thing you read in my blog was ranting, I don't do it all the time, but sometimes you just need to say something!

Ok, so now I'll take you back to my fresher's week. 

To be honest I had a pretty rubbish fresher's week (this isn't ranting by the way, it's statement of fact :P). I had already arranged a job in Gosta Green, a very popular on campus pub which I suggest you frequent as often as often possible for reasonably priced food and drink (little bit of free advertising for the boss there!). Stupidly I agreed to work 3 evening shifts during my freshers week, all of which were on popular nights when big events were on at the guild, I missed out on a lot! I'm still working there all these months later, and I would recommend a job to anyone at Uni. Having something other than studying and socialising/drinking is great because you make new friends, and I find it keeps me sober a few nights a week as well :D However, do not give up your fresher's week fun for love nor money!

On day one, it was a saturday, I was shipped up in a van with all my belongings (yes that's right a van, it's becoming a running joke in my flat that I came to Uni prepared for anything), and when I had all 10 boxes plus extra bags in my room I made my parents leave ASAP so I could begin what I thought was an amazing new life of freedom and enjoyment. I very quickly turned on the spot and said "Oh Shit what have I done?". First stage of leaving home- your family aren't always there anymore, not even to nag you- those first few weeks I missed even that. 

I don't know how other Uni's do it (I've never thought to ask anyone come to think of it :P), but Aston have current students around during international and home student fresher's week to help you move in and settle down, they are commonly know as Aston Aunties, a strain of super friendly and super helpful (sometimes) students. I think the Aunties saw me coming with all my baggage and neglected to offer me and my fatigued parents a hand- so if you see one looking idle when you are moving in make sure you grab them and tell them to grab a box or a bag! 

When I was all moved in, me and the few other guys in my flat who had arrived by then waited patiently for the Aunty who had been assigned to our flat to come and meet us. She didn't turn up, when she finally did it was to tell us she needed to go get her tan topped up after her summer holiday and that she would come back later to take us to the guild in the evening- we never saw her again. I think she was an exception to the rule of how helpful Aunties are, and things were quickly made better when our flat was adopted by Auntie Tampon. Pretty much everyone at Aston is given a nickname at some point, a term of affection, and it's become second nature to me now to refer to a grown woman as Tampon.

I haven't really picked up a nickname yet, at work I am often referred to as Gunther owing to my apparently strong resemblance to the fat German kid from The Simpsons- I refute this claim outright, but if paid enough I will consider donning the pair of Ledehosen and engaging my bosses twisted fantasies :P Within my flat I'm known as Alex-Mom, mainly to differentiate me from the other two Alex's in the flat, and also because I have a habit of mothering the other guys- I can't help if they don't know how to cook, clean or iron!!!!!!!!! Second stage of leaving home- realising you have little or no basic domestic skill. I didn't get caught out by this one, my mum was hard on me as a kid and I learnt it all then ;) Only joking mum! Other students don't need to either though, read a basic cook book over the summer, watch your parents when they are in the kitchen, ask them how to switch the vacuum cleaner on and how hot is too hot on the iron, all simple measures I feel. 

OK now give your eyes a five minute break, and then read on in the next post about Registration, Fresher's Fair, and first week of lectures........

Are we sitting comfortably........

......then we shall begin.

Well actually I was going to start my blog back at the very beginning and catch you all up on what I have been getting up to in the first half of my year here at Aston. However, Keysurf, the ISP contractor for halls of residence at Aston, had different ideas when it decided to cut me off! I have had to trek over to the main building in the middle of the night so that I can get this done. The internet in my flat may not be on 24/7 like I pay for it to be, but the main building and it's free wireless broadband connection are open 24/7, almost without fail- this one of the many wonderful things you can discover at Aston :D

I want to rant about Keysurf some more first though :P Despite the fact I am now used to it's general rubbishness, I am still happy to say that it is awful, at least in my experience anyway. If you live in Lakeside accommodation then you get hardwired access, and only have to deal with the server being down on a regular basis, the lucky few lakesiders might be able to get the wirless connection from the Life Sciences building though. However if, like me, you live in one of the standard accommodation towers or low rise flats you also have to deal with the wireless network factor. I live in the room furthest away from the transmitter, so when I pay twelve pounds a month to get access to a slow unreliable internet connection, I am also paying to sit by my door with my iBook on my lap because the signal wont reach anywhere else! It has been improving slightly since I first arrived, but not great. It wasn't uncommon in the first few weeks for my flat mates to find me in the middle of the corridor trying to get enough signal strength to check my facebook! Speaking of which feel free to add me and chat, there is a link in the right hand menu :D The University know about the problems, and have been trying to deal with it for years, we will have to wait and see. There is promise however that the new accomodation that will be being built over the next few years will have a wirless connection which the uinversity will manage themselves!

There are other options though, mobile phone networks like 3, Orange and Vodaphone, offer mobile broadband now, so check them all out before you commit to anything.

Now I feel like a right moaner. I'll be back with something a bit less ranty in a while.

Hey, just making a test post. Give me a day and I'll soon have this blog looking fancy :)