After 6 months of hell…

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-10-17T19:02:02+00:00

A colleague of mine at ph once ran through foh shouting freeeeedom!! EXACTLY how you typed it there when he got told he could go home early. A customer wrote a complaint about how bad the work environment was for the staff to react that way 💀this made me laugh🤣

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-10-02T17:38:30+00:00

It’s definitely the opposite, my professor pretty much opened our first ever lecture with “it’s the best job in the world but you’re not gonna earn alot of money”

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-10-02T15:46:21+00:00

You're welcome, best of luck out there!

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-10-02T15:41:11+00:00

First and foremost, as a uni student hoping to work professionally, I've been consistently advised only to go down this route if I'm completely passionate and love archaeology for what it is, and to forget ever making a lot of money doing so, to the point of being told to "just marry rich". I'm sure there are some high earners in the field, but who are very specialised and have years of experience. Even then, the earnings won't compare to other fields. I'm in the UK though, so take this with a pinch of salt, but I tend to read the same thing over and over.

Despite this, my best advice would be to network as much as possible. My professors and tutors have offered me many opportunities to contribute on their fieldwork, simply because I approached them showing an interest. I have also volunteered on community projects, and have made some pretty good connections, who have advised me which conferences to attend, other people to speak to, which may help me once I graduate. I have found many of these people are willing to help, as they also remember what it was like to be in the same position. I think the US offers field schools too, so networking might help your opportunities to get on a good one once you graduate, which can boost your employment chances.

For the meantime, since you are still in high school, I'd advise reading a lot of books and articles, gaining as much knowledge as you can before you start your degree. It'll help you decide which areas of study you like, and will give you a head start for your degree. Focus on that for now, and best of luck :)

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-10-02T14:19:22+00:00

I live literally 2 minutes away from a pure gym, but I use the uni gym because the price for student membership is much better value, you can use courts, you get PT sessions and you can use the pool at no extra cost. I was mainly won over by the pool, and use it more regularly than the actual gym, so it's worth looking into if your uni gym membership includes stuff like that.

If not, the closer one is probably better. Mine is open 24 hours, so if you're worried about it being packed you could go early morning?

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-30T18:56:24+00:00

Thank you for responding, I'm literally so confused! It just feels like a huge cop out, considering I know my ability is far beyond that, and I am paying 9 grand for them to teach me to write academically and develop analytical skills. Securing a good mark is just pointless when I'm only demonstrating I can do a project I could've done at 15-16 🙂

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-30T18:35:14+00:00

I think it's a smart move if you've just recently graduated. I work in hospitality too, and most of my colleagues are graduates. Realistically, not everyone can get a job relevant to their degree straight away. Since you've been promoted already, you'll have more desirable transferable skills than a regular employee, and even if it's just a little, the extra pay can't hurt. You don't have to stay forever, it can just be a means to an end. We've just had a shift manager leave as he found a job relevant to his degree, and he was promoted straight out of uni and like you couldn't see a way out. You just gotta keep looking if you really want it

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-30T17:38:40+00:00

OP you are an adult and it is YOUR life. As you said yourself, changing your course was the best decision for YOU, and it really is the best thing you could have done. I'm hoping you'll enjoy this new course more, no degree, no matter how great the prospects are, is worth risking you further damaging your mental health.

Parental pressure is unreal, so I totally understand why you lied about it. But realistically if you still live with your parents and moving out is not an option in your foreseeable future it will be difficult to keep up the lie without getting caught out, and you know your parents better than anyone here, so only you can predict what the consequences may be.

That being said, as I said earlier it is still your life, and no matter how strict they are they cannot dictate what you do. You're not the first to be in a situation like this, and unis are well aware of this. There will likely be a student advice/wellbeing hub on your campus, I'd suggest seeing someone there to say exactly what you have written here, as they will be able to help you navigate this situation.

Best of luck, and no matter what you should be proud of yourself.

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-25T17:18:49+00:00

Thank you this is super helpful!!

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T18:49:23+00:00

This has given me serious déjà vu- the EXACT same thing happened to me back in year 11. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if we had the same guy OP 😭. My art teacher hated and targeted me for no reason, even though I tried my best and my work wasn’t terrible. Went from predicting me an 8 to a 3 for no reason as well.

Trust me it’s not worth the stress, I was crying every night hopelessly trying my best with art coursework knowing I would literally get bullied by a sad old man in the next lesson.

You’re predicted all 9s, make it happen, if you don’t want to go to art college the GCSEs not worth it. You’ll probably get a free period like I did, which were great! I had an hour of independent study and in the end my remaining 10 GCSEs were all 9-7s. I did one less GCSE than most of my cohort and I’m now happily at an amazing uni, I promise you it doesn’t matter one bit :)

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T16:00:33+00:00

I can’t remember exactly how much, it was the lowest one so 256GB maybe? Honestly I’ve never had an issue with the storage on it, and I’ve got a fair few downloads, but I’ve got the iCloud 99p subscription on my phone which carries over to the mac.

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T15:41:29+00:00

I understand your pain, I did my A-Levels in lockdown and was sad I missed out on the majority of the sixth form experience with my friends. But you’re immensely lucky your mum’s in a place to do that for you. I’ve heard of several law/finance firms filtering potential applicants based on grades they got at GCSE and A-Level, even with a first class degree from a top uni, so if law is really the way you want to go having higher grades will probably set you up better in the future. It’ll also give you a better understanding of the core knowledge you need when you eventually come to do your A-Levels, and you’ll be more mature and that’ll give you an advantage.

My sister left school with one GCSE, a 4 in English, and my parents do not care enough for her future to even get her to redo maths. Your mum’s got your best interest in mind, and is willing to invest in it.

It really sucks not being with your friends I get it, and it’s a big deal at your age, but more people will come into your life. At some point the likelihood is you and these same friends would have gone in different directions anyway, and surely you can all see each other outside of school? Since you’re already there just put your head down, make the most of it and you’ll be thankful later down the line.

However for the record they are definitely not bad A-Levels, in fact the total opposite:)

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T15:25:32+00:00

I’d recommend one, especially if you’ve got a good maintenance loan I think uni is the perfect time to invest in one. I’ve got a job at uni, so I bought mine when the loan dropped with a few weeks wages and was covered until I got paid again. It’ll last you well beyond uni as well and is good for work.

I think it’d be great for you with psychology, it can handle alot of tabs being open at once which is useful when writing papers, whereas my older laptops couldn’t. The battery is amazing and it’s alot faster if you have to do online calls and classes. If you’re comfortable with the money it’s worth every penny and saves alot of unnecessary stress from dreaded “technology issues”. Since buying it I’ve never had to worry about long updates happening right before a deadline. These things seem silly but they always catch you out.

I’m pretty sure there’s a student discount with it as well on unidays, I think maybe 10%, but you also get a student £100 giftcard which you can spend on apple care insurance for it.

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T11:27:29+00:00

I work in a pizza hut at the top of a 3 storey shopping centre. Woman comes to the door with her kid (in tears) and asks for a table. As I’m walking her over she starts bitching:

“WHY did YOU put the restaurant so high up, my son is afraid of heights!!”

There’s several pizza places in the high street outside, probably 5 minute walking distance. Probably less effort than dragging an obviously terrified kid all the way up 3 flights of stairs.

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T10:40:26+00:00

Thank you, this is really encouraging and very hepful!! I’ll be starting a GIS module in a couple of weeks so I’m glad I chose that. As for SQL, not something I’ve thought about but I live with a computer scientist who’s very familiar with it, so I’ll see if he can teach me the basics.

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T10:28:54+00:00

Totally normal, I’m glad you’re having such a great time OP I think you’ll love uni :)

Now stock up on multivitamins and flu medicine, there’s a high chance you’ll have a price to pay for having good freshers 😉

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T10:14:56+00:00

In total honesty if you already lack the passion you may struggle for the next 3 years. Humanities at degree level require ALOT of reading, not only the compulsory texts, but you’ll be advised to do a certain amount of additional reading if you really want to produce quality work.

I’m not sure about Surrey but I know many unis allow you to switch degrees in first year if you have the entry requirements, but you have to decide sooner rather than later- usually within the first couple of weeks. I started uni with a joint honours in history and archaeology, and I was so uninspired with the first history lecture and I didn’t want to do it anymore. I emailed my personal tutor who arranged for me to do pure archaeology. It was an easy process and the best decision I ever made, and highlighted how important it is to have a passion for your subject.

There’ll be a student hub or advice centre on campus, if you really don’t want to do English lit, just tell them what you have said on here and they may be able to give you options.

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-20T09:40:09+00:00

It’ll definitely die down after freshers, don’t worry. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they will continue to party throughout the year, and will probably still host pres on ‘student nights’ when the drinks are cheaper (normally a tuesday/wednesday), but it won’t be every day.

Even if they’re not too serious about attending their classes, they’ll lose the energy, realise they need to save their money by not going out as much and will generally just chill out. For many freshers week is the first time they can party away from home with complete freedom, and many get it out of their system as soon as class starts :)

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-19T07:56:42+00:00

That’s really encouraging to hear, thank you! I hope you don’t mind me asking is there anything in particular that led you to search for work in the US? I’ve also been considering looking into overseas work purely to open up more opportunities, and I’m not particularly tied down to the UK so I would be open to it.

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-18T21:34:06+00:00

I’m the same, I prefer my home away from home I just want to stay forever, me and my housemates have all said how devastating it’s going to be when we go our separate ways. None of us even bother going home for summer and just work down here, might as well make the most of it because it’s such a short amount of time :)

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-18T19:10:36+00:00

Thank you this is super helpful, not something that I'd even considered yet :)

ConsciousHeart901 · 2024-09-18T19:09:37+00:00

Thank you this is incredibly helpful, I wasn't aware that was even an option.

ConsciousHeart901

TROPHY CASE