Goodbye Greenwich: My Last Blog

Hey Guys and Gals,

So this is it, my very last blog. I can’t believe my time at Greenwich has almost come to an end now. I have loved studying here and met some really amazing people on my course and I can’t wait to celebrate completing University with them in October at graduation J. I never even believed that I would get into University let alone leave with a 2:1 in a subject which I have genuinely really enjoyed studying.

As well as studying here I have also been working for the University’s Enquiry Unit for the past two years and have been here for three Clearings (including the current one) and my last day will be this Friday (22/08/2014). Although I am really looking forward to starting my new job, I know I am going to miss all of my colleagues’ sooo much because we all get along really well and I have had such a laugh working with them. Although at times we have been really busy and especially during Clearing the work is really fast paced, I have had the best time working here - so I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye L.

My three years of studying/ working have flown by super-fast and looking back I believe coming to the University of Greenwich was the best decision I ever made and I have met some friends that I know will be in my life forever (whether they like it or not mwahahaha - seriously they won’t get rid of me). For anyone who is still unsure if University is right for them I would definitely say go for it, I know it’s a big risk especially because of the loans a majority of us have to take out, but I promise you it will be worth it in the end. I started here as a shy, reserved girl who didn’t really have any confidence in herself and now that really has changed.

To anyone who has read my blogs over the past two years I want to say a massive thank you because I know at times they were incredibly random and my grammar isn't exactly the best. It means a lot that you took the time to read them, at first I thought it would just be my mum that would be but it turns out the statistics for my blogs were pretty good so unless my mum just kept refreshing the page I want to say thank you to all the people that did take the time to read them. Before I go I want to wish all of our continuing students’ lots of luck with the courses they are on and to all of our prospective/new students I hope you enjoyed studying here as much as I did.

I hope you all continue to have a great summer and wish you all lots of luck for the future.

Thanks for reading,

Xoxo

Laura

New Job, New Home, New Life.

Hey Guys and Gals,

I hope you are all well. As the title of my blog suggests a lot has changed for me since I last spoke to you. There have been some pretty big changes going on and thought I’d share them with you.

Ok so the first change is: I got my first graduate job! I am really happy to be going on to work as a full time receptionist at Beths Grammar School in Bexley. Whilst I really cannot wait to start working full time in a lovely school, I will be sad to leave my current colleagues. I’ve been working in the Enquiry Unit now for THREE CLEARINGS! Which seems absolutely crazy to me but during that time I have met some great people who I am going to miss so much. The job has been great and whilst I’m ready to move on, it will mean that at the end of this month I will officially be gone from the University of Greenwich L. In regards to my blogs sadly they will be coming to an end, but I have one left to do for August so I will say a proper goodbye then.

My next big change is: I will FINALLY be moving out. Me & George have been looking at getting a place together for a while now and whilst we are still ‘flat hunting’ at the moment, it is finally going to happen after all these years of me saying I will leave my family home. I think my younger brother Mark is so overjoyed about this that he has actually put plans together about what to do with my bedroom when I leave – the cheek of it! I am looking forward to the independence but am equally terrified about being in charge of bills, cleaning, cooking and all of the other grown up stuff that comes with it. But seriously when I say I cannot cook, I’m not over exaggerating- I literally googled how to cook cheese on toast the other day that’s how bad it is lol. Oh well bad times for George haha. Even at the age of 21, I am still so much like a child and really I don’t want to grow up L haha I'm like the female version of Peter Pan. 

So yeah a lot of major things will be changing for me at the end of this month and I am super scared because they have all come at once but equally I am excited to start this next chapter of my life. That’s all from me today my lovelies, as I said I will be writing my final/goodbye blog before the end of the month but in the meantime take care and I will speak to you all soon!

Xoxo

Laura 

Waiting for Graduation…

Hi Guys & Gals

How are you doing? I hope you are good and enjoying the summer break. I have been back working as one of the Clearing team for a couple of weeks now and it’s already been a laugh as it’s the first time this year all of my colleagues in the office have been together. The pace is gradually starting to pick up on the number of people, who have started to apply through Clearing so if you want a place at this University give us a call. For more info on the courses we have available have a look here: 

http://www2.gre.ac.uk/study/courses/clearing  

- (Yes there is someone on that page that may seem familiar, I apologise in advance for those photos- they are old and not my best- don’t let that put you off applying haha.)

So on Facebook, Twitter etc… I’ve been seeing everyone’s graduation photos and I am SOOOO jealous, I feel like I have to wait forever for mine. Ok, I’m being overdramatic it’s in October, but still I see everyone having all of their lovely photos in the sunshine and I wish it was me, knowing my luck it will be torrential rain on the day of my graduation, that will make for a great photo lol.

But nonetheless I am very excited for graduation and from what my friends have been telling me happens during the ceremony, it is very likely that I will cry (when do I not lol). I’ve already bought my dress and everything which is hilarious because the box office for the October ceremonies hasn’t even opened yet so I don’t even have a ticket, but hey I got my dress so it’s fine, right?  I can’t wait to actually put on the gown and everything and to finally celebrate properly my time here at Greenwich. I’m just worried that because my surname is Rumbles I will be towards the end of the people accepting their awards- I mean my dad could be asleep by that point so I may have to shout when I’m walking up lol. That being said I can’t wait to see all of the people on my course again and to become the ‘Class of 2014’.

I’m just worried that when we all come out my dad will say some cheesey speech like ‘we are so proud of you’- don’t get me wrong that’s lovely to hear and all but still it might be embarrassing. Bless him!

Right guys that is all from me today, I hope those of you that are graduating have a perfect day and enjoy yourselves (don’t trip over! hahaha).

Take Care lovelies,

Xoxo

Laura

Ladies & Gentlemen, Early Clearing has started!!!

Hey Guys and Gals,

How have you all been? I haven’t spoken to you in what feels like forever- truth is it has been under a month but still feels like a long time haha. Anyways I hope you have all been good, I was told it was very nice weather here whilst I was away, until I came back and it hasn’t stopped raining since! I’ve just been away to the Algarve in Portugal for a few weeks which was lovveeeely, it rained there too on the first few days and I was freaking out thinking I wouldn’t get any sun, but luckily it soon brightened up for us – thank goodness!

I went with my family, George and my brother’s friend James and it was such a laugh! We got up to a lot whilst we were there, including going to a couple of waterparks, going kayaking, chilling in the villa and going to the beach – where I thought I was going to drown as me and my brother Mark decided it would be a brilliant idea to swim against the way the waves were going and we were quite far out as well! As much as I’d like to think I’m the female version of Michael Phelps I’m really not and so was very out of breath by the time we made it back to land haha. Seriously it took me over an hour to recover! I know last year I told you guys about my intense fear of flying, which for some bizarre reason has gotten a lot worse- anyways this year was George’s first time flying with me and let’s just say he left with scars indented in his hand from where my nails had dug in that much haha. Now as I have previously mentioned I am very pale in my complexion because I’ve got fair hair, but for the first time in my life I actually managed to get a tan this year- miracles do happen!

So this week I have returned back to Uni of Greenwich for the summer as Early Clearing is now officially open, so if any of you are applicant’s wishing to apply please get in touch with us via the information on our website. As of next week I am working full time for the University so you will still be getting blogs from me – mwahaha! I am really excited to be back full time because although Clearing is very hard work and really fast paced, we do always have fun working- plus it means I get to see all of my colleagues. We will also be having some lovely new people joining the Clearing team in August who I can’t wait to meet –so this summer is going to be a good one!

I have now received my official letter from the University to say I definitely got a 2:1 --- yay! Never in a million years did I think that would happen but am so glad it has and has actually been officially confirmed (probably shouldn’t have told people until I got the confirmation but still did - haha that would have been embarrassing if I was wrong.)

Right Guys that’s all from me today! I’ll speak with you soon.

xoxo

Capital Summertime Ball ‘14

Hey Guys,

I hope you guys are all good and are enjoying this lovely weather we have been having. This blog is coming to you slightly earlier than I intended as I am going on holiday tomorrow until July – eek so excited. I am off to Portugal for a few days which will be epic- can’t wait to just kick back and to chill after all of the final year stress- aaaah! I will put some pictures up in my next blog from the trip.

So as this blog’s title suggests I am going to talk about my weekend and the fact I went to the SUMMERTIME BALL yesterday. It was so much fun, as I mentioned last blog I was going with my friend’s Amy, Stuart, Jack and his family. Overall there were 22 music acts and the ball latest a total of 7 hours. It was an amazing day and I had such a laugh. My favourite act of the day was Jessie J which I wasn’t necessarily expecting but she was incredible live and really involved the crowd as well which made it better for us. Watching Ed Sheeran was also amazing because he literally just had his guitar and his voice and that was it- so his performance was flawless. There were quite a few young boy-bands there as well like The Vamps, Rixton & Union J – which was hilarious because the screams were insane and I almost lost my hearing due to the volume of them. I’m going to have to be 100% honest here though and say that for 5SOS I was actually a large part of that screaming- they may be younger than me by a couple of years but still I am a big fan of theirs- so I traumatised my friend’s by screaming when they came on stage (the teenage girls had nothing on me haha). Some of the other acts that were really good were: Calvin Harris, Rita Ora, Iggy Azalea, Little Mix, Ella Henderson and Clean Bandit.

The two main acts of the night were Pharell and Miley Cyrus- who were both so great live, but to be honest it was obvious they would be anyway. When Pharell sung Happy the whole crowd (all 80,000 of them) were up on their feet dancing away. Miley Cyrus was actually really good as a performer; obviously she did a few controversial things too but that kind of goes without saying.

But yeah it was such a good day and I’d love to go again next year and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is into the more pop based artists, if you’re into hardcore heavy metal then I’d probably suggest this type of thing isn’t for you haha.

Right that’s all folks; I will be back blogging in July so I will talk to you all then. In the mean time I hope you continue to have a fab summer break J

Take Care

Xoxo

Laura

Random Acts of Kindness...

Hi Lovelies,

I hope you are all good and are enjoying your summer breaks so far! I definitely am and I have a few plans lined up throughout the summer which are exciting, including going to the Capital Summertime Ball next weekend – which will be amazing. There are a load of different artists there which include: Pharell Williams, Jessie J, Ellie Goulding, Calvin Harris, 5SOS & Miley Cyrus. So it’s going to be a lot of fun and in the case of Miley Cyrus – quite interesting haha. I am going with my friends to celebrate GRADUATION – eek, even though our actual ceremony isn’t until October but hey why not start celebrating now right?

So since I last spoke to you I have pretty much been celebrating finishing uni- but now comes the sudden scare of attempting to find a job. As I said before I was given a conditional offer for MSc Therapeutic Counselling and I did manage to meet the conditions but after ALOT of thinking I have now deferred my place for one main reason – tuition fees. So whilst me and my family discussed the pros and cons and decided that really this was the best option for me I’m still scared because it officially means I won’t be a student anymore – well for a year anyway. The thing with me is I hate not knowing, as much as I really wish I was a laidback go with the flow kind of person- I’m not – at all.  So whilst part of not knowing what my future holds is exciting for the most part I’m terrified hahaha.

So during my time off I’ve been getting ready as I go to Portugal in a couple of weeks and today when I was down the town I saw an old lady who asked me to help walk her to the bus stop- which I did and we got chatting and everything and she was really really lovely and told me I’d made her day- my good deed didn’t necessarily pay off though because as I waved her goodbye I tripped over my own feet haha- but we’ll put that down to my clumsiness and not karma for the deed I did. But anyways it got me thinking that even by doing a little deed for someone you can make them happy. Like the other day I was walking down to uni and some random man walked past and went to me ‘smile and have a wonderful day’ and walked away, what he didn’t know is I was actually having a pretty rubbish day and was quite down in the dumps and by saying what he did he really did make my day. He didn’t need to do it but still did it anyway and wasn’t worried about being judged for it- so it made me think more people really should do that. I know it’s really cheesy but like they say ‘even a smile can go a long way’ and that is so true.

Right guys that’s it from me today, I will speak to you all soon. Enjoy the sunshine!

Take Care

Xoxo

Laura

My University Story

Hey Lovelies,

Today I am going to talk to you about my university story; I know I keep you updated on a monthly basis but as my time at the University of Greenwich is drawing to a close, I wanted to talk to you about why I made the decision to come to University and about the past three years I have been studying here.

So I was studying my A-Levels at a school in Dartford and towards the end of my time there still had no idea what I wanted to do. I literally applied to University thinking there was no way in the world I would get in. Anyways come results day I was in Florida with my family and my mum came in after speaking to my Nana and told me that my first choice Greenwich had accepted me onto the BSc Psychology with Counselling- I was convinced she was lying but then I read my emails and saw it was true. I couldn't believe I'd made it into a University. I had gone through some personal struggles that year so to find out I now had been given such an amazing opportunity was kind of like an eye opener to me- that I had underestimated myself. 

I still remember my first day here, feeling like a little kid starting school all over again and not knowing anyone- but I met a group of people and made 2 amazing friends that I know will be part of my life forever (whether they like it or not) Jack & Amy.

My course was amazing and I promise I'm not just saying that- I have seriously learnt so much and met some amazing people and have been taught by some of psychology’s best academics. I have literally loved my time here, hence why I don't ever want to leave. Obviously there have been some hard times, being in the library at 3am isn’t ever fun but it was all worth it in the end. All of the hard work paid off…

So at about 9am this morning I found out what not only I got for my dissertation but also what I got (roughly) for my whole degree. I got a high 2:1 for my dissertation and a 2:1 overall for my degree and I never believed that I would ever be able to achieve that. I can't believe three years have already whizzed by and my time as a University student is complete. I have met some amazing people during my time here and whilst I'm not leaving yet (I still work for the Enquiry Unit) - my time as a BSc Psychology unit has been an unforgettable experience. To any prospective students out there I’d definitely say to apply for Greenwich – trust me when I say you won't regret it :) Here is me talking about why my decision to choose Greenwich, was the right one: 

http://www2.gre.ac.uk/study/studentssay/laura  

That’s all from me today guys, as I mentioned I will still be working here this summer so you haven't heard the last from me yet haha.

Take Care,

xoxo

Laura