Forum Magazine

At the end of 2012, three of my friends Owen, Paul and (boyfriend) Joe decided that Cardiff was lacking a magazine unique to students. We have university run publications but nothing with advertisements or deals in and something created entirely by students. So 'Forum' was born.

For the fourth edition I was asked to write about my experience working for Embassy Summer last year over the summer break and I thought I would share it with you!

Embassy Summer

When the summer break from university comes around, all you can think about is the festivals you want to go to, travelling and general relaxation of the mind. Free from deadlines, dissertations and exams. The problem that usually rears its ugly head is the pure fact that you are absolutely skint, with a maxed out overdraft. Finding a job for the summer is hard work, so around this time last year I thought to myself what on earth am I going to do? After surfing the Internet, I came across a company called ‘Embassy Summer’, an organisation that sets up English teaching summer camps in four different countries! They have 34 centres in 20 cities worldwide so the choice of where to apply for was vast. The concept of ‘Embassy Summer’ is that a group of foreign students travel to one of these centres and have half a day of formal English teaching and the rest of day of activities. ‘Embassy Summer’ bases itself in universities across these countries so there is always a ‘campus feel’ to it. I was based in Bristol at UWE and although I commuted from home, you have the option to stay on campus which most of the employees did. Which means you can apply for anywhere you fancy! Great for if you’re not keen on moving back in with the parents and losing that beautiful freedom. There are lots of job roles you can apply for within the camp: if you’re doing a teaching degree or have a TEFL qualification you could apply for a teaching role, or there are management opportunities as well. The role that I was lucky enough to obtain was as an ‘Activity Leader’, and this is the role I would one hundred percent recommend! The job means that you do 42 hours a week and you lead the activities that the young people take part in, for example: football, rugby, badminton, netball, rounders, arts and crafts and many more. The evening consists of optional activities including: discos, film screenings, arts and crafts and my favourite- karaoke. Also on a Tuesday and a Thursday you will do half-day trips, I was based in Bristol, so a half-day trip consisted of trips to Cheddar Gorge or Bath. Then on a Saturday you lead a full day trip, which could be Cardiff, London, Oxford and many other cities. I was often sent here to Cardiff as I was considered ‘a local’, which was great as I actually saw inside the Castle for the first time in my three years of living here! The young people are lovely, and so eager to learn. Not like British young people at all! The countries that they came from ranged from China, France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Another perk of the job was that most of the other activity leaders are students too! You get to meet like-minded people that are up for a laugh and make the experience even more worthwhile, cheeky drinks at the on campus bar happened very frequently when the students were tucked up! The pay is £235 per week for 18-20 year olds and £291.36 for over 21. There is a deduction of £30 per week is made for accommodation and food for the residential staff.

Overall my experience of Embassy Summer was unforgettable, I earned a decent amount of money, explored parts of the UK that I never had, made some great mates and got a brilliant notch on my CV. If you haven’t thought about what you’re doing this summer, why not go for it?

General Thoughts

I have been neglecting my blog for the past week or so, due to university deadlines and busy-ness but mainly due to lack of inspiration. I've felt rather flat and boring. But, it's monday now so it's time to think fresh. To kickstart my day I even had a fresh juice! (2 carrots, 3 apples and 2 sticks of celery)- very refreshing indeed.

I wanted to share a few things that i've discovered and been up too!

London: This week I travelled to London to find out more about my masters course for next year (Digital Sociology at Goldsmiths). Being in a different university to the one I know so well felt rather weird. I felt like everybody knew I wasn't a student there (yet!), but of course that's just be being massively self conscious and paranoid! It's great because my younger cousin George is an undergraduate at Goldsmiths so he showed me the ropes, sometimes when you're in a new place, it's nice to have a comforting face :). I sat in a lecture conducted by Warren Sack from America, who discussed his ideas about language, image and numbers. Lots of it went over my head, but I actually did understand some of it (yey- my degree is useful!) and this made me incredibly excited for the future! I also met Noortje Marres, who is the convener for my course. She immediately made me comfortable and was very encouraging about my thoughts and ideas surrounding the subject. I literally can't wait to start now!

I'll be honest, I used to hate London its just SO BIG. I used to feel like such a small fish in a massive ocean, and just couldn't get my head around why anyone would ever want to live there. But over the past couple of years, my opinion has changed. The amount of diversity there is in London is amazing, you are able to be whoever you want to be with absolutely no judgements at all. I feel like London is going to open my mind and I feel very positive about it indeed!

New apps: My mum visited me this weekend and told me about a new app that she had downloaded called 'mappiness'. Its actually really rather sweet. Its a research study that's being conducted by LSE (London School of Economics) and it sends you about 4 notifications a day to ask you questions about how happy you're feeling at that particular time. At the end of the week/month (depending on how long you decide to use it) it will tell you where you're most happiest and who you're the most happiest with. Cute huh? The other new app that i've acquire is very silly- Its the monsters inc app which my housemate insisted that I bought, and admittedly it is rather fun!

Fear: To say that i am nervous about my dissertation, essays and final is the biggest understatement going. Petrified is probably a better word. Can someone please please tell me WHERE THE TIME GOES? How am I in the 8th week of my second semester? How is it easter next week? Why do I only have a month to finish (and start!) writing my dissertation? How am I leaving uni in June? How am I graduating in July? Oh my... Answers? Anyone?

Positivity: After feeling pretty flat for a few days, i've been reading a lot of positive blogs and quotes to get myself back to feeling normal. My friends and family have also been lovely :) So when you're feeling low- talk, a problem shared is a problem halved remember! Even if you can't think of someone you know that will understand, chances are there's someone on this lovely online community that has felt similar! Whats the point in wasting any time sad eh!

There's definitely more that i've been up to and have been thinking about.. but we'd be here for days if I carried on.. plus.. those essay's won't do them selves!

Mothers Day

I feel that a post in necessary to dedicate to my lovely Mum. 

Thank you for being my mum <3

Love you very much. x

University Elections

If you are at University you may well know what i'm talking about. There's basically a few posts that are up for grabs, for example; President, Athletic Union President, Welfare Officer and Media and Marketing Officer. 

In theory its a great cause, we as students, get to choose who runs our student union. We can relate to these people, they like us, have been students. The problem is ... their campaigns. Oh my. They are definitely in my top 5 most annoying things of all time. The candidates are given a certain amount of money (i think £40) to spend on their campaign. The money goes on outfits, flyers and banners and disqualification can occur if it is suspected that you have breached this as it causes unfair advantage.

Our main library is just off a central crossroad, and all the campaigners gather around the cross roads dressed up in outfits that 'relate' to their campaign and constantly pester you with leaflets and shout in your face.. 'make sure you vote for me'. Basically whoever wins, knows they've just bagged a cushty job for £18-£23k for the year. So, of course they are RELENTLESS. My facebook news feed was clogged up, every group that i'm a member of was full of 'manifestos' (just weird videos to be honest) and the worst, the hassling IN THE LIBRARY. It's great that some of you can waste a week campaigning- but I HAVE A DISSERTATION to write. 

On the up side, I did investigate more thoroughly, deciding that I would not be voting for anyone who pestered me in the library and I would watch their videos to see if any of them related to the campaign and wasn't just people running and dancing around. Some of the videos were really interesting, explaining what it was they wanted to do for the university and how they were going to attempt to change the faults of the university. 

I do believe that of course, the roles that are given out are important for the uni and the students, and these people that we elect have genuine responsibilities to improve the current systems. Its just a shame that the whole thing turns into a popularity contest- who has the most friends that will post about you, who can get their face printed onto club flyers for free. I hope that in the future, these cheesy annoying campaigns could become slightly more - sophisticated. I mean we are leaving the Student Union in these peoples hands...

International Women's Day

Its International Women's Day today, women are taking to social media and taking over in a big way. Even Google have got involved...

                              

(If you scrunch your eyes up you can see 'google'- quite clearly actually)

For International Women's Day we should rejoice to be women and appreciate what opportunities we have in comparison to the past, right? Well yeah in a way, but there's still a LONG way to go. It could also be argued that actually we're going backwards in some respects- page 3, the generation of pink- I could go on.

It seems that today is the only day that we, as women, are allowed to speak up and say what we really think and feel, and on monday all will return to normal. 

The UN theme for International Women's Day 2013 is "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women," while International Women's Day 2013 has declared the year's theme as The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum. I'm definitely not knocking the day, as I believe that it is important that oppression towards women is addressed, but what I think it really highlights is the lack of action that is taken by the 'big guns' i.e. press and government on an everyday basis. Food for thought?

The most inspirational women I know is my mum. She set up a media charity in a deprived area in Bristol, helping so many people - although sometimes it angers me that no appreciation is given- and is funny, strong and well.. my mum. She sent me a video link this morning which is here.. and I looked further and found her blog here.. I'm not going to talk too much about it as I recommend you watch and read... There are so many brave women and great organisations that strive to help women on a daily basis- maybe part of  International Women's Day could be about highlighting these people!

So what do you think? Am I just way too pessimistic? I don't mean to be...

Presentation over..

So, the presentation is over. I'm still unsure on how it went, we don't get our results for a few weeks.
But I do have some tips...

PREPARE
Practice until you're bored of your own voice. Its the only way that you can be sure that you've done the  best you can!

SLOW
Don't rush. I spoke at a million miles per hour as I was nervous that I wouldn't finish in time but.. I finished 5 minutes early (meaning I had 10 minutes of questions! argh). Slow and Calm...

CHILL
A little bit of nerves is good, you'd be weird if you weren't nervous, but it's important to chill out a bit. The audience will be able to tell if you're really really nervous!

I'm not an expert, I wouldn't dare claim to be! But these are just a few things that I thought might be useful to share!

Presenting Stress

So, i've been stressing out about doing my dissertation presentation, which contributes to 20% of my overall dissertation. We have to do a 15 minute presentation and then 5 minutes of question and answers. To say that i'm PETRIFIED is a complete understatement! Every single time I practice, I forget absolutely everything that i'm talking about, literally- I just want to burst into tears. How am I going to get over this? Picture everyone naked? I'm sure that will give me the giggles..

So for now.. I guess practice will make perfect? Right? RIGHT?

My next post will reveal all......

Life of Pi: Film Review

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is such a beautifully written book. My mum gave it to me to read when I was about 12, she often would encourage me to read 'more challenging' books as I was actually quite uninterested in reading at one point. But the book took me to such a wonderful place, it was exciting and allowed my imagination to run wild! So.. when the film came out- it obviously had a LOT to live up to.

Life of Pi (2012)

It didn't disappoint at all. Me and Joe went to see it, and purchased our 3D glasses (I always buy a new pair- note to self, make sure I ALWAYS take this pair when seeing a 3D film!) bought some sweets and settled in.

If you're unfamiliar with the story, its about a family that own a zoo in india. Its protagonist is Pi, a young boy who is incredibly in touch with his spiritual side and can't pick just one religion, as he is 'just trying to find god'. I love what Martel is saying here, that we need to have a much more open mind to religion and become much more mindful and. Unfortunately they need to move the zoo to Canada so embark on an 'adventure' and load the animals onto a ship. The ship then comes into trouble as a storm hits, and the ship eventually sinks. Pi's family sadly don't make it through the storm and he is left stranded on a lifeboat.

When he wakes up he realises that his travelling buddies include a lovely orangutan, zebra and a horrible hyena! There is a deeply unsettling part at this point which had me in tears when I read the book and watched the film (joe was pretty devastated too!), but I don't want to give TOO much away! But, you'll be familiar with good old Richard Parker by the end. The way he acquires his name is also rather funny.

So, basically its a beautiful story which is exquisitely shot, the 3D animations are IN-CRED-IB-LE! Thee are some gorgeous coloured scenes! If possible, the book is a brilliant read. But if you don't get round to reading the book, the film speaks for itself. A MUST see, for all ages and all moods! It made me feel very spiritual and very 'at peace' - if that's even a feeling?

IMDb- 8.2/10
I give it - 8.2/10 - I'll have to agree with IMDb this time!

Big ratings to the acting by Suraj Sharma (who played Pi)- Loved it!

Silver Linings Playbook: Film Review

Jennifer Lawrence is one of my absolute idols. She's gorgeous, curvy and funny. Check out the link below of her at the oscars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ACQpZW-eTg
She was brilliant in the Hunger Games also- which I will definitely blog about in the future!

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) - Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

Anyway. Enough about my girl crush- the film. The film's main character is Pat (played by Bradley Cooper) who is released from a mental institution after lashing out about his wife having an affair. Once out, he moves back with his parents and attempts to rekindle a relationship with the ex wife, but meanwhile meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who has some mental problems of her own!

This film is very sweet. Bradley Cooper performs well, especially as its a type of character that he hasn't really played before. Its funny and dark all at the same time. For me, it put some things in perspective, the way I think about bipolar and depression. It makes you think in a very real way, about real problems. How sometimes we can be nuts and totally loopy, and its kind of okay. The title in itself stuck with me for ages and what it actually meant. Like yeah, sometimes things can be hopelessly shit, but always look for the silver lining- if you look hard enough, it'll be there. This links in with fate, and the whole 'one door closes, another opens' kind of thing..

Its a lovely film, it made me weepy because it really spoke to me. I don't think it's for everyone- it would be way to soppy for my mum... But it was perfect for someone that sometimes feels alone- and completely bonkers.

It will bring you back to the world a bit and shine a new perspective.

IMDb - 8/10
I give it a 9, maybe, on a very reflective day, i might go higher.

This film, and the way you see it, WILL be personal. I can tell you what happens, who's in it etc etc etc... But the way you connect and feel about the film will be the deciding factor...

Moral: There's always a silver lining :)

'Living in a World of Digital –Past, Present or Future’

Living in an age when it's impossible to be 'digitally disconnected' is a strange old place. Seeing as i'm off to London next year to study Digital Sociology at Goldsmiths I thought this post would be completely relevant. Last night I had two friends over for dinner and we discussed how much our lives have changed over the past 10 years.

The Past: We were discussing when we used to go 'on nights out' to the park, trying to remember who went out with who, and our fashion sense- or not as the case actually was, some epic disasters there! We wished that taking pictures on our phones and uploading them to twitter, instagram and facebook was just as easy as it is now. To look through these would be lovely, to relive some memories that we shared together when we were growing up - also horrific, embarrassing and hilarious.

The Present: Nowadays, i can't get away from knowing everything about everyone and what my best mates cousin is doing in australia. The way that the digital age has progressed means that we are constantly connected. Which of course, is great- in a way. I love seeing pictures of my friends and knowing what they're up too, but is it going to become a little too much?

My mum is currently in Thailand, and she has been emailing me from facebook. She emailed me a VERY long email, which at that current time I was entertaining friends so didn't actually have time to read it- but I had opened the email (maybe that was my mistake!). About twenty minutes later I received another email from her saying, 'isn't it weird that i can see that you've read my message?'. ARGH.
This is also a new feature of the iPhone! So now you know if someone is purposely ignoring you, or worse- someone knows if you're ignoring them! Admittedly you can turn this feature off- but you see where i'm going?

The Future: annoyingly when i think of the 'future' the logo: 'The future's bright, the future's orange' pops into my head- which is definitely digital and technology overload! But the future of living in a digital world is exciting to see what the next advancement will be, but also massively scary. It won't be long until face to face communication won't actually even be necessary- all communication will have gone digital. Of course, I know this sounds pessimistic as I love all the digital things that I own- I love going through my university photos with my friends, remembering all the fun times we had and communicating with my friends and family (yes mum, i mean you) when they're travelling. So its fascinating to think, and see, what happens next!

Flight: Film Review

I LOVE films, and I have watched absolutely loads. It often annoys my boyfriend as we'll try and choose a film to watch on DVD and i've usually seen most of them. I also absolutely love the cinema. Makes such a great night out, I love the big screen and nibbles and getting lost in the moment. So, whilst the credits rolled whilst finishing watching Flight I thought- I should definitely write about this. Something I'm genuinely really interested in.. So.. bare with me, i've never reviewed a film. But.. i'm going to give it a good go!

Flight (2012) With Denzel Washington

An american film about a pilot Whip (Denzel) who dramatically saves the day by landing a crashing plane, which would have definitely killed them all had he not managed to land it. So he's a hero right? Well, not quite, it seems that he has a slight battle with the whole recreational drug and alcohol use, and allegations and investigations are made into the crash. Was it all his fault in the first place? There's also an undertone of romance throughout the film, Nicole who is played by Kelly Reilly and Whip endure a complex relationship.

The film is brilliant, it's probably the best acting from Denzel that I've ever seen. You feel an immense amount of pain for him-, even when he takes the wrong track. He portrays the 'addict' in a very real way- showing us the hard truth that when someone is an addict, lying and hiding what is actually going on isn't actually that hard for them. It had me thinking about it for days afterwards- In fact I think it was about two weeks since i've seen it and it's still very vivid.

IMDb give it 7.3/10.
I give it an 8/10.

Its not a 'happy' film, so if you're up for a light hearted film, avoid.

What did you think?

Generic Q & A

I've seen these posts done time and time again and thought i'd jump on the bandwagon! So here's a few more facts about me :) 

Me: Dorothy Mae Baker Hassan

Nicknames: Dotty, Dorry, Midge, Monkey

Birthday: 6th January 1991

Place of Birth: Bristol

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Male or Female: Female

Occupation: Student

Residence: Currently Cardiff

Appearance:

Hair Colour: Brown- light, sometimes an auburn colour in the sun

Hair Length: Long- naturally wavy

Eye colour: Greeny Brown

Piercing: Ears, Nose and Belly Button

Tattoos: None- I want one though

Righty or Lefty: Righty

Your 'Firsts':

First best friend: Rachel Ashley- she's such a sweetheart!

First Award: Probably Ballet or Gymnastic related

First Sport You Joined: Ballet.. when i was 3!

First Real Vacation: India- i'm lucky enough to have revisited, such a beautiful place

First Concert: S Club 7- bloomin brilliant

Favourites:

Movie: I love so many, top 3- Shawshank (classic), Notebook (generic), The Good Life (comfort)

TV Show: Silent Witness (such a beast), New Girl, Green Wing, Neighbours (I know- its quite embarrasing, but i'm hooked!)

Colours: Blue

Song: Thats a toughy, I think it's very mood dependent

Restaurant: Wagamamas- hands down the best places EVER

Shop: Primark, Topshop and my favourite.. EBAY

School: I loved my secondary school, Nailsea

Book: How I live now- Meg Rosoff. Such a beautiful, sad story. 

Magazine: Cosmo & Glamour

Shoes: My amazing boots that my lovely boyfriend bought me. They're literally amazing.

Currently:

Single or Taken: Taken

Thinking About: My future- very exciting!

Wanting: Happiness- from love, career and travel

Future:

Want Children?: Yes

Want to be Married: Yes 

Careers in Mind: Something to do with the digital world...

Where do you want to live?: London for a bit, New Zealand for a bit, India, Bristol... I'm pretty open to where  I live in the future

Do You Believe In:

God: Undecided to be honest.

Fate: Yeah

Love At First sight: Yes, personally it hasn't happened to me. But I definitely think it can!

Ghosts: Not sure

Aliens: No

Soul Mates: Yes

Heaven: Maybe

Hell: Maybe

Kissing on The First Date: Yeah

Yourself: Mostly, I'm trying to become more self believing. But it's hard to be all of the time!

Hopefully that's a little bit of an insight!

Good News!

This is my penultimate term at Cardiff University (ahhhhhh) but it seems to be blessing me and my friends with great news for the future. I have struggled throughout uni to discover what it is I really want to do. I have toyed with teaching, events management and even running a tea shop ( I still want to do this at some point...)! It wasn't until my boyfriend applied to do a masters at LSE (and got in..!) that I thought more seriously about the future and whether a masters might be a good option for me too. Browsing the internet led me to what I think is 'the perfect course ever', Digital Sociology at Goldsmiths University in London. It's a course that will teach me computer skills along with ways of analysing technology from a sociological perspective. So I went ahead and applied, not thinking I would get in as sometimes I have this annoying habit when I think I definitely CAN'T do it.. BUT... 8 days later, the beautiful email arrived in my inbox offering me a place!
EXCITED!

hello london!

Some more of the success's that my friends have managed to bag is graduate schemes with the civil service, Microsoft, placements in opticians and PGCES. Most of these friends didn't actually think THEY would get it.. All goes to show that we need to have a little bit of faith in ourselves, and we may go far!

Swinging Sixties

This weekend has been a celebration of my boyfriends 22nd birthday. He decided to set a theme for the party that was held on saturday night, ( I love a good theme!) and he decided to do the 60s!

Me and Joe back in the 60s!

Trying to find an outfit was near to impossible, google didn't help me at all. So rather than paying for an outfit from a costume shop I decided to hit the charity shops!

You can find some absolute gems in charity shops, and once i'd spotted this dress I knew it was meant to be! It was a long sleeved dress and went down just below the knee. You can see the pattern in the picture!

Doing the classic 'behive' was quite difficult also as I have quite thin hair with not much volume at all. After searching through youtube we found the best thing to do was backcomb only towards the root and do a small bun underneath, so that the hair can be brushed over!

All in all, a great success! What themes have you guys done before?

Valentines Day

Valentines day is a tough one for some people, they dwell on being single and wimper at the sight of loved up couples. I'd like to talk about one of my lovely friends who completely embraces being single. She doesn't see being single as a negative thing at all, she goes out when she wants, wears what she wants, hangs out with who she wants and never has to justify herself to anyone. However, this doesn't mean she's anti men at all. She's happy to go on dates and meet men but is such a gentle and laid back girl, that if the spark isn't there, she's just happy to remain friends.

Although i'm in a relationship and love my boyfriend very much, i wish people that were single would embrace it, and take a leaf out of my friends book! See it as a choice rather than a problem! I believe there is someone out there for everyone, you may just not have found them yet! I also think that you can't depend on someone else making you happy. It is important to be happy within yourself before diving into relationships.

So if you're single this valentines day, do something thats completely for you, something that will make YOU happy!

Love yourself.

Lent

Lent is like a New Years Resolution, you think about everything you eat thats bad for you in your life and attempt to give it up for a whole 40 DAYS! That is a LONG time! A lot of the time we don't actually manage to stick to these high expectations, and manage to crumble and then feel awful about ourselves.  

This year, rather than deciding that nothing bad for me is allowed to pass my lips, i've decided to look at it from a new angle... A kickstart to a healthier lifestyle if you will...(after the pancakes on shrove tuesday though....)

I have signed up for a 10km run in May and have done hardly any training AT ALL so far! So for Lent i will give up 'putting it off' and get my butt outside and run!

What will you be giving up this year?

About Me

I'm a 21 year old 3rd year student studying sociology and hoping to develop a career in the digital arts world once I leave! Over the past few months I have been using other people's blogs to help myself procrastinate. Sometimes anything is better than doing essays and revision, right?

I've looked at so many beauty and fashion blogs, and think they're absolutely great... but at the moment I don't think I will be soley going down that route! So right now, I don't know what this blog is about.. Hopefully it'll develop into something magical! 

x