Time for a break?

One thing I've realised lately is that no matter how much you think you have done, you could always do more. This is true in every aspect of life you look at, whether it be work, friends, family or school. After finishing my AS studies in late June, the 25th to be precise, I thought that I would be able to relax and enjoy the following 3 months before starting all over again in September, for my final year of Sixth Form. It seemed that all the energy that I previously had vanished, along with the self motivation that I had improved over the past year. There was however, no time to rest and unwind because as soon as half term had been and gone, I was expected to start work in prepartion for Year 13. At the time it seemed like a brilliant idea, getting a head start on the year ahead, meaning there would be less work to do over the summer and perhaps even a less stressful September. So I was then given the work I was expected to complete. This consisted of a variety of tasks throughout my subjects, such as reading, writing letters, sketching, writing analysis and taking photographs. There was also the added pressure of beginning to write my personal statement for University. There was nothing I desired more at this point than a rest. The opportunity to sit back and not have to worry about the work mounting higher and higher and trust me, it did. The more I sat at home pretending that I was relaxing, wasting the days away, the more work that was put on the pile to do. It was only last week that I realised I had got myself into a horrible situation. A situation I told myself I wouldn't let myself fall into. Overwhelmed with work, one day I had to face the fact that this work wasn't going to go away and decided it was time to actually do something about it. As weird as it sounds, I think I actually like feeling stressed and the satisfaction of finishing a task. Naturally I am very ambitious and determined, yet I feel that after working so hard for this past year my mind is trying to tell me it needs a break. Having a break isn't as simple as just putting the work to one side and forgetting about it though, because no matter how hard you try you always have that niggling voice at the back of your head reminding you about reality, and that you have lots of work to do. Even if you actually do all the work that has been set, I always find that there is something more you can do. For example, if I finish reading a book and making notes on it, I can always read another book. It is never ending. Of course, you may ask, if you do not like this level of work then why study at Sixth Form. I am not trying to explain that I dislike Sixth Form, it is one of the best experiences of my life so far, I am purely explaining my current thoughts and feelings after completing the first year. As I conclude this post, I feel that I have cleared my mind. I always like making plans and so now I propose this one. I think in order to enjoy the summer break as much as possible, I will need to complete as much work as possible within the next 2-3 weeks so then I have less to worry about for the rest of the summer. Obviously this is much easier said than done, but I will keep you posted on my progress!

Life at Sixth Form

Isn't is funny how all of a sudden your life can change so drastically? Before starting sixth form last September, I thought life was easy. Although GCSE's were a challenge, I found that even though I didn't revise as much as I should have done, I still managed to achieve A*-B grades in all 11 of the GCSE's that I took.
   My life literally changed on the first day of Sixth Form. I no longer had three lessons every day and instead found myself with five one hundred minute lessons called 'study periods.' I found that I as receiving more and more work from subject teachers, realised that most people I was surrounded by actually wanted to be there and that everyone was given a lot more independance.
   I made a number of mistakes during my first year at Sixth Form, and arguably my biggest one by far was to think that these 'study periods' could be used to socialise, with both friends and on sites such as twitter, and then not complete any of the work that had been set in my lessons. However, I soon realised the purpose of these lessons was not the above and then started to use them to be as productive as possible. Well, most of the time.
   Recently, I was asked to participate in the Sixth Form taster day, a day in which students from Year 11 spend the day finding out what Sixth Form is really like. I hadn't reflected much on the year until this point and found that as well as helping the Year 11's to make the correct decisions, this gave me the opportunity to consider my attitude, work ethic and success over the past year. I realised on this day that no matter how many Sixth Form students explain to you how much work there actually is, students will never realise the reality until they are experiencing it. It was exactly the same for both myself and everybody in our year and will most likely be the case for the Year 12's next year and in years to come.
  The most important thing I have learnt from the first year of sixth form is that I was wrong to think that life at Sixth Form would be easy. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it really a step up from GCSE'S? Yes, a massive one. However it is also important to stress that throughout the stressful and saddening moments, it has probably been one of the most rewarding and successful years of my life so far and I wouldn't change any of it. - Tammy

Sunday, F1 & Obsession

 Sunday. The day before the dreaded Monday. the day after the exciting Saturday where usually parties, late nights and drinking come into the equation. Sunday is the day of the hangovers and the dread. Dread that tomorrow morning, bright and early, you will see the appearance of the alarm clock reminding you that you really do need to get up after pressing the snooze button so many times you lost count.
   I find that on Sunday, particularly in the evening, i spend a lot of time thinking. Thinking about general thoughts such as friends and family and usually end up over thinking these situations.
  Therefore, i wonder that if Sundays did not exist, would i still over process things in my mind like i only seem to do on that day? or would this day just happen a day earlier or later? 
  I have no idea who reads this blog, and in some ways i am glad because i feel i can write about anything going through my mind, but at the same time, have the uncertainty about who knows about these personal situations.
   So apart from the obvious thinking that was done today, i also watched my favourite sport, obsession and interest today which was of course Formula One; The German Grand Prix.
  I spent numerous minutes laughing at the pronounciation of the 'Nurburgring' and numerous minutes annoyed that the commentator still, after being in the business for so long, cannot pronounce Sebastian Vettel's last name. It's Vet-al not Ve-tell!
   Although Button did not finish because of a hydraulic issue, McLaren seem to be fighting back finally after Hamilton drove the MP4-26 to victory for a 2nd time this season. Congratulations!
  I could continue for hours and hours, but i'm afraid of reducing you all to tears with my self-confessed obsession. But i'm proud of it!

Leaving High School, Prom & Disappointment

Good Evening!

 So much has happened since i last blogged. Not surprising since the last time i blogged was April.
 However, this is my return to blogging and although i may be a bit rusty from not typing since leaving school, i'll give it my best shot.
 
   Firstly, GCSE's are over! Finally after two years of stressing, revising and deadlines i have a lovely summer to look forward to (or so i thought.)
  I must admit, during my GCSE's i didn't really do much of the 'revising' when maybe i should have, but only results in August will tell and until then i'll just enjoy my time relaxing!
   I was getting into the habit of doing nothing during the day with long lay-ins, late nights and no commitment until the school decided to give me a repulsive book called 'A Level Summer holiday work.' Thanks a lot!
   Now, even though i haven't made a start to this work there is always a nagging voice in the back of my mind reminding me that i have work to do and should really start doing some of it.
   
  Moving away from GCSE's, i recently had my school prom aswell. Probably the most amazing night/morning of my life so far. Everybody looked amazing, and although the food was a bit naff, everyone seemed to have a good night dancing and singing and attending after parties, which to say the least, were rather eventful!

  The only dissapointment so far this summer is the weather. Everybody expects high temperatures and trips to the beach almost every day with ice cream and swimming but so far apart from a few days of fluke sunny weather the rest has been rain, cloud,thunderstorm, rain, rain, rain (you get the idea.)
    Instead of sun and heat being thought of when July is mentioned, i now imagine rain and humidity which to be honest, isn't the best weather to take a trip to the beach in.
   Oh, and i'm rather gutted i didn't win the euromillions either.
  

Apologising, Diary and Easter

First of all, i must apologise for the lack of blogging i have been doing. It is really difficult to find something to blog about every day and if im honest, i dont have the time to do it everyday.
  I will try from now on to blog everyday although i can not make any promises.

 So, another reason why i might not have blogged is because I have been contently writing in my diary. I mean a blog is good to let out your thoughts and feelings, but because some things are too personal to write down here, i use my diary to record these thoughts.
  It is good, i believe to write down your thoughts and feelings because sometimes you feel as if you cannot talk to anyone about them. Sometimes, even if you have the best friends ever, it is just too personal/embarassing/shocking to tell them about certain stuff.
   Keeping a diary allows me to also write down all the stuff that is worrying me, all the stuff that has annoyed me and all of the stuff i've been told not to tell others.
 
  Anyway, i wish you all a Happy Easter! Don't eat too much chocolate! (I'll have a difficult time doing that, i only got one egg, such a crime!)

Sunbathing, More! and Man Facts

Determined, i gathered all the items necessary for a day in the garden. Although it's only April, it was surprisingly hot today and it was the perfect opportunity to get some sun and to work on my tan.
  11am, and I am setting out the garden sunlounger thing, and to test it is put out correctly i sit on it. I tilt the back and feel as if im going to fall off it backwards, luckily today i did not.
   Then, grabbing an orange juice with ice, my trusty more! magazine,my tanning spray and my ipod with all the latest tunes i make myself comfortable on the seat. Ahhh this is the life i remember thinking.
   After about an hour, i turn the last page of the magazine. Men overheard it reads. Guarenteed to make me giggle to myself evey week, this page includes some stupid stuff women have heard men say, my favourite one this week being;
Girl one: Where did you get that dress?
Girl Two: Karen Milan
Guy: Does she know you have it?
 
  This is proof that guys as well as girls have 'blonde' moments and it is rather hilarious to read about.
  Come to think about it, some of my own mates which are guys have moments of their own such as this one;

 ( in more! there is a page dedicated to facts about men, obviously being called man facts)

 Me: Ooo Man Facts!
Guy: What are man facts?
Me: Urm, facts about men
Guy: Ohh

oh how i do love my mates!

Anger, Shopping and Humble Pie!

My first angry post, lovely. Normally, when i am typing i am a content person. Blogging gives me a chance to relax, and it means that i end up in a happy mood afterwards. But not this evening, oh no.

  Firstly, after having a great day shopping and spending some cash, i expect to come home and have a relaxing evening, but instead i find that certain people decide they are going to be childish.

  Not being funny, but im not the kind of person to back down. Just because someone may not like what im doing, im not going to change what im doing just to suit them. In my eyes, there are too many people in this world to try and keep everybody happy and it is an impossible task.  It might sound selfish, but to be honest the only person you should aim to keep happy, is the person you know the best, Yourself!
   If everyone changed to please someone else, you would never be pleased with what you do and therefore that is the reason that if i want to do something, you can be pretty sure that i will do it, life is too short to mess around worrying about others.
   Of course, you have to ask yourself this question; would you back down if you were doing something someone else didnt like? Of course not. So just eat some humble pie and carry on!

Deceit, Change and Toilet Roll

Until recently, i never listened to any other radio station. It was tuned in on my stereo ready for me to listen to pratically every day.
   However, one day this station decided that it would get rid of all the DJ's i had grown to love, and although i tried to get used to these new people, it just wasn't the same.
   Not only that, i grew tired of constantly listening to the same songs over and over again so i went for a search for a new radio station.
   I'm very happy to say since i have tuned into Radio 1, i have not needed to change the station, i love it.
 Radio 1 has also allowed me to develop my music taste, so instead of just having the main stream pop artists on my ipod, i now have artists such as Mumford&Sons, Noah and the Whale and so on.
 
   The theme here is of course change. Sometimes change can be scary and of course it is different, it throws you out of your comfort zone, but it also opens you up to new experiences and change isn't something we can stop from happening. Right now, if you think about, there is some kind of change happening. Change can also be exciting, because it is something new and although at the time you feel great, especially in my case, after i made that change i wondered why i had put up with all that crap on the other radio station.
 
  This can be applied to any situation you are in, whether it's changing schools, moving house or even just changing the brand of toilet roll you use, we should all see both the positive and negative in the change that happens because usually we only see the negative....

The London Marathon, Goals, Satisfaction

Of course, today was the London Marathon. Thousands of people line up at the start line to achieve the difficult 26 mile course, raising lots of money for charity.
  Although defeating the object, I sat on my sofa watching the highlights of the event, whilst eating my dinner. Twitter seemed to go mad throughout the day with people expressing how much they would like to complete the marathon one day.

  However, many of us have marathons of our own and although they may not require the physical training that is needed to run 26 miles, they still seem a distant goal. For example, your own personal marathon doesn't need to be able to run 26 miles, it could be something like trying to achieve good grades at GCSE. This goal still needs the training, yet it is in the form of training your brain to memorise inportant facts.
   Like completing a marathon, these goals drain you but the satisfaction you receive from completing it is undescribable.

High school, Priorities and Friendship

first day of high school, and we are encouraged to make friends with as many new people as possible, and after a while you realise that although you remain friends with a few from primary school, the rest become distant strangers.
   Five or so years later, you are approaching the last couple months of year 11. exams, future plans all become priorities, with other commitments falling to the bottom of your list.
   
  Sitting in my garden this afternoon, made me start thinking about these things and how i haven't exactly had much contact from some so called 'friends' this holiday. in fact, none at all.
  This then got me on another train of thought, and here it is.
 
Throughout our time at high school, we make half-hearted promises, insisting that we 'will never forget you' but you have to be realistic here, and we have all done it, but when you step back and think about it, how many of these people are you actually going to stay in contact with?

  My easter holiday so far has been an indication to me, to give an idea as to which people are likely to still be in contact in six months time and which people, quite simply, don't give a fuck.
  Although i would be quite sad if some people didn't stay in touch, im sure that i would get over it. i mean what is the point trying to continue a friendship if the other person is not bothered about it at all. It's a two way street and sometimes it's best just to give way to the other person.

However, time will only tell and in some cases im sure that i wont be shocked if when we pass on the street, we act as distant strangers...

Party, Internet Shopping and the tooth fairy

Saturday night, and i have just got back from the best party that has happened since 1999. Haha! just kidding, i'm sitting alone in my room 'raving' to my itunes.
   i'm in one of those moods where having a party is all i can think about. thank godness i have one to go to this week. but thats 5 days away. damn.
   however, as usual, the dilemma will approach me. What on earth am i going to wear? in need of a serious shopping trip i think!
 
  Internet shopping; as much as i love it, it makes me realise how poor i actually am and think about how lovely it would be to win the lotttery! of course, if i won, i would donate a generous amount to charity, because im such a kind soul (i'd like to think).

   the chances of me winning though are slim, because to actually have a slight chance of winning i would need to buy a ticket, i mean people just don't get money left on their door step, although that would be nice.
  Personally, i think the tooth fairy should increase her rates. surely a tooth is worth more than £1 nowadays? Even so, i'd still be loosing out, my 'baby teeth' fell out years ago. back to the drawing board i think...
  
  


  

Awkward Moments, Old People and Costa

 Awkward Moments; possibly the most over said phrase used in the youth of today. You cannot go one day without hearing "The awkward moment when..." at least once. So much so, I think it is now time to say, that we need to find a new catchprase.
   It does not stop me, however, from telling you all about the awkward minutes (not moments) I experienced today with old people.
   I'll be the first to admit, as a youth, the older generation, are not the kind of people who I feel socially comfortable with, although they seem to get a kick out of speaking to me.

  Walking into Costa, I feel in my element. I suggest to my dad that he takes a seat, I can order here. I can speak fluent Costa, so ordering doesn't seem a great deal. Enter, retired man.
    Patiently waiting for my iced drink and dad's hot choc, this man starts talking. At first I ignore him, certain he is not talking to me, but he gets louder and I feel rude not to reply. This is awkward moment number one. He continues to engage conversation about milk and eventually he stops, closes his eyes and rocks back and forward. Great. I bored an old man to sleep.

   Whilst enjoying my iced dessert, an old lady stops by the window. She obviously knows my dad as they have a full blown conversation through the window. She then turns to me, trying to have a similar conversation. As fluent as I am in Costa terms, I am not fluent in window talking, hence awkward moment number two arrives.

   In short, we all are slapped round the face with awkward moments, and although life would be great without them, they provide hilarious stories and the chance to laugh at yourself once in a while. But sometimes the best stories are told in person and not through the computer screen, so next time you feel the urge to type that irresistable status 'The awkward moment when...' think, and ask yourself this would it sound much better if i said it out loud?!

Waffling, Arse-Licking and 100% Truth

Couldn't resist typing out a new post for my blog so here goes...

  Seeking something to blog about, I asked my followers on twitter for some inspiration. Now, although i do love my followers, most were unresponsive, lets say 174 were.
  However, Gemma ( don't worry, I got permission to use her name) suggested my topic for blogging.
   Now, first of all, this is not an attempt to arse lick, and anything I reveal is 100% the truth.
  And you want to know the scary truth? .... Of course you do. Truth is, life would be boring as hell without Gemma's sarcasm, it's absolutely hilarious! Also, she is so kind, caring and beautiful! Cannot imagine life without her.
   Our memories stretch back to about 1997 ;) most memorable were the funny videos we made in her garden, from a buzzing bee to impersonating a rugby penalty kick ;) i love you gemma! <3
 
    truth is, we are all lucky to have such amazing friends, and if you were thinking of someone whilst reading this, let them know. Tell them how much they mean to you because chances are we don't hear it enough, and nothing feels as better as being told your amazing to someone. :)

Laziness, Revision and Mcdonald's Workers! :)

Yet another day is almost over, and today I am feeling like I have acomplished very little, probably because I haven't.
   There is an evergrowing list of stuff that 'needs' to be done and most probably my biggest problem is that im either a) too lazy to get it done or b) too laid back to not worry about the consequences that will follow if I don't do it. Most Probably more of the first part!

  Of course, the stuff I am mentioning is obviously revision! It's not as if i want bad grades, I mean who wants to work in a miserable, underpaid job? (sorry, to those mcdonalds workers who adore their job.) The problem is finding the effort to revise, and the motivation to carry on revising when the twitter feed increases every minute... 3 new tweets, 12 new tweets, until you get to the point where you think after being told there are 56 new tweets, it's time to reward yourself and check these tweets. So at this point how many minutes revision have you done? 10 if your lucky.
 
  So I leave this question with you all.. How do you revise?!