November is
drawing to a close, the days are getting shorter and it seems as though the
weather is getting colder every day. Waking up in the mornings is becoming
increasingly difficult, especially when – as a commuter – I have to leave my
house at around 6am! It won’t be too long before I’m scraping ice off the
windscreen, I’m sure. In order to counteract all of these depressing things,
I’ve been getting into the Christmas spirit over the last week. I visited the
Christmas Market, complete with German bar, in Bournemouth town centre, for a
mug (or two) of mulled wine. My Mum decided that mid-November was definitely
not too early to put up the Christmas decorations and, whilst I’m not entirely
sure that it’s acceptable, I have to admit our house does look lovely and
festive. I did my first bit of Christmas shopping, which only served to remind
me how chaotic it can be – I think I’ll be doing the rest online this year! And
yesterday, I watched my first Christmas movie. It’s all a bit ridiculous, but
if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, I suppose!
The German Bar,
complete with infamous boot-shaped mugs, has become a bit of a Bournemouth Christmas
tradition
Our gorgeous Christmas
tree – well done, Mum!
My last week has
mostly been spent filling in application forms for various graduate schemes,
and sitting online verbal and numerical reasoning tests, in a bid to secure
some kind of post-undergrad income. A lot of students get to their final year
having never considered their CV, work experience or anything else career
orientated. Luckily, back in second year (which seems like an awfully long time
ago now!), I took advantage of the events and opportunities offered by the
University’s Careers service. There’s all sorts of helpful
information on offer, including sessions on how to write a fantastic CV,
application form, interview and assessment centre advice, talks from top
graduate employers about careers with their company and one-to-one appointments
with careers advisors, not to mention all the resources in the careers library.
It seems like a lot to think about so early on, but it has definitely made my
life easier now that the time has come to start applying for jobs. Even if
you’re not sure what you want to do after University (which probably applies to
the majority of people), the Careers team runs events to help you explore the
different career paths that are available to you. There really is something for
everyone, and it’s a service that not enough people take advantage of.
My weekend
revolved almost entirely around running, volunteering at Bournemouth Parkrun,
and finishing off the week with a local 10 kilometre race. Parkrun is a fantastic initiative which puts
on free, timed 5k runs all over the country, to encourage everyone to get
outside and give running a try. It’s all volunteer-run, and there’s a great
community spirit – I’ve only been going for a few weeks and I have already met
some lovely people, and improved on my time! You can run for training purposes,
to improve your fitness, or just for fun, and any ability is welcome. I
absolutely love it, and if you don’t mind giving up your Saturday morning lie
in, it’s worth heading down and checking it out.
Wrapped up nice and
warm for marshalling at Bournemouth Parkrun!
Wearing my hard
earned Boscombe 10k headband after the race
The 10k was my
second this year and, although I didn’t do quite as well as I’d hoped to, I
took a few minutes off my previous time and achieved a new personal best. The
course was pretty hilly, so I’m using that as an excuse! I only started running
last year, and when I went for my first run, I had to stop after about 30
seconds. Even though I’ve got lots of improvements to make, it’s amazing to see
how far I’ve come and proof that, if you put your mind to it, you can do
anything!
Tayler
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