[every little thing's gonna be all right]

UCAS. The four most dreaded letters in the A level student's... what? vocabulary?

Higher Education Day today started rather well. Until Physics. For those of you who are reading this and wondering what I'm on about, we had first lesson. This was great as it was only our second A2 physics lesson with a teacher. smoooth. basically did the homework that we were supposed to have done...
still. Second period was some guy called Ben Howler, who was from Queen Mary's (part of the University of London) but originally came from somewhere not too far from Glasgow. Still. He was fairly useful... and quite engaging. He told us about how "Graduates can work to long-term deadlines... are self-starters... independent..." and doing subjects that they enjoy. Well I never. Who'd have thought that? Other than that, he told us to read the UCAS notes on how to apply. He did this so that it lasted 50 minutes or so... and, amazingly, he made it sound really interesting. Well, interesting enough that we didn't fall asleep. Doodles were minimal... only a thumb!
After break was a woman called Joanne Elliott, from Reading. She was supposed to talk to us about personal statements. She got onto this about half way through - the rest of the time she was telling us a load of pointless information about Reading. Lovely as Reading is, it is really not interesting enough to be told the history of. That was a terribly constructed sentence. Oh well...
Anyway, she tells us everything that we already knew about Personal Statements, such as don't lie, plan it, check it, write about why you want to do the subject... etc etc etc. It was slightly boring. Then we had Mrs Cole come and tell us that we didn't have to go to uni, which took her a good 15 minutes as well. MAJOR doodles... nearly the whole margin!

After lunch we had the talk about Gap Years. It sounded sooo good! I think that a gap 6 weeks might be more appropriate though... it was really interesting. The video was funny, and she seemed really nice too. :D no doodles at all... she was obv. the best!

Period 5 found us in a maths room on the lovely new maths dept laptops. Brilliant things, those. Amazing! Webcams on them and everything...
Still, registered with UCAS (first big scary thing done) and got Miss Hamilton to read my PS. She's going to go over it in detail. I hope. So, because she was doing that, I've gone and fiddled around with it some more. I think I'll give her the new copy tomorrow morning... :D

One good thing that did come out of it all was that my uni list is now down to 7!! WOOO!!
:D :D :D
Aston and Swansea have gone, if you were wondering, as Aston is virtually Brum, and Swansea only wanted something likke 260 points... which I will *hopefully* have by the end of this year anyways. Would be nice if I did.

I was really silly earlier and edited my Personal Statement at school, then forgot to send it home! Daft person I am. Still. Here's the most up-to-date one (PLEASE tell me what to change!!) but I have more to add to the bit about Work Experience. And it's all phrased nicely around there too. :P

Having discovered through my A level studies that the fundamentals of the way the world works lie in Chemistry, Physics and Maths, I believe a subject combining these three main areas of science would explain much of how and why things work and would be of continuing interest to me, opening up a world of constant advancement.
Growing up in an engineering family opened my eyes to the many applications and careers of the engineer, making me aware of the spectrum of opportunities available. I like what I do to be useful and realistic. Chemical Engineering has this to offer. Combined with my desire to know why, and an interest in practical application, this means that I can see the results of my achievements.
This preference for tangible results from my efforts can also be seen through my extra-curricular activities, such as my experience in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Having gained my Bronze Award, I am currently working on my Silver (nearly completed) and Gold simultaneously. Although my service involving young people has remained constant, my skills as part of this programme have ranged from Event Organisation to French.
A love of languages and a thirst for different cultures gave rise to my expedition to Zambia and Malawi in the summer of 2007. For the duration of our time in Africa, I was voted Accountant by my peers. This shows that I am perceived as being responsible, sensible and reliable – traits that are also shown through my responsibilities as Deputy Head Girl and a member of the School Council. These positions require me to communicate effectively with my fellow students, younger pupils, the Head Girls and staff members. These responsibilities stem from my involvement in the school’s Pioneer Group, especially for the members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. As part of this group I enjoyed a conference explaining aerodynamics, which took place at Cambridge University.
My independence and self-motivation are also evident through my work experiences. I arranged my own week-long Year 10 work experience with The Crown Court at Reading (achievements, comments). Whilst taking part in a second school exchange in Duisburg (Germany), I spent time with school children and thrived on the opportunity to make my own decisions and to put my A level German into practice; having to write a diary and give a speech in German to students, parents and staff a few months later also boosted my confidence in the language.
Confidence has been a key development through my involvement within the Methodist Church, both on a local and national scale. My confidence in performing has been influenced by both musical and dramatic productions at a local level, while working with a national body of young people on the Methodist Youth Executive has increased my confidence in speaking to both small and large groups. This has also involved lots of travelling – one of my great loves and which has been made all the easier due to Chemical Engineers and their creations.
In the future I would love to be working for a chemical engineering company that requires me to travel. As a Chemical Engineer, I would enjoy both the upkeep and the discovery of logical processes, as well as the wide range of opportunities for new experiences. This includes projects overseas and being contracted, both of which would enable me to indulge in diverse environments.

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Thank you to everyone who helped me improve my last one :D
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