Thursday Thoughts #4

There are many things I have an interest in: fashion, make-up, rugby league but most people don't know that I am very interested in politics. I wouldn't say I'm obsessed or know everything about it but I do regularly look at the news in regards to political policies and change. It's an interest that started when I was about 16 and I started college. I took Government and Politics as an AS-Level but didn't complete it for various reasons. Nevertheless, I always have a keen eye when it comes to politics, especially when there are elections nearing. As many of you will be aware of (and some probably won't), today is the European elections and some local council elections which are critical for the UK's future. However, whilst on Twitter this morning, I realised how many people weren't going to vote. I cannot stress enough how much you should exercise your right to vote, especially young people and females. In many developing countries, only men are allowed to vote and women are petitioning to get their voices heard. I know most people's reply to that will be 'Well my vote won't count'. I say to that, you and thousands more with that opinion should not be allowed to moan when you don't like the people elected. Yes, when you vote and the guy you voted for doesn't get elected, it's a pain but you live with it.

These European elections are causing a lot of talk amongst voters as the main issue is do you want to stay in Europe or not? The main parties are in favour of staying in the EU (as am I) but several smaller parties are against it. UKIP are the main party people are talking about and it's scary that a lot of people are choosing to vote for them. The problem is they haven't actually looked at their other policies. They do not support gay marriage, wants to cut public spending by £77bn and wants to get rid of any renewable energy source. I could go on but people are only seeing the 'out of the EU' policy and haven't actually researched anything else. Those people are playing a dangerous game because I'm scared that they will get seats in the European Parliament. They are just as bad as the BNP in the 'British jobs for British workers' aspects and their hatred of the EU. Foreign citizens mostly come to the UK for work and they do the jobs that British people won't like strawberry and potato picking. I've seen them gathered on street corners at 7am waiting to be picked up. They work long days for less than minimum wage. British people are expensive; they want a good wage, lots of benefits and breaks and only want to work when they want to. Foreign citizens have amazing work ethics and British people don't. At the end of the day, it's an issue that many people do not have the same viewpoint as I on this matter. I feel strongly about staying in the EU; people fail to realise that there are no trade barriers within the EU and the foreigners that come to work in the UK have just as much right to as we do if we want to go and work elsewhere in Europe. Also, if we pull out of the EU, the prices of goods will increase and there will be less jobs because companies will not invest money into their UK factories and will pull out altogether. For this reason alone, I think it's a good enough reason to stay with the EU.

Another issue about elections is the fact that very few young people vote. At the 2010 general elections, 44% of 18-24 year olds voted. However, with local and European elections, this percentage is always significantly lower. The fact that less than half of us vote is disturbing frankly. 16 and 17 year olds want the right to be able to vote too; I say as much as I'd love them to lower the voting age to 16, I think it means that this 44% figure will decrease even more with the inclusion of 16 and 17 year olds. Here are a few reasons as to why young people don't vote:

• not enough info available about parties, policies or how to vote
• don't think it affects them
• politicians don't listen to young people, don't think they have a voice
• politicians more interested in big businesses
• parents/family/friends don't vote
• when they do try and aim at young people, often condescending in their communications
• don't feel represented in Parliament: all middle-class, middle-aged men running the country
• don't feel a connection with any party

Now I understand these viewpoints, every single one of them I do, but every vote does matter. Today, UKIP is getting more support than ever so if the rest of the country don't vote against them, they'll win! In that case, your vote matters more than ever. 

In order to get young people more involved in elections, they need more information. As soon as every person in the country turns 18 and has a voting card sent out to them, they should be sent out an election pack with information on the parities, the policies they stand for and how these policies will affect different types of people. I know each party sends out their own leaflets but let's face it, most of us don't read them because they're always biased. As well as this, there should be an online resource that is updated every election with the political parties' new policies. This way, it is quicker to access and won't cost the government as much. Another issue is the place to vote. Ballots are being trialled today in such places as hairdressers and launderettes in order to be more convenient. I've always thought supermarkets should have ballot boxes placed at the doors on election day as most shoppers will be in there either before or after work and wouldn't need to make an extra journey to the polling station. The polling stations are local and are open from 7am to 10pm so it shouldn't really be an issue but by having them in more convenient places, it might be able to gather more voters; those voters would probably make a huge decision to the overall results too.

As you can see, it's a subject that I feel very passionate about. I don't really have a favoured party but I feel like people should read all the policies of the parties involved before casting their vote. Your vote does count.

Thursday Thoughts #3

So my plan to blog every day went right out of the window! I've been either working or revising so I've not had time for anything. Now I've got a week off work but still tonnes of revision to do. Which leads me to this week's Thursday Thoughts- university.

Currently, I am coming to the end of my second year at Hull Uni and I still don't really like it. I want the degree but I don't really like everything else that goes with it. Before I go into that, I'll explain a little about my university path.

Since I was about 13, I dreamed of becoming a journalist. I love writing. It only became a proper career thought when I started college. I started one college because my friends were all going there and hated it so quit after 4 months. After working for the next few months, I decided to start afresh and go to the college I originally planned on going to. It was during my two years here that I really thought it would be a career I would love. I even got to do a journalism piece for my English Language coursework and got 39 out of 40 marks. So during my second year, I applied for uni and chose Salford as my first choice. On results day, I was in tears because I got 3 C's and I needed 3 B's to get into Salford but after checking UCAS, I was thrilled to see I'd been accepted! The next couple of months consisted of me buying anything and everything for uni; I was so excited to move away and start a new and meet new people. The problem was when I got there.

It turned out I was in a flat with 5 third years, most of who knew each other. When I first got there, only 2 of them were there. One girl never left her room but the other one had a massive party on the first night in the kitchen. Having the room right near both the kitchen and front door was not fun. It was loud and I got no sleep. The following morning, I woke up to find the kitchen in a right state. I'm not saying everyone is a clean freak like me but if you're sharing a kitchen, clean up after yourself. The second night, my friend from Hull finally arrived (we were both going to the same uni but he was in a different flat) and we ended up drinking with one of my new housemates. Then it seemed like everyone had invited someone. At first there were about six of us, then it went to about sixty. At this point, I was feeling very claustrophobic and anxious so went into my room and refused to come out. My parents had gone home that afternoon so I was feeling pretty down. It was at that point I knew I had to go home. A lot of people said I should have stuck it out but I was unhappy and would have come home eventually. So off I went home and have never been back since.

Luckily, because of clearing, I managed to get a place at Hull Uni studying Business. I knew I didn't really want to be there as I still wanted to pursue a career in journalism but it was that or full-time work until I decided what to do. Two years later, I'm now studying Marketing and nearing the end of my second year. I'm pretty unmotivated when it comes to uni nowadays because I know exactly what I'm doing when I graduate. Move to Manchester, do my journalism course, try to find a job. My Marketing degree should help here too. I changed from Business because I was only getting 2:2s on the Business modules and 1sts on the Marketing ones!

In terms of the course, I do like it; I find it interesting and helpful for my future career. I just don't like everything else to do with uni. I hate socialising. I don't drink anymore so I come across as boring and don't really want to go and make new friends. I have all the people I need in my life. To overcome this, I joined the Performing Arts society but because of my recent back injury, it's left me more depressed than I was before.

I just want the next year to go by as quickly as possible so I can get properly on track for my planned future.

Thursday Thoughts #2

I've got money on my mind right now. I've been at my new job about 3 weeks now so at the end of the month I'll have more money. I'm doing more hours as well so my payslip should be healthy. My problem is overspending. I intended to put my student loans into my savings account and treat myself with the grant part. In my first year, I did that amazingly. In my second year, the first bulk went into savings and the second lot went to H&M and New Look. This time, I've transferred more money that I intended to this time just so I didn't overspend. As soon as payday comes along though, I know I'll spend a lot of the money. 

Online shopping is a nightmare for me. My main issue is that I end up buying things and sending them back. I struggle to find clothes that fit perfectly which means I often have to pay that little bit more so that they do. I'm a materialistic person. I know I should be ashamed to say that but I'm not. I like things. I earn my own money so I don't see why it's a problem. I like having lots of things (mostly clothes, shoes and bags of course) but I work hard to be able to afford them. It's not often my family just give me money to spend unless it's Christmas or my birthday. 

I tend to spend the majority of my money on clothes. I like having an overflowing wardrobe but I still want more. I'm thinking about setting up an eBay shop to make a bit of money. 

Am I the only one who likes spending? I feel like Kim Kardashian in that episode where they get a specialist in to deal with her shopping addiction!

Thursday Thoughts #1

My first Thursday Thoughts is going to be about staying organised. I like to think I'm really organised (I have several diaries and ideas about how to keep on track of things) but I constantly feel like I'm behind on things. Right now I'm trying to balance uni, exams, work, rehearsals, spending time with family, friends and my boyfriend as well as having some time to myself. Here are my top tips:

1. Buy a diary- Seriously, I have no idea how people live without them. Everything I have to do goes into mine. I have a day-a-page diary that I pretty much take everywhere with me and a week-a-page diary that sits on my desk.

The black diary is my day-a-page one and the blue one is my week-a-page diary. I'd say I use the black one more, purely because it's with me constantly.

2. Colour-coordinate your schedule- Having a diary is one thing but using it properly is the best way to get the best out of it.

This is a page from my black diary. I use pink for lectures, green for seminars and tutorials, red for reading and work that needs to be done and black for anything else. At the start of the semester, I get all of my module handbooks printed off for uni and read them thoroughly to see where I need to be on what day and what I need to read to be prepared. As you can see here, I have this Friday morning free. I try to get work done in times like this so I have nights free for family/dates/friends.

This is a photo from my blue diary. It's less detailed than my black one but still includes lectures and tutorials as well as the rugby fixtures for the week. Because rugby is an important thing in my life, I highlight which games are on TV as well as all Hull FC and South Sydney games. I try to fit my plans around these as I try to watch as many games as I can.

3. Breaks are important- I try to do all of my uni work during weekdays so I can spend my nights with my boyfriend. Obviously it doesn't always go to plan but I try to see him at least once during the week and once at weekends. Also, because I work all day Saturday and Sunday now, the last thing I want to do on a weekend night is come home and do work. It's crucial that I do my work during the week but if needs be, I use Sunday nights to catch up. Having a social life is vital. I've been studying so hard in the past couple of months that I've barely had time to see anyone. Thank god the semester ends soon or else I'd be going insane. Now I'm starting to realise that I need to have some free time. Whether I use this time to catch up with friends, go to my boyfriend's house, watch TV or blog, it doesn't matter. It means I can just relax for a bit without thinking about everything I have to do.

4. Don't try to do too much at once- I'm a hypocrite here because I always take on more than I can handle. Then I end up getting stressed and doing nothing. However, especially when studying, make sure you don't set your sights too high. There's no chance that you'll read a full textbook in a day. Read a chapter, take a break. That's how I do it. A break can be anything from grabbing something to eat, going for a walk, ringing my boyfriend, doing some yoga, literally anything. But don't take too long or you'll never go back to it. The other way I do it is say I'm going to revise for two hours and don't take a break. Sometimes if my schedule is so packed, I have to work this way. If I've got a whole free day, I'll use the first way I suggested. Something I've just found that might help me this exam season is this weekly planner from Paperchase.

I plan to write which topics I need to cover and their relevant chapters. Granted, this won't work for everyone but it does for me. Plus the pad looks super cute!

5. Don't forget to eat and drink- I always have a bottle of water with me anyway but it's so important to keep hydrated when studying. I often have a bowl of crisps or sweets on my desk too but I do try to cut back on them. Because I don't eat healthily at all, I'm just trying to cut back on junk food!

6. Make sure you do revise- Easier said than done. Even when you're sat at your desk, it's easy to get distracted by computers and phones. I prefer to read textbooks for revision rather than use my laptop so I never have that issue. I do always have my phone by my side so that is more difficult. When I'm seriously revising, I leave my phone downstairs and revise upstairs. This worked last year so I plan on doing that again. If you can't bear to part with your beloved technology, set yourself a goal. For example, revise for 50 minutes, have a social media break for 10. I'm lucky that my boyfriend is so supportive despite him not being in uni. When I'm studying, he'll stop texting me and just tell me to text him when I'm on a break or finished.

7. Don't leave everything until the last minute- This tip is for every student out there. How people can still be manically revising the day before an exam, I have no idea. I start my revision at least a month early (I don't have an exam until the 20th May but I started my revision at the start of April). I know it works for some people but not for me. The day before an exam, I just read all of my notes again. If it's not in my brain by then, I doubt it will stay in after that point.

At the end of the day, you choose the best strategy for you. These are just some tips that I've learnt over the past few years through college and university that work for me. What are your tips for revising and staying organised?