'Just go on, never look back'

Song of the day: Closing Time - Semisonic

Last weekend in October and that means Halloween. I am still not sure what I am going to do for Halloween this year but I always leave it to last minute (literally!). October was nice: I got to travelled, my UCAS got sent, I received a job offer and most importantly it has been fun!

From November to March I should be hearing from my universities, but there are no news for now. I am going to be very busy this upcoming month because I have to get revising very hard to make sure I get the grades I need this January. I have five exams compared to thirteen I had last summer so I hope that will help... In November I am going to start working as a waiter in a café, which should be fun and will be a good break from  revision and just general university worries!

Two weeks from sending my UCAS, I have received my Welcome Pack which made it all very real and I have two acknowledgements having heard nothing from all the other choices. Lately I have been quiet stressed about my future life plans because I have no idea of what I want to do and I think its all because I am not sure of what I can do. Ideally I would really like to study in the UK, but if I am not given the option then I will have to go and study in another country. I would not really mind having to study medicine  in my home country as I can go to the UK for the foundation years but all I've always wanted is to study medicine in UK and I have been to close to succeeding that now I am quiet angry at myself and I deeply regret not working as hard as  I should have. I hope I get a second chance this year and I get to prove that I can do it and get the grades as many people have just assumed that I am just not good enough to go to medical school simply because I missed my offer.

I also have a dog now, which is supposed to be good for stressed people! It is like a new hobbie for me as it is the first time I have  a dog and I actually really like. She cares a lot for me and she likes playing all the time so I now have things to do whenever I need to have a break...

Word AIDS Day is here soon and I am preparing a campaign around local schools, we will be going to about seven schools throughout the week which should be nice. We are getting together a dynamic talk about STDs and AIDS so that we actually have an impact on teenagers, something that is a bit difficult lately.   With the Red Cross I am also planning to go on a night out with  a breathalyser, to show people the effects of alcohol and just as  a bit of game to discourage drinking and driving. I have spoken to my local council about this and they will be able to provide us with sufficient funding to forward with this idea which should be fun for me and my volunteers as well as for the people that participates as we will have games and give out prizes throughout the night!

The Red Cross is keeping me busy most of the time and now I need to start organising everything carefully to make sure that I still do all the things I have to with the NGO while I also revise a lot to make sure I get the grades I need in the January exams.

The weekend has been random to be honest. Yesterday I went to a Wedding Planning event with my friends where they gave you ideas of what and where to have your wedding so it was us in the middle of a lot of couples planning their weddings and today I got to bake some carrot cake which turned out to be very nice!

I will keep you all updated on how everything goes and remember to stay focused on your goal and you will get there!

Beh

'Don't try, just do it!'

Song of the day: Houdini - Foster The People


Time is flying by, not so long ago I was on holiday in Norway trying to forget about Results Day... and now, its October: new UCAS has been submitted, I have rejected an HCA job, I'm on a gap year and just so many other things are happening, its just unbelievable. 


This time last year I had an invitation to an interview in the University of Birmingham; by December I had an offer. It is sad to think about that and how I was at the doors of medical school and then I had to go back to stage 1. However, I am not that badly affected. I am hoping that in a few years I will look back and feel that the gap year was worth it. 


I am not supposed to hear from any of my unis any time soon, which is okay because I am not really that stressed about them right now. I am much more worried about something else. I have my exams in about 3 months and that's very nerve wrecking! I have to get an A at A Level Chemistry this time and I am not sure of how to do this... if anyone has any tips, then please let me know :) 


This weekend I should start to plan my revision schedule and then start working slowly until my exams making sure no cramming is necessary. 


Lately I am very involved with the Red Cross, something that will give me a lot to talk about if I get an interview as I am learning a lot about communication skills and team work and I have seen how important the work of social workers are, especially in the current financial climate.


I am not sure if I have talked about it before, but earlier this week I phoned up the hospital which offered me the HCA job and said that I was unable to accept it. My main reason was because it coincides with my exams and I don't want to be under the stress of settling in a new city with a new job at the same time as I do my A Level resits. I do have to say though, that getting the job and talking to the nurses who interviewed me did make me feel more confident about my application  as they seem to think that I could make a good doctor so I hope that Admission Tutors think the same. The rest is all up to me. Last year I got the opportunity and I wasted it by not preparing myself enough for the exams so I hope that if I am given a second chance I don't do the same. 


As I have said I am looking for tips on Chemistry A Level, so please let me know if you have any. 


I don't think I have much more to say today really, my social life is not very interesting at the moment and the weekend has just started so I will blog again next week! 


Thanks for reading :) 
Beh

'The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about'. - Oscar Wilde

Song of the day: The Scientist - Coldplay


Last week I was on the middle of my 'English' adventure, so I could not blog, but have no worries, I will tell you all about it now! 


I left to London last Friday and I was there for a bit more than a week. As a whole, it was an amazing week. I saw my old friends, I met new people, I ate new things, I saw new places, I went shopping... just everything I could have asked for. 


I went to visit the universities in Manchester, Liverpool, Norwich, Lancaster and London. I have to say UCL wins for 'most beautiful university' out of the ones I visited. Lancaster and UEA are my favourite choices this time round. Lancaster reminded me a lot of St Andrews, the atmosphere was very nice and it seem like a bubble which is something I like. Norwich was also amazing, the day I visited they were all queuing up to get Coldplay tickets! The uni was  much nicer than I expected because I thought it was going to be much smaller and its so green. 


Now that I am back home  I have to go back to 'normal' life tomorrow. I have a lot of red cross paperwork to catch up with before the end of this week and then I am also volunteering in the Children's Hospital which is always entertaining. Also, I have been advised (several times) to start doing some revision and I think I am taking the advice as this time I want to be very prepare for the exams instead of cramming for them. Tuesday has then been my chosen day to start with the planning of my revision for January exams! I have never started revising so early so if anyone has any tips on this matter please let me know :) 


Lately I have receiving some comments / tweets/ emails asking how did I stay so focused and determined and I guess its is just because I really want that place at medical school and every morning I wake up and think about it and what it would mean to be a doctor and that just gets me going for the day. 


Also, I have now submitted my UCAS application as the deadline was yesterday. I am not sure if I have confirm my choices on here already but I have applied to Lancaster, Liverpool, UEA and Southampton and I have already received acknowledgements from Liverpool and UEA which was excited. Sad news is that last year, on the 18th of October I received and invitation to interview in Birmingham and chances are this year it will take much longer to get any answers from medical school. I guess, I should get ready for the long wait, or as they call it: 'the waiting game'! 


For now my gap year is going pretty well, at least better than expected, even though you cannot compare to those who go volunteering in Africa or on a tour around Australia... but do remember this gap year was very spontaneous as in theory I should be in university already! 


Well I have heard that 'things happen for a reason' many times in the last few weeks so I think that by the end of next summer I will know if it actually happened for a reason or not! 


That's all for now, I will write again next week :) 


Thanks for reading ! 


Beh 


PS: Best of luck to everyone applying to university this year :)

'People don't change, you just get to know them better'

Song of the day: You Need Me, I Don't Need You - Ed Sheeran


I guess its time to wake up after the end of September, as whole it was a weird month. September meant going back to the Red Cross, starting new tutoring lessons, saying bye to friends that left university and also figuring out where I want to apply as well as what I am going to do if I don't get in. Yeah, September was not much fun. 


October, however, promises to be busier than last month. The UCAS deadline for my four medicine choices is in less than fifteen days, and I still have not decided where I want to apply. This new month also brings the new iOS (apparently?), a new iPhone (always exciting!) as well as Pottermore (yes, I'm a geek!). 


The one thing that I am looking forward the most in October is my trip to UK. I am kind of doing a UK tour where I am spending a lot of money just on travelling up and down. I will be there for a week and I will be visit London, Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Crewe and Lancaster. I don't really have many things planned as of yet, so any suggestions are welcome! In London I will be visiting my best friends who are studying there and then I will be heading to Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster to see the universities. In Preston I am going to be with another friend so that should be very fun. I don't think I ever mentioned this but I have an interview for an HCA post in Crewe so I have to go there and do the interview hoping to get the job. Any tips for that?


One thing that I am a bit scared is going to see my friends who are at uni. I am really looking forward to seeing there (surprisingly!) but I don't know if they feel the same. They have met lots of new people in the past few weeks and they have been with them for a lot of time that maybe they just don't feel like having to have me for a few days there. I am trying not to worry so much about this though, I have made some good plans in London so that in case they are busy with other things I will have many things to do. 


On the 30th September I took the UKCAT, which did not go as well as expected. I had done a lot of practice, or at least what I thought was enough, but I still ended up with an average of 645. My maximum score in one section was 670 when in some of the practice tests in the 600Q book I was getting 750 so I don't know what went wrong there but I am starting to believe I just don't have any luck regarding exams lately. 


With that UKCAT I am not very sure of where to apply. My initial choice were Lancaster, Liverpool, Southampton and Peninsula. However, Peninsula had a UKCAT cut-off of 642.5 more or less so I think it would be a big risk to apply there when my UKCAT score is just slightly higher. As an alternative I have UEA. Norwich Medical School was one of my favourite choices but then they announced that they wanted A*AA for resit applicants which made me go for Peninsula instead. Now that I can't go for Peninsula I may choose UEA if they accept the A*AA in Physics, Biology and Spanish. I should be calling them on Monday.


My personal statement is more or less done, I should be doing the last changes today and then making sure its between the limits sometime this week. The rest of my UCAS  form is done, the only thing missing is my reference which my old school is taking ages to put in. I will also call them on Monday!


On Tuesday I am starting my volunteering work in a Children's Hospital which should be an interesting experience. I will update you all on that soon! 


I think that's about it for now.


Thanks for reading, 


Beh