The 'S' Word

I want to talk about stress. For some reason, I feel like it's a bit of a taboo topic and I think this should change. My friends and I always say "Oh I'm so stressed at the moment", but then we agree and move onto talking about something else. I really want to change this. We all need to be more supportive of each other, and I think that talking about things which make us a bit uncomfortable is a really important part of life.

So, stress. That lovely little creature sitting in the corner that rears its ugly head around this time of year. I know for me, it has really started to kick in. Last week in particular, I had three pieces of coursework due in for moderation. For one of these pieces, I was writing draft after draft and my teacher just kept giving me more corrections. Although I knew what I needed to do to improve, it still felt disheartening and with D-Day fast approaching, I was getting more worried that I would never be happy with it!
(I did eventually get it finished, but at the time it seemed never-ending!)

On top of that, I have decided that I'm going to resit four of my exams from last year. If you'd have asked me this time last year, I would have told you that I wouldn't  be resitting even one. Although I probably don't have to resit to get the grades for my firm choice uni, I don't want to have any regrets. If not resitting an exam will mean I can't get the grade I want, then there's no way I'm not resitting. I want to give myself the best chance to do my very best. I want to open my results on 18th August knowing that there's nothing more I could have done.

My resit classes have begun this week - History on Monday and Wednesday after college and Lit on Wednesday lunch. Not only do I have the classes, I also have the revision for these subjects. As I've done these exams already, I feel like I'm not going in totally unprepared.

Luckily, I have a lot of things I do to help me chill out! Here are my favourite stress-busting activities!

1) Have a good rant

My favourite "victims" are my parents and best friends - That's what they're there for, aren't they?! Sometimes, just telling someone what's on your mind is the best way to clear your head. They'll be able to help you work things through, or even offer a shoulder to cry on if you need it.

2) Blast some music!

I love music. It's one of my biggest passions, and I seem to always be listening to music - whether its in the shower or on the bus, music relaxes me like nothing else. Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes seem to be the soundtrack to my life at the moment!

3) Get away from it all for a while

Whether it be going shopping with my Mum or having a gathering with my friends, sometimes all I need is to escape all the work for a bit. Going away and then returning with fresh eyes and a clear head can make the world of difference.

So that's me. What about you? I'd love to hear what you do to unwind. I'm really interested to see what would happen if we started a hashtag? Get in touch, either by commenting on here or by using #studentsvsstress on any social media and lets share some advice! I think we could start something really cool here!

Keep smiling everyone, and remember that it's all going to be over in four months!

Anna x

P.S. If you would like to vote for me as UCAS blogger of the month, you can do that here. Thank you!

Coping with Coursework

So we've been back at college for three weeks now and I'm looking forward to half term already! As I've mentioned a couple of times before, I do three essay-based subjects - all of which have a lot of coursework. So with deadlines fast approaching, I thought I'd share my top tips for dealing with coursework! But first, a quick disclaimer!

* By no means do I claim to be an expert: Juggling this amount of work has been a massive learning curve, and a lot of procrastination has been involved! These are just some things that I have come to realise, so thought I'd share *

1) It's gonna be hard, but it'll be worth it in the end...

My coursework is all worth 40% of my total A2 grade, so 20% of my A level. The way my teacher put it, if you don't put the effort into your coursework, it's like attending your exam and only writing your name. There's just no point!

2) Make the most of class time!

When you're in college/school, your teachers will probably give you quite a bit of time in lessons to do your coursework so I recommend making the most of it! It can be quite difficult to not get distracted while you're sat with your friends, but you have the teacher there with you in class - make the most of their expertise while its so readily available!

3) Accept that procrastination is inevitable
This is the hardest thing to do, especially when you have deadlines fast approaching and are a few words short of the minimum word count! I always sit down, determined to slave away until its done and then quickly print it off... Then I get distracted choosing a Spotify playlist, browsing social media, writing (but never finishing) a blog post, chatting to my sisters etc etc...
I look at the clock and its two hours later and I've only wrote 200 words! Once you accept that you're going to procrastinate, its a lot easier to put things in place to help...

4) Make a life as easy as possible for yourself
This kind of follows on from the previous - if you accept that you're going to get distracted, then you can try and help yourself. A great tip I learnt is to open two desktops on your laptop/computer. Have one open with all your work things on, then the other with your social media tabs and your music. Also, mute your chat notifications: It's so easy to get involved in a conversation when you're meant to be working! Set a timer for how long you're going to work and then have a quick break- get a drink, a snack, check your phone, change the music - whatever you want to do, get it over with then!

5) Most importantly, remember why you're doing it...
I know from my own experience how easy it is to get disheartened when your work is coming back draft after draft with seemingly endless corrections. It can be really frustrating, but the advantage of coursework over exams is that your teachers are there to help you make it perfect! They're going to do everything they can to help you get the best grade possible. Remember that end goal - whether it be that uni place, job, apprenticeship or whatever, remember why you are putting yourself through it. It'll be worth it in the end. We can do this!!

I hope you have enjoyed this post - its been nice writing something a little different! If you have any feedback or post suggestions, feel free to email me: annajordanucas@gmail.com. Also, if you'd like to vote for me as Blogger of the Month you can do that here! Thanks!

That's all from me for now, until next time :)

Anna x

Happy New Year!

The Christmas and New Year period is definitely my favourite time of year and this year has been no exception. After being back at college for just four days, I think I'll be ready for another break soon! This term is going to be jam-packed!

During the break it felt as if we weren't doing much, but looking back now I realise how much I managed to cram into two weeks! From a weekend away to a Christmas reunion meal, parties to days out, the last two weeks of the year were just so much fun!

Christmas this year was very quiet for my family and I, with it being just the five of us on Christmas and Boxing Day. This made it even more special because with us all being so busy, it's a rare occasion in our house that we can all just relax together without any distractions! We had such a lovely time, and I especially enjoyed my parents giving my sisters and I a classic film education! We watched The Holiday, Love Actually, Bridget Jones' Diary and From Russia with Love (which were all fab) along with many other films and Christmas TV specials! I'm not usually a massive watcher of films, but one of my favourite parts of the season is snuggling up on the couch with a good DVD and chocolate!

New Years Eve is always up there as one of my favourite days of the whole year. This year, I had no plans right up until the afternoon of the 31st when one of my friends invited a few of us for a little gathering at his. It was so special bringing in 2016 with my best friends, and I'm really looking forward to all the fun times we'll hopefully have this year! I'm so looking forward to everything 2016 will bring, and I'm determined to have fun despite whatever challenges life throws at me.

Going back to college on Monday was a massive reality check... You might have noticed that I didn't mention doing any college work in my post... In all honesty, I left it very last minute... As in Sunday afternoon kind of last minute! Looking back, this probably wasn't the best idea, however I am so glad that I was able to have two full weeks of relaxation because it was much needed! 


Before all the excitement begins, I have an absolute tonne of coursework that I really should be doing now...

If you want, you can vote for me here to be January's blogger of the month. Thank you!

I'll be back soon... When I've done my coursework!!

Anna x

Are we there yet?

I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm coming to the end of a really long car journey. I need to get up, stretch my legs and take my foot off the pedal for a bit. This term has been so busy, yet I can't believe that September was only three months ago! I'm really looking forward to having a break from coursework, homework and just college in general so I can spend some quality time with my family and friends.

Christmas really is my favourite time of year, but I feel like this year I am seeing it in a completely different light. In the past, the endless Christmas crosswords and the classic movies were enough to get me excited about the big day; but with many of my friends being away at university since September, I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone and finding out everything they've been up to. I've been surprised how much I've missed them and even though we've been in touch regularly, nothing beats a face-to-face catch up! Not only this, but also with everything that is going on around the world, I feel like I have a new-found appreciation for how lucky I am. Even though things might not always go perfectly, I have it a lot better than many people in the world. 
So this year, Christmas for me is about the season as a whole, rather than 25th December.

Even though I love Christmas so much, I hadn't really got into the spirit until this week. With the college term almost over and the decorations finally going up at home, I am now well and truly in the mood for Christmas and can't wait for the celebrations to begin! This past weekend I finally got my shopping done (well, almost) and now the wrapping and giving must begin.

Although this season may no longer be filled with Christmas plays, carol concerts and puzzles, I can't wait for the celebrations and catch ups to begin this weekend!

Wishing all my lovely readers a Merry Christmas, and I hope that 2016 brings everything you wish for!

See you in the new year x

If you would like to vote for me as UCAS blogger of the month, please click here, it would be much appreciated!

Saying "Yes"!

So I've finally done it... Just under a month ago I received my fifth offer, and yesterday I replied to them all! I have accepted Liverpool Hope as my firm choice (BBC offer) and York St John as my insurance (unconditional).

As I've mentioned before, my college had recommended that we wait a while before replying, but I was certain of my choices before I even had the offers and so wanted to respond asap! Even though I've been desperate to reply, I also wanted to follow college's advice and wait a while. However, I felt rude not replying to the unis after receiving my offers so quickly, and so I replied yesterday.

But I can't believe how terrifying it is! I was so surprised by how nervous I was to actually click "confirm". I was so worried about clicking on the wrong one, I had to get my friend to double check that I had selected the right unis (Cheers Hannah!!)! I was so concerned that my eyes might have been deceiving me! The best part of replying though, is that you don't actually have to click "reject" to the unis whose offers you're declining. For some reason, I felt really uncomfortable at the thought of rejecting my offers, and so I was extremely relieved that UCAS does it for you! You just choose your firm and insurance, then the other offers are automatically declined.

Albert Docks, Liverpool. Fingers crossed, I'll be living in this beautiful city next year!

So for now, its all over and done with! All that's left is to attend applicant days and then get the grades in the summer!

I hope I haven't made it sound too scary, but my advice would be to have a good friend/family member/someone you trust close by who can reassure you that you have selected the right unis (even if just to calm you down and make sure you know you're not going crazy!!!).

If you fancy voting for me as UCAS blogger of the month, please click here, it would be much appreciated!

Anna x

The Power of Four Thousand

Hi again!

Call me the queen of procrastination, but blogging seems much more appealing than that coursework I should be writing at the moment! 

Today I want to talk about my experience of applying to uni (so far, anyway!).

It all kicked off back in summer, when college began to mention the dreaded personal statement (PS). I have many friends in the year above, so I had already heard about how stressful it is to get 4000 characters and I wanted to put off writing it as long as possible. But in all honesty, with exams just finished and the whole summer ahead of me, I quickly dismissed the idea of actually starting it. After all, who would rather write a PS than make the most of the sunshine that we rarely get up north!

The one thing that I had actually done well in advance was order prospectuses. I had tonnes - in fact, under my bed was Mount Prospectus, giving Everest a run for its money.

But despite having so many, I wasn't really doing much with them. I read them, marked the pages of "my" course, but then they would go and join the collection under the bed.

The original Mount Prospectus, on one of the rare occasions it saw the light of day. It kept growing after this photo was taken.

So I decided it was about time we went to see some universities. I had no idea what to expect, but I just kept booking them. It was Lancaster, Northumbria, Liverpool Hope, Salford, Bangor, York St John, Chester, Lancaster (again), Hope (again) and Staffordshire. On some occasions, it would be a whole family day out, but most of the time it was just my Mum and I. We went prepared: with plenty of food, drink and our Meghan Trainor CD so we could have a little dance in the car on the journey! We also took my little black book where I made notes about every uni. I think it is so important to talk about the visit with your parents or whoever you go with, as sometimes you may have preconceived ideas about somewhere that your parents may not have. They may also notice things that you might not necessarily see - for example, at one university I visited there were several spelling mistakes on the English presentation. This sent alarm bells ringing for me. After every uni visit, I would make a list of positive and negatives about each one, so that when I had to decide my top five, I would be able to make a more informed decision.

When we went back to college in September, the application process got underway immediately. Early applicants had to be done by 15th October, and I was determined to get mine sent off as soon as possible. As quickly as I could, I had filled in the application. My final choices were Liverpool Hope, York St John, Lancaster, Chester and Bangor - all for English Literature and Creative Writing. My PS was written, checked by four people, and redrafted four times before I was happy with it (and everyone else as well). Luckily for me, I had it completed by 16th October so my tutor had time to help me with it without her attention being pulled in too many other directions. A few days later, it was officially sent and I just had to wait for offers.

Unbelievably, an hour after my UCAS receipt I had an offer from Chester! A week later, Lancaster also sent me an offer. The following week, I had offers from both Liverpool Hope and Bangor within twelve hours of each other!

During this time, I developed a little habit. Or maybe an addiction?! "My name is Anna, and I am an obsessive Track checker"! So one lunch, when my friend had to check her application, I automatically logged in as well. I got such a surprise! An unconditional from YSJ! I think my friend thought I was going crazy because I made her check that my eyes weren't deceiving me!

The beautiful York Minster

So that brings us to now... College have advised that I don't reply to my offers straight away, but I think I'll reply pretty soon. I'm really excited for the applicant days coming up in the new year so I can visit my unis again!

Liverpool Hope

That's all from me for now, but I'll be back soon. I hope you've enjoyed this post and feel free to leave a comment if you have any feedback.

Anna x

Hello!

Hey, I'm Anna!

I'm eighteen and currently in my second year at college. I actually quite enjoy college because I love the (mostly) relaxed atmosphere and my teachers are all really supportive. I study English Literature, English Language and Modern History and am planning to study English Lit and Creative Writing at university next year. I sent off my application just over a month ago and unbelievably, I have received all five offers already!

Outside college, I have quite a busy social life! I have a part-time job in a supermarket and I enjoy spending time with my friends and family- especially my two younger sisters. I love listening to music, watching football and also baking. I am the biggest Ed Sheeran fan you could ever meet (Photograph and Tenerife Sea are my current favourite Ed songs) and a passionate supporter of Preston North End FC. Although I do love baking, I am slowly learning how to cook "proper" food but my repertoire at the moment mainly consists of pasta dishes! I love taking photos and my sisters would probably describe me as an obsessive selfie-taker, but the truth is that I just love documenting memories!

I'm really looking forward to blogging about my uni application experience and hope you enjoy reading my blog!
If there is anything you would like me to blog about, or if you enjoy reading my blog, please get in touch!

Anna x