Tea is Drunk.....to keep you healthy!

Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning and saw this news story on the BBC News website.

At least I am doing something right! Although I think perhaps my tea drinking habits would be all the more healthier if I didn't take two sugars...

The Beginning of the End

Almost 30 books, 33 pages, 12, 111 words and countless cups of tea later, my dissertation hell is over.

I write this sat at the Blue 1 computer cluster of John Rylands University Library, having just finalised and printed my dissertation. Thats right, that thing that I've been moaning about for the last four weeks. It's finished. Complete. Printed. What I feel now though is not the sense of elation that I was expecting, more a feeling of dread, knowing that there is nothing I can do now.

I am of course relieved. This thing has been on my mind so much I have been dreaming about it. I have become involved in what can only be described as a complicated relationship with John Rylands Library and I haven't been able to watch a single episode of Eastender's without feeling guilty about it. But the thing I look forward to the most is having a conversation that isn't about it. For the last few weeks, I'd say 8 out of 10 of my conversations with other people have begun, "Hi, hows your work going?" Well now I can just shout "Finished!" in their faces and run away laughing.

I think though that my sense of dread is not just a matter of no turning back, but also of all the things that are looming now that it's finished and I can longer use it as an excuse to put off my life. Job applications, Fuse stuff, holiday stuff, other modules. It just doesn't stop.

Matters have been made slightly worse by my recent 'I-dont-know-what-to-do-with-my-life' panic. But what about media?! I hear you cry. Well, it's not that I've suddenly decided that's not what I want to do, it's simply that other options have come to light. My mum for some time now has tried to pursuade me to be a teacher, but I've always dismissed her wishes, as have most people I have come across throughout life. Teaching apparently,aint as good a job as you'd think. The thingis, I love kids. For the three years I've spent at uni, I've had a job as a Student Ambassador, working with disadvantaged youths from all around Manchester. It seems though that it's taken me three years to realise that I really do rather enjoy working with these kids, and making a difference to their lives. Now I am left with a dilema. Keep on trying to get a job in the media, or turn my back on 7 years of hard work and try something new? The conclusion I came to last night whilst fretting over this, is to simply do both, and whichever one means I dont have to spend the next year at home, wins.

Where I'll be come June and next year will have to wait however. For now, my priority is finishing my degree. Only one more essay and two more exams to go. By 27th May it'll all be over. I dont know if this makes me happy or sad. Whilst I am totally fed up of being a student, living in what is almost certainly squalor, having no money, hours spent in the library, the 'real world' is just far too scary.

Urgh. I'm going for a brew.

Wonder's Full

I remember my first appearance on TV. It was almost 5 years ago at a Red Nose Rally event at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. We had to build little rockets filled with some chemical or other, which when lit would create a small explosion and shoot it into the air. I remember being interviewed by BBC South Today and saying lots of twaddle like 'science is really fun and can be quite interesting.' In reality, at the time, I couldn't have disagreed more. I had just begun studying for my A-Levels, and had purposefully avoided anything involving Maths or Science. There wasn't anything about either which struck me as interesting, and I certainly did not find it fun. I just wanted to get on the telly.

Five years later though and I have a completely different outlook on the world of atoms, quarks and gravity. This is thanks mainly to two people. The first is T, who studied physics for his undergraduate. As our relationship has grown, so has my fascination and admiration for his mind. I feel stupid compared to him, but I don't mind. I find, having not been subjected to ruthlessly memorising the boring parts of physics - that I am like a wide-eyed child again, hearing about the fun stuff, the outstanding stuff, the stuff that simply blows my mind. How the sun was formed, that all the billions of stars we see are the same size as our sun, that when we touch things, we don't actually 'touch' them - we are merely feeling the effects of electro-static force. I could even name you some constellations in the sky.

As if the BBC were in tune with my new found fascination with science, Wonders of the Solar System has started on BBC 2. Presented by the captivating Professor Brian Cox, a physicist based at my very own University of Manchester, a researcher on the Large Hadron Collider, and the keyboard player in 90's band D:Ream. Things, it would seem, really did get better for Brian Cox. Now, whether you care about the solar system or not, it would have been very hard to miss this compelling TV series the past few weeks, or Brian Cox for that matter. A quick glance at twitter on a sunday will tell you that, or the fact that in the space of a week Cox has appeared on Radio 2 and the hugely popular Friday Night with Jonathon Ross - despite being relatively unknown. An amazing feat for a nerdy scientist.

So why is wonders so, wonderful? A lot of it is down to Cox - he has an amazing way of making the most complex theories understandable for any mind. But, for me, the most striking thing about him, is the childish fascination he still has for physics, despite having studied the topic for almost 20 years. You can hear in his giggles that the Universe simply amazes him. He explains theories by relating them to everyday objects, that are more manageable for our inferior brains. Explaining the heat loss of planet in episode 4 for example, by relating it to a cup of tea. In the very first episode Cox conducts a simple experiment to measure the energy of the sun. On discovering that the answer is an astonishing 400 million, million, million, million watts, he grins at the camera and states "and that's why I love physics." Well Brian, that is why the nation, loves you.

But it is not just about the charisma of the rock star physicist. Cox explains it well, but it is the topic itself that is, if you excuse the pun, the shining star. Where we came from is a question that has baffled and gripped the minds of civilisation almost from the very moment we came into existence. Religions sought to find the answer soon after that. But it is science, physics, that has in my opinion, come the closest. Physics, governed by the rules of mathematics, and yet it is so - magical. Wonders of the Solar System has brought the importance of this discipline, and how it can help us answer that unanswerable question, into the public and political arena. The programme has sparked articles from the likes of Suzanne Moore, as well as political debate as Cox tries to make science a key election issue.

I admit, I will never grasp the complicated equations, or truly understand quarks, but that does not mean the Universe cannot amaze me. The fact that we know so much about something so unfathomably big, is an achievement we as the human race should be very proud of. Yes there are flaws, or one big flaw if you think that we still don't know what 'dark matter' is yet we know it makes up 90% or so of our Universe, but to send a satellite into space and capture an ice-volcano erupting from Titan, now that, is a wonder.

Too Busy to Blog

I am too busy to blog about being too busy.

Ironic isn't it.

A lot has happened in the weeks since I last wrote. Those weeks have been, I am pleased to say, mouse free, but work and stress still continue to keep me from getting a decent nights sleep.

Yesterday I experienced what my good friend E described to me as 'The Fear'. It is something most students get, apparently, when they realise that actually, they've spent rather a lot of money on this thing called a degree, and that really, they should, after two and a half years, get down to doing some actual, proper, work. I consequently spent most of yesterday in the library fretting over how much I had to do, how little time I had to do it in, and how it was all my fault. If I were part of the annoying 'acronym generation' that social media seems to have given birth to, my facebook statuses would be full of fml's and cba's at the moment. Or should that be atm?

My problem is not really that I don't want to do my Uni work - it just that other things keep postponing it. Fuse has been a big commitment all year - but now that that has finished, it has only been replaced by yet another dreaded BBC application form. Yes that right, I am applying to the BBC again. Yes - I am aware of what I wrote in my last post, but this, this is the job of all jobs. Every media-wannabe's wet dream of a job. The Production Trainee Scheme. Or PTS for you acronymites. Only along with it comes the application forms of all application forms. It even involves a 'creativity test'. Jeez - do these people not know I am behind on my dissertation?

Speaking of the big d, progress has been rather slow. (What a surprise I hear you cry). I did however, finally conduct my interviews which were - interesting. You know you've not put the effort in when a first year management student quotes a text at you that's relevant to your dissertation, but that you've not read. Lets just say the moment was awkward.

I've done a lot of thinking about it - just not any substantial writing. But its OK, I've got 28 days, plenty of time to spend in the library. One plus is that I've realised if you bring your own teabags to the library with you, they'll only charge you 50p for hot water and a cup. A saving of 45p. You know what they say, 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.' Well - I just take pleasure in knowing that in small ways I am gaining back a little of my fees. Just another 18,000 cups of tea to go then. Excellent.

I haven't really said much about the ending of Fuse FM have I? To be honest - I haven't had time to really register it. Three years I've been with station. With it I've discovered skills I didn't know I had, found a passion for the radio I didn't know I had, made friends that I will keep for life and even found love. Ahhh. We had our awards ceremony earlier this week. I won the 'I've slept with the most Fuse members' award. Hilarious. The boys on the committee even planned for about 20 people to stand up and admit sleeping with me. They of course, haven't. My boyfriend T is the ex station manager. Some fuse presenters though, didn't get the joke.

So, I leave my legacy at Fuse FM - as a slut.

"End of Broadcast 20" - Student Direct Article featuring me. Please do read it. Its rather lovely.

Now - while I crack on with my PTS form and worrying about how I am 0 words down on my 13,000 word dissertation - I'll leave you with a nice quote that a dear friend of mine sent me;

"The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize" - Robert Hughes.

Well, that's reassuring.

Teapots, Tantrums and Mice.

I have reached melting point.

Once again I have bitten off more than I can chew and the times when I am not busy I spend moaning about how busy I am. I am not a fan of this person I have become. She is tired, grumpy, almost always hungry, pessimistic and prone to tantrums.

An example of one such tantrum, is when the other night my house mate caught me rather aggressively man-handling my chair out of my room at 3am, with the utmost certainty that it was this chair the mouse was using to get onto my worktop. Yes that's right, I have the mouse from hell inhabiting my room. Most mice, you would think, are in search of food. Oh no, not this mouse. This mouse takes casual strolls across my furniture and stares me out whilst perched on my hat stand, fully ignoring the lump of cheese attached to the trap on my floor.

To add to this, Fuse FM has started its 20th broadcast, and once again I am plunged into a world that I both love and hate. This is what I want to do, just not whilst doing a dissertation, working and job hunting at the same time.

God, listen to me. Even I'm boring me. I want to go out. I want to drink so much that it takes me four voicemails just to tell T that I love him. I want to watch Eastenders and Channel 4 documentaries about pregnant women without feeling guilty about it.

On the plus side, T bought me a teapot for Valentines (despite agreeing we're not going to do presents...but anyway). This is quite possibly the most exciting thing to happen to me in the last few weeks. It comes with a cute cup and I have even resorted to hanging milk out of my window in a plastic bag so that I can have teapot-tea when I like. If it wasn't for said teapot and the steady supply of hot tea it brings me, I fear it may have been me hanging out of my window in a plastic bag.

Despite my moaning however, the last couple of weeks have been good on a journalistic level. I have produced two video reports which can be found here, implemented Fuse's 'Hot Topics', and achieved our first ever live bulletin.

I just hope that all this hard work pays off. I have yet to hear back from the BBC, which worries me a little. To be honest I have been somewhat slack on the ol' job applications of late. There are just so many and they are all so epic. BBC North has opened its applications for Media City, the Mecca of the broadcasting world, all you need to do is upload your CV.

Right, should probably get on with writing my CV then.....

"So.....what are you doing after uni?"

If I get asked this one more time I WILL cry into my penguin bar, the chocolate biscuit which seems to be my comfort food of choice as I struggle through the beginning of 2010. Its probably a nostalgia thing. As I write this I am eating what is my fifth one of the evening. What can't penguins fly? Because they cant afford plane tickets. Brilliant.

And tea of course, the quintessentially British drink that this blog takes it's title from. The quote, from T'ien Yiheng (whoever that is) I feel is fitting - final year is rather an awful din and a nice cup of sugary tea really does seem to be my escape from it.

I decided to write this blog as a way of venting the angst that any final year university student goes through when facing the 'real world'. Unless of course you are a student who is horribly organised and already has a job come graduation, in which case I don't like you, please go away.

Its not that I don't know what I want to do, quite the opposite, I know exactly what I want to do. I am pursuing a career in the media. Yes, thats right, that ever popular industry that the whole world and its mother wants to 'get into', which is precisely my problem.

What path do I take? Do I do an expensive Broadcast Journalism course that seems to be the popular route or do I try and get a job? If so should I aim at local level, or aim high? Do I apply for traineeships or entry level positions? Am I actually good enough to get a job?

I have just submitted my first application (for the BBC - optimism never hurt anyone) and I feel I have made the first step in deciding the rest of my life. Scary huh?

So, as I apply for jobs, hopefully go to some interviews, make difficult decisions over what I want to do, whilst at the same time attempt to complete my degree and act as head of news for my radio station, I will be writing this blog, an account of my transition from tax dodger, to tax payer. Hopefully.