I Made a Bobo...

Silly me! I thought I had an appointment at the Job Centre Plus today, where I would get to tell one of the advisors to 'stick it up their bum', as it were.


However, I don't have to go until next Monday! In fact I'm not sure I'll bother at all, as previously mentioned.


Here are a simple list of reasons why I'm not bothering with them anymore:

1. They didn't realise I had a degree even though they looked at my CV (twice!!),
2. They said that I would have to give up my Voluntary work if I got a full-time job,
3. They wanted to send me on a course (although they didn't specify what it was or why it'd be good for me),
4. They're sending me to a group meeting on Thursday about CVs and Apprenticeships,
5. The Job Centre Plus feels like the most depressing place on the Earth,
6. The advisors talk right down to you (although admittedly, some are nice too),
7. The computer machine things are really awkward to use,
8. I've witnessed fellow Jobseekers losing their rag through frustration and I'm quite scared of accidentally getting in the way of a fist sandwich,
9. They're not giving me any money (which I'd probably feel cheeky for taking anyway), so they can't threaten me with 'non-payment' if I don't go,
10. Call me a snob, but the jobs that they wanted to send me to are menial, underpaid and too far away. (They expected me to drive up to 90mins away from home to work in a shop or as a receptionist...)
11. They treat you like you're milking the system even if you show to them that you're eager to work,
12. I tried to show them my amazing list of job applications on both appointments and they completely and utterly dismissed it.

I've gone through my list of Job Applications and it looks like I've been rejected for every single one. I've been looking frequently for jobs today, and there really aren't any that I can apply for... 

Still, I start a new voluntary work placement at the hospital on a different ward tomorrow. An acute one this time, so a completely different pace and feel. I'm quite excited! I might not get paid for it, but I'm sure I enjoy my voluntary work more than I would a menial paid job!

Just watch it all fall apart tomorrow, and I'll come crawling back moaning about how much I hate it...

Oh, and on the 'Barry Scott' front:

He went out at half 8 this morning. To do a day's work! Unusual. I wish I'd been really loud all night and kept him awake, just so he'd know exactly what it was like trying to function the next day ridiculously sleep deprived. Except I didn't. 

Until next time!

xx

My Weekend...

What a weekend I've had!

For starters, I received a letter from DWP to say that my application for Jobseeker's Allowance has been turned down. My first reaction? "Good!" I am actually relieved and genuinely over the moon that they've rejected me, because now I don't have to go to the depressing Job Centre Plus again in a hurry... (Except for later today, and perhaps Thursday too...)

I've got to go tomorrow to 'Sign on'. Sign on to what?! Apparently if I keep on attending the soul destroying and morally degrading interviews that I've already been subjected to twice, I might get some National Insurance Contributions. I don't think I'll bother somehow...
I'd rather spend that time doing something constructive, like actually looking and applying for jobs.

I'm not good enough for the dole though. That's a depressing thought...

And to top that off, I've not had all that much sleep at the hands of my lovely horrid neighbour 'Barry Scott'. He had a lovely dirty, foul-mouthed 'woman' come over on Friday evening. Just before midnight, he decided to put his TV on full volume, start shouting and drinking heavily and then the pair of them decided to 'get jiggy with it' repeatedly throughout the night...

After getting quite angry I went round but ended up bottling out before I knocked on his door (because I'm only little and he's a proper, grown up, drunken man and his 'lady' friend was wearing pretty hefty high heels).

This continued all night long, and at 5am I mustered the courage to go round there and well, let's just say they weren't downstairs, but their clothes were. Needless to say, I thought I deserved to get a little revenge on them both. I rang his landline at 6am, thinking "haha, that'll wake them up and then they'll know exactly what it's like..." My plan failed... My plan did work... In a way. I did manage to wake them up. Except they just started having sex loudly again. So in a sense, the joke's on me really.

He took her out on Saturday afternoon. We thought she was going home. She wasn't. They came back. Then they got ready with loud music that made me very angry again. I've found that sleep deprivation only exacerbates anger... Then they went out on Saturday evening before coming back at quarter past one. He drunk drove (as he frequently does. Because he's an IDIOT). He was even so drunk that he couldn't get the key in the door (as he frequently fails to do in his drunken state).
Cue lots of conversation from his drunken 'lady' friend. She said and I quote, except I'll censor the profanities because I'm a little more lady-like:

"Did you see that F**king Motherf**king C**t? He tried to 'go' for me. I'll have him next time."

To which the lovely Barry replied:

"Yeah, I'll go for him n-n-n-next time I-I-I-I see him..."

And then they proceeded to talk loudly and have lots of noisy sex throughout the night again.

I couldn't sleep, so I shut myself in the kitchen with the radio on and had a little night-time-baking-party and baked a cake.

To top it all off, on Sunday morning, they kept the window wide open and managed to pee his other neighbour off by having sex while she and her young son were playing in their garden. (She held a bit of a torch for him as well, so if she wasn't mad about little ears hearing such awful noises - like a warthog humping a squeaky bin - she was mad because she was having her nose rubbed in it.) My advice? He's not worth it love. You can do a LOT better.

I think most women can do better than 'Two Night Stand Barry, the Whore from Next Door'.

Oh, and I got two job rejections! Not really the best of weekends.

The Diary of a Job Seeker - Part One

Hello! Again, long time no blog! Let me tell you all about my jobseeking adventures:

Last week, I signed up for Jobseekers' Allowance (Yes, I know I don't think I can get it, still I applied anyway...)

This Monday I had a meeting to go over things. Then on Tuesday an advisor called me asking me to come in.

So on Thursday, I went for a meeting with one of the 18-24 advisors. She seemed nice, but it's quite clear very early on that all they're concerned about is getting you off your bum and into a not very nice job. So far, my 10 steps (10 weekly proactive measures to attempt to find a job) are aimed at finding me a job in Retail, Administration/Reception work or in Care.
I've even applied to be a Junior Doctor Co-Ordinator... That would be quite cool I'll admit. ;)

So far, I've applied for 25 jobs... Now on my 26th application. All to no avail... I've not received ANYTHING. Not an interview. Not a rejection letter. Not even a rejection email.

I've got a 2:1, so why does nobody want me?!

I've got to 'Sign on' for the first time on Monday. It's all very new to me, but I think that's where they check I've been looking for jobs and basically authenticate a payment. Well, I've done that already, so there's no problem there.

I'm also being sent to a group meeting on how to do CVs (even though the lady said I had a "great CV" twice!!) She also said before I left: "Do you have any qualifications?"

YES! A DEGREE! IT'S ON THE CV THAT YOU'VE LOOKED AT TWICE!!

If I could throw myself straight into GAMSAT stuff, I would. But I can't live without money... It's near on impossible. And my savings are there to go towards Med School living costs.

Oh the joys of being a jobseeker...

Long Time No Blog...

So, so sorry for the huge delay in blogging! I've been very busy finishing my degree, you see.

I'll tell you one thing, third year is horrible! I just hope I've done well enough to get to where I want to be...
Fingers crossed! 

Anyway, since I finally finished, I've been looking for jobs. Very hard task. I've applied for one job so far, as a receptionist at a GP surgery and I was rejected... Every other job I've looked at is either too far away, or I'm not qualified (in the right way) to do it... I've not even been looking properly for a fortnight, and I'm getting fed up already!

I've taken to buying things off the Internet, in the hope that I'll be able to sell them for more on eBay! (Yes, I'm really that desperate!) I'm not eligible for Jobseekers' allowance, you see. Because I haven't paid any National Insurance contributions in my short 20-odd years on this earth. And because my savings amount to more than £16,000, but they're savings for a reason, to hopefully aid me through Medical School! To be honest, I'd feel a bit bad signing on anyway... My parents aren't in a position to lend me any money either, and I wouldn't expect them to. My Dad's unemployed due to disability, and my Mum works very hard only to receive a fairly average wage.

This whole not having a lot of (spending) money really isn't fun...

In other news, I went to St. George's again last month, for an open day... Very interesting, and I learnt a great deal more about the course and admissions process than I did last year. My Dad accompanied me, but my Mum wants to go too, so the two of us are hopefully going down at some point over the summer for a campus tour, so she can have a good look around. I'll try and get some decent pictures this time! (It's quite hard when there were well over a hundred of us there for the open day! I didn't want to stand out, and have people think I was a tourist...) I'll post another blog on here in the coming days/weeks, with all of the info that I picked up at the SGUL open day.

Until next time!
xx

University of Leicester Open Day!

Well, I went to the University of Leicester last month...

And you may have seen my tweet about how pointless it was... If only I'd have known that before actually getting there! Would've saved me a wasted journey!


The presentation on Medicine itself was in incredibly high demand! There were only two talks: one at 2pm and one at 3pm. I thought it would be better to go for the earlier talk, but ended up queuing for half an hour before the talk started, in a massive crowd of people (all of whom looked younger and far more intelligent than myself), to be told when we all got in to the talk, that there basically wasn't much point in me bothering to apply there - I'd be far, far better off taking GAMSAT and applying to either St. George's or Nottingham...


Basically the reason that it was so pointless was because they're bringing in a new system (at least I think it's new) where they'll be point scoring potential candidates on their previous academic qualifications i.e. GCSEs and A-Levels, as well as their degree classification...
Which means I've got NO chance!


I already knew it was a long shot because of the year long paid work experience requirement, but still, I thought it was at least worth a look!


I must admit that I was particularly reluctant to like the city of Leicester - back in the day when I was browsing Universities for my first degree, I went for an open day at Leicester's other University, De Montfort, and wasn't that impressed. And also knowing that a 'kind of' ex had moved to the city made me even more reluctant to go there! But I have to say that when I got to the area that the University of Leicester was in, I was a lot more impressed than when I went to DMU (which is on the other side of the city)!


Everything about the University is nice, the people seemed relatively friendly, and certainly welcoming. The Uni was neat and looked shiny and new (although the same can't really be said for the Medical School building - which apparently is going to be replaced by a newer and shinier building in the near future). See the shoddy picture below for a glimpse at the Med School building...

This is also another shoddy picture of the Medical School from the side (at least I think it's the Medical School - but don't hold me to that!)

I don't really think there's anything else that I can say about it - It certainly doesn't look like I'll be applying to study there, but that's not to say that I don't like the University, because I do.


Oh, and one of the taglines of the University, which you will be utterly bombarded with if you go and visit is:
"Elite, without being elitist". 
Trust me, you will see it absolutely everywhere! It's been drilled in to me now!


I would recommend that people check it out, of course! You can't take my word on which Medical School to study at!


Next time I'll be telling you all about Keele University!


Thanks for reading! xx

King's College Open Day!

So, so sorry for neglecting my blog like this!
Last summer, I went to an open day at King's College London... As the title says.

To be honest, I'd never really been to that area of London, and I didn't even know whether it was Guy's Hospital or King's College Hospital that I had to go to. Turns out, after following the map, that it was Guy's after all.

It absolutely threw it down on the day, which usually equals a very bad hair day for a certain frizzy-haired wannabe medic.

My soaked umbrella!

When we got there, I was impressed by the exterior of the buildings. But, to be honest, it's what's inside that counts, isn't it? However, I liked the inside too.

The Campus

We had an introduction talk, in which my phone loudly went off... Embarrassing...

We then went to a Pathology lecture with the prestigious Professor Sebastian Lucas, which I thoroughly enjoyed! 

Although I wish someone would have warned me that there was going to be slide in the presentation with a picture of diarrhoea with blood on it!

It was kind of a good job that I didn't have time for lunch beforehand!

We then got separated for tours, which mainly consisted of walking around the interesting Gordon Musuem:

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/teares/gktvc/vc/gordon/index.html

Which might have been better if our tour guide hadn't walked off without us.

Still don't know where she got to...

And probably would have been even better if I hadn't have walked, loudly, straight in to a metal bin, in a room where I was surrounded by silent, revising medical students... Yet again, embarrassing...

But, for the remainder of our tour, we joined another group, most of whom were sixteen or seventeen year olds with great innocence and faith in themselves. That's the thing about being a prospective Graduate Medicine entrant, you feel a bit inadequate when faced with all these fresh faced geniuses... Or maybe that's just me.

Even though we got separated from our tour guide, it really isn't every day that you get to walk around a place and see pictures of dead bodies in the process of decomposition, or get to see actual craniopagus siamese twins pickling away in a jar...

We then went to get a free drink and snack, where my Dad knocked his coffee over. Which went all over the floor, the chair, his jacket, and some papers... Embarrassing!
So all in all, we both made fools of ourselves!

A Bridge

Here are a couple of facts about King's College London:

1. It's apparently the only University campus in the UK with a McDonald's restaurant built in to it.
2. It's also overlooked by probably the biggest building that I have ever witnessed!

The massive building!

I enjoyed my trip there, and also the sightseeing afterwards, yet I feel that the fact that KCL is UKCAT entry it has to go slightly lower down on my list of Medical School preferences. Ideally, I wouldn't like to take UKCAT and GAMSAT together.

The view from Millennium Bridge

If you look on my 'Plan' page, you'll see that KCL does make an appearance!


Now, I promise that I'll be back soon with tales about my trips to Leicester and Keele!
xx

Random Shiny Balls in the Street... Ahh London.

Happy New Year!

Well hello!

Firstly, like always, I must apologise for neglecting my blog again!

And, again, I must make my usual promise of getting round to publishing some posts that still require a bit of tweaking (they've been sat in my drafts for ages... One of them since last July!!)

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a fantabulous new year. 

I'm sat here, and it's the early hours of the morning at the start of a brand spanking new year. I'm not really a big party animal, which I think I might well have mentioned here before... So I welcomed 2012 by watching the pretty fireworks on TV with my parents, whilst stuffing my face with biscuits.
Yes, I really am that cool.

To complete my wild celebrations, I decided to go on a huge online spending spree to celebrate my penultimate student loan payment. So I don't think my bank balance with thank me come the morning, but oh well...

What better way to start the new year? (Well, actually, I'm sure there are plenty of much better ways, but...)

I guess one of the points that I wanted to make is that this time of year is always a really reflective one, so I've spent the last few days thinking about how 2011 shaped me. How much I've grown up. How I've unfortunately lost some people in my life, but thankfully gained some others. It's been a bit of a wild ride, which sadly went a bit pear shaped from September onwards, but, here's to 2012 being amazing!

Until next time!
xx