University Take Two.

I've now been back at University a week and a half and so far I'm completely loving it! The first week was freshers where all of the first years get settled in, get to know the Uni and their courses and get horribly drunk every night! It was nice being able to spend the week catching up with friends, making multiple trips to the pub/bar and doing some work to prepare for lectures!

This week marked the beginning of lectures and so far I'm loving every module I've picked! You get a lot more choice in second year and I'm really excited to see what the rest of my modules will be like. I've had three lectures so far (Artefacts, Greek Comedy and Peoples and Societies of the Ancient Near East) and I'm set to still have a few this week, introducing me to the rest of my modules (Greek History: Archaic to Alexander, Prospects for Ancient Historians and Egypt and the Greco-Roman World) which will be great! Most of the modules I picked this year with an ancient history side are Greek focused which is easily my favourite period and I'm glad I've been able to specialise that side of my degree that far already as I feel it will give me a good start for doing well this year!

For my Artefacts module, I had to choose 2 of 6 options to focus on. I've picked Pottery and Archaeological drawing with Small finds and coins as back up so I'm incredibly excited to start, no matter which combination of those three I get, as they all look amazing! I think it's awesome how we get to try completely new things like technical drawing as it'll be useful in the long run if I decide to go into Archaeology as a career (most likely!). 

My lectures are a lot more fun this year already because I know so many more people thanks to the dig this summer - I now know the names of most of the people in my lectures compared to maybe 5-10 last year which is really nice! I feel like I've also got a pretty solid friend group now so I'm already feeling like this year is going to be amazing!

This year I've become a student mentor for 12 first year students. The aim is to help them feel more settled and to be able to ask questions to someone has gone through what they're going through. I'm really enjoying being able to help the people who have emailed me with questions and who I've met up with for a chat! It's a really rewarding feeling as I know that a lot of people struggle to settle properly at Uni for a while.

I've moved into private halls this year and so far it's been pretty good - there have been a few problems with doors and radiators but nothing that's too problematic! My room is really lovely with more than enough space and the kitchen is gorgeous with a breakfast bar! It's about half an hour's walk from campus but it will really help me become fitter having to actually travel instead of just rolling out of bed like last year! 

I don't know how much I'm going to be able to post as I have a lot of work to do this year compared to last year...I'll post if and when I can! 

Jess xx

A Year of University.

A year ago today I received my A level results, also meaning that University has been a part of my life for an entire year. It's absolutely flown by, it feels like I've been at uni for years though! 

I thought it would be a good time to do a massive look back at all of the major parts of this year. I stopped blogging in January after hitting a major creative block and therefore you guys have missed out on hearing about the last 6 and a half months of my uni experience (basically 2/3 of the academic year...) 

Got a room for second year, February. 

I was originally going to go into a flat with my old roommate Lucy but I wasn't given a place so I decided to go into a private halls and try out a completely new group of people! I'm quite glad that I'm going into halls again as I don't need to worry about paying bills due to it being an all inclusive contract! I just hope that my flatmates are nice and I get on with them better this year (it ended up that I was only truly friends with Lucy, the others were bearable to live with but I wouldn't have out of choice again). Me and some of my course mates have already decided to live together in third year so I'm excited to see what that will be like! 

Went to Athens, March. 

This trip was incredible. Athens was always on my list of places to go so I jumped at the opportunity to go with the Archaeology society in the Easter holiday! I became closer with people in my year and the years above as well as making some new friends which is always a good thing! I got to see so many of the famous sites such as the Parthenon, Hephestaion, the Agora and some of the many museums dotted around the city. As I studied the Greeks in A level and 5th Century Athens this year, being able to see these places and things in person was almost surreal. The statues in the museums were far more beautiful in person than on paper and I throughly recommend a visit if you can afford it! If not, the British Museum houses some good examples of Greek sculpture which begins to scratch the surface of their beauty. 

A picture post of this trip will be posted soon as it's such a gorgeous place!

Passed first year, June. 

I ended up with 2 modules in the 50s and 4 in the 60s, giving me an overall mark of a 2:1 which I'm incredibly pleased with. I could have tried harder this year but as its a year for learning and understanding how university works, I'm happy I got to see what learning methods work for me, the best ways I write essays and how I revise the most efficiently. I've been given a reading list this year for some of my Autumn term modules so I'm trying to do as much of that as possible whilst writing notes down that I can look back on whilst I'm working during the year. 

Last September I was unsure whether I was good enough for uni and if I really deserved to be there so it's refreshing to know that the work I put in has proved that I am capable! It's a relief to know that I do suit University and academic life!

Boyfriend, June. 

You guys have seen how useless I am at keeping relationships and the one I was in when I was last writing fizzled out sometime around February. Before we were official, my current guy and I dated for a month and a half or so before to get to know each other and get comfortable around each other. It seemed to have worked well as we've been together about a month and a half (roughly since May overall!) and I'm joining his family out in Portugal for a few days of relaxation between work shifts at the end of the month which is exciting! This is going really well and I'm really happy with him so fingers crossed it stays this way!

Dug for 3 weeks in the Vale of Pewsey, June/July. 

The dig is a second year module but is also open to the public to volunteer and join. For the last 4 years I volunteered at the old Reading University field school which closed in 2014. This year was a new dig which obviously brought excitement and nerves as it was unfamiliar to me. Luckily it was equally as fun as the previous year's and I've gained several close friendships with people in my year from it which I'm grateful for. I love my friends in other years but expanding my friends in my own year is always good as I'm with them for the next two years! A Neolithic human burial was also found in one of the trenches which was incredible to see and just highlights the reason I love my degree - the thrill of not knowing what will be found is the best feeling when it comes to digging! The BBC also covered it and you can read more about it here.

This academic year has been challenging and at some points difficult, but I've really enjoyed myself and it's obviously paid off! I'm excited to see what next year brings for me and I hope it goes as well as this year!

Also, congratulations to everyone who received their results yesterday! I hope you all got what you wanted and are successful in doing what you want come September! 

Jess xx

New Beginnings.

Topic 16 of the Blogger Challenge was to write about new beginnings. As I'm moving to University in 13 days (eek!) and I started my first job yesterday, it's a perfect topic!

I've been wanting a job pretty much since I started A levels 2 years ago but could never find anywhere to hire me as I had no experience and wasn't 18. During A2 exam time, I applied for a few jobs for over the summer and heard back from Marks and Spencer and Waitrose. The Marks and Spencer job didn't work out (luckily as it wasn't particularly nice in that one!) but I got an interview and job offer from Waitrose which I was really surprised about! I did my first shift there yesterday and really enjoyed it, I love getting to talk to the friendlier customers! My co-workers are also really friendly so I know I'm going to love it there!

I've started talking to a few people from my course and everyone is so lovely - it's making me really excited to start at Reading! I was a bit hesitant originally as it's so close to home but the more I think of the pros vs cons, the only con is the distance so it's an overall winner really! The course is fantastic, the campus is gorgeous, the people are amazing and the lecturers are enthusiastic about their subjects so I can live with not moving away from somewhere I know.

I'll keep you guys updated with my Uni stuff as it happens - not long now!
Jess xx

I'm going to University?!

Since my not so good AS results last August, I've been working crazily hard to make sure I could get to University this coming September. 5 days ago, I got to pick up my results from college to find out whether I got in or not. 

I woke up at 7am and I had received an email from Reading University telling me that I'd been accepted into their Ancient History and Archaeology joint degree! I had to wait a couple of hours to find out the actual grades I got and I achieved BCC! It isn't as good as I wanted to get, but it got me into the University I've been wanting to go to since I started helping at Silchester in 2011 so it's good enough! For all of the exams I did resits for, I actually got at least a grade higher so I'm really proud of how I did, I also got a grade higher in Classical Civilisation as last year I got a C and I got a B this year! 

I've been helping at Silchester Archaeological field school for the last 2 weeks so I was actually with Reading Uni when I found out that I got in so I got to celebrate with my friends who I'll actually be at University with next year which was really special!

I've also got my accommodation sorted out so I have somewhere to live - it's a really lovely room and I can't wait to start looking for things to make it more homely and pretty! I've been looking at the different societies I can join which look really interesting so I'm looking forward to actually getting to Uni and starting to get involved with it! 

I can't wait to share this next part of my life with you all as it's going to be amazing! 

Jess xx

Life in letters tag!

All the way back in February, I was tagged by Amy from Blending Beauty to do this tag! I didn't have time to do it as work started piling up around the time I was tagged so now I have time, I'm doing it! 

A - Archaeology. I'm hopefully studying this subject at University come September/October and it's so interesting!

B - Books. I'm an avid reader and spend quite a lot of my spare time reading when I'm not blogging!

C - Clothes. I love fashion and always try to look my best when I leave the house no matter where I am!

D - Diabetic. I have diabetes and have lived with it since I was 11. It's pretty much become a part of every day life now instead of a big problem but I still hope they find a cure eventually as it can be really annoying and hard to deal with at some points!

E - Eyes. My favourite part of my body. They're a really lovely bright green that sometimes look different depending on lighting which is awesome!

F - Food. I'm such a big eater and I love food, not always the healthy options either! I hope to improve what I eat once I get to Uni though!

G - Greek. I want to learn Ancient Greek when I'm at Uni and I've already started trying to get familiar with the alphabet!

H - History. My favourite subject of all time. Ancient History is easily my favourite and I'm hoping to study it as a joint degree with Archaeology next year!

I - Inspiration. I find it everywhere in quotes, books, nature, people around me and loads of other things I see!

J - Jessica. My name! 

K - Kip. I struggled the most with this one...I do love a good nap though! Got to love British slang for creating words like kip!

L - Lipstick. I have a huge collection (over 50...) and I love them all! I love the way a bold colour can bring life to an outfit and add something special to it. I wrote about how I feel about lipstick here!

M - Music. I honestly couldn't live without music. It's such a great way for people to connect and concerts bring people together because of their shared love for a band/artist which I find amazing!

N - Nail Polish. Another thing I have tonnes of. I love the look of nail polish and I find that it's actually a good way to relax as you can't have a shaking hand at all when you are applying - it was a really good calming technique for me during exams!

O - Optimist. I try to be positive and look at things in a good light for the most part!

P - Piano. I played since I was about 6 up until 2 years ago when GCSEs forced me to quit. I hope I can take it back up again some day as I loved it!

Q - Quizzes. I'm obsessed with doing the online quizzes that come up on Facebook!

R - Reading. The University I'm hopefully going to next year!

S - Sweets. I have such a sweet tooth and love to try sweets from different places! English with probably always be my favourite, though the Haribo options in different countries are amazing and always so good, it makes me jealous!

T - Travelling. I love going to new places and I hope that choosing a career in Archaeology leads to visiting lots of historical sights all around the country and world!

U - University. Where I hope to be going in September. I really want to go and I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do if I don't get in - I'll know on 14th August which is terrifying!

V - Volkswagen Up. My car! I passed my test on 5th March and I love driving it!

W - Winter. One of my favourite seasons apart from Autumn!

X - Xmas. There aren't many X words that I like...but Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year!

Y - YouTube. I love being able to find whatever song I want and then be able to watch a stupid cat video 2 seconds later if I feel like it, Youtube is great!

Z - Zodiac. I love looking at astrology stuff as I find it really interesting. I don't believe it, I just like seeing what sort of things the websites say about each different sign and why!

I don't think I'm going to tag anyone in particular this time, but if you want to do this for fun then I say go for it and I tag you! Hope you have fun doing your own!
Jess xx

Summer Reading List!

I love reading but because of my A levels, I've had trouble finding time to read books not to do with my courses for the last two years! This summer is the longest I've ever had so I'm intending to use it to my full advantage and read as much as I can! 

I've come up with a list of books I either want to finish or at least start before I hopefully start University in September/October!

- Aristotle: Philosophy in an hour by Paul Strathern

- David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky

- Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

- Confronting the Classics by Mary Beard

- Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

- The Civil Wars by Appian

- Isis and Osiris by Plutarch

Most of these books are still to do with Ancient History/Classics or Archaeology but I'm reading them for fun instead of for classes (the books I read for classes were still good though!) so I'm excited to read them! Hopefully they will actually be useful for next year as well!

I know the list isn't huge but some of the books are quite big and I'm quite busy until mid way through August so I don't want to set myself too big a goal as I'm pretty sure I can read all of these by the time I get to Uni!

Instagram snapshots #3

Happy Valentine's Day guys! I hope you all had a great day either with loved ones or doing something you love!

I've been spending most of my time working over the last few weeks, hence the lack of posts, but I have been taking quite a few photos on Instagram so I haven't been completely dead on the Internet! I actually had more photos than I expected so this will be a bit of a long post!

This English coursework will be the death of me.

Hot chocolate, whipped cream, chocolate shavings and marshmallows!

Prettiest and yummiest chocolates I've had for a while!

What happens when me & mum go to the American sweet shop...

I wish essays were easier.

Caramel eclair and two peach and raspberry macaroons, yum!

Finally!!

Bought myself a treat for finishing my essay early!

Finally sorted it all out!

I love having morning frees.

Perfect boyfriend? I think so.

I could have split this into two posts but I thought it would be nice to put them all up from where I left off, plus I especially wanted the last photo on today's post for obvious reasons! Most of you won't know this but I've been in a relationship with a guy called Chris for a little while now which is pretty amazing if I'm going to be honest! He goes to my college so it's really great as I get to see him nearly every day which is completely new for me! It's also great that we share a lot of friends so yeah...I'm pretty happy at the moment! 

Jess xx

Instagram snapshots #1

Instagram snapshots #2

The Liebster Award #2!

The lovely Amée has nominated me for the Liebster Award again! It was only a month since I did my last post so it's nice to have another set of questions to answer! Thank you Amée!

The Rules

You need to link back to the nominator 

State 11 Facts about yourself

Answer the 11 questions given to you 

Nominate 11 new bloggers with less than 200 followers 

And give those nominated 11 new questions

11 facts about me

1. I absolutely love driving and I have my test on 5th March so hopefully it goes well!

2. I wish I could wear heels more, I love the look of them but my college is really hilly so I can't wear them a lot!

3. I love learning new things and will go out of my way to read new books about topics I find interesting!

4. I'm currently reading the Sherlock Holmes collection and it's amazing - book reviews to come shortly!

5. I love sleep. I will happily sleep for 12 hours if I can!

6. When I do homework, I will always get into my lounge trousers because they're so comfy!

7. I love Classical literature (Roman and Greek) and I really want to buy more, not just the books I do in Classic Civilisation!

8. I prefer sweets over chocolate.

9. However, I do still love chocolate and dark chocolate is my favourite.

10. I actually like Shakespeare unlike most people my age. 

11. I love History and aside from ancient Roman and Greek, the Tudor, Victorian and Medieval periods are my favourites.

My questions from Amée.

What is your favourite make and shade of Lipstick?
A firm blogger favourite - Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in 107 is my favourite lipstick by far but I really love my two MAC lipsticks; Viva Glam IV and Dark Deed.

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
If I had the money to spend, either New York or Paris.

What is the worst beauty product you have ever tried out?
I don't think I've ever bought anything that I've really disliked...the Body Collection maxi lipstick in Vixen wasn't great though as it was an odd shade.

Who are your favourite bloggers?
Carly
Lauren
Kerry
Jemma
Hannah
Sophie

What one item of clothing could you never live without?
I love all of my clothes...but currently it would be my panda dress from H! by Henry Holland or my burgundy slouchy, chunky knit jumper from Crew.

What is your favourite candle scent?
I'm not allowed candles at home as mum doesn't like the scent, but when I go to the Yankee candle shop in Reading, I always love the spiced christmas scents, vanilla and fruity smells.  

Twitter or Instagram?
Instagram. Twitter is good for saying when I've written a new blog post and talking to some people but Instagram is a bit more fun and personal as you see people's lives which I love! Pictures are so much fun!

What is your all time favourite song?
I don't really have a favourite song, but when I read the question, the first to pop in my head was Eet by Regina Spektor so I'll go with that! The music video is also one of the most brilliant things ever. I love typewriters so it's perfect.

If you were a superhero what powers would you want?
Teleportation without a doubt. Free travel is hard to come by these days and going overseas would be so much easier, you could pop home every day and sleep in your own bed, you would only have to spend money on shopping!

What is your favourite accent?
I've always loved Irish accents!

What shop are the majority of your clothes from?
I would have to say Crew I think. I have lots from other shops, but I own the most from Crew easily. Factory/Warehouse sales are the best things known to man and they do some cracking ones!

I was also nominated by the gorgeous Olivia so here are her questions!

1. What are 3 things on your wishlist for this month?
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, a replacement BadGal Lash mascara from Benefit as I think mine is running out and some more time to relax/get my english coursework finished!
2. What is your favourite social media?
Blogger if that counts? To be honest, I love them all but I use them for different reason - Tumblr is generally great, Instagram is fun to scroll through, Facebook is good for chatting, Twitter is good for news and Pinterest is good for outfit ideas and recipes!
3. Have you broken one of your New Years' resolutions? If so, which one?
I actually haven't for once! I haven't started revising yet technically, but I wasn't going to anyway so that doesn't count.
4. On which site do you do the most of your online shopping?
I don't shop online as I don't have a card of any sort!
5. What beauty product can you not live without?
Mascara and Lipstick. I also really need moisturiser to keep my face looking as good as it can without covering up my red patches!
6. What is your best quality?
I'm good at understanding when my friends need space and I'm good at giving advice. I guess I'm quite sympathetic and empathetic!
7. What is your dream job?
An Archaeologist, museum worker, journalist, blogger or a mix of them all!
8. If you had a time machine, would you travel to the past or the future?
The past - I love History and going back to see events in real life would be extraordinary. I would definitely have to pinch some dresses from the 50s!
9. You're at a dinner party with 5 of your chosen celebs (dead or alive). Who is there?
Oh gosh...Marilyn Monroe (she was great and has an amazing story), Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Watson, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch. All perfect and amazing! 
10. If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Already answered above!
11. Why did you start blogging?
I love writing and Adorkable by Sarra Manning inspired me enough to start a blog! I'm so glad I did because it's definitely become a part of me now! 

Thank you for these questions! 

My nominees
Barbs
Alexi
Lucy
Emily
Rhiannon
Otilia
Menna
Kristen

My questions!
1. Which is your favourite season?
2. What do you want to accomplish this year?
3. What topic do you like to blog about the most?
4. Favourite social media?
5. Would you rather visit a museum/art gallery or go to a gig/concert?
6. What book are you enjoying lately?
7. What do you love about blogging?
8. What are your top 3 TV shows?
9. What is your favourite album?
10. Which post are you the most proud of?
11. One thing you couldn't live without?

Jess xx

Why I blog.

When I was younger, I always used to attempt to keep a diary but always ended up getting too paranoid that people would see it, start feeling silly for writing it in the first place or forget about it and then give it up. This blog is the longest I've kept a continuous stream of writing going for and I'm quite proud of it if I'm perfectly honest! I never in my wildest imagination believed that I would get anywhere with this blog, that I would give up after a week like my diaries, or just sit here and have no one read it. I've been writing for a year and a half and have over 10, 500 views and 55 followers so it's come so much further than I was expecting it to!

I can't really put my finger on why I love blogging or why I even blog in the first place, but these are some things I think probably help! 

I love writing.

The obvious one. I know several friends who tried blogging after my constant raving about it, wrote a couple of posts and then gave up. I understand that writing isn't for everyone but it did confuse me how they could start something and not want to continue it. 

I've always been quite creative, mainly taking arts and humanities subjects rather than science subjects at school and college and I've always loved writing, a poem of mine that I wrote as an extra piece of work for a year 9 English class was kept by my head of year and I was asked if I had copied it from Roger McGough! Over the years, the amount of creative writing I've been able to do in my classes has decreased to none which is quite disappointing, but that is why I love this blog so much, because it lets me write about whatever I want, in whatever style I want, when I want. It is still writing and it improves my individual style but without having to write pages of essays instead. 

If my current ideal job of working in Archaeology or History doesn't work out, then I want to become a journalist because I think my writing style suits the chatty but slightly formal tone of that line of work. 

The freedom.

Kind of leading on from the last point, I love thinking of this blog as having an online diary, and even though I know people I know read it (hi guys!), it feels nicer to just write and then send it off into the world wide web. A blog gives so much more freedom about what to write than a diary does because of that very fact. Other people read it and just talking about every day life can get rather boring, which is probably why I eventually gave up writing diaries in the first place! Blogging gives you that freedom unknown to other forms of writing as you have no barriers or restrictions unless you put them on yourself. One day, I could be talking about a book I've just read, a tv show I watched or a film I went to see, and the next, I could be doing a post like this, reviewing a make up product or having a little rant! There's no way of knowing because I just write what comes to mind that day. I thought this post up on the train home from college, there isn't really any planning that goes into these things, most posts are pretty much spontaneous! 

Some bloggers label themselves which I find limits what you can talk about. If I had to, mine would be considered a lifestyle blog as I will write about everything and anything!

The people you meet.

I've told you before that I met Kate from blogging and since then, I've spoken to lots of other lovely bloggers who are all amazing and super friendly! The blogging community is amazing and being involved in the 2014 Blogger challenge has made me become more involved in it which I'm really happy with, the girls that are participating are great! I get quite a few comments on my posts nowadays and each and every one makes me smile, I love replying and starting up a conversation with them, you never know what you could have in common!

Long story short, I'm so happy that I started blogging and I know that I'm going to continue for as long as I can, it's definitely become a part of me now! 

Jess xx

First day back!

It was my first day back at college today which, to be honest, I was quite excited about as the modules I'm going to be learning about this term are really interesting! The only problem was that I didn't sleep very well so I was working off four hours sleep instead of the eight or nine I've been used to over the holidays. My last lesson was cancelled so I only had to be in until midday so it was a nice, relaxing morning to get me back into the swing of college!

The second episode of Sherlock was on yesterday which was amazing! I'm not sure how I feel about the direction Mark Gatiss is going with the plot this series - I like how the relationships are being built up and how much character development is happening but I almost feel as if the focus has been shifted to that which is detracting from the actual point of the show; a crime solving drama. I think they might be using this series to build the bridge between the old ways and the new (with Mary) and instead of jumping head-first back into the crime solving as it was before Reichenbach, they're showing the effect the last two years have had on the characters which I really like. I think that the new episodes work well, but knowing that there is only one episode left until an unknown length wait for the next series makes it more difficult to accept the more dragged out episodes and has me hoping that this last episode on Sunday will bring Sherlock back to its crime-solving glory. 

Jess xx

P.S. Thank you to those of you that have filled out my survey, it's really great seeing what you guys think I can improve on! If you have any other suggestions that don't fit within the survey then feel free to pop them in the comments! You can fill out the survey here.

I've had this stuck in my head for the last few days, it's so sweet! The way they look at each other is just adorable. 

The University Chronicles: My interview!

On Wednesday, I had an interview at Reading University. As I've been going to their Archaeological field school for the last three years, I was feeling quite confident but also really nervous as I didn't quite meet their grade requirements.

The interview was at the end of the day after a couple of lectures explaining various aspects of the Archaeology and Ancient history course and a visit to the on-site museum (one of the largest Greek vase collections in the country apparently! It was amazing!). It ended up being with one of the lecturers that I had met this summer whilst at the dig so I was extremely happy to be able to talk to someone who already had a vague idea about what I was like! I ended up just chatting to her about my A levels, the books I've been reading for my english coursework, lectures I've been to and, of course, Silchester. 

At the end of it, I got the chance to ask questions which was a really good opportunity for me to get to understand the course more! 

She eventually told me that they would be making me a 'non-standard' offer so I was so excited because they lowered the grades for me! The next day I had an email telling me that I've received a BBB offer from Reading which I'm super excited and happy about! 

The day made me realise how much I also didn't want to give up the Classics side of the ancient world so it's now made it very difficult to choose which University I like the most as Cardiff don't have a Classics department, so if I went there, I would be losing out on that aspect which I don't think I could do without regretting my decision. I think now that Reading is my first choice and Birmingham and Cardiff are joint second. The visit day really helped me understand the University more so I'm quite excited to see what the other two are like! 

The people at Reading were so friendly and welcoming and made me feel at home which was really lovely - I can happily see myself going to University which is always a good sign!
For my interview, I didn't want to go too dressy but also didn't want to look slobby so I opted for my black dove dress from Shikha London, my new brown suede boots from Next and my peacock design coat from Desigual. I also wore Essie's Bahama Mama on my nails as it's dark and a pretty colour that I thought went with the outfit pretty well! I also found that painting my nails was a good de-stressing activity to do the night before!
My one piece of advice for anyone who has an interview coming up is to make sure you're confident, you smile and you make eye contact - you will stand out more if you aren't shy and trying to fade into the background - your interviewer wants to know that you want to be there!
Jess xx

The Versatile Blogger Award!

I was originally nominated a couple of weeks ago by my real life awesome friend Kate and I found that I've also been nominated by the amazing Amy today so I figured that I should actually do this! I'm honestly so grateful to these girls as they both have great blogs and it's lovely to think that I do too! You should definitely check out both of their blogs, they're great!

The Rules:
1. Once you've been nominated, you must display the Versatile Blogger Award somewhere on your blog.
2. Make sure to thank your nominator and leave a link to their blog.
3. Write 7 facts about you so new readers and old followers get to learn a bit more about you as a person and not just 'the blogger'.
4. Nominate your favourite bloggers for the award too!

7 facts about me

I'm in my final year of sixth form studying Ancient History, Classical Civilisation and English Literature.

I want to study Archaeology and Ancient History at Uni and am applying this year, I'm hoping to go to Cardiff because it's such a lovely Uni and the course is fantastic!

Reading is my favourite hobby and even though I don't have much time on my hands, I always carry a book around with me incase I get a spare 10 minutes or have to wait for a train!

I have a very mixed music taste and most of my favourites are pretty unheard of. Orla Gartland, Hudson Taylor, Lauren Aquilina, Lewis Watson, Lisa Hannigan, Regina Spektor and Ingrid Michaelson anyone? Passenger, Gabrielle Aplin and Paolo Nutini are other favourites of mine. I also like bands such as Madness, Johnny Get The Gun and The Wombats.

I have never dyed my hair and I don't want to. I have copper tones running through my hair already and I love the way it shines in the light! People always used to say I'd look good with black hair though...I disagree.

I have an unhealthy addiction to nail polish and lipstick. I own 22 of each and I love them all, I haven't worn all of the colours of nail polish yet though. My next product I'm looking at is a MAC lipstick though, I really want to say I own one!

I said this a couple of weeks ago but Autumn is my favourite season, October is probably my favourite month too. I just love the changing colour of the leaves, the fact that Christmas is just around the corner and that you get to wear cuddly scarves, jumpers and boots, my favourite pieces of clothing!

Writing this has been really fun and I hope you guys have learnt something new about me! It's hard to choose because there are so many amazing blogs out there, but I'm going to choose these bloggers as they're lovely and have a great writing style!:

Alexi

Rosie

Emily

Lauren

Caitlin

Barbs

I hope you check these girls out, they're all great!
Jess xx

Picking my pieces off the ground

After a bit of a rocky start to the year, I'm finally feeling comfortable with all of my subjects at college. 

Everything makes sense and I'm enjoying all of the lessons and participating on a level I've never done in my entire time in education. 

And I'm so happy about it.

I'm actually excited to work and go into college every day and I feel so optimistic about this year and my inevitable exams. It's inspiring me to work even harder this year so it all pays off come August when I find out results and if I get a Uni place. 

Today is the first of October. This month I'm going to make sure I do extra work/reading to help me understand and consolidate the work I've done in the lessons. I've already bought note cards and started my Classics notes this morning which is a great start!

My teachers are also really supportive so if I have any problems I can just talk to them and explain what I'm struggling with. 

Learning is actually one of my favourite things - you can never have too much knowledge and it's fun getting to learn new things. It's like unlocking a whole new piece of the world and I can't wait to unlock more.

Jess xx

Sick Days.

I'm not feeling particularly great as the moment as I've caught the cold and sore throat that seems to be going round. It's only a cold but it's one of those nasty ones though which drain you so I'm not feeling like doing much. 

I took a couple of books out of the library today to help me with this year and to add some extra items to my personal statement read list so at least I can do some reading whilst curled up on my sofa. I love looking through the classics shelves in the library because I always end up finding new and exciting books that are relevant to my course!
I found a book about my Ancient History course this year and then I found one linking my art course to Archaeology which I am finding really interesting! I'm glad I'll be able to read them and link passages in the book to what I'm currently learning!
I'm lucky that I don't have any proper homework for this weekend so I can take it easy and get better in time for Monday!
Jess xx

One Way, or Another.

As we enter our final year of mandatory school life, my year group has to start choosing our next steps in life, whether they lead us to University, an apprenticeship, a job or something else. 

Now I've had my grades back for this year, I've had to face the rather tough reality of the possibility of not reaching the grades I need to be accepted into the course I have been wanting to do for the last four years. This means looking at other options. On one hand, I love all things ancient and classical, and want to go on to do Archaeology and Ancient history (who's childhood dream wasn't to crawl around in the mud and dig for things for their whole lives?!) somewhere with a good reputation and teaching. However, on the other hand, I'm an Internet-savvy blogger who spends quite a lot of time (okay...most of my time) on the Internet, whether it be for social networking, research about yet another scrap of information I've found interesting and want to investigate, or doing something as simple as checking emails or reading the news. I forgot my phone on a day out on Sunday and I felt so lost, I kept checking my bag to see if it had magically turned up but sadly it hadn't and I felt like there was an odd space in my brain...and hand. With all of this in mind, my second (back up, if you will) choice of Uni course would be journalism of some kind, preferably Fashion journalism though. (One of the courses I've researched said I'm the description that all media should be understood, including Twitter! Perfect for me!) It looks so interesting and would incorporate the other side of my life which is equally important to me as the classical side of my life.

I really really love both things, modern and ancient, and in an ideal world I'll manage to get a weekly or monthly column for a paper or magazine whilst working on fieldwork or in a museum somewhere. My idea of heaven. But before I get anywhere near that, I'm going to have to pass this year and get on to one of my preferred Archaeology and Ancient history courses so I can progress how I want to. 

I'm going to have to work my arse off if I'm going to achieve my goals, but eventually I'll make it if I'm resilient enough and try my absolute hardest. If my hardest gets me Bs, great and I'll be super excited because come September, I'll head off to Uni to do Archaeology and Ancient history! However, if it gets me Cs, then look out Fashion journalism! 

Jess xx 

The final option.

I went to see Cardiff Uni today and I was so surprised! I hadn't heard much about it, but the course seemed really good so I booked a place for the open day! 

Cardiff Uni is pretty much all situated down a single road so it's a campus but on the other hand, not a campus Uni which is strange but it works! It's almost like a campus road! We passed the main building in the car and I was completely blown away by how pretty it is! 

First we saw the accommodation and the type I'm looking at was open so we had a look and were so impressed! The rooms were a really nice size and had a HUGE desk and quite a lot of room which is so good! They aren't much of a walk from the teaching buildings which is always good, and it's only one long road with no hills so it'll be great if I get to go there!

Both of the subject lectures were really interesting and the joint archaeology and ancient history course sounds really good with some great fieldwork opportunities out in Europe! I'm really excited because the grades are BBB which I'm quite likely to achieve so I'm hoping I get in because I really love it there! 

How pretty is it?! 

Jess xx

Lazy Days and Glitter

I was originally meant to meet up with my friend yesterday before she goes off to Uni in a couple of weeks, but she fell ill so I ended up having a lazy day instead! I spent quite a bit of the day writing new blog posts, reading Herodotus and I painted my nails again!

I have to read Herodotus for one of my A2 Ancient History modules this year so I have to read nearly the whole thing, it's so long and it jumps around a lot but it's interesting and I quite like it, it just takes a long time to get into it properly which sometimes makes it boring.

I got bored of my peachy orange colour on my nails so I changed it to something more Autumny. I used my Jessica nail polish in Marilyn that my parents bought me as a Christmas or Birthday present (I got it quite a while ago, but I've never used it until now!) and it's one of the best I've used, either just as good or even better than my Essie polishes! I love it, it's a metallic pink/purple that looks like a Christmassy colour. It went on really well and most nails only took two coats to make it the exact colour in the bottle but one coat was enough for a slightly lighter colour though. I also decided to try the accent nail trend and I used Rimmel Precious Stones nail polish in Diamond dust. It is really glittery with slightly bigger bits that stand out and look so pretty! I've never tried the accent nail or any other effects like glitter so this is completely new for me and I really like the way it turned out! I'm also glad that I'm not finding bits of glitter everywhere too because then it just gets annoying.

I love how this worked out! 

I also watched Wall-E for the first time since I saw it in the cinema years go! I'd forgotten how much I love that film, even though there it's any talking for the first third or so, it's still so good! It's sad and funny and sweet and I love it so much! Who knew you could get so involved with a relationship between Robots?!

I only have today left before I start back at college tomorrow for my final year. To be honest I'm quite excited but nervous because I know how much work it will take and I know that I'm not very likely to be doing much else apart from work this year to ensure my grades go up. I also have to do my Uni applications so it all feels very final and like my next stage in life is really close. I'm so excited for Uni because it's so different from normal school and that extra independence will be really nice I think! I just need to work for it to make sure I get offers from my chosen Unis and then actually get the grades to go there! I'm just glad that I have really supportive teachers and I love all of my subjects so I'm going to work hard and I know that the help will be there if I need it. 

Jess xx

Results and disappointments

I got my AS results back today and to be honest I was pretty upset and disappointed when I found out my grades. I got BCCCC which I wasn't expecting at all. I was expecting an A in extended project (my B) and I really wanted Bs in Ancient History and Classics so I was quite disappointed and confused about what I'd done wrong. I expected a C in English lit so that was okay. The only result I'm actually happy with is Biology because I was expecting much lower. I'm still dropping it though so yeah...not a good day for me really. It also makes me quite worried that I can't do A level exams properly and that I won't get any offers from my Uni choices or get into the ones I do get offers from because my grades won't be good enough (if I get some). I'm having to re-think my uni choices at the moment to make sure I have myself covered if I do mess up next year too.
I guess the only things that I can do are revise earlier and make sure I understand everything. I will have to get more help with exams from my teachers so yeah.
I have to re take at least one module in Classics to try and get it up to an A but I'm not sure if I'm going to re sit anything else yet, I'll have to talk to my teachers.
I guess my problem is that I've always been quite smart so to now get rubbish results when they actually matter, it's not good!
It can only get better next year I suppose!
Jess xx

TED talks

My Ancient History teacher shows my class a TED talk about the Cyrus cylinder about a month ago and ever since I've been meaning to search for more on YouTube as I found it really interesting and entertaining. I'd also heard other bloggers mention them before so I thought it would be good to have a look at some when I had the chance. 

I finally got some spare time to search for them today and boy, was it a good decision. 

I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of videos that I came across just on the main TEDtalks channel an I finally came across one that peaked my curiosity enough to click on the link. 

The first video I watched was called 'Peter Attia: What if we're wrong about diabetes?'. 

As someone who has diabetes, naturally, this was going to grab my attention and it was a really interesting talk about the link between diabetes and obesity. This led me to search through the suggested videos bar at the side of my current video to find the next talk that peaked my interest. 

I ended up watching 9 other TED talks, including these: 

• Cameron Russell: Looks aren't everything, believe me, I'm a model
• Amanda Palmer: The art of asking
• Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
• Julian Treasure: 5 ways to listen better
• Joshua Walters: On being just crazy enough
• Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing

It's evident just from the 7 talks I've suggested here that there is a huge variety of different talks that will interest most people. Just take some time to scroll through the videos on the channel and click on the first one that catches your eye, you might be surprised!

Jess xx

Cinema connoisseur

-I've just been on a week long holiday in Sicily and I didn't have time to post this before, sorry!-

In the last month, I've been to the cinema 5 times. That's more times than I usually go in a year! My noticeboard is covered in cinema tickets now and I love it! 

I saw The Great Gatsby with English last month which was just amazing - I loved it so much and thought it was so well done! Some things that were missed from the book annoyed me but mostly, it was a really good film! 

Next was Pompeii live which was a bit of a disaster. Our ancient history class should have been going to see the adult version that actually explained the exhibition being displayed in the British museum at the moment, but instead we went to the later version by accident and ended up in the children's version which was a glorified geography and year 4 history lesson combined with presenters as horrible and patronising as the people off Cbeebies and Newsround. It was painful to sit through mostly but it was more bearable because of our class' running commentary which was quite funny at points! When artefacts from the exhibition were shown, there weren't many, it was actually interesting so I can't wait to go at the end of August; it's going to be amazing to actually see it in person because it looks really fantastic!

The cinema in town where I go to college is a little old style, independent cinema that hosts free film nights for students once every month, and June's film was Monsters university! It was so great and funny and I loved it so much!! It was fun seeing monsters from the first film who are scarers and what they were like at Uni and also it was pretty cool to see why Randal turned out to be evil! Honestly such an amazing film, everyone must watch it! 

I then went to see Man of Steel with a friend at the same cinema that weekend and even though I'm not a huge superman fan, it was actually such a good film and I really loved it! It's directed by the guy who did 300 so I was expecting the worst so it was a really nice surprise that I ended up enjoying it! 

The last one was this last weekend (now actually about 3 weeks ago...sorry) when I saw Despicable Me 2 with Mark. I saw it in 3D and because I wear glasses it was slightly awkward at times when trying to keep them up, but it was such a good film! It was funny and sweet and I just loved every second! The minions and Agnes are still my favourites - I swear I'm more like Agnes than any of the other girls which is scary because she's only 6! That really says something about me I think....! The end credit minion mini clips were also amazing as per usual so if you watch it, don't leave the second it finishes because it's really funny! 

Mostly, the films I've seen have been fantastic and I've not seen any of them for the full price! (Thank you student card/college discounts...) All of the films are well worth the full amount though! 

Jess xx