Introducing...Bagheera and Baieley.

Sadly while I was at university, my cat, of 12 years, had to be put down. Here is pictured below: 

We had had him since he was a kitten, and I'd grown up with him so it was a very sad day. There were lots of tears shed. 

But tonight I was surprised by the arrival of this gorgeous pair. They're brothers, and are 7 months old. 

This is Bagheera (named after the Jungle Book character) 

This is Baieley, the brother of Bagheera. 

They're just so precious, I can't wait to get home Thursday and meet them!! Going to go and buy them some toys tomorrow. 

VoxPop: Buzzed or disastrous.

Today we did our first voxpops of the year, when I was told we'd be going out to get the 'voices of the people' my heart sunk. I thought this was going to be a hard challenge, as sometimes I am not the greatest when it comes to talking to strangers...but I must say I got a real buzz from it. 

We came up with a strategy for getting the opinions of the general public, we went for the approach of going up to people in the park, as A) They would be sitting on benches so we could easily talk to them. (If they have time to sit on a bench in the city centre then I am pretty sure they have time to talk to me) and B) they can't run away from me, the least they can do is say 'No'. 

Approaching the first woman was daunting, I though to myself, breath, think it through and go for it. I don't think I came across as intimidating, so to ease the pressure of the lady answering my questions, I sat down with her. (This seemed the most logical idea) and it worked well, as I think she became more comfortable with talking to me. 

Later on in lecture, it came up in conversation within the class about do's and dont's of the voxpops. Some people said they found  it went really disastrous and not at all well, whereas others like myself didn't find it as daunting as I first thought it would be. 

So look out Southampton I'll be on the look out for more of your opinions. 

Today we were asked to give our thoughts.

When I think through where my love of reading and writing came from , I remember it was from an early age. I know it was from my father as mentioned in the previous blog post, but if I think about it from an academic side I think it was from secondary, when we had a really bubbly, chatty, full of life teacher from America. She pushed us to do our best and be the best we could be. It was from there on that I began to love reading a lot more and it became like a daily routine.

Reading for enjoyment was something I had always done and something I will always carry on doing. But I feel there was a turning point in secondary school when I hit GCSE's and realised that reading was also for looking at the texts you may not have thought yourself you would ever read. It was about being open minded, and open to any text which would be thrown at you. Not physically, metaphorically. One of the texts which was thrown my way, was Dickens, Great Expectations. On first glance it looks like a really daunting book but I picked it up, persevered with it and came to love it. Maybe it helped that I got an A* on the coursework we did using the book, but that is besides the point. I especially loved it when the BBC turned it in to a drama, with the gorgeous Douglas Booth. 3 hours of watching it was certainly worth it. 

 A Level English introduced me to a book which at first I dreaded, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. On first reading it I really didn't get it, and was thinking how am I ever going to pass my A level! But on second reading, and with help from the teacher and worksheets I really enjoyed it and I am not ashamed to say that it is probably a book I would not hesitate to read again. 

There are many books on my university course which I know I am going to grow to love. 

I don’t want my name in lights, I want my name in print.

From a young age writing and reading magazines was something I was always passionate about, I liked the colorful style of Glamour magazine and the in depth life stories within. They always hooked me to become someone who could entice others into reading the stories I felt most passionate about. It was from then on that I knew a career in writing or journalism was for me.

I worked hard in GCSE and A Level English to fully achieve my potential and to really refine my skills as a writer and become as good as I could be while still craving to be better than I was. Being creative and being able to just sit and write stories is what made me tick. I would be constantly reading and as my dad would point out ‘I always had a book in my hand’. I look at my dad and think that he is where I got my inspiration for reading from as I’d always see him reading, and like every little girl its their dream to grow up and make their father proud.

This leads me on to where I am today, making the decision to come to University was one that I took with great thought, I weighed up the pro’s and con’s but eventually I came to the decision that this is where I wanted to be, and this is the beginning of the rest of my life. No matter what twist and turns I take over the next three years, I know deep down that no matter what I will have made my parents proud, and I will be doing the subject I love, and creating the stories that will make others tick.