#RoyalBaby

Congratulations to Kate and William for their beautiful baby boy: Prince George Alexander Louis!!!

Even though I am a really big fan of The Royal Family, I decided to write this post because I was talking to my friend and she didn't really understand the hype around the baby. I had to explain a lot of things like the Commonwealth and 'direct succession' but finally she got it. I know a lot of people don't like the monarchy and I'm not saying you should.

However, not only do I think that they are an amazing family who do amazing things, but I really think that they are good people. This baby means a lot to my generation especially because I can say to my grandchildren that I remember the day the King was born. It wasn't a particularly special day, not to me anyway. I'd spent the day with my family and came home to find out that The Royal Baby had been born. I didn't automatically think about the money or the power the baby already has, but I thought about the fact that he represents the future of Britain. My future. And yours. When he becomes King, and he will, think about the life that you might have. You might be married to the love of your life, have the career you always wanted and the family you dreamed of. Just think about that.

A week of summer :)

So here in the UK, we've been having really lovely weather for the last week or so with temperatures reaching almost 30 degrees. Now, that's probably not a lot for those of you who live in warmer countries but for us, its pretty damn rare. We hardly see the sun let alone have it last a full week so everyone is super excited and by excited, I mean crazy.

I can't even count how many topless men I have seen lately and its not a pretty sight. It's always either sweaty old men with grey chest hair and particularly droopy 'moobs', or young scrawny teenagers with their tracksuit bottoms half hanging down their bum. I mean, how attractive. The heat makes everyone a bit mad if I'm being honest, even me. We like to sit outside all day and burn no matter how much we know its going to hurt tomorrow and trust me, I'm speaking from experience.

Another thing that I have noticed is that people tend to spend most of their day outside the pub drinking when really they should be at work. I find that really strange but to each their own I guess. They sit there baking in the sun, clearly suffering in the heat but willing to tolerate it for a 'golden tan'. I've also noticed that the weather tends to change the times when people start drinking alcohol; the local pub has people there at 1 or 2pm, just 'enjoying the sun'. I don't really blame them either, its so rare that we have good weather usually only 3 or 4 days spread out of the entire year.

As a vegetarian (fun fact there for you all), I don't really like the smell of meat cooking but barbeques are completely different. I love the smell because it's just so lovely. People have been spending a lot of time in their gardens which is why I hear the sound of a lawnmower starting every 20 minutes because no one cared about their garden when there was 5 inches of snow on the ground.

Since its really warm, my mother has opened all the windows in the house to 'get a bit of fresh air' but all it does is allow moths, flies and spiders into my house. It's absolutely ridiculous and I can't sleep without removing every last one from my room. I hate them and its one of the worst things about summer.

The last thing is moaning. Now I'm pretty sure its just a British thing because we are a brilliant country full of moaners. Even though we've had such a bad winter, you'd think that we would appreciate the summer more but not really. The first few days were nice but I think some people are fed up now; its different when its sunny at home because usually people escape to other countries for their weather where you can relax. Since you still have to work and cope with everyday life, the heat can become a nuisance. But who am I to complain? Oh wait, I have been:)

Have a great summer or winter depending on where you are, enjoy!

Induction Day

So today was my Induction Day at my Sixth Form and it's basically a day where you get to sample the lessons you've chosen to make sure it's the right choice for you, meet your teachers and have a quick look around the school. I was supposed to start walking at 7:15 (so ridiculously early) because it takes an hour to get there, however, my friend's dad drove us there so we left at 7:50 instead. Since there was only a small group of us from my high school, we stood together before the assembly. It was funny because I had hardly even spoke to any of them before (apart from my 3 friends) but because we were the 'newbies', we huddled awkwardly at the main hall. After we'd signed in, we had an assembly where me and my friends were more interested in the booklet that we had been given regarding classes and a map of the campus.

My first lesson was English and unfortunately, I had to sit on my own while my 2 friends sat together. I met a girl called Lauren who seemed a bit awkward because she didn't really talk. I was looking forward to English but that 'taster lesson' wasn't the best. The teacher didn't introduce herself at all so me, Katie, Cara and a new boy called Bailey tried to work out which festival she had been too. We went through 2 poems which was really boring and at the end of the lesson, we were given a book to read before September starts - oh the joys, eh?

The second lesson was Psychology and I found it really interesting. I worked in a group of girls but only properly spoke to a girl called Sarah. We did several psychological experiments which was fun and I was surprised because there's not many people in my class.

We had break where we all met up at the main hall; it was really weird because the Sixth Form and the main high school are on the same part of school so we saw year 7's walking around with 18 year olds.

The third lesson was Sociology and after getting lost and accidently walking through a Biology laboratory, I saw another girl, Hannah, who was doing Sociology also. I started talking to her on the way up to the classroom where she met with her friend, Ella. We all started talking and sat together while doing the work. The teacher was actually away so we were introduced by a group of year 13's. However, I did have a really good time; Hannah and Ella were so nice and lovely which I found a bit weird considering I was the outsider (they had both came from the same school).

The fourth lesson was Maths and I'd heard was Hannah that it had been really difficult and that she was thinking about changing her option. I was getting really nervous but I quickly settled into my class because I sat with my friend Maria. The work was pretty easy so I'm hoping its going to be like that for the next 2 years, I doubt it though. We got given homework that we have to do before school starts but it doesn't seem too bad.

I went home after that and because of the way my timetable had been organised, I had a free lesson whereas my friends had had theirs at the start of the day. It was so hot and considering I had to walk home alone, I made pretty good time. I kept thinking that I was going to get lost walking home because I'd only walked there twice and it's a good 40 minutes.

Overall, I had quite a good time there, I really enjoyed and I am still confident in my choices. I have to go back there on GCSE Results Day to bring in the right documents but until then, there's pretty much nothing to do apart from write blogs and prepare for Sixth Form :)

Bullying

This post was inspired by a recent event in my family. My cousin Brooke is 13 years old and she has been bullied for a few months by one particular girl at school. On Friday while on a trip, this one bully got a group of people to throw things at my cousin. Brooke grew sick off this and finally pushed the girl over. On the night, she got home and found out that the girl had told her parents who had called the police to give Brooke a warning. The police quickly saw the evidence that Brooke had collected about this girl and left. However, I decided to write a post about this because I feel like a lot of people who are being bullied often don’t tell people or do anything about it because they are too scared of it back-firing on them like it did with Brooke. I am really proud of her, not because she pushed the girl over because I don’t condone violence at all, but because she stood up for herself.

 

I, myself, have been bullied but only recently recognised it as ‘bullying’. To me, it was just someone’s idea of a joke that I didn’t find funny. I thought about stuff that people had said to me over the years about the way I look and it made me really upset. I’m one of those people who just bury their heads in the sand or try to “laugh it off” when really all I want to do is break down and cry. In my case, I wasn’t being bullied by any girls in my school because even though I wasn’t friends with them, we all sort of left each other alone. The boys however, were vicious, vile and absolutely cruel. Not just to me, not just to my friends, but to some of the most popular girls in school. I have grown to hate that particular group of boys because separately, they were annoying but together, they became a united group of evil. My friend and I often tried to avoid them by walking either faster or slower on the way to lunch where they would throw things or shout horrible comments. I’m sure they found it absolutely hilarious seeing us practically running away but to us, it was necessary. The thing is, once one person says something, they all think it’s acceptable and it isn’t. If I didn’t have my friend who suffered as much as I did, I probably wouldn’t have written this because we did just laugh about it which I think was basically just a defence mechanism to hide the pain. 

There were times when all I wanted to do was shout at them but as I have seen, the more you fight back, the more they attack. I did try to ignore them but one particular lesson in Maths really angered me. My friend Cara had bought a drink from Morrison’s and put it on the floor next to her bag and chair. One particular boy, who I absolutely hate because of this, took the drink without her knowing and put staples, yes staples, inside the bottle. Now, another friend pointed it out before she could drink from it so fortunately, she wasn’t hurt. But she could have been. All because they thought it would be funny, guess what folks? It wasn’t. For the rest of that lesson, they fired the staple gun at us DURING LESSON and my pathetic teacher didn’t even notice. I started to hate and I mean, HATE, them.

This routine happened daily and it wasn’t until half way through year 11 that I told my mother. Of course, she responded by saying that she was going to go down there and tell the school. I was honestly horrified because she would have done if I didn’t stop her, which means that I would have been an even bigger target. I decided to put up with it for the rest of the year and bite my tongue to whatever they said and eventually they found another people to pick on and they kind of left me alone. It wasn’t the best thing to do because another person went through the same thing that I did and the bullies didn’t get what they deserved. I was a coward; I just wanted them to go away which was pretty much my motivation for the remaining months of year 11. I’m so glad I’ve now finished school and the people I hate are going to different colleges which means I can finally get away.

I know a lot of people can’t cope with bullying and because of things like social media, we are constantly exposed to people saying mean comments and it really does affect your self-esteem whether you notice it or not. You begin trying to lose weight because someone called you “fat” or start putting on more makeup because someone called you “ugly”.  It’s not fair that you should change yourselves just because someone doesn’t like the way you look or the way you dress.

I wish I had been as brave as Brooke was and confronted the people who had made my life a living hell but I wasn’t. However you can be, I’m not saying go and push them over, but at least let someone know that you are being bullied. I used to think it was a weakness because it meant that I wasn’t ‘strong’. But you know what? Turns out I’m a lot stronger than I thought. And so are you.

Could I be a personal organiser?!

Since I've finished school, I had free time before the 6 weeks started; my mom was at work so I pretty much spent the whole time home alone, watching YouTube videos, reorganising cupboards and thinking about new blog ideas. Now I don't think I would do that if I didn't have a certain personality trait. I do things to the extremes. I can't just watch one episode of something, I have to watch the whole series. I can't just tidy my room, I have to tidy the entire house. I can't just listen to one song, I have to listen to the whole album on repeat... all day.

It sounds weird but I feel like I have many qualities of an addict. Or just someone who has an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Probably the latter. I used to be a lot worse; I couldn't stand when my friends would re-organise my perfectly alphabetically arranged DVDs or my colour-coded clothes. I do like things in their place because it just looks nicer and tidier. I'm probably the only 15 year old who actually enjoys cleaning but I really do.

Now the rest of our house is really quite messy and I have tried to keep it tidy but I just don't have the will power to clean every single day. My mother is a walking disaster zone; she strolls in from work and just drops all her stuff. After I've spent hours cleaning, my mom ruins it within 10 minutes of walking through the door. My bedroom is the actual opposite. It is the tidiest room ever. Well, for a teenager. When I had my room re-done, I got new furniture (yay, I've had the same furniture my entire life) and I now have plenty of storage space so I can put all my things away and maintain the room the way I like it to be. I also got rid of all of the 'knick-knacks' because they just annoy me. Its way too much clutter for me to deal with so I have just the main essentials on show which I think looks a lot nicer and organised.

I don't really know why I decided to write this blog post, I guess just to do things in moderation, maybe? Who knows, eh? The heat must be messin' with my brain...

Is money really the key to happiness?

A lot of things have inspired this blog post, money is something that affects everyone in the world. Whether you have it or you don't.

Money means different things to different people. Some spend it like its going out of fashion whereas some people have to budget just to afford their rent. I find it really weird that money can drive people to the most extreme lengths but I can understand the urge to do anything to want to protect your family, I really can.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that “money doesn’t buy happiness” and it doesn’t but money can provide security and peace of mind that if anything were to go wrong that you have the finances to afford it. I feel like money can be so easily spent nowadays and because of the changing economy, people have had to cut back on their “luxuries” a bit. My mom is always saying it and I know it doesn’t mean that we are one step away from bankruptcy but it does make me think about how money can cause arguments in families, whether you have it or whether you don’t. I’m not saying we are “rich” because we’re far from it, my mother looks for sales or reduced prices as a way of saving a few pounds here and there.

Now my aunty and uncle don’t really have a lot of money but they are still quite content with their lives together and with their children. They plan to get married but are having to cut a lot of costs on the wedding because they simply can’t afford it. My aunty said that she wouldn’t have had a huge wedding anyway because that’s not the type of person she is; she’s still excited to get married and spend the rest of her life with the man she loves and she’s got the right idea I think. You can be pretty content with your life even if you don’t have the dosh. I think it’s quite superficial as well to assume that only money can make you happy because it really doesn’t.

Happiness is a scale, money isn’t the measure.

Work Experience: Day Five

We were allowed to choose which section of the store we wanted to work in so me and Maria chose to do Customer Collections. It was so busy, it was ridiculous, we constantly had to collect parcels. However, there was suddenly a lull and people stopped coming in (perhaps because of the hot weather, it was so warm, especially since we were sitting there in our black work outfits); me and Maria found ourselves talking about the several 'Levels of Friendship'. Two women came in and like a good worker, I offered to carry their things to their cars- little did I know that they were a bedstead and a TV. My back and feet absolutely killed, I wanted to cry so much.

In the afternoon, me, Maria and Alice went to F&F together where we scanned price tags on different fabrics and order new tickets if the prices were incorrect. However, it was so confusing and the man didn't actually explain it right to us because he had to deal with a customer. I don't think I did it wrong but it did slightly annoy me when I had finished sorting the fabric samples and a couple came and started re-arranging things (that's one of the things I'm not sure I could handle in retail). After that, me, Alice and Maria re-stocked the wall lights, table lamps, pillows and gift sweets. We had to visit the stockroom around 10 times because there is only so much a trolley can hold.

We then walked around the store asking customers if they needed any help, some of them just asking for the price of something, some of them asking where the toilets or particular parts of the store were, most of them were 'just browsing'.

We went back to the PDR to wait for our final meeting with Liz. We were told that work experience had the best opportunity at getting a job which made us pretty pleased. However, we found out specific parts about Will's personality that day that we didn't really like, he mocked the school we went to and the fact that we take public transport, calling us 'commoners'. We also found of how much of a 'suck up' he was, bringing in chocolates for the personnel team who had chose him for work experience. He went round to the workers and shuck their hands, laying on the compliments with a shovel; it got pretty cringe-worthy but the end of the shift. At half 4, we spoke to Liz and were told that Will couldn't get a job at John Lewis because he was only 15 and his 16th birthday is in May. I was really happy because even know I'm still 15 (boooooo!!!!!), I have my national insurance number so I do qualify for a job (thank God!).

If you're wondering whether to do work experience, then I would definitely recommend doing it, even if you don't want to work in retail because its a really good experience. I didn't know how it was going to go at the start of the week but I really enjoyed it. Every single partner I met was so incredibly lovely and friendly that I can't praise them high enough. It's so interesting learning about the way that things work which I never really considered before.

Good luck to anyone going for any work experience or jobs; just try your hardest and make sure that you are polite to your employers and the customers :)

Work Experience: Day Four

In the morning I was in Customer Services and because it was quite busy, I was given a quick introduction about what they do there. I met a lovely woman called Sam who showed me what I was supposed to do on Customer Collections. I went straight over there and had to do the first hour by myself because apparently all partners were busy and Sam had to work on the phone. It was actually really boring for the first part until Maria came over and helped me. We talked for a few hours, casually chatting to customers that came to the desk to collect their parcels. The last half an hour was so busy that as soon as we signed or stamped a parcel, another person came and we had to find the package in the stockroom all over again.

I did Fixtures and Fittings in the afternoon with a man called Phil but there wasn't a lot to do apart from re-stocking and organising pillows and cushions. I sorted out everything and had to find it in the stockroom. I quickly learnt how to do orders but I didn't get to do any myself as Phil had to deal with a customer who wanted custom-made curtains.

Work Experience: Day Three

The Work Experience woman had a day off so we were with a man called Dan instead; I was really surprised with his voice because he started talking with an English accent then ended sentences with an American twang. It sort of caught me off guard but I could tell Will was actually really shocked. We had a meeting in the morning where we basically talked about the week so far then we were sent to the correct sections of the store.

Me and Maria met with our Careers Counsellor from school to discuss how we were going. He seemed happy for us, he even said that "we were doing the school proud" which was nice. He also filled out our Work Experience Diaries we had been given; he said that he would also come in on Friday to write Alice's diary (because she was in London for a singing exam). That would be the third time he would have came in during a five day period; he means well but he's very intense.

I worked in Linen in the morning where I met a wonderful man called Nigel. We organised the shelves and then I helped a woman called Sue scan items to make price tickets for the displays. I also re-folded some towels because I was getting a bit bored. Oh well. John Lewis takes pride in the display of products.

Me and Maria went to Asda to buy lunch where we ended up doing some damage. I don't mean physical damage, we didn't go in and trash the place, we just spend a lot of money on sweets and biscuits (not very healthy but we felt like it).

I spent the afternoon in the Furniture section, the women there were absolutely lovely. I helped to wrap a table in bubble wrap so it could be sent off for delivery which was okay. There wasn't really much to do after that so we went around the section and tidied up the room layouts; we then sorted out the samples. One of the women seemed really apologetic that she didn't have much for me to do but to be honest, I was perfectly happy sitting on the most perfectly, comfiest mattress known to man. It was like sitting on a cloud. After standing up all day, it was actually a relief to sit down for the last part of the shift.

We were supposed to have a final catch-up with Dan but he was in a meeting so me, Maria and Dan sat in the PDR eating our food just talking about the day. We finished and left without seeing him; so how will day three go?

Work Experience: Day Two

The second day of work experience was so much better than the first day. I started the day doing Stockroom Management, which is basically sorting out products and re-stocking the shelves onto the shop floor. I absolutely loved the morning because the people who worked in the stockroom were kind and funny, plus I got to organise stock (trust me, if you knew me, you'd understand how much that interests me). I also scanned deliveries that people had ordered to get them onto the store's system (that was cool, I got to use a super high-tech scanning gun).

Me and Maria went to lunch at McDonald's (a classy establishment I know), I only bought chips whereas she spent about a fiver on food. We made it back in time for the afternoon shift to find Alice in the PDR, the partners dining room; Will was at Wimbledon watching the tennis (alright for some, eh?)

The afternoon was also pretty good as well, I worked on the shop floor and again re-stocked kitchen appliances for the Electrical section. There wasn't really much to do because Will did it the day before so I shadowed a guy called James while he was talking to customers. I learnt how to use the system for ordering products out of stock and the till, it was actually really fascinating.

Overall, it was quite a good day, I was very much involved in the 'stock' side of things which was interesting because there's a lot of separate pieces of information that you have to retain. So, what will day three bring?

Work Experience: Day One

My work experience placement was at John Lewis, a national branch of stores that specialise in home furnishings. It was for five days, from Monday to Friday and this is my blog post from day one.

I wasn’t planning on doing work experience at all until the career advisor at my school suggested the position for me and my friend, Alice. He gave us a brilliant recommendation and we soon heard back that we would indeed be working there for the duration of the week. As my other friend Maria heard about it, she sent her CV and they gave her a work experience placement along with us.

We started our first day at 9:15am where we met with a young lad called Will who was also there for the experience. We were had a quick meeting and a tour followed by our daily assignments of which section of the store we would each be working in. I was given Cookshop for the morning, the section of the store that sells kitchen stuff like toasters, kettles, irons, cutlery, the whole sha-bang. I was introduced to a wonderful woman who would ‘guide’ and ‘nurture’ me to what I supposed to do for the morning. She did none of those. Instead, she talked about herself for 2 and a half hours about her children and her fabulous weekend at the park; I basically learnt her life story and me being the nice person I am, oh the irony, didn’t say a word apart from smile sweetly and nod at the appropriate times.

We had a long lunch that we spent in the staffroom trying to figure how to use the machine we had been given cards for. After that, we were given our afternoon assignments where I was allotted Audio. I have to say that I absolutely loved that part, I don’t know much about technology but I had the greatest time learning about different gadgets and dealing with customers. I organised the camera displays and the shelves before helping to sell items. There was then a lull as customers began to leave or buy the products they wanted and I suddenly found myself extremely bored. Just as that happened, my cousin and his girlfriend walked in to buy a laptop (neither of us knew we were both going to be there but coincidentally it happened). They stayed for a good half hour so I chatted with them for a bit until they left and things in the shop started to pick up again. I asked many customers whether they were alright or if they were looking for anything particular and it gave me the most amazing buzz when they said that they needed my help or wanted to see if a particular item was in stock. By the time 4 o’clock came round, I had had such a better afternoon, it more than made up for the morning.

We spoke to the Work Experience woman again, just to tell her about how our day had gone and if we were worried or concerned about anything. Overall, I did have a really good day, I got to experience different things that tested my people and selling skills but that was day one, what will I be doing for day two?