Hopefully I can have my cake and eat it too… (ho ho ho)

So it’s been little while since I posted, never mind. Not much has happened really, at least not that I can remember. I think that’s because I’ve not been updating my one sentence diary.

A quick summary of things that I can remember so that I can remember in future:

-Bought a camera on ebay: Nikon F80

-Sold my first ever thing on ebay today

-Saw The Dark Knight in the cinema, which was really good

-Felt like I’ve been toiling hard and long when in fact I probably haven’t

-my brother got his a-level results and they weren’t very good; we aren’t sure whether he is going to university this year

The main thing I feel I need to put down on paper is my plan for getting back into university.

The first part was deciding where I want to go which I decided at some point last year was going to be Lancaster.

Then there are several other things that I need to decide and do.

-What I want to do.

-Articulate why I want to do it beyond a gut feeling.

-Show that I’m actively taking an interest in the subject.

-Apply through UCAS (yuk).

-Wait, save money, learn to drive and various other things.

So at the moment I’m waiting for a prospectus to arrive from Lancaster before sitting down to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest it. At the moment I’m leaning towards maths, philosophy or some combination of the two.

The great thing about Lancaster, one of the main reasons why I want to go there, is that in the first year (for most courses) you can study 3 different subjects. Bearing this in mind I will probably apply for Mathematics and take Philosophy alongside it and then make a decision after that year about what I want to do. At least that way I get to put making the decision off at least another two years… So Maths.

For the actively taking an interest and showing recent study, I’m going to sign up for an Open University course. There are two mathematics courses I can choose from, one which is building on a basic understanding of maths and the second which builds from a more advanced understanding of maths. I’m going to register for one tomorrow (Monday) after I’ve talked with my parents about it and plans in general.

Once I’ve done that, I need to submit an application through UCAS to Lancaster which will involve writing down and articulating not only my reasons for choosing Lancaster but my reasons for wanting to study maths. But obviously I should try to at least think about that in the mean time.

The waiting part will be difficult. I’m terrified that my application won’t be strong enough and that they’ll reject me, but I’m not really sure why. So I should basically not think about it too hard and get on with doing well in the OU course and other things like learning to drive and taking photographs etc.

The wonderful thing about my plan is that it is quite flexible. Even if Lancaster reject me, I can (and probably will) apply to other universities as well at the same time. I might even see what some of the really tip-top places say. My first choice is still Lancaster though, it would take quite a lot to tempt me away from flexible courses combined with beautiful hills and walking just to the north