Monday 29 September 2008

HCA

My UCAS form has finally been sent to my referee. So its either going to be a nice surprise tomorrow if my referee decides to be quick in sending my form off, or a nervous wait if my tutor decides to put it to the back of his mind, and i watch the deadline slowly approaching.

Although knackered from today's chores, and doing the desperately needed living room, kitchen and bedroom cleaning, the house is finally almost ready to be lived in; however, sadly my cousin, brother and his girlfriend have already moved in, and so they'll just have to make careful movement around the obstacles littered across the floors. Feeling a bit tired already, i should really go to sleep, but i have to prepare my lesson plan for my tutoring lesson tomorrow evening, and i still need to find my birth certificate for my HCA job tomorrow!

YAY full time employment as a HCA starts tomorrow, it's going to be a really early start... and i'm not looking forward to the long hours, especially when winter is just around the corner. Thankfully according to the ward sister, i'll only be doing day shifts this month just so i can get use to the running of the ward and all the procedures involved, but although its termed the day shift..the hours are pretty long, with 7.45am starts and 20.15pm finishes, with only an hours break for lunch. As i live approximately 50 minutes away from the hospital.. i'm not looking forward to the commute to work during the winter months!

Sunday 21 September 2008

Where to apply? - and work pay rant!

One week on from my previous post, i am still having trouble in deciding where to apply; but thankfully i have finally finished my personal statement and am on the final stages of tweaking, reading and re-reading it.

However, i found out today that i will be earning 12k a year working full time (37.5 hours/wk) as a HCA this year, and although its going to be a good experience, working only for 6 months, its hardly going to be enough to fund my travels + planned debt repayments next year, let alone a few years of my medical course, as originally hoped for.

To be honest, i was rather unhappy to see how much the pay differed from what was first advertised (if i remember correctly i saw something in the region on 19k/year!), and as a graduate i could be applying for slightly better paid jobs. I know its going to be a good experience, and although i'm complaining now, im pretty sure i will stick with it; i'm just unhappy that the job has bought with it a whole level of complication in terms of how i will make enough money, so i can do a spot of travelling next year, and won't have to be so reliant on my parents once at medical school.

- perhaps even more part time work will be the way to go!

Sunday 14 September 2008

Almost ready for UCAS 2009

So, application deadline is finally approaching, but rather than feeling quite excited, i'm actually feeling quite unprepared; not solely because i remain undecided as to where i want to apply, but most probably because i'm on my 13th draft of my personal statement, and its still quite considerably over the 4000 character limit!

If i had to think of something to represent my personal statement, i would probably choose my attic. As they have both become overly cluttered over the years, and are full to the brim with things i ought to have gotten rid off ages ago, but havn't done so as i am unsure of its significance, as it may come in handy again in the future. Its probably pre-mature granny syndrome kicking in, but i like to keep things -- just in case !

I was finally informed about the ward i will be working on this year, and probably shouldn't mention any specifics here, other than i'm quite excited, and look forward to getting off my bum and doing something productive!

....but until then, its the annual pre-uni party tonight at my friend's house, and though its pretty good every year, its just not going to be the same, as unlike most of the people attending, i won't be stuck in a lecture theatre next monday (though i sort of wish i was...).