Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Trying to Blog...Again....

So Hi. Hello. 

I have decided to actually follow through with a blog. Finally.

For those of you who are from/ around Asheville N.C., here is my failed attempt at trying to start a blog. AN ENTIRE YEAR AGO. However, these posts do keep you up to speed with where I am in my life at the moment...aka not Asheville.

Clarity Through Clearing-Part I (September 2012)
Clarity Through Clearing-Part II (September 2012)


Yes this is my poor naive self before I moved to the UK...try not to judge too hard :p


Saturday, September 15, 2012

Finding Clarity Through Clearing-Part II

Confused.
 Just, totally,
 utterly, completely,
ridiculous,blondeously
 (that's not even a word is it...)
confused. 
Truth be told, these posts should be called Confusion Through Clearing.
This is truly the most perplexing process I have ever been through in my entire life-getting over to Wales that is. The hardest part is putting my mother through this overwhelming rabbit chase that only stresses the both of us out and costs more money than the school promised. Which surprise, surprise...in at least the frustrations, confusions in class lists and limitations in how much you can pack, it seems these are international traits of all Universities. 

So, I will set you up a process of how this all happens. Just in case you go pyscho/have a midlife crisis/have a lot of money to burn and no time on your hands....



How to Obtain a Visa/or go Crazy


1. Application to UCAS (Like the common App in the US)

2. Application to school
this includes-passport photos, proof you can speak english/two academic references, all transcripts

3. Financial Aid packet (yes, the dreaded FASFA allll over again) with proof of credit cards, bank statements, how much living expenses will be, blah blah blah)

4. After a whole WEEK, acceptance to University. Another reference is required, as well as other financial proof before you are officially accepted to the University.

5. Official Acceptance, now you must hurriedly decide on housing, do all the forms for this, look up flight information, but of course, you cannot complete all of this until....


6. Obtaining a Visa

a. filling out Visa application-every question from whether your ethnicity is half-asian and african   british decent to what your grandmother preferred creamy or crunchy peanut butter.

b. biometrics-setting up an appointment at a immigration office that doesn't actually have a phone number, so first we had to drive to Greer, who wouldn't let us into the door without an appointment (THEY DON'T HAVE A NUMBER TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT)
So then we had to make an appointment online, which was the most difficult thing to find because like I said, no number...which lead us to calling the New York British Embassy, and the Atlanta Embassy, to calling the British Council to finally finding how to get an appointment online to the office in Charlotte.

Biometrics
c. driving to Charlotte for Biometrics (which is fingerprinting). Afterwords this all gets even better because you then must obtain a special number from your school saying that you can come and study there. You also must fill out another application saying figuring up how much you will need per month to study, how much loans you are receiving, the exact dates of all your starting and ending of courses, special code numbers from your school and specifically who all you are traveling with and all of their passport information...and on and on and on...

d. Paying lots and lots of money to get the Visa, quickly. And when I say quickly, I mean for an extra 500 dollars, on top of the 500 dollars we already paid for the Visa itself, we may get the Visa in a week, if that. Not only did we have to rush the Visa from the British application, but then also from the American application, and then also hired another company and pay 80 dollars to Fedex it here. It is a rather strenuous and costly process. We are still waiting on this. By the way, because of not knowing when the Visa will get here, and waiting on the special number for the school for days on end, we are unable to book a flight, or find me an apartment, or book a hotel, or find places to visit. Oh joyous day. If you know my mom and I as spur of the moment travelers, I believe this experience has reached our limit, which is saying quite a lot for us.


Poor stressed David Tennant, I know how you feel. 



Which had I known then, what I know now, I probably never would have put my mother through this. Or myself. (although not having to see A-B tech long-haired boy wonder is quite a delight) It was far too complicated at such a short amount of time. Now looking back through it all, I see that this clearing thing is more catered to UK students, and those that are International either were better prepared before all of this, or they are somewhere closer in Europe that have more similar forms than the United States does to the United Kingdom. 

My wonderful Mummy!
However, to have a parent who loves me so much to put so much time into me as to make sure I make it over to the UK in this amount of time, is the ultimate blessing. And if there is anyone in the world who could make things happen for me, it would be my mother. Through this process I have been feeling guilty for all the changes that I put my parents through, not to mention the money it costs to change your mind in education. But I see now that if my mother is willing to do whatever she can to make my dreams possible, then I should do whatever I can to fulfill them. Not to be ashamed of the opportunities my parents have given me, but to embrace them and be the best I can be at them.



(My new motto when I move to Wales haha)
                                           


                                                                          
We keep saying this has to be for a reason. God never puts things in our paths just for funsies! All of this happening so quickly, my acceptance to the University so quickly and on and on. God has got this. But sometimes, I do think a lot of times we try to push out all of these anxious feelings we have and replace them with an excuse of a "meant to be situation." For the moment, I don't want to call it that. With prayer, I am making a change, taking a leap, chancing my future, whatever you may call it. No, I do not plan on be frivolous about this. I am a responsible girl, and I intend on following through with my future plans, and making my parents proud. However, it doesn't have to lessen the fact that this is all scary. And far too involved, and honestly, maybe not this fairy-tale "meant to be." I mean ok, yes,
obviously I am going over there, so it is meant to be, and in God's timing everything is perfect. But I am not expecting Mr. Darcy to show up around the corner, nor am I hoping I'm going to live in some quaint village where everyone reads Dickens and curtsy's when they see one another.


(Thanks Jane, for making us think all of 
freakin' Britain should still be just like this....)





I expect this to be difficult. I expect to have a hard time at first. I expect to get lost (within a safe place of course, Mummy....and I will immediately ask for directions) and I expect to meet people whom I do not share same values with, watch the wrong movies, and drink entirely too much. It doesn't mean this experience is any less of a "meant to be," I'm just not expecting the Downton Abbey version of all of this. And thankfully, I am ok with that. Not because I don't want it to be, but because it won't be. I will get to meet real people, learn how to solve my own problems, and hopefully, grow up a little bit more each day that I am there.







Friday, September 7, 2012

Finding Clarity through Clearing Part I

Like every productive student, about two weeks ago my screen looked like this....



For those of you who know me know that drama, relationships status, or talking about how much Michelle Obama/Ann Romney spent on their Convention dresses isn't really my scene on Facebook. So  I am going to be honest and say that I was completely wasting time creeping on different profiles in order to avoid homework in my geology class. 

Which is what got me into trouble....

Like news feeds do, this came across my Facebook, and I got a little intrigued. 



Back when I was planning on becoming an amazing Archaeologist and Conservationist (with millions of dollars rolling in the bank of course...) a professor of mine had suggested looking into Cardiff University for my masters. Needless to say, I went straight back to my dorm and looked schools in Wales online and then liked Cardiff on Facebook, and then went into a frenzy looking into other Universities I might be able to go study abroad. 

Skip to two weeks ago, and finding this post. On August 17th, when most everybody was back in school by now. Soooo how was putting in an application possible? And what in the world was clearing?

Under further investigation (and you know there was further investigation...) I found out that clearing would possibly be the worst thing that could happen to you after taking the SAT's/ACT's. Now as far as I understand it (and I am blonde...check the title of my dear blog) There is an end of the year test taken by UK students very similar to our lovely standardized testing that quite literally puts everything on the line. 

So they apply to the University they want to go to, and if the test goes badly for them, and they don't score what Universities in the United States just call "suggested or typical testing scores," they are out of a University....A MONTH BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS.

On the bright side, if you do better than you thought you were going to do, and you want to try to get into a better University, you can take yourself out of the University, and put yourself into clearing.


Now, this is where I come in! 

ALERT...BLONDE RANT BELOW.....

(by the way, that information was totally irrelevant to me and my situation...however, it is to provide some background...and don't you just feel smarter about another continent's education system now? You can tell all of your Anglophilian/Dr. Who/Downton Abbey obsessed friends who really know nothing about real life in Britain something informative and substantial! Not sure where that rant was going....)

During this time, Clearing also opens up to International Students like myself. 

(me, an International Student....sounds so strange...but cute, right?)


So like any crazy person who is just loving my time back at A-B Tech, and loving sitting by a sleeping dreadlocks boy who thinks he looks like this... (if only)


but really looks like this....



I kinda started applying to UK schools right away.

Now its not the most sensible thing to do, as it was a month away, plus the cost of living, my credits won't transfer, already paid for A-B tech classes, and a long list of other things...but I wanted to nonetheless just try for it anyways. What would it have hurt? (I am at the moment trying to squish a enumerous amount of shoes into a suitcase and using all my strength to zip it is...it is hurting.)

Skip to about a week and a half later, completed several applications, many 4 a.m. calls to the UK and totally stressing out my poor, wonderful mother...I get accepted to Bangor University in Wales!! 

Because I am so completely excited, I immediately accepted, not thinking about all the things I have to get done, all the things I am leaving behind with my wonderful mountains and amazing parents, and I am totally YOLOING!

(I wasn't aware of the meaning until a couple of months ago either, but apparently it means this...I kinda like the You Obviously Love Oreos option better perhaps)






So my mom and I get ready to head up to A-B Tech to drop my classes and get me ready to head off across the pond anddddd....











































You will have to find out what happens on 
Finding Clarity Through Clearing...Part II!

I know I know, the suspense is killing you.
Hold yourself together!


Here is literally 10 hours of Trololololololing while you wait!....which sounds a lot like yoloing...only slightly more disturbing after 10 hours...


TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO