New things coming this week!

Hi guys,

So, this week heralds the start of another chapter in my road to becoming a teacher. I've just finished a bunch of essay papers for college and on Wednesday, I've got my open day at the University of Sheffield. I'm really looking forward to getting a good look around the campus and facilities and getting to chat to the lecturers and find out about the course.

In other news, I start my placement at Aston Academy on Friday. I will be working as a teaching assistant in the history department. Aston Academy was where I studied for my GCSE's (well, it was Aston Comprehensive back then, but hey) so it will be a blast from the past to walk those halls again.

Im finishing off a few papers now as I head into the final stages of this course. I'm also starting to think about if I will continue working when I'm at Uni, or if I will drop a shift or maybe stop working altogether. Something to think about eh?

So, that's me for this week. I'll leave you with a fantastic poem I found the other day while reading for my latest English essay. It is a WWI poem and I really like the simplicity of it, yet the darker undertones it gives off are nice as it adds a complexity to it. Make of it what you will. If you want to give your own opinions, comment below.



Elegy In A Country Churchyard

The men that worked for England
They have their graves at home:
And bees and birds of England
About the cross can roam.

But they that fought for England,
Following a falling star,
Alas, alas for England
They have their graves afar.

And they that rule in England,
In stately conclave met,
Alas, alas for England
They have no graves as yet.

 - G.K. Chesterton




J-Fuzz out!

New beginnings!

Hello Internet. It’s been a while hasn’t it? Quite a lot has happened over the last few months. I’ll give you the run down of what’s been happening recently. You can decide if it’s interesting or not.

So, I started college in September last year, which is a big deal for me. i lost my dad when I was 16, about a month before i was due to sit my AS levels. I ended up flunking all of them. I tried re-sitting them the following year, but got similar results, and thus ended my academic career. Or so I thought. After years of wanting to be a teacher, I finally decided to take the plunge, get a part time job rather than full time, and enrol in an access course in humanities, with a view to go to university the following year. I can say now, with utter certainty, that this has been the best decision I have ever made. I am finally moving past things that I have, for so long, almost used as an excuse for my poor career choices. I am moving forward to bigger and better things.

So, it’s March now. I have completed 2 essays for each subject so far (History, English and Sociology) and have attained a total of 15 distinctions and 3 Merits. I’ve just handed in another essay for each subject, but I’m waiting on results. Fingers crossed eh? I’ve also had my offers back from uni and I’ve selected my first and second choices, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam respectively. I need 30 distinctions and 15 Merits minimum to get into UOS, so I need to keep up the pace I’ve already set. 

I am so excited to be going to Uni next year, as it is something I have never done before. Ok, so I never did college before either, but I did 6th form, which is similar. University, however, is a completely new experience. I’m excited and a little scared, but the thought that, in 4 or 5 years time, I’ll be a history teacher. Yes, I decided to go with teaching history. 

What makes this part of my life even better is that I’m not doing it alone. My best friend is also studying at college, although not on the same course, and is going to the same uni as me next year, also to become a teacher, though it will be of science, not history. Walking this path side by side has made the experience so far even more exciting for me. 

I’m also fully aware that I need to mention a couple of other special people. The most special people  (the specialist people?) I’m talking, of course, about my wife and son, Donna and Alfie. Without their support I may very well have given up on myself early on, or even before I started the course. 

Other than college, there hasn’t really been any change. I still play video games, I still watch classic Doctor Who and I still read comic books. The “Spider-Verse” event has just finished in Amazing Spider-Man, which I have mixed feelings about. I will probably write another entry entirely devoted to this to be honest, as there is too much to put in here. 

I got a ‘New Nintendo 3DS’ too. I went to the midnight launch at Game in Meadowhall and got ‘Monster hunter 4 Ultimate’ (of which I have played around 40 hours so far) and ‘Majoras Mask’ (of which I have played around 1 hour so far). Again, I’ll post a separate entry to discuss my feelings on this at a later date.

So, that’s the catch up done with. I’ll be trying to keep these updates and entries fairly regular, if not every week, then hopefully every other week. Not that I suppose anyone will read this. It’s mainly for my own documentation but I thought i’d post it on the off chance that someone in this big old world would like to hear my thoughts.

J-Fuzz out!