This Week

Wednesday

This, my dear friends, is London School of Economics & Political Sciences (phew) library. Isn't it amazing!? I didn't manage to see it in person on Wednesday, due to timing etc, but it's pretty darn impressive in picture form. LSE itself was pretty darn impressive, I attended talks on Government (which is so-called as the founders intended the course to be for people that want to govern) and Social Policy (which was fascinating), as well as one on applying (75% academic and 25% extra-curricular information in your personal statement).
I really loved the place. It's in pretty much central London, you can walk to Covent Garden. It's near some of the most presitigious law firms in London, as well as being in easy reach of the City and of Westminster, with internships avaliable for all of those places. It has it's very own Waterstones [where I bought The Master & Margarita], and the accomodation I saw in Holborn was suprisingly big-but expensive.
LSE isn't my favourite course wise, but it was a great place, and the fact the lecturers kept stressing the academic quality of it didn't bother me so much-my school spends a lot of time reminding us how academic they are (I should be writing my English coursework now, but hey). I sort of felt like I'd fit in there...Next up is Warwick on the 8th May and Birmingham on the 25th June.

Thursday

I was hoping to get hold of one of my friends' huge collection of photos (which featured London Tourist, Policeman-Holding-Machine-Gun, London Business Man, BBC Man), but she hasn't uploaded them as of yet. So this is stolen from Google-but it has the right weather...
We went off to a French Conference in a church (for some reason) in London, very very close to Westminster. Lots of very important (and some handsome) suited guys walking around-using free newspapers as umbrellas. Ate too much chocolate. Learnt how to play 21 (the serious way) and Irish Snap on the train. Was served by a very pierced barista in Cafe Nero. Came to the conclusion that London is more fun with friends.
I don't really remember much from the French conference, apart from the fact that French music is awful and French men are really exuberant. Oh, and private-schooled London teenagers are brilliant at French.

Tonight? I'll be spend time with my Mum, popcorn, Ben & Jerry's and the first disc of the first series of The West Wing.
Weekend? Extended Project presentation and English coursework on Hamlet and Duchess of Malfi

Ice, Ice Baby

(from pudontour on flickr)

Yes, I mean the delicious sweet stuff, not the awful song. I ate my first coconut ice in ages today, with my friend, as it was on special offer in Thorntons (£2 for a whole bag!) and it was delicious!

In fact, for the majority of the day it felt like spring had finally come, and I felt a little stupid in my hoodie and jeans combo (although they did come in handy when my bus was late this evening and it had gone horribly grey). I cannot wait for the day when the sun stays out and the temperature soars. That will be a happy day indeed.

(from chrismartinez on flickr)

ps. Tomorrow is the LSE open day! I'm so excited and yet so scared, it will be my first university I've properly looked around (I've visted the old College in Durham and had a Spanish conference at Lincoln Uni...but...not the same)

The University Countdown-Part #1

Now that Year 13 (the 17-18 year olds) have been receiving offers, and basically 'just' need to receive the grades their Conditional Offers desire them to have school have moved on to us Year 12s to depart their wisdom.

Or just terrify us all.

Today's lecture basically went through the application system...which is something like this:

1. End of Term 6 (July)-Prepare Personal Statement (aka THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF
WRITING YOU WILL EVER DO IN YOUR LIFE)

2.Term 1 (September)-Complete UCAS application form
Complete Personal Statement/Hand in for School Reference
End of term-my school's personal deadline of applications

Basically, from today, we have roughly 7 months until we have chosen where we want to go, what we want to do, have written our statements AND got good enough grades.

Argh.

At least I have vaguely got some idea of where I want to go and what I would like to do...


1. Warwick University-Politics & International Studies
2. London School of Economics & Political Sciences-Government & Social Policy
3. Lancaster University-Politics (Study Abroad) OR Politics & International Relations
4. Birmingham University-Political Science

And...that's about it at the moment. My predicted grades as of now stand at 2 definite A's, one maybe A and a B. Plus my Extended Project (which Warwick can take as a grade...yes).

LSE's Open Day is on March 24th and my place is booked for that.
Warwick's Open Day is May 8th, two days before my French speaking exam, but it'd be crazy to miss it.

The future is now stupidly close. It's terribly scary but also terribly exciting.

General Studies

Is a complete waste of time...sample question:
'In what way can we help protect celebrity privacy?'
Ans: ....They should not be celebrities?

Well, that's not what I put. I waffled about child protection and public interest and fame-seeking celebrities in the hope that I may pick up one or two marks. Slightly worried that if I mess it up then I will be rejected from any Politics course I try to apply to...on account of the fact GS is supposed to somehow link to politics or something...

Anyway, moving on from my first AS-Level paper, the past few days have been quite quiet.

Work called to ask me to work tomorrow night, I said no (my Mum has booked tomorrow afternoon off in order to be able to pick me up from school [I finish early on Wednesday] and I'm not messing her around because of this). And got told it was short notice. And loved how one of my bosses' (I don't actually know *who* my boss is, there are a lot of people wondering around not in uniform that I guess are my superiors) changed from being like 'Hello!' to 'that's short notice' within a couple of seconds.

I'm on a four hour contract. I've already worked four hours this week, and I'll be working another four on Saturday....I don't see how on earth I can be made to feel guilty for not being able to work more than my contract (though I do).

And now I feel worried about Saturday. And the fact I need to tell them I can't work in a couple of weekends time. *Gulps*....maybe my 'tempory' contract will be up anyway...

But then I won't have any money....

Argh....the monkey hottie calls I think...