Wednesday 22 August 2012

Holiday

Unfortunately (or fortunately for me haha) I will be going on a nice, long, deserved summer holiday to Korea for a month from tomorrow onwards, and will not be able to blog for that time. I think it's a perfect time for me to have a massive rest before going to university in October! Thank you all for your great support. Please expect my return late September or early October. I hope all your exam grades have been what you expected (or better) and have all met your university offers! I also wish the GCSE people the best of luck for tomorrow. They're your first set of exams, and you must be really nervous. I sure was! Good luck, and thank you all! I'll be back real shortly!
Monday 20 August 2012

Preparation for University

A not-so-concise list of what to take to university can be found at the Student Room's website here.
It covers everything from soap to memory sticks to disco balls.

I wouldn't advise everyone to take everything on that list, because you'll find yourself having to spend thousands of pounds and make multiple trips to your university room. But I'd suggest taking a brief scroll through the page and noting down some of the essential items that you must take.

Actually, I could do a summary of the items which I think are the most useful on that list.

Academic

  • Reading list
  • Blank notebooks/files
  • Exam results/certificates (if necessary)

Bathroom Items

  • Hand towels
  • Bath towels
  • Wash bag
  • Soap
  • Tampons (for girls obviously)
  • Soap
  • Shower Gel
  • 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner
  • Hairbrush
  • Body lotion
  • Razor
  • Shaving cream
  • Deodorant
  • Perfume
  • Toilet roll (lots of it)
  • Air freshener

Bedroom Items

  • Sheets
  • Duvet
  • Pillow
  • Blanket
  • Posters + anything you want on your wall as decoration
  • Clock
  • Desk chair
  • Sleeping bag (for your overnight friends)
  • Desk lamp
  • Phone
  • Bedside table
  • Small bin
  • Laundry bag

Clothing

  • Casual
  • Underwear and socks
  • Comfy shoes
  • Pyjamas
  • Slippers
  • Flip-flops
  • Warm clothing
  • Suit/evening dress
  • Smart shoes
  • Interview-worthy clothing
  • Swimwear

Documents

  • Passport
  • Driving Licence
  • Insurance documents
  • Debit/credit cards
  • CV & references
  • Oyster Card

Electrical Items

  • Laptop & charger
  • Ethernet Cable
  • Mouse
  • Speakers
  • Printer (Saves a lot of money)
  • Paper & Ink
  • External hard-drive/USB stick
  • Mobile phone & charger
  • Headphones
  • Camera
  • MP3
  • Alarm Clock

Kitchen Items

  • Small frying pan
  • Large frying pan
  • Saucepan
  • Microwavable bowl
  • Cutlery
  • Sandwich bags
  • Cling film
  • Glasses
  • Recipe book

Laundry and Housekeeping Items

  • Washing powder
  • Laundry bag
  • Coat hangers (lots)
  • Febreeze
  • Washing-up liquid
  • Cleaning equipment
  • Toilet cleaner
Friday 17 August 2012

Good Results Day

So yesterday was A-Level results day, and I couldn't have asked for more.
A* in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics completed the full house!

I will now be looking forward to going to LSE to study Maths with Economics, and am extremely looking forward to starting Freshers (hehe). I have a bunch of Societies I plan to join, and have already been given a corporate role in a newly-made society through Facebook. Everything seems to be coming together, and I will be going on holiday to Korea for a month starting next week.

On my return, I am thinking of starting a new blog on Maths with Economics (the course I will be studying at LSE) and I would be extremely grateful if you could check it out in the future.
Monday 13 August 2012

Awarding A* at A Level

Yes the exam results are only a couple of days away..

There is actually a countdown here if you really wanted to know the amount of time left between now and the dreaded exam results of 2012. I'd just like to wish everyone good luck.

As a side note however, a good resource I found about getting A* at A-Level was here. If you click the link, you should get a good understanding of how the A* grade is awarded.

Good luck to you all! (Myself included :P )
Thursday 9 August 2012

Exam Results

So the exam results for AS and A2 are only a week away! I'm getting a bit nervous myself (waiting for A2 grades) but what can I do! Will wait for another week, and the dread will be over. There are only two outcomes really at the end of all this: Happiness and sadness.

Meanwhile, the thought of starting university at LSE (fingers crossed) has really excited me, and it's only around 6 weeks away. I think I will be making another blog on Mathematics and Economics (the course which I am hoping to study at LSE), so I will keep you posted on that if it happens. What excites me even more perhaps is the prospect of Fresher's!

StudentBeans.com seem to be offering an 'Online Fresher's Fair' for the first time, so do make sure to sign up for that where you will receive lots of freebies and other offers apparently. I have done so myself and got myself in the guestlist. In fact, I think my next blog post will be on StudentBeans itself. It's an extremely useful site for students, and I'm planning on making the most out of it when I go to university.
Tuesday 31 July 2012

Olympics

As we all know, the Olympics is (are?) here! I do love the Olympics and I have been watching TV pretty much ten hours a day. Sorry for the lack of posts on here lately, but I'm sure Olympics is high on your agenda as well, rather than an education blog!

It's nice to have a break from work, revision and put your mind off the upcoming exam results (16th and 23rd August for A-Levels and GCSEs respectively).

I am a keen supporter of Great Britain and South Korea (having lived in the UK for 13 years, yet having Korean blood). There seem to have been a few controversies along the way, especially with South Korea, most notably Park Tae-Hwan's disqualification for an alleged false start, which was eventually overruled. Wang Ki-Chun's decision that went against him in the semi-final of the Judo.

And the worst one: Shim A-Lam's major disappointment that left her crying for over an hour on the piste due to a controversial decision against her in the Fencing semi-final. She had one second left to hold onto a 5-5 draw, and the timer went to zero, only to be reset to one again. Then, it seemed that the one second was over, only for the timer to take an absolute age to count down to zero, by which time the German opponent had hit her, and overtaken her 6-5 to advance to the finals. Controversial to say the least.

All is not lost though, as South Korea have claimed 3 gold medals (1 in Shooting, 1 in Archery and 1 in Judo) and lie 4th as I write this post. Great Britain are yet to earn a gold medal, but with some major events approaching, it is not going to last long.

I love the Olympics! (There probably will not be many posts during the time of the Olympics. Sorry everyone!)
Saturday 28 July 2012

Best Chemistry Revision Site

Regardless of what exam board you are on, the single best Chemistry revision site must be Chemguide. It has been so useful to me for my 2 years doing A-Level. If there is any content in your syllabus which your teacher hasn't particularly explained to you well, Chemguide is the answer. If there is some homework which you can't do because you don't understand the content, Chemguide is the answer.

Although the site may not be the 'flashiest' of all sites, the layout is neat and tidy. It has nice headings, subheadings and lots of diagrams. I genuinely believe that Chemguide was the biggest factor towards me getting a good grade in Chemistry A-Level, which many say is the hardest A-Level.

Making some notes from the Chemguide website itself would be a great start for revision as well. Do make sure to compare the Chemguide answers with your exam board though, as minor details may differ.

Chemguide