Sutton Trust Summer School at University College London

As a disclaimer; this is a very UK based post. I’m sure there are similar things in other countries, but I have absolutely no idea about them.

So a few months ago, at around March time, I applied to go on a summer school at University College London (UCL for short), via The Sutton Trust. This was an English themed summer school and I’d been looking at studying English for a while AND doing so at UCL. Somehow, I managed to get accepted and here I am, having just come back from the week-long experience, and I’m about to tell you how fantastic it was.

Now first things first, if you are between 14 and about my age, so 17 and living in the UK, then the Sutton Trust is definitely something that you ought to know about. They fund summer schools from around Year 9 to Year 12, and prestigious universities across England and there’s even one programme that goes to America to visit top universities there. I believe most of them are aimed at people from underprivileged areas, whose parents haven’t gone to university and are successful academically, but I’m not an expert so maybe this isn't the case for all of them. I just know that it was for my summer school. So yeah, basically the Sutton Trust is a very good thing to be aware of. Just Google them to find out more. (That sounded like I’m being sponsored but I promise I’m not.)

It was brilliant. I never thought I’d say that. Just before I went I was terrified and thought I was going to hate the entire week, but knew I had to go in order to improve my chance of not just getting accepted to UCL but also many other universities would be impressed by my attendance.

It was a busy week. We were literally doing things from around 9am until at least 10:30pm with minimal chill time in-between. However, everything we did was so interesting and in most cases, a lot of fun too. 

I probably should mention as well that there were 3 courses going on at the same time; English, Natural Sciences and Biosciences and UCL wasn't the only university running summer schools. This means options are pretty extensive.

During the days, we’d have around 4 hours worth of lectures and seminars. On the English course, we did a different text each day. Our 3 texts were Beowulf,Paradise Lost by John Milton and Beloved by Toni Morrison.  If you didn’t know, lectures are where you are pretty much sat down and talked at, where as seminars are much more group-based and interactive. Those lectures and seminars were thoroughly interesting, and although sometimes I’d get lost in the lectures the seminars would soon bring me back to understanding what was going on.
They all gave me a way of understanding texts and much more of a university standard, which I feel will help my chances greatly when it comes to both applying and going to university.
We also had various talks about the cost of going to university and how the admissions process works which included personal statement writing, which I found very useful as I’ve discovered, writing a personal statement, is not as easy as it looks.

We also had to do a presentation at the end of the week. I hate presentations and I always have done, but the week at UCL has actually dramatically improved my opinion of them. I’ve always been shy and it’s always been the case that I know the information but I’m never able to say it out loud, which is not only frustrating but also somewhat holds me back. We had to do a presentation on one of the three texts we’d studied and we could do it on whatever we liked regarding that text. My group chose ‘Fortune, Identity and Transience in Beowulf.’ I’ll be honest, to start with I had no idea what that even meant, but as I got through the week I understood it more and to the point where I actually felt confident I was presenting something that I knew a lot about. My group’s presentation ended up being super successful and although we didn’t ‘win’ best presentation, we still got super good reviews from everyone. His presentation, I feel, has built my confidence massively. I managed to present complicated ideas confidently and in a way other people understood, and that was a real step forward for me.

Although there was a HELL of a lot of work involved in the summer school, we also got the chance to have the most incredible treats in the evenings which were completely paid for. We got a river boat cruise on the Thames and a trip up the Shard on the Tuesday. We were so lucky to have such a clear day because we could see for miles.We went up to the 72nd floor, watch which point the corners of the building arent there. There is literally wind blowing in. It's incredibly scary but incredible. The next day we went to see ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ at a West End theatre and that was almost indescribable. It was astounding. The production, the acting, the story itself; all bloody fantastic. It was so good I bought the book when I got home and read it in a day. (I’m going to do a review at some point, so keep your eyes peeled). We also got a bowling alley rented out for us on the last night, where there was karaoke and free pizza; what more could you want?

So; the things we did were amazing. Both the academic side and the evening side of it. However, I met the loveliest and most supportive people. From the adults who organised it, to the student ambassadors who were constantly there for us to bug with questions (Shout out to my group leader Tam who was both hilarious and informative), to my fellow students themselves. I couldn’t have asked for better people to share my time with. There were people from all around the country so no-one knew each other so we were pretty much all as nervous as each other, it turns out. The girls on my floor almost made waiting of the showers bearable and the people in my presentation grouped couldn’t have been more supportive with my confidence. I’ve got some people I met on Facebook so we can check in with each other regarding all sorts of university matters, and if we’re incredibly lucky then maybe even meet again back at UCL next September. Never let the fear of meeting new people stop you from doing things like this; everyone will be in the same boat as you, so no-one is hostile or bitchy. They were all just damn nice people. 

That was my summer school story. It’s a bit long but honestly I could have talked for thousands of words longer, but I didn't want to bore any of you who this has no appeal to. I would advise everyone who’s going in to Year 12 next year that can get the grades to apply to one of these summer schools. You will definitely not regret it. Plus, if you do hate it, it’s still a damn good thing to have on your personal statement.

Feel free to email me or leave any questions in the comments if you want to know more:)

Lots of love,

RubyLaurenxx

View from the Shard .Pretty cool, right?

5 Tips to Survive the First Year of Sixth Form

First things first, I named this post sixth form in order to not confuse any American readers. I don't normally call it sixth form, I call it college, but as college means university in America, I refrained from using it in the title. However I will be calling it college throughout the post. Sorry not sorry.

It's a big jump from high school to college; academically, socially and personally. I remember my high school teachers always telling me about college being so different from high school, but I didn't listen and I definitley should have becasue they were right.
I've just about survived my first year at college, through the multiple panic attacks, friendship breakdowns and constant stressing. However, it hasn't been all bad, and I definitely think I'm a better person now than I was at the beginning of the year.
Now, this post is all about giving my tips on how tosurvive the first year,for anyone going to college in September. i'll be mentioning all the things I did right, and telling you not to do the things I did horrendously wrong, in order to prepare anyone who may be entering in to the abyss of college sometime soon.

1. BE ORGANISED. (No, seriously, it's more difficult that you think)
For college ,I knew I had to be organised, however I only recently released during exam time how important it is to be prepared from the beginning of the year, and not let that dwindle out.
By organised I am talking

• Different notebooks for each subject. Not just one with dividers. It might be more expensive but then you won't jumble up notes and just make everything confusing.
• Binders are your besties. I'm not kidding. When you've done your notes, holepunch them or shove them in a polypocket and put them in a ring-binder. Preferably one of those for each subject too (and yes, you will do enough work to fill them)
• Type your notes up. This isn't as necessary as the other two but its defintley a big help. It just makes life harder during revision time when you look back at old messy notes,so having clean typed up ones is much better! However, try not to get behind on typing the notes up,otherwise it takes up a LOT of time. Try to type up the same day you had the lesson.

2. FRIENDS WILL DRIFT. It sucks, but it's life.

Chances are, by the end of the first year of college you will have a marginally different friendship group to the one you had at the begining of the year. That's life. If you cling too hard to friends that are drifting, then it makes it more upsetting and agrevating for both parties, as I know from personal experience. If you let the friendship drift naturally, things will end on good terms rather than with multiplearguments. I know I'mhappier with my friends now compared to at the beginning of the year, so things will just fall in to place. It might seem lonely for a while, but it will get better.

3. GETTING NOT-SO-GOOD GRADES DOES NOT MEAN YOU'RE STUPID.

This is something I wish I was told about at the begninning of the year. I came out of high schoolwith grades I was proud of, so I thought that I wouldn't get too bad grades to start with at AS Level. I was wrong. I've been told that an A at GCSE is equivalent to a D at AS level, and I thought that was bulls*** but it's not. I spent the beginning of the year getting E's and D's in most of my subjectsand it really shook me.I hated it. But you will improve, I thought for sure at the beginning of the year I'd have no hope, but now I'm more positive. Your grades will improve, that's what college is for! To help you learn and improve for when exams come around.

4. KEEP YOUR ATTENDANCE UP

Just because college is much more relaxed than school, doesn't mean you should just skip lessons because you feel like it. Lessons are incredibly important and valuable at this stage, as at AS you have such a short time to learn everything, all time with teachers is golden. Don't let a common cold keep you at home. Make sure you're in as much as possible, it's worth it.

5. BE YOUR-DAMN-SELF (Yes it's cringey, but hear me out.)
Leaving year 11 I was so scared about how well I would fit in at college and whether I'd be stuck friendless etc and honestly, the only time I ever felt left out was when I didn't know who I was. I'd spent so many years trying to please everyone, that being myself was very daunting, however when I relaxed a bit it was great.I found a group of friends who enjoy my company the way I am and honestly ending this year, despite being nervous for my results, I couldn't be happier.
But seriously, want to wear your fandom T-Shirt? Wear it. Want to wear that short skirt that you think might make you look a lil tubby? Who cares! Embrace it. Not sure about something the teacher said? Stick your hand up and ask because others will probably be thinking it.

Overall, just have fun. College is like a 2 year interview to university/a job and although lots of important decisions are made, it's also important to embrace who you are and have fun. How soppy is that, right? Gross.

Love,
RubyLauren xx