Results are in. Places have been accepted. And now you’re lost in the chaos of what comes next (*insert ominous film music*). Here’s a rundown of things to tick off your list if you're preparing to move away from home into the great unknown.
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Cognitive reframing is a powerful and simple tool that each of us can use in every aspect of our daily lives – whether in education, the workplace, or our personal life. Cognitive reframing simply means changing our thoughts so that we are able to look at a situation in a slightly different way. Doing this, we’re able to make negative things become positive and gain more control over our lives.
The Roman philosopher Cicero wrote about reframing over two thousand years ago, using a metaphor of an archer. “One’s ultimate aim is to do all in one’s power to shoot straight, and the same applies with our ultimate goal. In this kind of example, it is to shoot straight that one must do all one can; none the less, it is to do all one can to accomplish the task that is really the ultimate aim. It is just the same with what we call the supreme good in life. To actually hit the target is, as we say, to be selected but not sought.” [Cicero, De Finibus 3.6] Financial management is essential for keeping up with everyday expenses. As a college or university student, you have multiple costs to consider, such as tuition and textbooks. So, here are some tips on how to manage your finances..
Have you ever wanted to be a bat?
We’re not talking batman here – I have no advice about how to deliver vigilante justice. No, we’re talking about proper bats – cute little things with wings that scream until they find food. Whilst I also scream until I get fed, I don’t find myself thinking about bats all that often. And when I do, I don’t think I have too much in common with them. It seems like I was wrong. Humans and bats have more in common than I suspected. Reality check, maybe you haven’t been having the best summer ever. Maybe you feel like you’ve got tight knots in your stomach every time you think about the future. Maybe butterflies flutter in your stomach every time somebody mentions ‘grades’, ‘apprenticeship’ or ‘university’. Results day is August 10th and it couldn’t have been further away. It’s hard for this empty time in the no man’s land of uncertainty to be liberating or enjoyable to anybody.
Unless you’ve managed to live in a blissful oblivion in a great summer of forgetting results day, you’ll probably be finding it hard to distract yourself from this dawning anxiety… how can the outcome of two hard years of work be all over in less than a month? Will I even be ready to move on? How do I trust my grades will be right? And, the big one. What will I do if I don’t get what I need? It’s June, which is a horrifying thought – the longest day of the year is less than a week away! But other than existential angst, June also means that Universities are opening for applications. And they want applications. Your application.
There’s over 150 Higher Education Institutes in the UK and they offer around 100,000 courses. The choice is absolutely staggering and it’s very easy to get overwhelmed when choosing a uni. The resources that exist to help you choose are often just as bad – league tables with dozens of categories; you might in interested in knowing a university’s research quality but what does a research quality of 3.34 mean? Sun shining on the sand. A sea breeze floating through the air. Seems like a dream, but we’ve made it… welcome to the summer of 2021. Although it probably doesn’t look like the idyllic holiday we pictured it to be (with Blackpool pleasure beach replacing Spain's beaches) there’s still plenty of stuff to be getting on with. All this sudden time and freedom might come as a slight shock to the system for some, but lucky for you, I’ve come prepared with some tips on how to keep boredom (and excessively binge- watching TV boxsets) at bay during these next few months.
I’m sure many of us had great ideas for the notoriously exciting post-exam summer before covid hit, but with restrictions easing and the vaccines rolling out, it’s time to replan! First things first, let it sink in that you’ve finished exams… you deserve to treat yourself! With the weather getting better there’s plenty of opportunity to go and enjoy what you’ve missed not only with these months of revision, but also due to the lockdown rules. Whether that be socialising with friends or going out for a bite to eat, it’s important to mark the end of your exams and acknowledge what you’ve done! Inspirational posters.
You know the type I mean; an ultra-high definition picture of some mist-wreathed mountain peaks, or suspiciously attractive people laughing on a golden beach that’s just out of focus. The text is overlaid in a nice soft font; something like “Happiness comes from within.” It’s easy to look at such a poster, dismiss it as cliched nonsense, and go about your day. But often there’s some truth in these bland sayings. Happiness, or better - satisfaction and contentment - does come from within, and we’re in danger of forgetting that. The 18th May is when you’re able to register and start your application to begin your undergraduate degree in 2022 ready to submit it from September 2021.
Now while the actual date you’d be starting seems like a lifetime away - If you could call 16 months a lifetime (and a quick internet search tells me that only some rodents can). It is never too early to start taking a look at two things. What you want to study and where you want to study it. The two things are equally as important in your decision-making process so let’s take a look at each and what kind of questions you should be asking yourself as you begin to put together your UCAS application for next year. Aaand we’re here.
Assessment period, season or, rather, an everlasting storm of frantic cramming. When we started a two year course for GCSEs/ A-levels/ Btecs I don’t think any of us thought we’d be assessed like this (and, if you did, scrap all career plans to make it as a fortune teller). The social, political and educational changes we’ve seen over the past two years have been absolutely immense… I mean, schools haven’t closed like this for over a hundred years. It’s not exactly been a twenty four month snow day though, has it? As we draw to the end of it all, I’ll be talking about what’s kept us more or less sane throughout this period- our mind! The purpose of this article is to try and present learning in a new light – to show that learning can be a powerful and enjoyable tool for life. I’m not talking about any specific area of learning – this isn’t an argument that you should become an expert on the mating cycles of sea-slugs.
This may well seem like a strange concept – you might ask “why on earth would I want to love learning?” Learning is, after all, school and university, endless classes, exams and stress. Isn’t it? No. Push would like to introduce the not-for-profit organisation, Future Frontline. We strive to give you as much relevant information as possible, be that through us or another extremely useful resource. Future Frontline is one of those resources. Check out their website, or search for ‘Future Frontlines’ in Spotify, Apple podcasts and Google podcasts.
Being environmentally friendly is typically expensive. You hear everyone who cares about the environment yelling on their social media about how the government should change it’s extortionate cost, but the prices stay high.
So, here’s a short guide on how you can actually do something without making too large a dent in your wallet. With everything opening up again and exams for year 11’s and year 13’s getting ever-closer, time management and prioritising is going to be a key skill this month.
Of course, putting things into perspective is important too, both on a global and personal perspective. In this blog, I’ll be talking about things you should be doing to get ready for oncoming assessments, as well keeping up with broader things. Now, for this analogy to work I think it's pretty important that you understand I do not believe in astrology. This will not be a celebration of how my Year 9 career aptitude test told me I would be exactly where I am today, or the accuracy of my daily star chart.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever looked at a daily star chart, nor am I interested in doing so. Don’t get me wrong, I think that astrology is incredibly smart! It takes very limited knowledge of an individual and provides some sort of conclusion to which they can think, “Huh… I do that.” It’s genius. However, I don’t think many of us would base a huge life decision off an astrology prediction… Schools are once again open. Dust is being scraped from desks, mice are finding themselves evicted from projectors and teachers are trying to remember how to write.
You’re going back to school, after maybe a year of learning from home (or in bubbles), separated from your teacher and your friends by a screen and the whims of the Wi-Fi. So, how on earth are you expected to concentrate? You’re not alone if it appears overwhelming. A key point to remember is that everyone is in the same situation as you. Even your teachers will be a little stunned by so much human contact. Well, I’m sure none of us thought we’d still be in this situation a year ago. As much as things seem to feel the same, or even worse after 12 months of a global pandemic, it’s important to acknowledge how far we’ve come.
Globally, the vaccines have given us a lot of hope to return to a ‘new normal’, but on a personal and social scale, we’ve almost made it through COVID-19! We’ve all faced our own challenges, whether that’s losing a loved one, coping with mental health issues or keeping up with schoolwork; I can’t stress enough how important it is to recognise the challenges these 12 months have brought. Give yourself some credit for what you’ve been through! University is not the right route for everyone. Push knows that, you know that.
Luckily the rest of the country is beginning to know that too and that is expanding the other options that you have available. With that, apprenticeships are getting more attention and variety. University admissions are something that the majority of us would agree should be a straightforward and fair process but it isn’t always clear (and is a topic up for debate) on how fair that process is currently.
What should be considered in a university application? Well the most obvious is the grades of the applicant, a clear indication of academic ability, but is that all admissions should be judged on? After all, everyone has their own barriers to face in life. At Push we love talking about building resilience from your setbacks and using these as a positive element to your self development. The argument is that these barriers are something that should be considered by universities during admissions. A report by the Nuffield foundation found that, selective universities are increasingly taking into account socioeconomic and educational contexts in which applicants achieved their grades but Vikki Boliver of Durham university argues that universities must be even bolder in their admissions process to ensure that students from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds are able to access higher education. Hopefully the past month has given you a bit more clarity as to how your school/ college is assessing grades. You may have been getting more essays or homework set, maybe a new set of mocks have been announced or are even happening now. Either way, it’s safe to say that it’s best to complete each piece of work to the best of your ability. In this blog I’ll be talking about some tips and tricks you can use to keep working through a school of twenty back-crunching zoom calls whilst trying to prep for upcoming exams.
So, firstly for general revision and keeping focus: we have to remember that this doesn’t last forever. A-levels/ BTECs/ GCSEs will end, and so will all this work you're doing… I promise! Yes, we don’t know when or how we’re getting assessed exactly, but when school finishes in 5 or so months this will all be over and a new chapter awaits. The likelihood is these academic grades will be finally determined around May/June time, so summer and sunshine is only a few more months away! With the vaccine rollouts, it is likely that students may be able to move into the student halls this September once again. It’s important to think about all the little things you may need once you can move, especially for your first year of uni. With this student halls packing list, you will not make the same mistake of forgetting common items like others.
Once it becomes safe to move in, your brain can be very scrambled from trying to think about every single item you will need to live on your own. You may be searching through your university’s website, Reddit, and other forums for answers. To make sure you have all the basics, you can check out our list here and skip the searching. Even after reading a list of the basics, there are still more items you will need while living in the student halls. You never want to be under packed or unprepared for uni life, so the following items can help you be properly prepared. So one thing that 2021 has brought with it is the UKs actual, no gracing period, exit from the European Union. Regardless of how you feel about the situation, it's happened and now we have to get used to all of the changes that has come along with that.
One of those changes is that the UK will no longer be able to take part in the Erasmus+ scheme. Something that allowed students to go study abroad in Europe with no tuition fees and also receive a grant for their living costs. It is a fact that one of the aspects of choosing to go to university is unfortunately acquiring some student loan debt.
So, being a student it is useful to come up with short-term financial goals that you need to look after. If you know the basics of personal finance management, then you would also know that there are some other financial goals that you should focus on while studying! But how to set goals when Covid-19 is still hanging around? Does this have any effect on your financial goals? Let’s find out in the discussion. Happy New Year! 2021, maybe a time to finish that UCAS if you haven’t already and hopefully start receiving some offers. If you haven’t received any, don’t worry, there’s some tips for that later on in the blog. I’ll also talk a bit about the very recent situation, which has caused quite a bit of confusion, the cancellation of GCSEs and A-Levels.
The likelihood is that your uni application is done and dusted. In which case… well done! The UCAS process is hard work, let alone doing it during a global pandemic. Put on top of that all the frustrations caused by multiple lockdowns and you’ve definitely got something to be proud of. I’m sure you get told time and time again, but it has been a mentally and emotionally challenging time so being proud of what you have achieved so far, however small, is the least you can do for yourself. Yes, Shakespeare wrote an entire play during his lockdown in the plague, but, unfortunately, we can’t all be a world famous playwright… so writing a personal statement and sending it off to universities is a perfectly good achievement. If you've decided you want to go to uni, then we're going to go ahead and assume you're feeling pretty smug and have already submitted your application. If you haven't, then you've got about four weeks till the January 15th deadline.
So between now and then, stop dreaming of a vaccine Christmas and dream instead about where your chosen degree might take you. |
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