As the title says, I got final acceptance for my MSc! Woo! I get to do the whole Freshers week thing again - which I'm pretty excited about :) But also getting to know a whole new group of people, a new way of studying, a chance to work as hard and achieve as much as I should have in my undergrad degree. I'm soooooo excited. I'm getting a second chance but with the maturity to appreciate it at last.
later:
very funny! I just got an email from Margret Smith at the Parliament inviting me to an interview as a research assistant! I've never been contacted out of the blue to inverview for a job - my confidence is sky-high now! Of course I can't go for it what with the MSc success (I've thought about it and I don't think I can manage a job and the MSc p/t), but have suggested I could do a few hours a week voluntaraly to keep my research skills in tune. :)
later again:
Had a job interview with an accountancy firm today - no, not as an accountant, but as a secretary for a few hours a week. The firm is much bigger than I thought, but still nice and friendly - the people interviewing me were pleasant and generally seemed to think that I'd fit the bill for the job. Mr Hamilton's attitude was "stuff interviews - I'll take the first suitable candidate", and he seemed to think that I was suitable, so it's all good. The pay is pretty good to, and they're willing to be flexiable about when I do the hours. They said they'll get back to me very soon - and I believe them!
Later still:
I got the job - woooo! I'm employed! :)
And later again:
I got a call offering me the job at the Uni information services a week after the interview - got to tell them that they were too late cause I've got a job ;) Ok, not literally, but near enough!
Monday, 30 July 2007
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Tum te tum te tum (wow my titles are unimaginative)
Just waiting to hear back about a job interview I had today - really really hope that I get it. It seemed to go well and they were friendly enough, but I worry that I don't have enough of the practical skills they are looking for - ie good numerical skills! But I'm willing to work hard and to learn what's required for the position. On the plus side one of the interviewers did some acting at Manderston House, where I used to work, during the filming of The Edwardian Country House series, so that was some useful common-ground. The other interviewer was pleasant - head of sales and marketing for the university. I just hope I've made a good enough impression!
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Leaving drinks etc.
Went to Jordans leaving drinks last night: was a nice evening, and I wasn't uncomfortable around a large group of people I didn't know (I was worried that I'd just freak out and have to make my excuses early in the evening) - makes a nice change. Was a sad evening, of course: it's never nice to see a friend leave, but I'm going to have to get used to it over the next couple of weeks. I'll miss him lots, as I'll miss Lou and James and everyone else, but it's not as if I'll never see any of them ever again! It's just another end, and another begining: all of us will be starting something new (including me hopefully) but we'll all keep in touch. It's just going to be differant, and we'll meet new people and make new friends and learn new skills - it'll be good.
Speaking of new - I got a job interview at long last :D Huzzah! It's a slaes job, but it's not Tesco, which is always good! I just hope I get it!
Speaking of new - I got a job interview at long last :D Huzzah! It's a slaes job, but it's not Tesco, which is always good! I just hope I get it!
Friday, 13 July 2007
Newspaper star (cont.)
Well the article came out today, but not in the Edinburgh Evening News as I expected, but in The Scotsman! It's a half-page spread on page 22 but has a big picture of me (from graduation) and a short interview section :D
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Newspaper star today...
...fish+chip wrapping tomorrow! ;)
I'm very ammused! I mentioned to a friend (at the pub, as all great stories start) who works for the Edinburgh Evening News that Edinburgh University graduates were being offered a 10% discount on post-graduate study fees (which is a nice little bonus for those of us who had made-up our minds already to continue study here). This has since been turned into a full-page spread with me being featured as a case-study :) Very, very funny! I got the call from Simon this morning while I was helping Harry clean her flat (Chris' old place - it was increadibly mucky) so there was me dressed in my oldest, messiest clothes being interviewed for a newspaper - it's the sort of situation I find funny. He was going to send a photographer around to take a picture to go with the case-study, but (fortunately for me) no-one was avaliable so I sent in a couple of graduation photos instead. The story might not yet run but, hey, it's a bit of a laugh.
I'm very ammused! I mentioned to a friend (at the pub, as all great stories start) who works for the Edinburgh Evening News that Edinburgh University graduates were being offered a 10% discount on post-graduate study fees (which is a nice little bonus for those of us who had made-up our minds already to continue study here). This has since been turned into a full-page spread with me being featured as a case-study :) Very, very funny! I got the call from Simon this morning while I was helping Harry clean her flat (Chris' old place - it was increadibly mucky) so there was me dressed in my oldest, messiest clothes being interviewed for a newspaper - it's the sort of situation I find funny. He was going to send a photographer around to take a picture to go with the case-study, but (fortunately for me) no-one was avaliable so I sent in a couple of graduation photos instead. The story might not yet run but, hey, it's a bit of a laugh.
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Catch up
Right, I have a bit of spare time and the inclination to write something at last. Where do I start?
25/06 - Graduation
Was a lovely day :) The family came up at 12ish and we headed up to Bristo Square. They went off to have a coffee while I went to pick up my gown and hood, and register: I had the standard black gown with a white hood, represtenting I had graduated with an MA. It felt great flouting around in my gown and smart clothes, but I only got to keep the gown and hood for a few hours other wise I'd probably still be wearing it now :D After doing the necessary preliminaries I went to join the parents at the cafe. We went from there over to Potterrow for a quick complimentary coffee and the expected photos (which turned out really well) before heading off to McEwan Hall for a few more pics then the big ceremony.
The McEwan Hall is a beautiful, awe-inspiring building and the perfect setting for what was a ceremony of pomp and circumstance. I was sat with the rest of the Geoscience set down in the main hall and the parents were sat up in the balcony. The first group through were the physics Mscs and Undergrads - Ali Braiden was there getting his PhD and looked very smart in his kilt and colours. Then came the Geosciences - Geography and Politics came toward the end of this section. I was fortunately sat next to Jordan who I know quite well and Gillian who I've met a couple of times before - there were only five of us (one guy had decided to graduate in absentia). We were sheparded into place one by one to be tapped on the head with 'The Cap': 'The Cap' is the one hat with which all graduates of Edinburgh uni are tapped on the head with (we do not get to wear the traditional caps for various reasons) which is reputed to be made from the trousers of John Knox or John Buchanan depending on what you believe - the one bit you can believe is that the university badge sewn into the inside of the bonnet has been into space, which is very cool :) It was all over very quickly as we were quickly herded off to collect our scrolls - I can't very clearly remember the 10 seconds after being tapped on the head with the cap, I blanked out a little bit with the disbelief that it was all over! We went back to our seats and were followed by the chemistry class.
The whole thing was over in an hour which suprised me a lot, but pleasantly. After this the geosciences group went down to the department for drinks - the place was crowded! Dad had to go home to pick up my brother from work, so Mum and I went for a quick wander down but it was so busy that we beat a hasty retreat. We ran into Jordan, his parents and Rosie coming the other way - his parents were very pleasant and Jordan and I had a couple of photos taken together (I was a bit annoyed because I had handed back my gown at that point - it would have been nice to get a picture of both of us in our gowns with our scrolls, but never mind). Mum and I then caught the bus back to the flat (my shoes, as low heeled as they were, had given me nasty blisters!) where we waited for Dad and Pete to arrive.
When they did at last we opened a bottle of champagne and had a wee drink with Ruth (flatmate) before the family and I headed off to dinner at La Gerrick on Jeffery St. La Gerrick is a lovely little French restaurant looking out onto Carlton Hill - which at sunset is a very beautiful sight indeed. I had a provincial style mackeral pate: it wasn't abbrasive as a lot of mackeral dishes are, it was very soft and pleasant: for the main course I had roasted saddle of rabbit wrapped in pancetta served with creamy pollenta - I've never had rabbit before and I was so impressed by this dish! The softness and taste of the meat worked beautifully with the creaminess of the pollenta (I've cooked pollenta before and I was so unimpressed - clearly I was just doing it wrong!) - I can't remember anything to equal this dish! We had this with a lovely French red wine, but stupidly I didn't check what it was - will try and find out at some point. And for pudding I had a lavender creme brulee served with a raspberry syrup and a lemon biscotte: I nearly died and went to heaven. The burnt suger was the perfect flavour to contrast the creamy sweetness and soft texture of the lavender custard - I would go again just for that! The tables were made by the artist Tim Stead - a wonderful artist who worked in wood: he was well know for the use of heavily knotted wood to make unique, sturdy and very tactile, practical works of art (I remember going to see a post-humerous exhibition of his work when I was very young - the piece I remember from this was an enormous, low-level chess-set formed of a full slice of tree trunk inset with darker wood, and polished to a lusterous shine using bees wax. The outside edge was uneven but smoothed out - a really beautiful piece). The meal was slow and relaxed, and we had one of the family discussions that I relish, covering everything from politics to art to architecture (we discussed a fantastic new paper by one of my ex-lecturers on the politics of corridors - Pete, as an engineering student and I as a social scientist had a wonderful discussion on how the use of specific materials can affect the impact on the interaction of people - I'll write it up a bit later). The family decided to head home that evening rather than stay at the flat - Pete drove them all back to Duns.
And that was the day - hectic but wonderful. It's funny that that was the day that I had been building towards all the days of my education, and sundenly it was all over. I'm so grateful to everyone who has helped me reach this point, especially my parents - they've done so much for me all my life, I couldn't even begin to express the level of my gratitude.
Since then:
I've been on a bit of a come down since then because I've not had a lot to do: the Summer job hunt has so far been unsuccessful - I blooming well hope I get a job before my Msc starts in September. Speaking of which I am still waiting for my letter of confirmation from the Geography department: it's frustrating because I feel so insecure about the whole thing anyway that being kept waiting that little bit longer isn't helping! Everyone has disappeared for the week on holiday except for me so I've spent my time cleaning the flat, doing some DIY, visiting galleries, seeing films etc to fill the time. Rehearsals for the Fringe show start again on monday - looking forward to it! Speaking of which, I'd best write in rehearsal dates and times on my calander before I forget!
25/06 - Graduation
Was a lovely day :) The family came up at 12ish and we headed up to Bristo Square. They went off to have a coffee while I went to pick up my gown and hood, and register: I had the standard black gown with a white hood, represtenting I had graduated with an MA. It felt great flouting around in my gown and smart clothes, but I only got to keep the gown and hood for a few hours other wise I'd probably still be wearing it now :D After doing the necessary preliminaries I went to join the parents at the cafe. We went from there over to Potterrow for a quick complimentary coffee and the expected photos (which turned out really well) before heading off to McEwan Hall for a few more pics then the big ceremony.
The McEwan Hall is a beautiful, awe-inspiring building and the perfect setting for what was a ceremony of pomp and circumstance. I was sat with the rest of the Geoscience set down in the main hall and the parents were sat up in the balcony. The first group through were the physics Mscs and Undergrads - Ali Braiden was there getting his PhD and looked very smart in his kilt and colours. Then came the Geosciences - Geography and Politics came toward the end of this section. I was fortunately sat next to Jordan who I know quite well and Gillian who I've met a couple of times before - there were only five of us (one guy had decided to graduate in absentia). We were sheparded into place one by one to be tapped on the head with 'The Cap': 'The Cap' is the one hat with which all graduates of Edinburgh uni are tapped on the head with (we do not get to wear the traditional caps for various reasons) which is reputed to be made from the trousers of John Knox or John Buchanan depending on what you believe - the one bit you can believe is that the university badge sewn into the inside of the bonnet has been into space, which is very cool :) It was all over very quickly as we were quickly herded off to collect our scrolls - I can't very clearly remember the 10 seconds after being tapped on the head with the cap, I blanked out a little bit with the disbelief that it was all over! We went back to our seats and were followed by the chemistry class.
The whole thing was over in an hour which suprised me a lot, but pleasantly. After this the geosciences group went down to the department for drinks - the place was crowded! Dad had to go home to pick up my brother from work, so Mum and I went for a quick wander down but it was so busy that we beat a hasty retreat. We ran into Jordan, his parents and Rosie coming the other way - his parents were very pleasant and Jordan and I had a couple of photos taken together (I was a bit annoyed because I had handed back my gown at that point - it would have been nice to get a picture of both of us in our gowns with our scrolls, but never mind). Mum and I then caught the bus back to the flat (my shoes, as low heeled as they were, had given me nasty blisters!) where we waited for Dad and Pete to arrive.
When they did at last we opened a bottle of champagne and had a wee drink with Ruth (flatmate) before the family and I headed off to dinner at La Gerrick on Jeffery St. La Gerrick is a lovely little French restaurant looking out onto Carlton Hill - which at sunset is a very beautiful sight indeed. I had a provincial style mackeral pate: it wasn't abbrasive as a lot of mackeral dishes are, it was very soft and pleasant: for the main course I had roasted saddle of rabbit wrapped in pancetta served with creamy pollenta - I've never had rabbit before and I was so impressed by this dish! The softness and taste of the meat worked beautifully with the creaminess of the pollenta (I've cooked pollenta before and I was so unimpressed - clearly I was just doing it wrong!) - I can't remember anything to equal this dish! We had this with a lovely French red wine, but stupidly I didn't check what it was - will try and find out at some point. And for pudding I had a lavender creme brulee served with a raspberry syrup and a lemon biscotte: I nearly died and went to heaven. The burnt suger was the perfect flavour to contrast the creamy sweetness and soft texture of the lavender custard - I would go again just for that! The tables were made by the artist Tim Stead - a wonderful artist who worked in wood: he was well know for the use of heavily knotted wood to make unique, sturdy and very tactile, practical works of art (I remember going to see a post-humerous exhibition of his work when I was very young - the piece I remember from this was an enormous, low-level chess-set formed of a full slice of tree trunk inset with darker wood, and polished to a lusterous shine using bees wax. The outside edge was uneven but smoothed out - a really beautiful piece). The meal was slow and relaxed, and we had one of the family discussions that I relish, covering everything from politics to art to architecture (we discussed a fantastic new paper by one of my ex-lecturers on the politics of corridors - Pete, as an engineering student and I as a social scientist had a wonderful discussion on how the use of specific materials can affect the impact on the interaction of people - I'll write it up a bit later). The family decided to head home that evening rather than stay at the flat - Pete drove them all back to Duns.
And that was the day - hectic but wonderful. It's funny that that was the day that I had been building towards all the days of my education, and sundenly it was all over. I'm so grateful to everyone who has helped me reach this point, especially my parents - they've done so much for me all my life, I couldn't even begin to express the level of my gratitude.
Since then:
I've been on a bit of a come down since then because I've not had a lot to do: the Summer job hunt has so far been unsuccessful - I blooming well hope I get a job before my Msc starts in September. Speaking of which I am still waiting for my letter of confirmation from the Geography department: it's frustrating because I feel so insecure about the whole thing anyway that being kept waiting that little bit longer isn't helping! Everyone has disappeared for the week on holiday except for me so I've spent my time cleaning the flat, doing some DIY, visiting galleries, seeing films etc to fill the time. Rehearsals for the Fringe show start again on monday - looking forward to it! Speaking of which, I'd best write in rehearsal dates and times on my calander before I forget!
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