Making Progress - Halfway Through the Semester

Last month I did a mini-series on starting my third year at university. This next week is going to be the halfway point of the semester. Yeah, it happened fast. I was shocked when I realised, and naturally a little worried. Then I started thinking about how things are going right now, so I wanted to give a little update.

Things are going really well. I’ve done full first drafts of my assignments for my prose and screenwriting classes and the general feedback is it’s really good. There are some problems obviously, no one has a perfect first draft, but from what’s been said it doesn’t seem like it’ll be too hard to fix. I’ll be doing that within the next couple of weeks and we still have the chance for them to be looked at again before the deadline, at which point I feel confident I’ll be able to write them up well enough for a 1^st. There are other things that still need to be done for them but looking at how the classes are laid out for the next few weeks it seems that there’ll be time for everything.

I haven’t done quite as much for my Writer at Work project but I have done a lot of research for it and I have someone I have to contact about it on Monday. Hopefully then I’ll be able to write up a full first draft of my assignment within the next couple of weeks.

So I’m completely on schedule. So much so that I don’t actually have any work that needs to be done this weekend, aside from reading the books I’m using for research, but that seems significantly easier than having whole things to write out. There’s been a lot of work going into it and it hasn’t always been easy but I haven’t felt too stressed or overworked either.

That’s the work stuff. The classes themselves have all changed in layout slightly in a way that makes them feel better for me. For example, our prose workshops have split into smaller groups so we only discuss people’s works in groups of three or four at a time, which is a lot more comfortable and allows for more discussion.

Outside of class things are going well. I’m still loving the place I’m at and the people I’m living with, even more so than when I first moved in. My hopes of having a more social year have also been answered, not just with my flatmates or being back at anime society, but I’ve been talking more to the people in my class as well which has been great.

I realise a lot of this just seems like me going on about all the good stuff happening in my life, and I’m sorry about that, but I really wanted to give a halfway update for the semester. It’s not all great, money’s never good first semester and then there was the whole computer thing that didn’t help.

My plans for the rest of the semester are just to stay on schedule, try to develop things as much as possible, and try to keep improving my social life. If nothing else, my dear flatmates and I have some very nice plans for Halloween.

Come November I’m also planning to attempt NaNoWriMo for the third year in a row and succeed finally. I’ve had this story developing for two years now, I used it in two of my classes last year, and I’m going to try to translate it into the full first draft of a novel. If all goes well, I’ll use one of the chapters for my prose assignment next semester.

University Goals for the Year

Every year I try to set a number of goals to achieve before summer. Most of this year's will be copies of previous years, but I thought this would be an appropriate post.

My Goals:

1. Make more friends.
2. Attend more social events.
3. Attend all classes.
4. Get more 1^st's.
5. Come up with a plan for after university.
6. Graduate.

I would say I am making some progress toward each of these goals already, but there's a lot of work left to do.

Well, this was a short post but that conclude's this week's 'back to university' theme. There will no doubt be many university related posts to follow but for now it's back to free posting.

Thanks for reading everyone! If you want, tell me in the comments what your plans for the year are!

Shopping Fun!

What does a poor university student with almost no money do when they need something? In my case, it’s a special kind of shopping spree!

Since starting university, September-December has always been the worst time of year financially for me. The September-December rent payment is usually a bit more than the others, for starters, and it seems like there’s always some problem that forces me into overdraft before the money comes in. This year was no different so I thought I’d do a post about the ways I’ve saved money (sort of) and the fun I’ve had living on a budget.

I’ll start with the less exciting bit first. I live further from the city centre now so shopping for food isn’t as easy. I can’t buy too much because I have to carry it home further, and multiple trips are harder than they sound. Buying everything I need in the smaller shops close by would only cost more, so I decided to do my very first online shop. It was the first for food anyway. We’ve done it before at home but then my parents are in charge of it so I didn’t know what to expect. The process was all very easy though. I’m just sad that Iceland online shopping doesn’t deliver to where I’m staying yet. Tesco was my favoured backup. I managed to get over a month’s worth of food for about £40, treats included, just by picking all the cheapest options.

Picking the cheapest options led to some interesting experiences. They have these whole meals in tins, like Spaghetti Bolognese, and I had never been lured in by them before, it just seemed a bit unusual. I’m used to food like that being either homemade, or at the very least, from a box. The tins have been great so far though. Another nice surprise came with the Tesco value microwaveable cheeseburger and chips. Usually I love microwave meals, but I wasn’t sure cheeseburger and chips were meant to be made like that. Well, admittedly it’s not as good as the ‘real’ ones, but I thought it was pretty good considering.

It was also funny having it delivered. The delivery guy called me, and because signal is bad here the phone cut off, which made me worry a little. He called back immediately, the problem being he couldn’t find flat. Again, I moved in two weeks ago, so I still don’t know the whole area. I couldn’t tell him how to get here so I ended up running outside to find him. Luckily, it didn’t take that long, and I got to ride in the Tesco van back to the flat. He was a really nice guy as well.

Now, food wasn’t the only thing I needed here. A week ago, I went on a special shopping trip. I wanted to get some new clothes because I found four outfits weren’t quite enough when some of them were taking longer to dry. Since I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on them I decided it was time to get to the charity shops, and since the way there just happened to pass by Forbidden Planet, I thought I’d take a look in there as well. Of course, I got myself some treats as well. Here’s my little collection from that day:

- Minecraft Poster – £3.99 – Forbidden Planet

I was in the store a few days previously and noticed the poster then. I really wanted it and as it was cheap enough, I decided I was going to get it.

-Star Trek Mug – £5.99 – Forbidden Planet

Just because I need more fandom mugs, especially since my Doctor Who one had to stay behind in London, and Star Trek is my big addiction at the moment.

-Mock the Week Book - £2.50 – British Heart Foundation

I love Mock the Week and every time I see books for any show I love I tend to want it. This one is all ‘scenes we’d like to see’ stuff, which is my favourite part of the show, so this was an obvious buy.

- A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - £2 – British Heart Foundation

I haven’t actually started this book yet so I don’t know how I really feel about it. It’s not the sort of thing I’d usually pick up to read but it’s been recommended a few times now by people on my course and it sounded good so when I saw it in the shop at a cheap price I thought I might as well try it.

-Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice - £1 – Scope

I read this book ages ago and loved it – and the film is still one of my favourites – so I again gave into temptation when I found it in the shop.

-Trousers - £3.25 – Scope

Originally from Marks & Spencer’s, if anyone cares, I chose these because they looked and felt really comfy. Plus it can hard to find trousers in my size where the legs aren’t too long.

-Top - £4.25 – Scope

Again if anyone’s interested, originally from Dorothy Perkins, a shop I don’t think I’ve ever even been to. This one I chose because I thought it was cute, and it turns out it’s really comfy to wear too.

-Fluffy cushion - £4.50 – Scope

Actually it’s a fluffy cushion cover that came with the cushion inside it, even better. I’ve wanted a fluffy cushion for ages and this one was beautiful. I think it’s a really nice addition to my room.

I’m really happy because I knew I’d be tempted by a lot of things so I set myself a budget for the day of £30 and all this came to just under £27.50. New stuff with none of the guilt!

On the way back I ran into one of my friends and we ended up spending two hours just talking, which was the perfect end to my trip. This post has gone on pretty long now so I’ll leave it at that.

Thanks for reading everyone, bye bye!

Fighting Apparent Laziness

I do all my own stunts, you know.

Has anyone else had a really slow couple of weeks? To be fair, it hasn’t really been slow for me, what with moving back to uni, having to buy food and other supplies, go back to classes, but everything outside of that has just been… well almost non-existent.

There’s no doubt that it can be hard sometimes, transitioning from summer back into a work environment. I suppose I should be happy, since this is the last year I’ll likely have such a transition. I still seem to spend a stupid amount of time just sitting in my room watching youtube or reading some useless thing on the internet. I can barely even wake up! To be fair, I have been having some sleep related problems recently, but as someone who usually wakes up at 8 in the morning, trying to get back to waking up at 7, progress has been terrible. Almost every day I’ve woken up to my alarm at 7 only to immediately fall asleep again and wake up around 10 (the one exception thankfully being the day I had a class at 10). This usually leads to a very slow start. Then I’ll occasionally get tired in the afternoon. I’ve never really been a nap person but occasionally I’ll give in and take one for the sake of being able to do more afterwards. Unfortunately the last couple of times I’ve done it I’ve stupidly not set an alarm and woken up over an hour later even more tired than when I laid down, which leads to a lack of anything being accomplished.

I’ve been actively trying to break this cycle, with only minor success so far but it shouldn’t be too hard to resolve now. Yesterday my classes went from suspiciously easy to ‘ah, there’s the work’ when I realised just how much reading I would have to do. I love reading, but there is a lot to get through in a short space of time. I’ve started that now, as well as work on my assignments for the semester, so at least that’s back on track even if I could pick up the pace a little. I also went back to the anime society last night, having missed the first of the year due to tiredness. I was tired last night but forced myself to go anyway and I’m really happy I did. I’m sure in a couple of weeks everything will be back to normal but in the middle of this transition things are pretty rough (even if they are mostly relaxed).

Has anyone else ever had this problem? What do you do to fight laziness when it rears its ugly head?

(Please don’t tell anyone in my writing class I used a cliché!)

My Uni Supplies

I wanted to talk a little about the supplies I brought for my classes. I was going to mention them in my previous post but I didn’t want it to run too long, so I thought I’d do a separate one for it.

First of all, this is the bag I use for my classes. Actually, it’s the bag I use for everything right now because it’s the only one I brought with me. 

I love Soul Eater. I don’t love this bag’s strap because while it can be adjusted, it doesn’t like to stay adjusted, and when it’s filled with uni supplies it has the nasty habit of swinging around and hitting my other leg, which lead to a pretty nasty bruise.

My first year I had a notebook for each class. Last year I had a big one that I wrote everything in. I decided to have one notebook between all my classes again this year (it’s really not bad if you have a big enough one and mark each section properly. It took me until my second class to realise it had a bookmark, which I love.

I wanted to get an academic diary again this year as I had one last year and found it really useful. Then I found this instead and I couldn’t resist. It has separate sections, a timetable which is great for classes and anything else planned at specific times, a to do list for everything else and even a section where you can write down notes, great for homework as well as diary entries and anything else you need to write down. It is shorter though, I’ve worked it out and it will only last until December. After that I may get a regular diary again, but we’ll see when the time comes.

So, I was stupid and when it came to packing I couldn’t find my pens anywhere. I had to run out and buy some. I’m one of those people who needs a specific type of pen. I’m not limited to just one, though I have my favourites, but I like ones that feel a certain way in my hand and ones that I can write easily with. This doesn’t mean I actually know the difference between different types of pens. I couldn’t get my favourite so I bought these because they looked similar. ‘Roller pens’, again I don’t actually know what that means, but they aren’t the easiest. I like the way they feel and most of the time the way they write but they only really write properly if I have the notebook flat rather than at an angle, which is how I often have to write in the lecture room. It has gotten easier as I’ve become used to them though.

Honestly, that’s all there is for now. Undeserving of its own post? Maybe. There were some other things (sharpie highlighters, certain pencils and rubbers) but I didn’t have the time to find them before I left. That is the downside of having a convention right before moving back to university.

I'm also lucky enough that my course doesn't have a lot of required reading. There's a lot of suggested reading, but only two or three we've actually had to read.

What I Brought to Uni

And now an impression of my cat.

It’s common knowledge that people moving to university tend to take too much with them. My first and second years here, it didn’t matter to me that I would be part of that stereotype. I would be miles away from home for months at a time, I wanted as much of my stuff with me as possible.

Now, having that mind-set might not be too much of a problem if you weren’t going too far away, or if you or anyone in your family have a car as seems to be the case most of the time. But if you’re someone without any of that, the distance is larger and you have to stick to trains or coaches (I gave up on trains a long time ago. £50 one way? No thanks.) then its’ going to be a lot harder. If you fill up your suitcase so much that you have to stop every five seconds and by the end of it you can’t use any of your muscles without intense pain, then that may be a sign you need to change things. Of course, it might also help if you have any strength whatsoever.  

So yeah, this year I decided I wasn’t having any of that. I wanted easy, light travelling. I only wanted what was absolutely necessary (plus a couple of extras for entertainment). The number of each thing I took was cut down significantly and some things were eliminated altogether.

Below is a list of everything I took:

-Clothes – I took all my underwear but only 4 tops and bottoms, because they can be re-worn and if I spaced them out right I wouldn’t have to worry about running out of clothes (new place has washing machine but no dryer so we have to hang them up which takes longer)

-Hairbrush, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste and 1 towel (everything else like that was either coming back from storage or could be bought when I arrived)

-Blanket and dressing gown (for Winter, and I wasn’t sure if just walking around in my pyjamas in the morning would be acceptable here, plus I just like having something to wrap myself in)

-3DS and games (so I’d have something to play if I wanted, but restricted to save space)

-3 books (again for entertainment, and justified because I’m on a writing course)

-Uni supplies (I’ll go over these later)

-3 Plushies (because I just couldn’t eliminate anymore, plus one is smaller ayway)

-Camera, phone and laptop plus chargers.

That was all I brought and so far it’s been enough. I haven’t even had time to touch the games since starting class again!

So my advice for anyone about to move to uni (though it might be a bit late for this year) is to only take what is absolutely necessary. Add a couple more things for entertainment if you like, but you definitely won’t need as much as you think you do.

This is particularly true if you have to get the coach and then walk half an hour with suitcase and any other bags to get to where you’re staying. I'd talk about my journey but it was pretty boring. The only notable thing about it was how freezing it was on the coach.

My New Uni Home

For the first time in my university life, I’m not living in student halls. This has definitely been a change for the better.

I’ll start by talking about how this came about. Now, I know I’m not the only one who had trouble finding accommodation this year! Of course, this happens to people every year but this was my first experience with it and now I know just how scary it is. My first year I found accommodation through my university and the second year I booked a place in the same building again, but this year for a number of reasons I wanted to be somewhere else. I ran into a lot of problems trying to apply for new places and things weren’t looking good when I unexpectedly received a message on Facebook. One of the girls on my course, who I hadn’t spoken to much before, offered me the spare room in their flat. I agreed immediately – it sounded great, it was significantly cheaper than the last place, and generally it was just a definite place to stay, I couldn’t turn that down.

The price is a major improvement and I got to know my new flatmates a little over the summer so I wasn’t as nervous moving in. I’d like to think in the short time I’ve been here we’ve already become friends, which is brilliant. I’ve had bad flatmate experiences and some really good ones, but I’ve never been able to become close enough with anyone to be friends.

The place I’m in now is still student housing but it’s a lot different from the hall I was in before, it’s more like a real flat. It’s really nice, in an area which, on first impression, I thought looked too nice for students to be able to afford. I expected it to be a bit smaller but it’s a really nice size. The living room has a really big window and there’s an archway that connects it to the kitchen. An archway! The oven is electric. I still prefer gas but I’m not complaining because this one hasn’t given me any problems yet. The fire alarm is a lot more sensitive than I used to but apparently people are setting it off all the time so I haven’t felt too bad the couple of times I’ve done it.

The bedrooms and bathroom are downstairs on basement level. I’ve always wanted a basement room, though I have now discovered the downside as it can get quite cold. I have a double bed, which is just awesome. It’s also very comfortable. The bathroom is shared, which is something I had originally worried about when looking at such accommodation, but that really isn’t a problem for me when I know the people I’m sharing with, plus everything is kept clean.

The flat itself is a bit further from the city centre than I was before but I can still get there and to classes within twenty minutes so I don’t have a problem with that. It’s also a lot quieter than the regular student halls, which means no interrupted sleep at night and no annoyances during the day!

All in all, I really love this new place and look forward to the rest of my year here. Here’s part of my room, just to show you all (I’d do a full flat tour but I’m not sure how my flatmates would feel about it).

So, if you’re in student accommodation too, what are your rooms like? What do you love/hate about them? And do you have any tips for decoration?

Uni 3rd Year Classes - I'm Suspicious

Is anyone else here in the third year of university? Is anyone else suspicious? Okay then.

Hey everyone, the first post in this week’s back to university theme is going to be my first impression of this year’s modules.

So, a quick recap of what I do. I’m a Creative Writing student. The classes I’m taking are prose, screenwriting and something called ‘Writer at Work’ where we have to develop our own project and then either do it or talk about what we would have done if we were doing it (we have to do at least one work related module or we can’t graduate).

To be honest, my first impression was actually ‘why these colours?’

Are they taking anyone else back to primary school? Who decided these were the educational colours?

The induction for the course came on the 13^th. This is where they supposedly introduce us to what we’ll be doing in the year, and it when pretty much the same as the last two years:

‘Here are your timetables.’

‘Are there any clashes?’

‘Any questions?’

‘Okay, you can go.’

It was scheduled for two hours and lasted about 45 minutes (half an hour longer than last year).

It was all very quick and I still wasn’t that concerned, though it did surprise me to learn that this year makes up 75% of the overall grade. I knew it would be worth more than last year, I just didn’t expect that much more, I thought it would be more 40-60 or something. I don’t know why.

Last week brought us out first classes. I’m surprised that this year there’s nothing where we have to write an essay on an already existing film or story. I also didn’t expect myself to be so disappointed about that.

The classes are as they were last year, lectures followed by workshops. The assignments seem almost too easy, hence the suspicion. Yes, they have to be professional quality now but it’s still hard to believe there aren’t any nasty surprises they’re waiting to spring on us.

I already have plans for most things.

I’ve gone completely sci-fi for screenwriting. Over the summer I started watching Star Trek again, for the first time properly since I was a child, and became completely addicted. Already being in love with another popular sci-fi series, Doctor Who, I’ve gone a bit mad for the genre, currently making plans to re-watch all the other old sci-fi shows I used to love. I think it’s probably best if I move on now before I lose track completely.

I’m going a different route for prose. I love sci-fi, I do, but here’s the problem, I watch it. I’ve read a little before but nowhere near enough to think I’m qualified yet. It comes down to this – do I research a new genre now and hope I’m good enough to get high marks by writing it in two months time, or do I go with another genre that I have significantly more experience in and love just as much? Honestly, I’m leaning toward the latter, which would likely be horror, though I suppose I could try a combination. I haven’t decided anything for definite there yet.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do about this work module and I have a feeling it will be the hardest one. I have ideas, but they’re all just small fragments right now, and there isn’t a lot of help available for us in terms of deciding what we want to do.

So there it is. My general view is ‘it seems easy, but it probably isn’t what it seems’.

At least I only have 8 hours a week actually in class, and I still have my three day weekend!

Why I should never be asked to pose. Wanted to add a second picture to this... it went quite wrong. Those eyes look ready to kill.

So, my question of the day is, if you’re studying anything right now, what is it and what do you think of it so far?

Plans for University 3rd Year

Non-Academic

Next year I’m going to be living with two other people from my class. I’m happy about this because I think that’s going to make them easier to talk to and get used to (I mean nothing bad there but it’s always a slight adjustment living with new people). I think it’ll be fun, and hopefully the year I’m able to make friends with my flatmates.

I’m also looking forward to getting back to anime society. Even though it just ended, there were quite a few I had to miss, so I’m determined to miss as few as possible next year.

That’s all there is for university related stuff really. Aside from that I’ll still hopefully be having regular trips to London, including for October’s MCM Expo.

Academic

I really don’t know much about my modules next year; I found the information on most of them pretty general, without a lot of info on what would actually be happening. However, considering the nature of the modules I don’t think that was necessary for most in choosing their modules. You just have the basics for each category – poetry, prose and screenwriting – two work related modules and Independent Study again. All except the second screenwriting module are yearlong.

I’m doing the prose module. It’s my favourite, the one I’m best at, the one most relevant to me, and so I have to do it. Yes, there’s only one but it’s worth twice as many credits as all the others. I’m not sure why it’s like this but I’m happy with it.

I’m doing the two screenwriting modules too because I also like those, and I think I’m good at it and it’ll be good for the future. The second screenwriting module is in the second semester and it seems to be some sort of continuation of the first but I’m not totally sure if that’s the case. I’ll also have some catching up to do since I didn’t do the second screenwriting module this year. I didn’t do the second for prose either but as I’ve done two other prose related modules I’m hoping it will mean I’m not behind.

Then there’s the work related module. We have to do at least one of the two to be able to graduate. I’m doing one where the first semester is basically planning a writing project and it’s optional whether you then actually do it or not so I’m not sure what the second semester is about.

The other option was one where you actually get a job in a writing-related place, but we were told to only take that option if you know you’ll be able to get one yourself and I’m really not sure how easily I’d achieve that, so I went with the definite option. Plus I’m scared about having a job in Liverpool when it comes to things like holidays. I don’t want to be away from London too long.

So that’s basically it for the modules. Another thing I’m really happy and hopeful about is the timetable. I’m not sure what it will be but apparently the staff asked if the third year timetable next year could be the same as next year. If the timetable creators agree, I’ll have Thursdays and Friday’s off again, meaning no having to choose between class and expo!

The third year is going to be my last year at university and I’m hoping it’s going to be the best.

University 2nd Year Review

Hi everyone! So I haven’t written a blog post for a while, either here or on my other blog. I haven’t done much of anything else for a while actually because I’ve been busy getting assignments ready to be handed in. By this point, I am mostly free for the summer. Classes finished last week and most of my assignments were given in on Monday. There is one left but the deadline isn’t until Tuesday and it’s very close to being completed so I decided to take a couple of days off to relax. I’ve decided that I’m close enough to being done that I can do my review of the year, my classes and whether I did any of the things I said I would, as well as look at what might be happening next year. I’ve divided it into categories to make it easier.

Non-Academic

Well, my life outside of university work has been a bit hit and miss this year. For the first semester things were looking pretty bad. I didn’t have a lot of money to live on, ending up on one meal a day and having to hand wash clothes (the latter I kept because I don’t want to spend £6 a week on the washing machines here). To make matters worse I had serious problems with my flatmates at the time that ended up with me basically being scared to leave my bedroom. I won’t go into more detail on that right now. Also due to the lack of money I wasn’t able to visit home often. I believe I was only able to do it once before Christmas, that time being Expo. Going to Anime Society at uni and thinking about being at Expo with my friends was what got me through that time. What actually ended those problems was when a new problem occurred that I had to complain to management about. They offered me the opportunity to move to another flat in the building at no extra cost. I think I may have mentioned that part in a previous post actually.

Anyway, the flat I’m in now is the same one I lived in during first year, just in a different room. It also has basically the same layout as the room I was in last semester so there wasn’t much of a change to adjust to. I like the flatmates I have here. We’re not really friends (I don’t mean that in a negative way) but we talk sometimes and it’s nice. There have been some small problems but nothing really troubling and always resolved. I’m not complaining about that, you’ll have problems with anyone you live with for a long period of time; it’s not a bad thing as long as you handle the situation properly. It’s been fun living here.

This semester’s gotten a lot better as well because I’ve been able to afford everything I need and even get a treat once in a while. I’ve also had enough to fund my cosplay hobby and I’ve been getting really excited working on projects as well as planning to redecorate my room. Unfortunately due to uni work I’ve had to miss a few Anime Society meetings but I’m determined to make more of them next year.

Academic

I’ve had a lot of fun with my classes this year. Some of them have been hard work, some not so much. In a lot of cases it’s not that the work is hard, just that there’s a lot to be done and it takes a while. As I did last year, here’s a little review of each class I did:

Prose Fiction Workshop: Rhetoric and Reflection – This was a fun one. I’ll probably end up saying that about all of them. It started with a lecture each week that was simple enough to follow. Following the lectures we’d have workshops, this is all pretty standard, but it was great. The tutor we had for the workshops was amazing and so was the group really. Everyone was really easy to talk to and it was nice being able to get feedback and give it on each other’s work.

Screen Story: Structure and Short Film Writing – This one went pretty much the same way as the above though to be honest I preferred doing prose. That’s not to say the things we did and the teachers we had here weren’t great, I just never felt I could be as open there as I did in prose, I’m not totally sure why that is myself. We got to watch a lot of films in class though, including a couple I just love.

Independent Study In Creative Writing – I’ve had a love/hate relationship with this one. I loved the idea of it because it meant being able to do everything myself completely alone (unless I needed help of course) and doing whatever I wanted. I decided to do a comic. This is one of those cases I was talking about where the work isn’t necessarily hard, it just takes forever. I underestimated just how long it would take to colour each page. This is why my last weekend before the deadline was nothing but finishing this monster off.

Approaching Your Novel – Another great module that went fairly the same way as prose. Good lectures, great workshops, good communication with others in the group. I got to write the first chapter of the novel I’ve been planning for the last two years. In all honesty, I still think it needs work, but I’m sure I’ve done enough to get a good grade for now. There was also one book we all had to read and I’m so glad this module introduced me to it because it was amazing.

Fantastic Worlds – This was by far my favourite module of the year. As you may have guessed from the title it’s all about world building! I’m not sure if it counts as lecture and workshops or just one because unlike other classes we only had one guy running it so we weren’t moving around and being split into different rooms. It was all about fantasy, sci-fi, alternate history, that kind of stuff, all of which are things I love, so I was right at home. The guy who ran the module was awesome the way he talked about it. He’s the kind of person who can talk for ages on the topic of the day but does it in such a way that it never gets boring and you love hearing it. The work we did in and out of class was so much fun too, even the research homework. For the assignments I used the same world from my novel, the one I also used in AYN, I love how you can do the same thing in different classes like that. I mean, you can’t hand in the exact same piece of work, but doing it like this made it a lot easier too. I think what I did in each class improved my work in the other too.

2^nd Year Resolutions – Success?

So at the end of first year I made some ‘Academic New Year’s Resolutions’ and I figured I should come back and see which I succeeded in and which I failed.

Work harder. – That one definitely is true. My grades have gotten better too, I found out for sure a couple of days ago. My GPA for first year was 56, for this year it’s 68. That’s two points away from top marks, and that’s without factoring in the assignments that haven’t been marked yet (let’s hope they don’t take it down). Either way, when you consider this, consider the difference made in one year and how determined I am to do well, I should be doing pretty well next year.

Don’t miss a day of class. – I think I missed just one. Close enough I don’t feel bad about it.

Be more social. – I wouldn’t say I made more friends but I definitely was able to talk a lot more to more people and it all went pretty well.

Get fitter. – The goal that appeared on everything even though it’s not really academic. Progression has been slow with this one but I’m pretty sure there has been progress.

Improve drawing and writing skills. – Check and check, I didn’t really have a choice there. Both still need work, especially the former.

Win a competition. – Not yet, entered a few though.

So all in all I’ve done pretty well. May not have done everything I wanted to within each goal but certainly enough to consider most of them a success.

Well, this post has gotten pretty long now so I think I may do as I did last time, leave it here and put my plans for 3^rd year in a different post.

A Half Rant About Uni Workshops

So the classes in most of our modules goes like this – lecture followed by workshop. The workshop is basically where we talk about what we’re doing, look at each other’s work and give feedback. It’s actually really helpful and so far this year all the feedback I have has been compliments and constructive criticism, which has been great. I’m actually not that great at giving feedback myself. They say that you can find problems with other people’s work easier than you can find them with your own but I’m one of the few people for whom it is the opposite. I can clearly see most problems within my own work but when looking through someone else’s, unless there’s something really obvious to me, I can’t usually find anything to criticise. A simple little point here and there maybe, nothing more. I suppose it’s always easier to talk about the good.

Anyway, the little rant I have today is relating to this process, regarding something that happened this week. Now because we only have a couple of hours for the workshop so what happens is three people volunteer each week and then they send in their work to be looked at for feedback. Last week, I volunteered, but so did three other people. Because I’d already had more turns than some of the others I agreed to go the week after the holiday (the last one before the deadline).

This week only one person sent in their work. In addition, the last week before deadlines is no longer being used for class feedback. It annoys me that I volunteered to go last week and I would have sent in work but I didn’t because others said they would and then failed to.

Now, I don’t actually have anything against those individuals for it, I’m not one to hold something as simple as that against someone particularly because my piece is very close to being finished anyway and to be fair I have already had two workshops. I also know that things may come up during the week that stops you from being able to finish or send in that work. Plus the other two who were chosen weren’t in today so giving feedback on their work would have been pointless anyway.

The thing is though, last week only one of three sent in theirs too, so I would have hoped that our teacher may have accepted the possibility that not everyone would send theirs in again, particularly as this is the week before Easter, which I’m guessing is the reason so many were absent today. The lack of people would also have meant each piece was done faster. At the very least, one more isn’t a lot, and I could have been allowed to send mine in anyway and gone last so that if we did run out of time they could just focus less on me, which is something I did in the last semester. It just annoys me a little because I really wanted another class feedback and now I won’t get one. Though if I’m lucky I may find volunteers still willing to go through it and give their thoughts.

Of course, I might have solved the problem for myself too. When it became clear we were only going to receive one piece I could have emailed and asked if I could send mine in too. I didn’t think of that until afterwards and that may have helped. Of course, that would have been hard to tell, due to my other mini rant topic: when we receive pieces for feedback.

The way it works is we email our work to the teacher and they email it out to the class. Because of this we were told at the beginning of the semester to send our work at the weekend, Friday preferable but Sunday at the latest. I usually ended up doing it on the Saturday. Now I know that I’ve already said things can come up which prevent you sending in work on time, and that is true, but for the last few weeks we haven’t been receiving work until Monday, sometimes even Tuesday. On one occasion I think it was even Tuesday evening. That is not a lot of time to be able to print this work, sit down and read it and give proper feedback, especially as some pieces are up to 10 pages long. This isn’t always the students fault, I will say that, aside from whatever else may come up there have been times that the person who was supposed to send out the work did it late. I know I should have learned to put time aside in case that happens by now but it always comes to the point where you think nothing else will come so you make other plans and then end up having to change your schedule around to work on this. As I said above, it also makes it difficult to know until Tuesday night whether or not more work is coming, at which point it’s too late to ask if you can join in too.

As I said, I’m not that angry or upset about it. It was just a few thoughts I had so I thought I’d share. I mean no offense whatsoever to anyone in my class who may have sent in work late or been unable to do it at all. I don’t know the reasons and I’m not going to make any assumptions.

I'd also like to add once more that I love workshops and find them incredibly useful and a wonderful part of our modules. As with most things, it does have a couple of problems, but the good far outweighs the bad.

A Little University Update

So I wanted to talk a little bit about uni recently, just because I’m quite happy about it. I’ve been really busy for the last month with uni work, to the point I haven’t had that much time for anything else, hobbies and sleep included. That’s all over now thankfully. In fact, I only have one week of classes left before the Easter holiday and only one week of lessons afterwards before the end of term. That makes me happy.

Most of my assignments are actually almost finished, just editing out the last few problems and improving it as much as possible before the deadline, but everything’s there. One of them that still needs quite a bit of work is my Independent Study project which I posted a few days ago. I had a meeting about it on Thursday and it left me really happy. Firstly, the comic wasn’t as bad as I thought he was going to say it was, just needs a few edits, a little layout reworking and a bit cut here and there. It also turned out I don’t need to make a whole issue as even he feels that’s ‘too much work’. What I do have to do is a commentary (which I have to do with every assignment), a scene list for the whole thing and then just one completed chapter. That’s a lot less and I feel so much more confident that I’ll have it done and done well in time for the deadline, which as I found out is the 22^nd of April instead of the 13^th as I had originally thought. 1 more week!

That means to finish all my assignments in time I only need to work on them for a couple of hours a day, which leaves me a lot more time for rest and anything else I want to do.

Another big thing coming up, the only thing not due on the 22^nd of April, is a presentation I have to do this Thursday. I actually had it ready for last week since our lecturer wouldn’t pick certain people to go on that day beforehand. I actually like that, it’s fair because everyone had to have theirs ready for that day, but if you’re someone like me who gets nervous about presentations it’s worrying. I wouldn’t have minded going the first week if I’d known I’d have to do it, but sitting there not knowing if I was about to be called would have been terrifying. Luckily, he started by asking who wanted to go that day, and there were enough volunteers to last the whole class.

While that does mean I’d have an extra week to improve it if I wanted, I don’t think I have to do that much. I was worried about whether I’d written the right stuff but after seeing other people do theirs I feel like it’s right, I just want to change the way I see a couple of things. Seeing other people do theirs also made me more confident doing my own and even made me want to do it. Actually, I’m not as nervous about this presentation as I have been about past ones. I think that’s mostly because I’m talking about my own work (it’s a world building class so I’m talking about the setting of my novel) and I usually love talking about my own work. There are a few flaws with the world still but I think rather than showing I can make a perfectly working world this presentation is more to show that I’ve actually put thought and effort into building a world that works even if there are still a few things that need to be worked out. Anyway, I’m not worried about Thursday which is great.

I feel pretty good about everything university related right now. On a side note, because it’s a little relevant, I’ve booked my storage for over the summer now. It’s so much better than the place I had last year. I mean, that place was great, but this one is half the price and they collect your stuff, take it to storage, then bring it to your new place for you. They even provide packaging, it’s amazing! I plan to use them when I have to move everything back to London next year too.

So that’s about it for now. Bye bye!

A True Survival Story of a University Student

I was lucky; I caught the storm warning in advance this time. I tried to make preparations but it was difficult without knowing exactly which day it would hit. I had recently acquired a 1 litre plastic bottle, which I filled with juice and regularly topped up, so I knew I wouldn’t go thirsty. My bathroom water, though not the best, should also be drinkable if I should run out. I worried more about food. I could eat more food earlier in the day but by nightfall I’d surely be starving. Then I remembered that, due to not having the space for them in my fridge or cupboard, I did have a bag of potatoes in my room. Fearing my commitment to eating them solid, I decided I needed to get more supplies. The woman in the shop looked surprised by the mass of snacks I purchased, unaware of the oncoming disaster. I returned home, and I waited.

It happened. It shook the whole flat. The noise was louder than anything I ever heard. I hid under my desk with headphones plugged into my laptop, still trying to get work done despite the storm outside. The lights went off a couple of times. I managed to speak to my mother on the phone; I told her I loved her. Eventually, I tried to get some sleep. It was difficult to drown out the sound of screams, but I managed after an hour or so.

When I awoke it seemed to be over. Things were quiet outside. I decided to risk leaving the safety of my room. There was a terrible mess in the flat, bodies everywhere, but I had survived.

I really hate it when my flatmates have parties.

First Impression of Semester 2 Modules

So I missed First Impression Friday this week, which is pretty irrelevant, except that I wanted to do a different kind of first impression post, this time on the new university semester.

The first new module I’m doing is called ‘Approaching Your Novel’, which as the title probably makes obvious, involves starting a novel. It’s a lot like the prose module from last semester except with fewer assignments. There are only two, each due on the 22^nd of April. One is the plan for a novel and the other is a full chapter. I’ve already decided what I’m doing for it. I was going to try to start something new but decided to just go with the one I’ve been thinking about for the last two years. Just because I’ve already put more thought into it so I thought it would be easier. The chapter can be from anywhere in the novel, and I’m sure later chapters will be a lot better, but I’ve decided to go with the first chapter since it’s so important in making people want to read the whole novel and using it as my assignment will help make it a lot better. I submitted the first draft tonight. It’s a lot like the prose module because people are selected to send in work each week that the rest of us have to read and get feedback on. I’m happy with that because we’ve had a lot of practice doing it already. We have a set text to read, Room by Emma Donoghue, which I’ve already finished. It’s amazing but I’ll do a separate post on my thoughts on it later. Overall I think this is going to be a pretty good module and I think it’ll be pretty easy.

My other new module is Fantastic Worlds and that will not be easy. There are two pieces of homework every week, one research and one creative writing. There has to be a presentation which I still get worried about doing, but this one will be on something I’ll hopefully have a lot to say about and be excited about talking about anyway. I don’t know when it will be yet. I also have to write a 2000 word short story or novel extract in an original setting and an essay describing my own sub creation. We haven’t been told when those are due either. All three have to be handed in with a commentary. We’re also assessed based on contribution. It’s a lot of work but I’m still excited about it and still finding it to be a lot of fun. It’s all about world building, which I love, and there’s a lot of focus on fantasy and sci fi. This isn’t going to be an easy module but I think it’s going to be great.

Finally, I’ll be continuing my Independent Study project, which I’ve gotten a little behind on. It’s not easy, but I’m still certain I’ll be able to catch up and have my research and planning finished by this month and my first draft finished by next month.

How I Do My Assignments

So I now have just under two 2 weeks left to finish 4 assignments and I’m feeling pretty good about it, particularly as two are basically finished.

This semester has gone by quickly for me and that’s probably a good thing since I have no money and very little food left. Anyway, since the assignment deadlines are getting so close I thought I’d go through the steps of how I complete each of my assignments. It took me a while to figure out in which way I work best (I didn’t have it perfected throughout school and college) but now that I know getting work done is a lot easier.

1.         Knowing what to do

My first step in beginning an assignment is always going over what I have to do again as well as taking note of the assessment criteria. From this I can usually develop a list of things that need to be included in the assignment, as well as how to write it. Another thing I do when I have a number of assignments is to list them in order of closest to furthest due date. That way, the closer ones can be given more attention. Of course, this only works if they’re a couple of weeks or more apart, obviously that technique won’t work for ones that are one day after another.

2.         Use interests

This is a benefit of being a creative writing student. For original writing pieces I decide based on what I like to write obviously, for the presentation on an author I’ve chosen my favourite, for my essay on a film I’ve chosen one of my favourites, and for any other writing piece I’ve chosen stories I like. Of course, there are cases where I need to find new stories as well and in that case I try to find ones that sound interesting. Not only does this make the work more fun, but it usually makes it easier to find things to write about as well.

3.         Method of writing

It can take some extra time writing on paper only to have to copy it onto the computer, but if you’re like me and find it easier to keep writing that way, it’s probably for the best. It’s also best to then recycle the paper when you’re done with it.

4.         Schedule

I hate to say it but it is a lot easier to get work done when you have a schedule. Currently I’m not scheduling in specific times for working on assignments but I am writing down which day I’ll work on which assignments. This is just as effective for me because I tick off each job as I do it and I hate to get to the end of the day with ticks missing. I’ve been using the same method for housework too. Scheduling things like this also makes it easier to space out each job, so I only have a few tasks to do each day.

5.         Plan

This is of course an important part of any piece of work. I like detailed plans usually but this semester I’ve been keeping it simple – bullet point planning for original pieces and short notes for each other assignment.

6.         Cut assignments into smaller pieces

Trying to get everything done at once is long and painful. I’ve found the easiest way to get things done is to split the assignment into smaller parts. For example, my analysis of two short stories is divided like this:

-           Structure

-           Characterisation

-           Description and dialogue

-           Other writing techniques

This is then done for each story. In a later draft, these things will be compared as well.

7.         1st draft

What I’ve learned this semester is not to worry too much about the first draft. I put effort into it of course but I make an effort to keep writing even if there’s a point I’m stuck on. This can make it come out worse than I might like, but this is the best way of getting the whole thing written and means I know what needs to be said, there just needs to be a better way of saying it. The ‘bad’ parts can be fixed in the next draft.

8.         Feedback and following drafts

We only get class feedback on our original pieces. I’ve been lucky this year in that I’ve only been given constructive criticism so far. Not all of this needs to be included in the final piece either of course, aside from the odd mistake it’s purely suggestion (although a certain awesome person did give me a great ending for my story). That’s why I prefer this kind of criticism, if I don’t agree with what someone’s saying usually I can at least see where they’re coming from and if I do agree well that just makes my work better. I like to do new drafts following every feedback session as a result. Then, as with those that do not get class feedback, they get looked at every few days. I’ve been lucky enough to get it so that I only really have to focus on one assignment each day now. I like leaving a few days between new redrafts as well because the time makes it easier to spot things that should be changed. Plus if I have to read them too much they start to bore me and make me hate my work.

So yeah, that’s pretty much it. With the four assignments I have left to finish I’m hoping to hand them in early. Well, I have to with those for the prose module because they’re due on the 17th and I leave on the 13th. It’s good to get the work finished before its due date though because I hate having to rush to get it finished, printed and handed in. Luckily I’ve been avoiding that for the most part so far.

What did I used to do? And apparently, how I do presentations.

Have you ever been really busy for a while then when you have time to yourself you have no idea what to do?

That’s me today.

So one of the unfortunate things about being a creative writing student is having to give an essay that’s 20% of your module grade.

That doesn’t sound so bad right? That’s probably what you’re thinking if you’re a normal person.

I am in some ways a normal person. I eat, I sleep, I poop. There are also many ways in which I am not ‘normal’. As such, I do not have this response.

Let me put it as a sum:

Me + Presentation = Bad news

To expand:

(Autism + Terrible past experiences public speaking) + (Talking in front of massive crowd + Being judged for an important grade) = Stress and panic

It actually went really well, though I kinda screwed up one of the questions afterwards. It was also the first time during university I’ve been late to class. The one day I get times mixed up, and it’s the worst possible day, especially considering I was scheduled to go first. Luckily, the late nerves killed most of the presentation nerves.

I want to take a moment out to talk about the psychology of positioning. Firstly, I never understood why people never want to be first for things like this. I always want to be first. Yes, it can be a little scary, but at least you won’t have to take the risk of following someone who gives a better presentation (or whatever) than you. I also don’t understand why some people thought it was less scary when they were sitting in front of everyone. It depends on the person I’m sure, but I couldn’t even stay sitting while I was doing test runs. Also, psychologically speaking, standing should be better. It (supposedly) puts you in a position of authority to be the only one standing, part of this being because you are then higher than everyone else. That doesn’t work in a lecture theatre. If you’ve seen a lecture theatre, you know why.

Now, let’s talk about how I apparently thing presentations are done. First, I’m pleased that I didn’t mess up many words or sentences. I’m also pleased that I gave the presentation in exactly 5 minutes, the time limit. It’s very dizzying to look at all those people while trying to give a presentation. The light doesn’t help. Of course, it also doesn’t help that you’re supposed to make eye contact with everyone, and when everyone is spread around the room you need to change the direction you’re looking a lot. I’m fairly sure you shouldn’t do it as much as me. I’m sure there was a time when my head stopped moving, I just can’t remember it well. The rest of my body for the most part was a lot more still than it had been in the test run. I’m not sure whether I spoke too fast or not. I’m not completely sure what my voice sounded like. In a lot of the test runs it usually ended up sounding almost emotionless like a computer or speaking in a different accent. I think my voice today was a cross between my normal voice and the computer one. It just can’t be controlled.

I need to go back to my brain laboratory and figure out how the hell I’m gonna do this next time. I’m guessing there will be a next time.

Here’s the part where I get back to the opening topic. Because I knew I had the presentation today I didn’t schedule any work on assignments for myself afterwards so I could just relax. I sat there for a lot longer than I should have trying to figure out what I could do. I tried to remember what I used to do before all the work took over. There was writing, but I felt I needed a little break (yet I’m writing this now). There was gaming, but my batteries were dead. There was reading, but I couldn’t pay attention. I think after something like today your brain just goes out for a while and takes a while to come back.

When that happens, I’ve found, there’s nothing to do but waste time watching crap on youtube and playing whatever stupid no-thought-involved games you can find on google.

If anyone knows how to give the brain a jump start, do let me know. It’s taken it 5 hours to get back to normal.

Luckily the work I have for tomorrow is fairly simple. I’m working on two things, both second drafts, so they should only take a couple of hours each at most. Then there’s anime society.

Just a quick final note – Liverpool is freezing. There are not enough blankets and coats in my room.

(Academic) New Year's Resolutions

I know this is usually a 'beginning of the actual year' thing, but I thought it would be a good idea to do some of these for the new year of university as well, so here we go:

1. Work harder.
There were a couple of times last year where I didn't exactly do my best (then again when I did I was greatly insulted for it). Not again, not this year. This year I'm gonna blow their frickin' minds. And get the highest scores to go with it.

2. Don't miss a day of class.
At the moment I only have 2 classes a week, so if this one can't be done there is something seriously wrong with me.

3. Be more social.
I don't think we need to get into this one again. Let's just say hopefully I can get along better with this years flatmates than I did with last years, and hopefully be able to talk more with classmates and the other members of the anime society.

4. Get fitter.
This goal is showing up on everything. Must be healthy, must look good, must stick to exercise routine.

5. Improve drawing and writing skills.
My writing was good before, it's gotten a lot of praise, but it can always get better. As can my drawing skills, especially if I want to start making comics and such.

6. Win a competition.
I'm entering a few. If my writing can win something, then I'll know it's good. I'm sure it is anyway, but this'll be some pretty good proof.

Back to Liverpool - University Year 2

So this weekend, as if the title didn't make it obvious, I moved back to Liverpool from London for the second year of university. I spent all Friday packing and to be honest in the week leading up to leaving I really didn't want to move back. I wanted to stay in London. But I had to and I was still looking forward to classes starting up again, so here I am writing from my new flat in Liverpool.

My mum came up with me like last year and she just went back to London earlier this afternoon. Now I'm all alone, because none of my flatmates have moved in yet. I've been getting really excited about meeting them, sometimes I look out the window just hoping to see a car pull up and when one does I wait for a few minutes to see if they'll be coming to my flat. It sounds kinda sad I know but considering just a couple of weeks ago I wasn't looking forward to the flatmate part I think it's a good sign. I still hope they'll be nice and that we'll get along better than I did with my flatmates last year.

So, Saturday was spent travelling down to Liverpool - big suitcase causing problems as usual - then getting some food shopping in and putting away that and the stuff I brought with me. Sunday saw us picking up my stuff from the storage place and getting a bit more food. I should have enough food to last almost until Christmas now.

The new flat is great. I'm in Block A this year, only one that's really close to the outer gate, and on the first floor instead of fourth, so less walking (which might not be a good thing) and easier when I have a lot to carry. When I arrived and picked up my key I was told I had the nicest flat in the place. I can believe that. We have leather sofas, and a bigger TV than last years. We have two fridge freezers, so there's going to be less trouble over food space. Everything is generally really nice.

My favourite part though was the welcome package waiting on the desk for me when I arrived. It contained a calendar, nnotepad, several coupons and fliers, a pack of haribo tangfastic, pack of Reese's cups, small box of white chocolate brownie Krave (my favourite, I love Krave),a packet of mini Ritz crackers, a packet fajita seasoning mix (been wanting fajitas for ages), two small packs of airwaves gum, a packet of nescafe 3 in 1, a small bottle ove Old Spice, a small bottle of 'Loverdose' some kind of perfume, and some nivea moistourising cream.