A UCAS update.

So, my offers at this point are like this:

Salford - Journalism: Interview
Salford - Journalism and Politics: Conditional
Huddersfield - Journalism: Conditional
Leeds Met - Journalism: Conditional
Chester - Journalism: Conditional

 On February 16th, I have an interview at Salford University. This is the most important moment of my future career, Salford is the true place where I would love to study, for many reasons. One of these reasons is that it close to home for not just the purpose of Tom (who I couldn't possibly leave) but for the purpose of my family. I couldn't go far and find out that something had happened and all I could do is stay there. Another reason is that the BBC and ITV are now stationed in MediaCity UK in Salford, where the students automatically go in to. It could also be that I love Manchester as a city and I love it's culture and it's significance in the UK. I mostly honestly think if I recieved a conditional offer form Salford, I would cry with happiness.

In other news, I have a chance to turn a conditional offer in to an unconditional offer from Leeds Met. This oppertunity came to me by post. It stated that if submit a written piece (500 words max) and its standard is high, then my offer could be altered in to an unconditional, which is a nice relief, even if Leeds is my 4th choice. The deadline is the 20th May, although I want to get my piece written, checked and submitted soon, but I think the interview comes first.

Fingers crossed for my future in the buisness of journalism.

Happy Birthday Nan.

My beautiful Nan is 86 today and I couldn't be more proud of her. My Nan and I share the same name and we're very alike personality wise, forever smiling and laughing at similar things. Throughout my life my Nan has never not been there for me, literally since day 1, there isn't a day which I can't recall she wasn't there either looking after me or I've rang her. My Nan was even the one who held me at my parents wedding in 1993. After that and while my parents worked, all I can do is recall her coming up to me or me being at her house watching the TV and playing with the endless amount of animals she's had. She used to walk me to primary school and back everyday until I was old enough to walk home alone. She always recalls the day of the horrible blizzard in the 90's that I fell over in and started to cry. She had millions of pictures of me as a child in her collection, along with my cousins who spent everyday that I did at my Nan's house. We were all never apart really, I still recall the double pram she used to put me and my Cousin Nicki in and made the boys walk, but to be fair they are older. Even when the day came that I was to enter year 7, I still made sure I went to my Nan's after school most days for tea and I still do, I'm 18 now.

This few months have been the hardest for all us. On November 23rd in the early hours of the day my Nan suffered a series of mild strokes, which because of the amount were more dangerous than they seemed. She was taken to Fairfield Hospital in Bury as it's a stroke specialist place and she had to have this special drug which would thin out her blood. However, it wasn't as simple as it seemed. This specialist treatment isn't meant to be given to people over 80, and my Nan was 85 at the time, the consequence of the drug was that it could cause another bleed which could have killed her. So, even if my parents didn't decide to tell me until I got home, when I think about it now, it was probably the best choice. However, this doesn't mean I took it well. All I can remember was seeing my Dad lying down speechless and me on the floor, crying hard and trying to rip my hair out. I ran upstairs and rang Tom, it was all I could do, thankfully he was there for me and made me feel a little better, it made me feel so secure when he put his coat straight on and was ready to come to see me at the drop of a phone call, but I wasn't going to rest until I saw my Nan.

On the car ride there, I began to feel my body come back to reality and I stopped crying. It was a fearful drive to the hospital as it was so far away from my house. However, it did let me compose myself. When we got there, I followed my family patiently until we reached the "Acute Stroke Ward" on the first floor of Fairfield Hospital. I had to wait as it was strictly two visitors at a time as she was in the vital ward area. When I walked in her eyes lit up and her heart beat on the monitor started to rise dramatically. This was my main worry at the time. She was really hot as her blood pressure was high and the drugs were messing with her system. She was desperate to fall asleep and she couldn't even recall most things going on. Her speech was unrecognisable and the machines were beeping and there were pipes everywhere. It was just a horrible sight and I'm glad I won't have to witness this again. As we were alone, I managed to get her heart beat from 130 to 90, which is more normal. However, when it came to leave, I didn't really want to but I knew she needed her rest. After I got home, I got in the car and drove straight to Tom to tell him what was going on, he was worried about me and Nan.

In the same week, my Nan got transferred to Oldham Hospital, so she was closer to home and a lot easier to visit. Once she had reached Oldham, the improvements just kept coming. Everyday she had something new to show us, gaining a little more strength in her body everyday. My favourite surprise was the day when she all of a sudden lifted her bad arm up and waved at me when she saw me through the window. It made me so happy to know that there was hope and she was going to be okay. Everyday I went to visit she made me so happy by telling me the lastest thing she'd donw with Richard the physio man. When the time was coming close for her to leave the hosptial, we all got to sit in and watch her in the physio area. Richard got my Nan to walk! She walked around the room with two people helping her, but she was still walking! I couldn't believe it, I felt so proud.

The day came that she was leave the hosptial, but it wasn't home she was going to, it was Butler Green in Chadderton, a 'care home'. With their developments with physio and domestic help, my Nan managed to gain more strength and confidence in gaining her independence back. We got her out for Christmas which was a lovely break for her and a nice treat for us to know that she was being properly cared for by us. But that's enough about that.

On January 21st, my Nan finally got to come home properly, 2 months after the incident, she got to finally go home, to her own home and not ours! She couldn't believe it and neither could I! It was a lovely day, because I promised her that she'd be out by her birthday, which is today! And I didn't break my promise, she is at home and happily being looked after by her endless family who are around there most hours of the day.

I just wanted to write this to show how proud I am of her after everything and how much I love her.
Happy Birthday Nan xxxxxxxxxx

January exam season.

As my January exams come to a close, I can now sigh a sign of relief. As much as re-sits are a form of extra effort, it is also a good feeling as now I can hopefully bump up my grades towards my targets for A2 and for the required grade for my university course. For the majority of my courses, the required grades or amount of UCAS tariff points is BBC/280 points. For me, that is an realistic target as when I enter my English Language exam in June, I shall already be on an A for AS and in my coursework, which is very comforting for my desired course of Journalism. This means that an A is already in the bag, and what I really want at A2 is ABC or even ABB if I try hard enough! Which would be fantastic.

The two re-sits I had were Ethics and UK Government. At first, it was ethics which was my concern as previously in year 12 Ethics was my downfall. However, with the preparation help from my teachers and by hammering some practice questions which came back as B's with some help from notes, but however, in the actual exam, by doing this method I felt prepared and I'm hoping for a C or maybe a low B if possible?! The next exam I had was Government. Now after the successful feeling of the Ethics exam, Government was now a huge worry for me. I woke up the morning of the exam feeling sick, which was a great start! But however, luckily I had some good friends who were resitting too and we spent all morning and early afternoon revising and discussing issues about the paper and subject content. As the exam approached, the more nervous we all felt. But, alas, in a weird occurrence of events, everything we discussed in the previous hours came up on the exam, what a streak of luck! I couldn't believe it, I just hope that it comes back with a good grade!

Fingers crossed for the powers of the re-sit and my future university life!

Newsnight,

As the By-Election is upon us, yesterday the BBC endured a Newsnight special in Uppermill last night. As luck would have it, I managed to get on the panel, as my friend Lucy Trewinnard, applied a few weeks before but sadly wasn't old enough to feature on the show. But, being the good christian she is, she put things into the hands of Mrs. Anderson and managed to get me on the show with a few others of my class mates. We were all very thankful for this.

The arrival time was between 8:30 and 9:00, and as time drew on, more and more people were arriving. Gladly I wasn't the first there and David and Kate had reserved the table with the biscuits on! Very good to pass the time and chat until we were needed. As we all met, a familiar face appeared across the room; Mr. Platt! It was lovely to see a much respected ex-Deputy Headteacher, who was just as interested in politics as we were. We discussed our views and what our points for being there were!

As time passed on, the nerves settled down as we became familiar with the settings. At around 10.00 we were beginning to be seated. However, some had to be seated strategically and one of them was Kate. We all agreed to sit together and when we entered the room, there she was, sat in the front row! It was a shock to us all, but at least I had a good view! As the sound checks and make up were having their final checks, the mood set in. 3, 2 ,1 and the credits rolled. Studio in awe of the situation they were in.

It was an absolutuely amazing experience and I'd love to all over again. Here is the show for you to watch.

A political claim to fame.

That time I met Ed Miliband and got an autogrpah for my Boyfriend :)

Happy New Year