Uni Update – Regulations and Finance

It’s now looking likely that uni regulations will not stop me from studying full-time if I want to. The financial support will though.

Because I would be studying full-time, all of the usual grants that I get would disappear off the face of the earth and, instead, I would be considered like all of the other poor sausages in the education factory and be subjected to loans and financial hardship. The tuition fees would amount to about £1600 this year and a repayable loan would cover this but after two years of grants, it hardly seems worth increasing my rate of study to have this figure hovering over my head. In effect, the one extra module taking me from a 75% rate of study to a 100% rate would be costing me £1600 but if I were to stick at my 3 module/75% system, all expenses would be covered by the grant.

There is a £1000 grant up for grabs for full-timers but this takes your parents financial circumstances into account. Due to this, I would be entitled to very little of this money. The advantage of going part-time is that they only consider your finances (and you’re partner’s if you have one, which I don’t).

I’m guessing the only real option is to remain part-time. I’ll keep you updated.

University Frustrations

It’s taken me two and a half months to decide how many and which modules I want to do this year. The plan is to do a full-time year to get things moving a bit so that I can get the whole degree done in four years.

So I drove all the way to uni for a twenty minute meeting to discuss my plans and get things updated. However, I got nothing sorted. It seems that it is not in the regulations for a part-time student to do any full-time study during their degree, despite having these exact words in front of me in an email I was sent in 2005 when I first started uni. Apparently, the rules have changed and no one was kind enough to let us know.

The lady I spoke to understood why I wanted to go full-time this year and said that she’d take up my case and do everything in her power to let me have my way. I really hope so. She said she probably won’t get back to me until after the Bank Holiday though, so I’m going to be on edge the whole time thinking about it!

Back to Nature

I was rather bored after breakfast this morning, waiting for the parents to get themselves ready for our morning walk. I was watching mum putting the washing out when I spotted the apple tree up the garden and remembered Alan Titchmarsh’s column in the Radio Times this week, which said this was the time to start harvesting. So I got a bag and put some shoes on and went to pick apples in the sunshine. It is a great experience and it’s amazing how many apples you get on one small tree. I picked the largest and healthiest fruit, which amounted to one quarter of the tree, and these alone will keep the family going for a week! I’ll have to juice them to get through them. I’ll see if anymore are ready in the next couple of days.

Then I decided to eat one (I often have apples as part of my breakfast), so I washed one and cut away the only small bad bit. It was a wonderful feeling as I first bit into the fruit and heard a satisfyingly loud crunch in response. To think this apple was grown in my own garden! I ate a little more but have to admit I wasn’t sure that I liked the taste much. So I gave dad a bit to try. He just said that it was incredibly tasty; probably a more powerful taste than I was used to. He also agreed that it was a little bitter or sour. As a result, I cut the rest of the apple into slices and sprinkled them with sugar before eating them. What a treat! I think I shall prepare some apples for tea by putting them in the fridge this afternoon, and then slicing them and sprinkling sugar on them just before serving.

There is a real buzz about eating something from the garden. You suddenly realise how wonderful nature is and how food is more than a packaged item in a supermarket. If only we had some more home-grown food!

The Railway Children

I finished reading this excellent book a couple of days ago and loved it. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Full report can be found in my Reading Diary (link on the right hand side).

Wisdom Tooth Report

Wisdom Tooth killed for 4 days but I haven’t had any pain since. It hasn’t actually come through yet but there is now a massive lump under the gum where it’ll come through eventually.

Wisdom Tooth

A great pain arrived in my mouth on Wednesday and I became worried that the super-sensitivity might be due to all the sugary drinks etc. that I’ve been having lately. However, yesterday it became obvious that the pain did not indicate the need for a filling but announced the arrival of a newbe in my mouth. He is not making a smooth entry either. He’s killing me! I’m living off paracetemol and becoming quickly irritable and moody. I’m convinced my other two wisdom teeth did not cause this much pain but hopefully it’ll only last a few days. Wish me luck.  

Reflections on Deathly Hallows

After publishing my review in my Reading Diary, I wondered if I had been a bit harsh and thus began investigating other reviews of the book. I picked Amazon and I’m amazed to see how some people have pulled the book to pieces! Many people were far more disappointed than I was! 

The perusal also raised some other weaknesses of the plot, which I’d not thought of before. However, I have learnt something from this. If I go searching for negativity it will affect my own thoughts, which will themselves deteriorate. Then my opinion will have altered so much as to no longer represent my true feelings as they were when I first finished the book. This is unfair. Therefore, I have decided to accept my own thoughts, be them positive or negative, and, as my mum would say, ‘not go looking for trouble’.  

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I finished this book eight days after the release date. I did enjoy it and feel sad that there’ll be no more. However, I found too many problems with it to rave about it as I know some people are. As much as I’d love to love it, in my honest opinion it’s ‘not quite up to scratch’ when compared with previous books in the series. A full review can be found in my Reading Diary which can be accessed via the link on the right-hand side of this page.