First Ever Blog Post! :) Enjoy folks!

Hey guys, i've decided to start writing my 2010 Uni Fresher blog. This is my first ever post, I just want to say, if you have any comments or questions that you want to ask now, or later on about uni, Ucas, the products I might decide to review, you can email me at CookieDoughLove@hotmail.co.uk and i'll try my best to help you. So yeah, i'll just get into it.

I’m currently waiting on my A Level Results, needing BCC to study Criminology at  MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University). Right, so now i’ve let it out the bag where i’m going, I have to say this isn’t a thread for people to have a go at me, ‘that’s a crap uni’, ‘your wasting your money’ etc etc, you get the point, i’m interested. I’ve chosen to go there, simple as. Don’t like it, don’t read this. :)

I know some people may be thinking i’ve started this blog way too early, it’s only........Sunday 8th August, but I thought I might aswell get in the swing of things, plus I currently have some music downloading so i’m waiting up for that to finish, before I can go to bed, so I thought why not. Nothing better to do. I’m a little early for a few things actually......I have Home Alone on my tele :lol: Feeling rather festive.

I’m not sure how i feel about starting uni. Definately excited, maybe a little worried, I mean, I am going to be moving 5 hours away (by Coach). And well, my family life ain’t ideal atm. (Do people usually talk about this?), oh well, what the hell, if i’m going to blog, might aswell talk about everything. Basically, my Grandad died a few months ago and my Gran is struggling to come to terms with it, i’m very close to her, we live together, so moving away is going to be a challenge for both of us. Before anyone has a go at me, i’m not looking for sympathy or whatever, just simply recording my thoughts and feelings at this particular moment in time. This is something that has been bugging me for some time, i’m a little worried about how she will cope, but to get her in the swing of me not being around, I plan on visiting every weekend, just so i’m not completely abandoning her, when I can tell she’s feeling better about things, then maybe i’ll stick around Uni for longer. Secondly, I recently struck up a relationship with my Mum who I hadn’t seen for 12 years, unfortunately she is both mentally and physically ill, so alot of travelling will need to take place in order for me to look after her. Moving to uni sure is going to be a challenge with all this going on.

On a brighter note, things i’m looking forward to:

• Meeting new people.
• Doing my own food shopping.
• Being able to roll out of bed 30 mins before lectures start.
• Studying itself, i’m really interested in this subject (Ha, obviously), so I can’t wait to get started.

In the past few weeks, i’ve been slowly but surely getting prepped for uni. Just getting bits and bobs in ready, also to spread the cost. I know things are pricey, but I never realised how much it all adds to. So far, I have most of the necessities a student needs, bedding, cutlery, stationary (sp?) etc, you get the picture. I actually didn’t realise how much stuff I have to take, and with me travelling by train, that really ain’t good. So i’ve just bought a new holdall from Amazon, to say it is huge would be an understatement! I’m not actually sure about the quality and stuff because it hasn’t arrived yet, if anybody is having the same   problem as me and wants to know if it’s a good buy, big enough, etc, just let me know, and i’ll give my review! :) It was actually a bargain, I think it was £28.50, which isn’t too bad. There was a better one from Argos which I wanted but it was sold out :( Nevermind! 

Another thing i’ve recently bought specially for uni is a Macbook Pro. Now I understand that there is alot of conflict whenever anything Apple Computer related is mentioned. You either like it or you don’t. At first I was undecided which to buy between the Macbook and the Macbook Pro, I would of loved the iMac, but it really wasn’t practical with me travelling back and forth on coaches every two minutes. Anyway, after hours and hours researching on the net through reviews, tutorials and opinions on the Macbooks, I finally decided on the pro. You know the feeling that you get when your undecided on something, then you decide, and you have a little regret and wish you had got the other? Well I didn’t have that, so I definately definately know I made the right choice. I simply love it. Everything just works. I find Windows alot easier to operate, but that’s only because i’m not quite used to it just yet. Anyway, first impression: I was blown away. I fell in love with it. I picked mine up for £849 instead of £999 at the Apple Store, I just took a letter in to show I had a place at uni and they had no problems with it. I also bought the AppleCare which I think was £50, instead of £200 so that’s pretty cool. I decided to use iWork instead of Microsoft Word, I was bit iffy iffy about it because i’ve never used it before, I can honestly say, I prefer this to Word. I bought this for £50 from Amazon instead of £72 in the shops. Again a bargain! Something I haven’t skimped on is the case for it. I bought a £6 one from Amazon, it was pretty crap, I wasn’t really surprised for that price, needless to say i’ve sent it back. Instead, I sent my Gran to the Apple Store to buy me a decent quality one and she came back with a bright pink one, which had a logo on the front saying “Incase”, they are quite pricey at £29, but they are so worth it, so spongy, and the inside is covered in faux fur so the surface of your Macbook can’t get scratched, so definately worth the price. I think they came in green, blue, pink and black but i’m not 100% sure. 

The final things i’ve recently picked up for Uni are a couple of books and a diary. 

How to write better essays - Bryan Greetham, Second Edition. Now I can’t give a full and fair review on this yet because I haven’t finished reading it. I get the feeling it’s kind of patronizing because alot of what is pointed out is common sense, but again, I can’t comment fully because I haven’t finished reading it. I will tell you what it contains though. 

Basically, it is split into 5 sections.

• Interpretation of the question
• Research
• Planning
• Writing
• Revision

I’ll probably give a proper review on it once i’ve finished. I bought that from Amazon for £6, so if anyone is interested, go check it out.

The second book i’ve bought is Palgrave Study Skills, The study skills handbook - Stella Cottrell, Third Edition. Again, I can kind of comment on this because i’ve read alot of it, and  completed the activities inside. This book has got a tonne of sections and sub sections. Alot of it is common sense, but still, it has some great tips. The sections this book has include:

• Preparing for university.
• Identifying your skills.
• Intelligence and learning.
• The C.R.E.A.M strategy for learning.
• Working with others.
• Research skills.
• E-Learning, technology and personalised learning.
• Writing for university.
• Developing your writing.
• Confidence with numbers.
• Projects, dissertations, reports and case studies.
• Critical analytical thinking.
• Memory.
• Revision and exams.
• Planning your next move.

As you can see, it does have alot, and each of those headings, has loads of sub headings. This book is jam packed with tips, self evalutation sheets, etc etc. I bought that for £8 on Amazon. Again, if your interested, go check it out, but beware, some of it is common sense.

I’ve also bought the Palgrave Study Planner. Now that one, I totally blown away by what you got from it. It is more than just a diary or a planner. I will give a full review on this, but right now I can’t, it’s in my Gran’s room and she’s in bed so you know, I don’t want to disturb her. One thing I will say though, it’s definately worth the money and looking into. I think I paid £6 from Amazon, but i’m not sure. 

Finally, the last book i’ve bought, again from Amazon, is a book titled ‘How to get a first’, now I know this isn’t going to guarantee me a first class degree, of course not, I don’t expect. However, I am going into uni with the aim of getting a first or a 2.1 (isn’t everyone?), therefore I need to completely overhaul my study technique and skills, so i’m willing to take the plunge and buy a few random books if they will help me do that. I figured i’m going to make the most of my first year whilst the grading doesn’t count to get me used to writing in university style.

Lastly, i’m not sure if this is like a typical blog, I guess i’ve done quite a bit of reviewing aswell but nevermind. This blog will eventually become completely uni based but right now, i’m just getting into the habit of blogging. It’s bin so long since I last wrote one! :p: 

For now, g’neet folks! :)