2018. What a year it's been. Nationally, it's been a year of change in many ways. But for me, personally, it's been one heck of a year for many reasons, and here's why:
As those of you who have been following my blog for many years may or may not know, at the end of 2017 I moved house due to my parents getting a divorce. Even though this happened last year, a lot of the things that have happened to do with my new house have happened this year. When we bought the house (I say we, I mean my Mum), even though there was nothing particularly wrong with it, it wasn't exactly up to my Mum's expectations and there was quite a lot of things to be done. For a start, there originally wasn't a bedroom for me as it was only a three-bed house so my mum had the garage converted into a fourth bedroom for me. The kitchen and upstairs bathroom was also slightly falling apart so my Mum had both of those completely renovated and they both look like brand new. She also did a little bit of redecorating in the utility, downstairs bathroom, my brother's bedroom, and her bedroom. There is still a few more things to do, such as a complete redecoration of the living room and an extension done on my other brother's bedroom, so hopefully the house should be fully completed at some point next year.
Another big thing that happened this year was that I turned eighteen. As those of you in the UK will know, turning eighteen is a pretty big deal as it is when you officially become an adult due to you now being able to vote and legally drink alcohol. Because I'm the kind of person who doesn't like all of the attention to be on me, I decided to not bother with throwing a massive party or making a massive deal about it and just had a quiet celebratory meal with some friends and a few drinks with my family and close family friends. Looking back on it now, I kind of regret not doing something more so that I could look back in a few years and remember that time, but I guess there is nothing I can do about that now as it was what I wanted to do at the time.
One thing that I'm so glad I started again this year is my blog. As some of you will know, I took a year out of blogging because at the time I was struggling to come up with post ideas and was also struggling with trying to balance writing posts for my blog and doing work for my A-Levels. I'm kind of annoyed at myself for not finding a better way of managing my time so that I could do both, but I guess that as my A-Level results would determine my future, I had to choose A-Levels over my blog. I've now found that I'm much better at managing my time, I'm writing my posts WAY in advance (I'm writing this one at the beginning of November) and I've also planned what posts I'm going to write and when I'm going to post them. But I'm really glad that I came back to blogging and everyone has been so welcoming, so thank you all for that.
One thing that I FINALLY got around to doing was getting myself some driving lessons. For those of you who don't live in the UK, you can first start learning how to drive when you turn seventeen. I first rang my instructor about getting driving lessons at the start of January, and had my first lesson at the end of February - around two weeks before I turned eighteen. Obviously this was a long time coming and I probably should have started learning how to drive a lot sooner than I did, but I guess it was about doing it when I felt ready to. But, after a few months of lessons (37 hours to be precise) I managed to pass my driving test at the beginning of September. Obviously before this I had to take my theory test, and in that I got 46 out of 50 on the multiple choice questions and 65 out of 75 on the hazard perception test. I have only driven my car a few times so far and only stalled it maybe once or twice and somehow managed to get a score of 10 out of 10 on my driving (I had to have a black box to lower the insurance so they score me based on three different elements of my driving - speed, smoothness, and usage - in order for me to get rewards back).
Another achievement was me FINALLY being able to finish A-Levels. I obviously would never want to put anyone who is thinking of (or who is currently) doing A-Levels off the idea and it was a fun two years, but the actual A-Levels themselves were really, really hard. For those of you who don't already know, I did history, psychology, and health and social care and my final grades for these subjects was BCC. I have no idea how I managed to do this, nor do I know how I managed to make it out of those two years alive, but I did it and that's all that matters. I guess I put the hard work and effort in (not so much in year 12 but we'll ignore that for now) and worked harder than I have ever work in MY LIFE. But it looks like the saying is true - if you put in the hard work then you'll succeed. And I put in the hard work. And I succeeded.
Obviously as I finished my A-Levels and saw that chapter of my life close, a new one opened in the form of me starting university. I somehow managed to get myself an unconditional offer for my first choice uni which I am currently at, which I was pleasantly surprised at. If I'll be completely honest with you, at first I thought that they'd made a mistake, and then I thought that someone was trying to play a prank on me so I refused to get my hopes up. I'm not going to lie to you, uni life is a little difficult but it is fun at the same time. It's difficult because you're thrown into this completely new environment and have to get used to doing everything for yourself after YEARS of relying on others; as well as it getting particularly lonely at times and feeling like you have no one to talk to. However, it's also really fun because you get to meet loads of new people and make new friends who you might not have either met if you hadn't gone to uni or who you might not have been friends with if you knew them before going to uni. But so far things are going okay - they're not great but they're not particularly bad either. But hopefully things are on the up.
Now to my hopes for 2019...
I know that this is going to sound a bit pathetic, but I really want to find love at some point next year. I have been single for a little over a year now and I just want to meet someone who I really love and treats me how I deserve to be treated. I would like to think that this person is the person who I end up staying with for the rest of my life, but I get that things don't always work out that way and that I may well fall in and out of love all in the space of next year... but then again, I might not. But right now I just feel really lonely and just want someone in my life who I can talk to about absolutely anything and everything. I want to be able to share all of the highs and the lows with them. I want to be able to wake up next to them in the morning and realise how lucky I am to have them there with me. I want to be able to go on random late night trips with them... just because we can. I get that these things happen when you least expect them to, but I hope that this moment is soon because, funnily enough, I do really miss having a boyfriend. I also understand that some of you might say I'm too young for this to happen, but I know people who have been together since they were younger than me and are still going strong thirty or forty years later (and possibly longer), so you can never say that someone is too young to either find or be in love.
Another hope of mine is to set aside my anxiety and become more confident in myself. I feel that for the past few years I have let my anxiety pretty much define who I am as a person and have stopped myself from doing things just because I'm worried about having an anxiety or a panic attack while I am there. I hate it when I'm trying to fall asleep at night and I suddenly become very panicky about something that is yet to happen and have to stay up for, at times, hours, just until that panic and anxiety subsides. I want to beat this. I want to be able to come out of the other side and not overthink every little thing that has ever happened to me. I want to come out of the other side and be able to actually be able to get to sleep at a reasonable hour and stay asleep for the whole night. I want to come out of the other side and not feel so low to the point where I'm wondering if there's even any point in me continuing on with this life. I just want to feel like normal and not be held back by anything - no matter how big or how small.
My final hope for 2019 is for me to be happy. I haven't felt truly happy for as long as I can remember and I would just like to spend a few days at the least being completely happy. I don't care what the reason for this is, I'm just fed up of feeling so upset and lonely on a day-to-day basis. I look at people who appear to be enjoying themselves and having a good time and being happy and wonder why I can't be like that. Yes a smile can hide a thousand tears, and believe me I know that more than anyone, but for once in my life I just want to be able to smile at someone or tell them that I'm happy and genuinely mean it. People tell me that at my age I should be happy, but to be honest I'm not. And just because I'm young doesn't mean that I have to be happy or that I haven't experienced anything really bad happening to me, because believe me I have. But at the end of the day, at some point next year I just want to be able to look at someone directly in the eyes and tell them that I'm happy and mean it, and being able to do this would mean the absolute world to me.
So that was my round up of 2018 and my hopes for 2019. I hope that this year has been a great one for you, and if not then I hope that things can only get better for you next year. I would love to know in the comments below your own experience of 2018 and what you hope to happen in 2019.
I love you all and without you, I probably wouldn't have this blog so thank you for that.
Remember, stay safe and try not to do anything that I wouldn't (which, let's be honest, isn't that much).
Love Beth xx
Sunday 30 December 2018
Sunday 23 December 2018
What I Love About Christmas
Christmas. It's an amazing time of year isn't it? Everyone starts getting together, you see people that you might not have seen in months, possibly even years. So today I thought that I'd do a bit of a Christmassy post and give you everything about Christmas that I love.
1. The build-up
You've got to admit that the build-up to Christmas is pretty amazing, isn't it? For me, the build-up starts in September (might be a bit early for some, but for me it's the perfect time) and I become obsessed with Christmas. I just love it when Christmas songs start getting played on the radio and you start seeing Christmas adverts on the TV. I love it when I fancy a cosy Sunday in and a Christmas film is on the telly. Although I get that these things don't normally start until November/December, when I do start the build-up to Christmas I start by listening to my christmas playlist on Spotify and watching past Vlogmas videos on YouTube. My obsession this year got so bad that I've quite possibly watched every single Vlogmas there is to watch, and have listened to every single Christmas song about 100 times.
2. The songs
Everyone knows that a big part of Christmas is the songs. It doesn't matter whether they are classic ones, new ones, or songs for children, Christmas songs can without a doubt put anyone in a good mood. To me, Christmas songs are the pinnacle of Christmas. You'll see them featuring in Christmas adverts, on the radio when you're on your way to school or work, at the office Christmas party, and they will always be played when you're sitting down to eat your Christmas dinner on Christmas day itself. In my eyes, you can't go wrong with a good Christmas song.
3. Christmas adverts
One of the things that tells you that it is 100% the Christmas season is when you start seeing Christmas adverts on the TV - the main one of these being the John Lewis advert. Every year it seems that many retailers are having a competition with one another over who can create the best and the most talked about Christmas advert of the year. Even though I'm not a fan of adverts in general as they just interrupt whichever show I'm watching, I will always have time and like to sit and enjoy watching the Christmas adverts. I just find that they bring a lot of joy to me and they are one of the things that properly signals to me that Christmas is just around the corner.
4. Christmas specials/Christmas TV
Another thing I love about Christmas is the number of Christmas specials that they put on the TV. Whether it's a Christmas episode by a soap opera, a special one-off episode of a TV show that used to be on TV, or a special episode of a TV series that signals the new start of that show, you just can't beat a good Christmas special. I just like to go through the radio times, look through all of the shows that are going to be on over Christmas and highlight/make a note of everything that I want to watch and either schedule them to record or put a reminder on my phone so that I know to go and watch them. I always highlight more shows and movies than I actually have the time to watch and I'm fairly certain that I still have a few things from last Christmas that I am yet to watch, so I should probably start trying to be a bit more realistic with the things I choose to watch and the amount of time I have to watch them.
5. Christmas movies
Obviously as I watch a lot of Christmas TV, I also watch a lot of Christmas movies. Some of my favourites include Love Actually, Elf, and Nativity. I just find that over Christmas you can't beat getting all cosy on the sofa with your family with some popcorn and chocolate (or whichever other movie snacks take your fancy) and watching a good Christmas movie. In my opinion, the first acceptable Christmas film to watch is The Nightmare Before Christmas because it is a mixture of both Halloween and Christmas, but if any of you have another film that you feel is the first acceptable Christmas film to watch then please feel free to comment it down below.
6. Vlogmas
This might be something that not everyone gets involved in at Christmas, but December is probably the one month of the year that I am consistently watching YouTube videos everyday - and this, my friends, is because of Vlogmas. My favourite Vlogmas to watch would have to be Zoella's as she is probably the most Christmassy YouTuber there is and is the Queen of Vlogmas (but please feel free to disagree with me on that one). Having said that, my favourite Christmas Day vlog to watch (as much as I love them all) would have to be Saffron Barker's as I feel that her and her family go all out on Christmas day and I really envy them for it.
7. Blogmas
Being a blogger, one thing I particularly enjoy over Christmas is reading other blogger's Blogmas posts. I did take part in Blogmas in 2016, however won't be this year due to not having enough time, so please feel free to check out my posts on that. Similarly, as we are coming to the end of Blogmas now, if you have any Blogmas posts (or just any general posts) that you would like me to read then please leave your link in the comments below and I'll take the time to check them out.
8. The food
You've got to admit, the food that you eat at Christmas is better than any of the food that you eat during the rest of the year, right? My favourite would definitely have to be pigs in blankets. Even though your Christmas dinner is essentially just a massive roast dinner, it is still much better than your every Sunday roast dinner and you can't deny that. But as well as your Christmas dinner, there is also plenty of chocolates to eat throughout Christmas; as well as Christmas cake and Christmas pudding (or whatever puddings you might have as a part of your Christmas dinner).
9. Family and friends
And finally, the last thing that I love about Christmas is being able to spend time with my family and friends. To me, this is what Christmas is all about. You get to spend time with some of the people who you might not see all at the same time during a really special time of the year. You get to exchange cards and gifts with them, and see their faces full of joy when they see what's inside their presents. Family and friends are both important in their own right, and without them none of us would be the people we are today and Christmas is a time for celebrating that.
Love Beth xx
1. The build-up
You've got to admit that the build-up to Christmas is pretty amazing, isn't it? For me, the build-up starts in September (might be a bit early for some, but for me it's the perfect time) and I become obsessed with Christmas. I just love it when Christmas songs start getting played on the radio and you start seeing Christmas adverts on the TV. I love it when I fancy a cosy Sunday in and a Christmas film is on the telly. Although I get that these things don't normally start until November/December, when I do start the build-up to Christmas I start by listening to my christmas playlist on Spotify and watching past Vlogmas videos on YouTube. My obsession this year got so bad that I've quite possibly watched every single Vlogmas there is to watch, and have listened to every single Christmas song about 100 times.
2. The songs
Everyone knows that a big part of Christmas is the songs. It doesn't matter whether they are classic ones, new ones, or songs for children, Christmas songs can without a doubt put anyone in a good mood. To me, Christmas songs are the pinnacle of Christmas. You'll see them featuring in Christmas adverts, on the radio when you're on your way to school or work, at the office Christmas party, and they will always be played when you're sitting down to eat your Christmas dinner on Christmas day itself. In my eyes, you can't go wrong with a good Christmas song.
3. Christmas adverts
One of the things that tells you that it is 100% the Christmas season is when you start seeing Christmas adverts on the TV - the main one of these being the John Lewis advert. Every year it seems that many retailers are having a competition with one another over who can create the best and the most talked about Christmas advert of the year. Even though I'm not a fan of adverts in general as they just interrupt whichever show I'm watching, I will always have time and like to sit and enjoy watching the Christmas adverts. I just find that they bring a lot of joy to me and they are one of the things that properly signals to me that Christmas is just around the corner.
4. Christmas specials/Christmas TV
Another thing I love about Christmas is the number of Christmas specials that they put on the TV. Whether it's a Christmas episode by a soap opera, a special one-off episode of a TV show that used to be on TV, or a special episode of a TV series that signals the new start of that show, you just can't beat a good Christmas special. I just like to go through the radio times, look through all of the shows that are going to be on over Christmas and highlight/make a note of everything that I want to watch and either schedule them to record or put a reminder on my phone so that I know to go and watch them. I always highlight more shows and movies than I actually have the time to watch and I'm fairly certain that I still have a few things from last Christmas that I am yet to watch, so I should probably start trying to be a bit more realistic with the things I choose to watch and the amount of time I have to watch them.
5. Christmas movies
Obviously as I watch a lot of Christmas TV, I also watch a lot of Christmas movies. Some of my favourites include Love Actually, Elf, and Nativity. I just find that over Christmas you can't beat getting all cosy on the sofa with your family with some popcorn and chocolate (or whichever other movie snacks take your fancy) and watching a good Christmas movie. In my opinion, the first acceptable Christmas film to watch is The Nightmare Before Christmas because it is a mixture of both Halloween and Christmas, but if any of you have another film that you feel is the first acceptable Christmas film to watch then please feel free to comment it down below.
6. Vlogmas
This might be something that not everyone gets involved in at Christmas, but December is probably the one month of the year that I am consistently watching YouTube videos everyday - and this, my friends, is because of Vlogmas. My favourite Vlogmas to watch would have to be Zoella's as she is probably the most Christmassy YouTuber there is and is the Queen of Vlogmas (but please feel free to disagree with me on that one). Having said that, my favourite Christmas Day vlog to watch (as much as I love them all) would have to be Saffron Barker's as I feel that her and her family go all out on Christmas day and I really envy them for it.
7. Blogmas
Being a blogger, one thing I particularly enjoy over Christmas is reading other blogger's Blogmas posts. I did take part in Blogmas in 2016, however won't be this year due to not having enough time, so please feel free to check out my posts on that. Similarly, as we are coming to the end of Blogmas now, if you have any Blogmas posts (or just any general posts) that you would like me to read then please leave your link in the comments below and I'll take the time to check them out.
8. The food
You've got to admit, the food that you eat at Christmas is better than any of the food that you eat during the rest of the year, right? My favourite would definitely have to be pigs in blankets. Even though your Christmas dinner is essentially just a massive roast dinner, it is still much better than your every Sunday roast dinner and you can't deny that. But as well as your Christmas dinner, there is also plenty of chocolates to eat throughout Christmas; as well as Christmas cake and Christmas pudding (or whatever puddings you might have as a part of your Christmas dinner).
9. Family and friends
And finally, the last thing that I love about Christmas is being able to spend time with my family and friends. To me, this is what Christmas is all about. You get to spend time with some of the people who you might not see all at the same time during a really special time of the year. You get to exchange cards and gifts with them, and see their faces full of joy when they see what's inside their presents. Family and friends are both important in their own right, and without them none of us would be the people we are today and Christmas is a time for celebrating that.
Love Beth xx
Sunday 16 December 2018
My First Panic Attack
*POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING*
So today I would like to talk to you all about something that is quite difficult for me to talk about and is something that I know if I spoke about to people face-to-face or just to society in general, I would be judged for as there is a stigma around it. And this subject is about my first panic attack.
It happen around April/May last year. I had my health and social care exam in a few days so I was revising for that. I remember sitting on my bed trying (and failing) to do a past paper. Then, I started to feel my chest getting tighter and I was struggling to breathe. My arms and hands started to feel numb and I had absolutely no idea what was happening to me. One minute I remember sitting on my bed, the next I was curled up in a ball on my bedroom floor, wanting someone to come and help me but I was too afraid to ask for help, too afraid that they would judge me for what was happening to me - even though it was out of my control.
At the time I had a boyfriend. I was alone when this happened but I can remember texting him once I'd started to feel like I had regained a bit of control. To be fair to him, he was reasonably good at trying to calm me down (despite saying that he had never been in that sort of situation before and had no idea on what to do) and kept on trying to find ways to make me laugh; or at least to try and get me to get out of my state of panic. But I guess that because he didn't really have a clue on what to do, any attempts that he made to try and get me to calm down failed. And any time after this when I could feel myself starting to go back into the same place as I did when I had my panic attack, he would just completely ignore how I was feeling and dismiss it as if it wasn't a major thing. It was a major thing. I guess I should probably try and see it from his perspective of maybe feeling a bit uncomfortable and being put in an impossible situation of trying to calm me down, but it's not as if I wanted to go through this and would have given anything to not have gone through that ordeal.
Panic attacks aren't something that should be dismissed. They are a very real thing that happens to many people across the world today. They are uncontrollable and occur when you least expect them to. No-one can help it if they have one and in that moment they need those around them to help try and calm them down, and NOT just think that it's nothing and that they'll 'get over it'. Panic attacks make you feel like you're losing control, but some feel like they're having a heart attack - some people even claim that they felt like they were going to die. And it's not over-exaggeration before you say it. That is genuinely how people feel and is a way that no person should ever have to feel or even experience.
I just want you to close your eyes and imagine something for a second. Imagine that you're out shopping with a group of friends. You're all laughing and having a good time and you don't see how anything could possibly go wrong. And then, all of a sudden, you feel your chest starting to get tighter and tighter. Your limbs begin to feel like jelly. You start to sweat and feel sick. You grasp onto the wall to try and steady yourself and suddenly you fall to the floor. Your friends are still walking along and laughing. They don't realise that you are no longer with them. You can't cry out for help because you're completely unaware of your surroundings. People pass by you, carrying on their day-to-day lives like they don't see you. You feel like you're slowly drowning and don't know when it's going to stop. And even when you do start to feel like you're slowly gaining control again, you have absolutely no idea what's just happened. That's a panic attack.
Don't suffer in silence. That panic attack that I had was probably one of my worst experiences to date and I would NEVER want to go through that again. Talk to people. If you suffer from panic attacks regularly, talk to someone about it. Tell them that this is what you go through and try and explain to them what they can do to help. Even if you don't suffer from panic attacks regularly but you have had them before (even if it was only one), tell someone. You need to have a good support base around you. You need to have people around you that can (to an extent) have some idea of what you are going through so that they can try their absolute best to help you with it. You might hate the idea of telling someone and believe me I understand, but having at least one person knowing what you're going through can help you massively. Even if it means talking to me about it, then please do. I would rather know that anyone who suffers from panic attacks had confided in someone they know and trust about it (or me, a complete and utter stranger but someone who is always on hand to help), instead of keeping it to themselves. And if you do need to talk to me, I am only a short DM a way.
Please don't suffer in silence.
Love Beth xx
So today I would like to talk to you all about something that is quite difficult for me to talk about and is something that I know if I spoke about to people face-to-face or just to society in general, I would be judged for as there is a stigma around it. And this subject is about my first panic attack.
It happen around April/May last year. I had my health and social care exam in a few days so I was revising for that. I remember sitting on my bed trying (and failing) to do a past paper. Then, I started to feel my chest getting tighter and I was struggling to breathe. My arms and hands started to feel numb and I had absolutely no idea what was happening to me. One minute I remember sitting on my bed, the next I was curled up in a ball on my bedroom floor, wanting someone to come and help me but I was too afraid to ask for help, too afraid that they would judge me for what was happening to me - even though it was out of my control.
At the time I had a boyfriend. I was alone when this happened but I can remember texting him once I'd started to feel like I had regained a bit of control. To be fair to him, he was reasonably good at trying to calm me down (despite saying that he had never been in that sort of situation before and had no idea on what to do) and kept on trying to find ways to make me laugh; or at least to try and get me to get out of my state of panic. But I guess that because he didn't really have a clue on what to do, any attempts that he made to try and get me to calm down failed. And any time after this when I could feel myself starting to go back into the same place as I did when I had my panic attack, he would just completely ignore how I was feeling and dismiss it as if it wasn't a major thing. It was a major thing. I guess I should probably try and see it from his perspective of maybe feeling a bit uncomfortable and being put in an impossible situation of trying to calm me down, but it's not as if I wanted to go through this and would have given anything to not have gone through that ordeal.
Panic attacks aren't something that should be dismissed. They are a very real thing that happens to many people across the world today. They are uncontrollable and occur when you least expect them to. No-one can help it if they have one and in that moment they need those around them to help try and calm them down, and NOT just think that it's nothing and that they'll 'get over it'. Panic attacks make you feel like you're losing control, but some feel like they're having a heart attack - some people even claim that they felt like they were going to die. And it's not over-exaggeration before you say it. That is genuinely how people feel and is a way that no person should ever have to feel or even experience.
I just want you to close your eyes and imagine something for a second. Imagine that you're out shopping with a group of friends. You're all laughing and having a good time and you don't see how anything could possibly go wrong. And then, all of a sudden, you feel your chest starting to get tighter and tighter. Your limbs begin to feel like jelly. You start to sweat and feel sick. You grasp onto the wall to try and steady yourself and suddenly you fall to the floor. Your friends are still walking along and laughing. They don't realise that you are no longer with them. You can't cry out for help because you're completely unaware of your surroundings. People pass by you, carrying on their day-to-day lives like they don't see you. You feel like you're slowly drowning and don't know when it's going to stop. And even when you do start to feel like you're slowly gaining control again, you have absolutely no idea what's just happened. That's a panic attack.
Don't suffer in silence. That panic attack that I had was probably one of my worst experiences to date and I would NEVER want to go through that again. Talk to people. If you suffer from panic attacks regularly, talk to someone about it. Tell them that this is what you go through and try and explain to them what they can do to help. Even if you don't suffer from panic attacks regularly but you have had them before (even if it was only one), tell someone. You need to have a good support base around you. You need to have people around you that can (to an extent) have some idea of what you are going through so that they can try their absolute best to help you with it. You might hate the idea of telling someone and believe me I understand, but having at least one person knowing what you're going through can help you massively. Even if it means talking to me about it, then please do. I would rather know that anyone who suffers from panic attacks had confided in someone they know and trust about it (or me, a complete and utter stranger but someone who is always on hand to help), instead of keeping it to themselves. And if you do need to talk to me, I am only a short DM a way.
Please don't suffer in silence.
Love Beth xx
Sunday 9 December 2018
What's Wrong with the Education System? - A Pupil's Perspective
As someone who has been in education for the majority of her life, I have seen many changes happen during my time in education. And now that I am currently at University and looking at a potential career in teaching, I thought that I would write a post on everything that I can see that is currently wrong with the education system and what changes need to be made.
*N.B. these are my ideas as someone who was just a pupil who had just finished school, therefore being from the perspective of someone at school and not as someone who might have a bit more background knowledge of the actual education system. If you enjoy this post I might write a follow-up from this one, but from the perspective of someone who is heavily involved with the education system, so if you would be interested in reading that or would like to collaborate with me on it then please let me know.
For a start, there is an incredibly noticeable lack in the amount of mental health support that is available for pupils. Throughout my entire time in secondary education, I had absolutely no idea who I was meant to go to if I needed to talk to someone about my mental health. Now, as for someone who suffers from anxiety and depression, this was very worrying. There were plenty of times when my mental health was at its lowest and when I found myself wanting to talk to someone about it, I couldn't. Yes, during lower school we had form tutors and in upper school we had mentors, but I knew that there was no point in me talking to them about it because, based on others past experiences, I didn't think that anything would have been done about it after me speaking to them. And I know that it's not just like this in the school that I went to, but also in the majority of schools up and down the country. Therefore, I think that the Government need to take it upon themselves to do something to sort out this situation and make sure that all schools have a good mental health support system in place for those who need it.
Another thing that I don't agree with are exams. Throughout my time at school it was always put across to me that I needed to at least pass my exams in order to be able to succeed in life. It was also put across to me that the teachers need me to pass so that it reflected better on them, therefore resulting in quite a few of them only trying to get us to pass our exams just so that they could look good and take all of the credit. I didn't like this approach, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one. Throw this in with the fact that I am absolutely no good at exams, it just means that I was always set up to fail. I also don't like the fact that all exams are based on memory and even though everyone is of a different ability, we all have to sit the exact same exam. This is hardly fair is it? It's like expecting a fish, an elephant, and a monkey to all be able to climb a tree. Well, we all know that the monkey is the only one that is going to be able to do this. The elephant won't but at least he is on land; whereas for the fish, he won't be able to climb the tree AND is out of his natural habitat. I just think that exams need to be a bit more flexible in the different abilities that they cater for and need to stop expecting us all to pass an exam using our memory alone. The amount of stress that this puts on pupils is extraordinary and no teenager should have to feel like their entire life is depending on these exams - because this is what we are told (and believe me, your ENTIRE LIFE isn't down to just a few exams alone).
This ties in nicely with my next point... taking your exams at the end of two years. I have experienced both cases of either taking an exam after a year or having to study for two or three years and then take it. It is fair to say that the former was much less stressful than the latter. However, I can see the pros and cons for both. The pros of taking your exams after a year are that the content is still relatively fresh in your head so even if when you get into the exam hall and find that you have forgotten a few things, you should still be able to recall some of it as it is still relatively fresh in your mind. However the cons are that it does at times feel like you are having to learn everything at a fast pace and by the time it comes to taking the exam, some of your writing skills that you might have needed to develop might not be as of the same standard as they might have been if you had taken the exam at a later time. The pros for taking your exams after two or three years are for this reason of your writing skills having developed to a reasonable amount and not having to learn and take in the information at such a fast pace. However the cons of this are that you struggle to remember stuff that you learnt in the first year and find yourself prioritising everything you learnt in the first year instead of the stuff that you learnt in the second year when revising. I also don't like the fact that coursework is now relatively none existent and a lot of subjects rest majorly on exams (sometimes 100%) and NOT coursework. I just think that exams shouldn't have to be an issue and that the amount of exams should go down and the amount of coursework should go up.
A big issue facing education today is money. It is a widely known fact that the money given by the Government to the education system has fallen considerably and this lack of money is causing there to be many problems in education today. There isn't enough money given to schools to provide students with resources in the classrooms that they need, and nor are teachers being paid enough for the amount of work that they put in. In some schools, some teachers are even having to take on extra jobs, such as cleaning, because the school can't afford to pay for a cleaner - with this having a potential impact on children's education. If this carries on then the way things are going, children's education is going to be put at such a great risk to the point where their future is also going to be put at risk. In my opinion, the sooner the Government realises that more money needs to be put into education (as well as other services), the better.
I'm not entirely sure whether this next point is down to the education system, or whether it's just to do with schools in general, but something does need to be done about how pupils should wear their school uniforms. The uniforms are there to make them look smart, which generally speaking it does do. However, what I don't like is the many, many rules that schools put in place about the uniforms. For example, at my old school we always had to have our top buttons done up, our ties had to be a certain length and up to the top button, and skirts had to be down to our knees. More often that not we were judged for how we wore our uniform than for our actual school work. For example, one of the maths teachers that I had in year 7 and year 8 used to stand outside his room at the start of every lesson and comment on our uniform and wouldn't let us in until we had sorted it. He used to lengthen peoples ties, pull their ties up, and even tell the girls that they needed to pull their skirts down a bit so that they reached their knees or would tell them to buy a new skirt altogether. This used to take around five or ten minutes at the start of every lesson, therefore going into valuable time that we could have spent on our school work. There was several times in his lessons where he would pick on me in particular, stop midway through his lesson, come over to me and pull my tie up - because apparently how we look determines how much work and effort we are going to put into our studies. To be honest, I just think that children need to wear something in school that they feel comfortable in, and not something that is uncomfortable or makes them feel like their teachers are constantly going to be keeping an eye on what their uniform looks like and prioritising that over their learning.
So those are five of the things that I feel is wrong with the education system at the moment. If you feel that there is anything that I have missed then please feel free to comment them down below. Or if you want to add anything on to the points I have already made then please feel free to do that also. Or if you are still in education (particularly secondary school) or someone who works in education, then I would love to hear what your opinion is on anything that I have or haven't already mentioned.
Love Beth xx
*N.B. these are my ideas as someone who was just a pupil who had just finished school, therefore being from the perspective of someone at school and not as someone who might have a bit more background knowledge of the actual education system. If you enjoy this post I might write a follow-up from this one, but from the perspective of someone who is heavily involved with the education system, so if you would be interested in reading that or would like to collaborate with me on it then please let me know.
For a start, there is an incredibly noticeable lack in the amount of mental health support that is available for pupils. Throughout my entire time in secondary education, I had absolutely no idea who I was meant to go to if I needed to talk to someone about my mental health. Now, as for someone who suffers from anxiety and depression, this was very worrying. There were plenty of times when my mental health was at its lowest and when I found myself wanting to talk to someone about it, I couldn't. Yes, during lower school we had form tutors and in upper school we had mentors, but I knew that there was no point in me talking to them about it because, based on others past experiences, I didn't think that anything would have been done about it after me speaking to them. And I know that it's not just like this in the school that I went to, but also in the majority of schools up and down the country. Therefore, I think that the Government need to take it upon themselves to do something to sort out this situation and make sure that all schools have a good mental health support system in place for those who need it.
Another thing that I don't agree with are exams. Throughout my time at school it was always put across to me that I needed to at least pass my exams in order to be able to succeed in life. It was also put across to me that the teachers need me to pass so that it reflected better on them, therefore resulting in quite a few of them only trying to get us to pass our exams just so that they could look good and take all of the credit. I didn't like this approach, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one. Throw this in with the fact that I am absolutely no good at exams, it just means that I was always set up to fail. I also don't like the fact that all exams are based on memory and even though everyone is of a different ability, we all have to sit the exact same exam. This is hardly fair is it? It's like expecting a fish, an elephant, and a monkey to all be able to climb a tree. Well, we all know that the monkey is the only one that is going to be able to do this. The elephant won't but at least he is on land; whereas for the fish, he won't be able to climb the tree AND is out of his natural habitat. I just think that exams need to be a bit more flexible in the different abilities that they cater for and need to stop expecting us all to pass an exam using our memory alone. The amount of stress that this puts on pupils is extraordinary and no teenager should have to feel like their entire life is depending on these exams - because this is what we are told (and believe me, your ENTIRE LIFE isn't down to just a few exams alone).
This ties in nicely with my next point... taking your exams at the end of two years. I have experienced both cases of either taking an exam after a year or having to study for two or three years and then take it. It is fair to say that the former was much less stressful than the latter. However, I can see the pros and cons for both. The pros of taking your exams after a year are that the content is still relatively fresh in your head so even if when you get into the exam hall and find that you have forgotten a few things, you should still be able to recall some of it as it is still relatively fresh in your mind. However the cons are that it does at times feel like you are having to learn everything at a fast pace and by the time it comes to taking the exam, some of your writing skills that you might have needed to develop might not be as of the same standard as they might have been if you had taken the exam at a later time. The pros for taking your exams after two or three years are for this reason of your writing skills having developed to a reasonable amount and not having to learn and take in the information at such a fast pace. However the cons of this are that you struggle to remember stuff that you learnt in the first year and find yourself prioritising everything you learnt in the first year instead of the stuff that you learnt in the second year when revising. I also don't like the fact that coursework is now relatively none existent and a lot of subjects rest majorly on exams (sometimes 100%) and NOT coursework. I just think that exams shouldn't have to be an issue and that the amount of exams should go down and the amount of coursework should go up.
A big issue facing education today is money. It is a widely known fact that the money given by the Government to the education system has fallen considerably and this lack of money is causing there to be many problems in education today. There isn't enough money given to schools to provide students with resources in the classrooms that they need, and nor are teachers being paid enough for the amount of work that they put in. In some schools, some teachers are even having to take on extra jobs, such as cleaning, because the school can't afford to pay for a cleaner - with this having a potential impact on children's education. If this carries on then the way things are going, children's education is going to be put at such a great risk to the point where their future is also going to be put at risk. In my opinion, the sooner the Government realises that more money needs to be put into education (as well as other services), the better.
I'm not entirely sure whether this next point is down to the education system, or whether it's just to do with schools in general, but something does need to be done about how pupils should wear their school uniforms. The uniforms are there to make them look smart, which generally speaking it does do. However, what I don't like is the many, many rules that schools put in place about the uniforms. For example, at my old school we always had to have our top buttons done up, our ties had to be a certain length and up to the top button, and skirts had to be down to our knees. More often that not we were judged for how we wore our uniform than for our actual school work. For example, one of the maths teachers that I had in year 7 and year 8 used to stand outside his room at the start of every lesson and comment on our uniform and wouldn't let us in until we had sorted it. He used to lengthen peoples ties, pull their ties up, and even tell the girls that they needed to pull their skirts down a bit so that they reached their knees or would tell them to buy a new skirt altogether. This used to take around five or ten minutes at the start of every lesson, therefore going into valuable time that we could have spent on our school work. There was several times in his lessons where he would pick on me in particular, stop midway through his lesson, come over to me and pull my tie up - because apparently how we look determines how much work and effort we are going to put into our studies. To be honest, I just think that children need to wear something in school that they feel comfortable in, and not something that is uncomfortable or makes them feel like their teachers are constantly going to be keeping an eye on what their uniform looks like and prioritising that over their learning.
So those are five of the things that I feel is wrong with the education system at the moment. If you feel that there is anything that I have missed then please feel free to comment them down below. Or if you want to add anything on to the points I have already made then please feel free to do that also. Or if you are still in education (particularly secondary school) or someone who works in education, then I would love to hear what your opinion is on anything that I have or haven't already mentioned.
Love Beth xx
Sunday 2 December 2018
Tattoos and Coloured Hair: are they acceptable for work?
I feel that this has been a long debated topic and decided that it is something that I would like to talk about on my blog. There has often been a lot of stigma around people having tattoos and having coloured hair, with many people (particularly in the older generation) saying that people who have either (or both) of these are unemployable. Personally, I think that this is complete and utter nonsense and don't understand where this opinion came from.
We all look different and none of us look the same. We all have different personalities and interests that make us who we are. If we didn't have these then we would be lying to ourselves about who we really are - almost like playing a character.
We all like to express ourselves in different ways, and for some people this means dying their hair or having tattoos put on their body. People should be allowed to express themselves in whatever way they like, whether society likes it or not. The only person that should be allowed to tell you what to do is you and not anybody else; whether you know them or not. Obviously everyone has their own opinion and like to make this opinion known, but just because they have an opinion doesn't mean that they have the right to tell you what you can and cannot do. And if you want to dye your hair a random colour just because you want to, then go for it. If you want to get a tattoo because you like the look of it or it holds a special meaning to you, then go for it.
Now, moving onto the problem of having coloured hair and tattoos in the workplace. It is a common belief that people who have coloured hair and/or tattoos aren't as hardworking or as good at doing work as those who have natural looking hair and no tattoos (at least not any visible ones). As a young person, I have never understood this belief. As an example, when my dad's family found out that my cousin had got a tattoo, they all went mad. They were not at all impressed by it, but for me, personally, I couldn't see that there was anything wrong with it. I mean, at the end of the day, it's just a bit of ink on your skin. I get that it's there for life, but if it's something that you like and you want to have then you go for it.
But from what I can gather, people who do the interviews for potential employees don't just judge them by what's on their CV, but also by how they look. And if they interview someone who has coloured hair or visible tattoos then that person is pretty much guaranteed to have been put in the no pile before they've even sat down to have the interview. Even if their CV is MILES better than anyone else's, if they have coloured hair or tattoos then it's a big no-no. I read something online recently where someone said that they had been to an interview and for the interview they had covered up their tattoos. They were given the job and on their first day of work they turned up with their tattoos on show. But obviously by this point they had already been employed and their employer had realised that there was nothing they could do about it. So just because someone has coloured hair or tattoos doesn't in any way mean that they are unemployable.
I, myself, do not have coloured hair or tattoos. My hair is its natural colour and I do at some point want to get a tattoo, however I want to wait a while until I either find something that I like or can think of a tattoo idea that would be meaningful to me. But if and when I do eventually get a tattoo (or colour my hair) I would like to know that someone would want to employ me because of what's on my CV, and NOT take into account the fact that I have coloured hair or a tattoo. Wanting to work with children, possibly as a teacher, means that this will probably be a tiny bit more difficult for me as I know that employers don't like teachers in particular to have tattoos that are showing as, for the reason that one person told me, they're a 'bad influence' on children. I, personally, don't see what the problem is. Chances are that some of those children when they get older are going to end up with at least one tattoo anyway, so what's the problem? Plus the fact that many of them (if they're like me when I was a child) will have stick on tattoos.
To me, I don't see what the big deal is about people having tattoos or coloured hair in the world of work. One of my lecturers has purple hair, but does that make her a bad lecturer? No, it absolutely does not. If anything she's probably one of my most interesting lecturers that I have teaching me. It's slowly coming up to 2019 now and there are still people in the work environment who believe that people with coloured hair and/or tattoos aren't suitable for work. I don't understand this attitude and think that it's now time for change. We need to stop judging people by their appearance and start judging them by what it says on their CV and how they come across as a person.
I would love to hear your views on this topic. Do you believe that people with tattoos and coloured hair are suitable for work? If yes then why? If not, why not? Or do you have tattoos and/or coloured hair and have been turned down for a job for this reason? Let me know in the comments below.
Love Beth xx
We all look different and none of us look the same. We all have different personalities and interests that make us who we are. If we didn't have these then we would be lying to ourselves about who we really are - almost like playing a character.
We all like to express ourselves in different ways, and for some people this means dying their hair or having tattoos put on their body. People should be allowed to express themselves in whatever way they like, whether society likes it or not. The only person that should be allowed to tell you what to do is you and not anybody else; whether you know them or not. Obviously everyone has their own opinion and like to make this opinion known, but just because they have an opinion doesn't mean that they have the right to tell you what you can and cannot do. And if you want to dye your hair a random colour just because you want to, then go for it. If you want to get a tattoo because you like the look of it or it holds a special meaning to you, then go for it.
Now, moving onto the problem of having coloured hair and tattoos in the workplace. It is a common belief that people who have coloured hair and/or tattoos aren't as hardworking or as good at doing work as those who have natural looking hair and no tattoos (at least not any visible ones). As a young person, I have never understood this belief. As an example, when my dad's family found out that my cousin had got a tattoo, they all went mad. They were not at all impressed by it, but for me, personally, I couldn't see that there was anything wrong with it. I mean, at the end of the day, it's just a bit of ink on your skin. I get that it's there for life, but if it's something that you like and you want to have then you go for it.
But from what I can gather, people who do the interviews for potential employees don't just judge them by what's on their CV, but also by how they look. And if they interview someone who has coloured hair or visible tattoos then that person is pretty much guaranteed to have been put in the no pile before they've even sat down to have the interview. Even if their CV is MILES better than anyone else's, if they have coloured hair or tattoos then it's a big no-no. I read something online recently where someone said that they had been to an interview and for the interview they had covered up their tattoos. They were given the job and on their first day of work they turned up with their tattoos on show. But obviously by this point they had already been employed and their employer had realised that there was nothing they could do about it. So just because someone has coloured hair or tattoos doesn't in any way mean that they are unemployable.
I, myself, do not have coloured hair or tattoos. My hair is its natural colour and I do at some point want to get a tattoo, however I want to wait a while until I either find something that I like or can think of a tattoo idea that would be meaningful to me. But if and when I do eventually get a tattoo (or colour my hair) I would like to know that someone would want to employ me because of what's on my CV, and NOT take into account the fact that I have coloured hair or a tattoo. Wanting to work with children, possibly as a teacher, means that this will probably be a tiny bit more difficult for me as I know that employers don't like teachers in particular to have tattoos that are showing as, for the reason that one person told me, they're a 'bad influence' on children. I, personally, don't see what the problem is. Chances are that some of those children when they get older are going to end up with at least one tattoo anyway, so what's the problem? Plus the fact that many of them (if they're like me when I was a child) will have stick on tattoos.
To me, I don't see what the big deal is about people having tattoos or coloured hair in the world of work. One of my lecturers has purple hair, but does that make her a bad lecturer? No, it absolutely does not. If anything she's probably one of my most interesting lecturers that I have teaching me. It's slowly coming up to 2019 now and there are still people in the work environment who believe that people with coloured hair and/or tattoos aren't suitable for work. I don't understand this attitude and think that it's now time for change. We need to stop judging people by their appearance and start judging them by what it says on their CV and how they come across as a person.
I would love to hear your views on this topic. Do you believe that people with tattoos and coloured hair are suitable for work? If yes then why? If not, why not? Or do you have tattoos and/or coloured hair and have been turned down for a job for this reason? Let me know in the comments below.
Love Beth xx
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