Graduate limbo

Something I am struggling with at the moment is the pure frustration of finding myself in a self-imposed middle ground, I'm neither here nor there at the moment and in all honesty it is testing me. Don't get me wrong, it is a privilege to be in this position because for once I have everything together! I am 100% sure that many thousands of students have been in this exact situation long before little old me came along but as always, I feel the need to talk about it to anyone who will listen, so sit tight......

I have recently graduated from my English Literature degree at Sheffield Hallam University. I am immensely proud of this achievement and I am equally proud of every single one of my course mates. Long before my final year I had been contemplating what to do after my degree (Well to be honest it was soon after I enrolled) I had contemplated the idea of moving to London and getting in to publishing, teaching English abroad, teaching English in the UK or finding my way in to the PR industry immediately. This kind of uncertainty is pretty normal for me but 2 things in particular changed my outlook on my future:

1. Getting hands on experience in a unique industry thanks to a University Project - SHU Racing
2. A short but sweet chat with a great friend while working at Clearing 2014.

A mix of these 2 situations made me realise what I wanted to do with my life and how I should start on the path to that industry. Through the PR experience I have gained with my amazing SHU Racing team over the past 3 years I decided to apply for my MA in Public Relations and I am ecstatic to say that I have been accepted! September cannot come quickly enough!

BUT that is only half of the story! My frustration comes from job interview after job interview that ends the same way - being brought to a halt like a boy-racer at a red light - As soon as I mention my academic plans for the coming year regardless of the job being full time or part time. Game over! Don't get me wrong, I understand that businesses are reluctant to spend valuable time and money on a new recruit who come September will have to reduce their working hours significantly but it is the business who will surely reap the benefits by having a qualified employee on their books, isn't it?

Either way, it is pretty soul destroying after a while but I can promise any other graduates in their academic middle ground - The thick skin you develop over this time will come in handy, trust me. Mine has come in use over the last few months and has made me a stronger woman!

Is it just me?

Well, that went quickly!
About to say something I have wanted to say for many years.... I finished university on Friday! IT has long been a dream of mine to study English Literature and I've just done it! No more Essays, No more exams, No more deadlines (until September!) and oh my god it feels good to relax... but it doesn't really. In fact it feels pretty dull! I don't know if any other final year students feel the same way or have experienced this but I feel a bit empty at the minute, like i'm in limbo, no one told me this would be my overall emotion after 3 years of hard work, reading lists and all nighters. I was expecting a feeling of elation once that final essay hit the submission desk but instead I sit here wondering what to do for the next few months until my Masters degree begins.

Yes I can hear you all screaming "GET A JOB!!" at the screen and yes I do intend on doing so but I guess what i'm trying to say is that I don't feel how I expected to feel after ticking something off my bucket list. There are no self high 5's and not a flicker of a burning sense of pride. Is there something wrong with me??

Is it just me who feels like this right now??

Secrets of an English Literature student: Book Shopping

We all know that uni can be an expensive experience, lets not get started on the tuition fees argument but once you get accepted on to your course, you then have to put the student loan to use to purchase all your course material. Which if you are an English Literature student is what seems to be a never ending list of set texts we are going to study and numerous text books which are never cheap. You are going to have to face the fact that you will spend significant hours of the next 3 years of your life in book shops of all kinds.
 Like most English lit students, i started my course with every book needed for that semester, all of which were recommended editions (I'm talking about you Norton!) You soon realise that you don't need brand spanking new  copies and you definitely don't need particular editions (although the theory in the back can SOMETIMES be handy as secondary sources for essay - You'll need many of this during your student career.)

Source: http://observando.net/page/4

Online
During your time as a student you will spend many hours online for researching purposes and perhaps a tiny bit of procrastination which often leads to spending the day on youtube, watching anything you can possibly think of, most likely a subject as far away from 'the respresentation of class in (enter novel here)' or '(novel) and the supernatural.' If you find yourself on line for book shopping then check out some of the following for good deals.

Amazon - Whilst everyone knows Amazon.co.uk is the mecca of Internet shopping, it is a pretty good bargain bin for book lovers. For the majority of modules you will only need certain books for a week or 2 so why waste a W H Smiths amount of money on a crisp new copy. You can find many used copies of classics as cheaply as 1p or for even for free if you have a Kindle! For as little as a penny you would assume that the book would be in poor condition but some are real gems. Plus every now and again, if the copy has been previously owned by a fellow student, they might be rather lovely and have highlighted passages from when they used it (always helpful!)
One thing with looking for cheap books like this, you do have to pay postage for each purchase which can soon add up, just try and get these in as many orders as possible if bulk buying.

AbeBooks - Launched in 1996, AbeBooks is an online marketplace where you can buy new, secondhand, rare and out-of-print books, as well as cheap textbooks. Essentially like your favourite book shop online!

Out and about 

Rare and Racy: Sheffield - This is by far my favourite book shop in the world. A fabulous second hand book store down Devonshire Street in Sheffield. It is a must for Sheffield English Lit students and a haven for any book worms amongst you. This isn't a shop you can just nip in and out of, you'll need to spend a long time searching the floor to ceiling shelves of everything from Classic literature, art, children's literature, and local texts to name a tiny example. I can promise you you'll find the majority of your reading list in this one shop at amazing prices!

Charity Shops - If you are like me, you can't resist a glance at the packed bookshelves in charity shops,you know that you can never guarantee what you're going to find but if you do then its always going to be for a great price for an even better cause. 


Do you have any shopping secrets?

   

Writer's block and online shopping

You'd think as i have a deadline approaching rapidly (3pm Wednesday) i'd be rather panic stricken and glued to my laptop. Quite the opposite actually! I seem to be suffering from a serious case of writer's block that i just can't seem to shift. I've tried long walks, browsing for inspirational quotes, gym sessions (these usually work) and also a lovely bit of yoga but nothing!  It won't go away!

If there was a gold medal in procrastination, I would be the victor and hold numerous world record in the lifespan if my educational career. Even now i am procrastinating! I could really be doing my essay but yet i am blogging and buying 1p books on Amazon. My latest purchases to add to my summer reading list are:

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

The Alchemist - Paulo coelho

There is method to my shopping (well, ish) Rebecca is one of our set texts for Year 2 of my degree (if i am accepted to that module.) The Alchemist is simply a word of mouth, impulse buy - which i believe can be the best. I will find out soon enough!

Until then, I really do need to get this essay out of the way!

My plan for tomorrow is to lock myself in a room and turn the Internet off - No distractions must surely mean productivity, right??

Page Turners

As an English Literature student you would think i might get fed up of reading but I have been thinking about all the must read books I have on MY reading list, not uni but all for me. Due to the amount of reading to be done for uni, I don't get much time for what I call social reading. 
Along with an Olympian's autobiography or 2, the mix of genre's on my list is so widespread it will take me a lifetime to get through them all. I won't be able to fit them all in one post but will condense it in to a pocket size digest that i am hoping to work my way through within the next 6 months.

1. Crimson Petal and the white - Michael Faber

2. The Thirty-Nine Steps - John Buchan

3. Othello - William Shakespeare

4. Story Of O - Pauline Reage

5. The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

6. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

7. Middlemarch - George Elliot

8. 1984 - George Orwell

9. The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald

10. The Quantum Universe - Professor Brian Cox


My current university read is the rather enchanting Pride and Prejudice. I truly don't know why i haven't read this before! Mr Darcy and I have finally been acquainted and I'm loving every word of it. I have never been in to reading Jane Austen novels until now but I think I might be hooked!

www.weheartit.com

Only a short entry today but still perfectly formed!

Ciao!

New beginnings

Firstly i need to apologise for disappearing off the face of the earth for the last few months. My life as taken a different turn. Quite frankly i am so darn happy. Happier than i have been in a long time. I have my purpose back again!

I am now an English Literature student of Sheffield Hallam University. I can officially say this without wanting to tear my hair out at the moment as I'm fully up to date with all reading and essay free for the time being. 3 months in and I'm absolutely loving it. Anyone who knows me will know that this has long since been a high rider on my life to-do list, so for it t be a reality is something amazing! While it might be hard work with a LOT of reading, i really do have to keep pinching myself that I've found myself in the uni I've always want to go to, studying the course I've always wanted to do. It has all happened so quickly. After a chat over a coffee with a good friend about what life at hallam was like to a last minute phone call on clearing day, to an interview to then start lectures 2 weeks later. I have really haven't had time to take everything in since the day of my interview.

It might sound like an obvious comment but WOW there is a lot of reading to do! 3 modules a semester so this normally means 3 books to read a week (Sometimes more) most of it is good and i do admit to loving a debate about it afterwards but some books just seem to weigh you down - the bad boy I'm talking about is Bleak House. 60+ chapters that i currently find myself drowning in. This door stop of a novel is the topic of my first university exam in January, but also the first exam i have faced in 6 and a half years. I will discuss my nerves about that another time. 

I have spent many train rides home thinking about my decision to finally go for my degree at 23. Thinking back on the past 3 months, i can happily say that it is the best decision i have ever made. I have finally found my way back to the place i always wanted to be and after a couple of soul destroying years of feeling like i was at rock bottom, i now feel like a new me and believe that i am where i am meant to be.  

Right, back to Bleak House i go. 

More stories of an English Literature student to follow over the coming weeks, months and years

Sophie

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