My Journey

My name is Naomi. I'm 24 and from Nottinghamshire. I'm a student who is working towards a Humanities degree with creative writing. I love all of my fandoms. Harry Potter is currently life. var fhsh = document.createElement('script');var fhs_id_h = "3084140"; fhsh.src = "http://freehostedscripts.net/ocount.php?site="+fhs_id_h+"&name=Visits&a=1"; document.head.appendChild(fhsh);document.write(""); as of 26th Jan 2016.

[studyingwiththeou]

I don't think I've been on this blog in about six months but I really feel like I should update to let some of you guys see how I got on! So I graduated on the 16th September with a 2.1 in humanities (creative writing). My ceremony was held at the Barbican in London and it really was so amazing. It was easily my proudest moment. As much as I'd love to study a MA I can't currently justify splashing £20k with no financial help, so that will have to wait. A lot has changed in the last six months, probably for the better. I'm now single again. I have realised that I'm one of those people who crave love but when things get serious I really can't handle it. It makes me feel confined so I think from now on I really need to keep away from commitment so that I don't leave a trail of upset lovers behind me. It's never my attention to hurt anyone but I always seem to. Not to mention I feel stronger and more empowered alone. I'm not studying anything at the moment but I am teaching myself the important lifeskill of cooking. I'm also working out a few times a week and focusing on staying healthy. This is keeping me occupied. I am looking for another job. The one I have now is great but I'm sick of getting up at 4am and I would really lile a job where I can put my education to use. Hopefully I'll find something soon. I guess that will be my new years resolution. Anyway, how are you guys? I think I'm going to aim on being more active on here!

[studyingwiththeou]

My OU hoodie has started to feel like a uniform. Motivation to do uni work ♥

[studyingwiththeou]

i think you would suit a long bob with bangs!

Thanks! I wish I could pull that off! I don't dare cut my hair that short though ^_^"

[pchcrew]

how to be a winner

[studyingwiththeou]

I've been wanting a fringe/bangs for a while now but I know if I cut five years of growth I'd regret it. Bought some £3 extensions off of ebay instead ♥

[studyingwiththeou]

So I have eight days left until the end of my undergraduate degree. Eight days. This semester has gone so quickly. My parents are going away tomorrow so I’ll have all week to get the final dissertation assignment finished with no distractions. I have stomach cramps and nausea just thinking about that. I’m so anxious to do well! I’ve worked out that I should get a high 2:1 classification no matter what.

I’d love to go straight into studying a postgraduate degree but I’ve decided to have a year out, mainly to save up more money specifically for it. I feel as though I need to appreciate how much work I’ve put into securing the funds.

So, I've got my sights set on doing the Playwriting (MSc) at Edinburgh university. I’ll be doing it full time as it works out much cheaper than doing it over two years if I’m paying for accommodation.

The course itself is currently £8500 and accommodation is £6502 for a single en-suit bedroom that is part of a 500 student postgraduate residence hall (which is absolutely gorgeous). I know this will probably go up by 5% inflation by 2017... So that will be about £15750 altogether. And on top of that I’ll have to think about food, transport, books and whatever else. 

£60 return on train x 16 = £1000 (hoping to get student discount)

£20ish per week on food = £1000

External theatre visits = Whatever they charge.

To be able to cover everything I’ll probably have to spend about £20k.

I’ll be applying for a scholarship in hopes I get one to help with the costs. I’m hoping for once in my life I’ll be able to have some kind of financial help for my education. I’m also going to enter lots of writing competitions in the meantime!

I personally think one of the most exciting things about all of this is that I plan on handing in my notice at my job in fifteen months time so that I can move away and do this. I've been working in retail for five and a half years now and quite frankly I've had enough.  

The future looks exciting and expensive but I’m determined to get out of this horrid town!

(And seriously, I’ll be applying to as many universities as I can. If I can’t get into Edinburgh somewhere that does playwriting will have to have me). 

[studyingwiththeou]

When I'm trying desperately to get the last two weeks of my degree under control... The good news is that I've finished my script, wrote the commentary and handed it in! I'm so proud :D ♥

[studyllaire-blog]

Hey y’all! This is my very first masterpost and I hope you’re going to like it. Well, I wish I’d find these pages earlier maybe one or two years before. I have to state that I’m very thirsty for knowledge but also I’m also very stingy so I always explore the Internet for free materials and stuff. So I made a masterpost of these results. Umm, there are some of them which can give you a certificate for a certain amount of money but you can also enroll the course without doing this. 

1. DUOLINGO - this must be the most famous one for learning languages, I know you know everything about this one so I won’t explain anything sry guys

2. COURSERA - pro: almost 1 000 video courses with tests in 10 topics, available mobile app contra: you have to register

3.OPENCULTURE - pro: 1 200 free video/audio courses contra: it is hard to find what you’re searching for

4.EDX - pro: available mobile app, circa 1 000 video courses contra: you have to wait until the starting date & register

5. ALISON - this one seems sympathic pro: wide range of topics contra: you have to register

6. ACADEMIC EARTH - pro: has a collection of magazines to each topic contra: haven’t found any

7. KHAN ACADEMY  - must be good for high schoolers I think pro:  provided tests for topics, available mobile app contra: lack of variety

8. BYJU’S - from 6th to 12th class pro: available mobile app, you can select which class you’re attending contra: haven’t found any

So I think thats all! Sorry for my bad English and I hope this was useful. Bye babes, xo Edit: I deleted Skillshare because I realised that it isn’t free :(

[studyingwiththeou]

I've done it! 30 pages of script! I am however finding it difficult to end it in a way that would satisfy the audience. I've put it up on the OU forums to see if any of my fellow students have any suggestions that will help me *_* 

I can’t wait to go through this again and add things to the second draft and develop the characters more. I can’t wait to actually give it a good ending too. 

[studyingwiththeou]

I've finally got an OU hoodie!!! ♥

[studyingwiththeou]

20/30-33 pages done. Two thirds of the way there! I only have four scenes left to write now. I’m hoping to have this done by Sunday night so I can send it to the forums for feedback and also enjoy my holiday to center parcs.

[studyingwiththeou]

So far I’m considering applying to these universities for September 2017 for creative writing/script writing/theatre and performance studies:

Nottingham University

Nottingham Trent University

Birkbeck University London

City University London

Edinburgh University

I’m hoping to go to some open days as soon as possible. After I finish my degree with the OU in six weeks time I need to start working more hours to save up as much money as possible and then start looking at what I need to do to apply to the postgraduate courses (I know they all have individual requirements and writing submissions). Wish me luck!

[studyingwiththeou]

I overtook my aim of writing two pages of script today and turned it into five pages. SUCCESS :D I’m about halfway through my first draft now. 15/30 pages complete. I just hope I can fit all of my scenes into the +10% leeway (33 pages) since I’ve only written 5/11 scenes so far.

[studyingwiththeou]

Meet Tabboo, Cory's cat. She's the cutest fur baby ever (right after Logan Berry). I'm determined to get two pages of script written today ♥

[studyingwiththeou]

I feel like I'm having some kind of quarter life existential crisis or something. All I can think about is the future and how in this economy I'm never going to be able to have true independence or stability. I want to do a masters degree - It's now affordable as long as I stay at home which annihilates my dreams of actually going to university. Boo-hoo. I want a good job but I've been looking online and haven't found much related to my degree, which is a shame. I worry I'm doing university for no reason. I worry that I'll never get that sense of fulfillment from a sucessful career that I need. I worry I won't get a good enough wage or enough hours for me to live comfortably. I would love to get on the property ladder, however with the prices these days it makes it almost impossible. I'm terrified of buying a house in a bad neighbourhood because I can't afford the luxuary of living in a safer area. Although I don't want children I sometimes imagine how I would feel if I woke up in ten years time and did. I'd want the best for them. The best education. Hobbies. Sports. I wouldn't want them to go to public school. I still have confidence issues and nightmares from that and I'm aware that schools are only getting worse. I wouldn't be able to afford a private school either. This also ties back to the housing issue. I couldn't have a child while living my parents. I already feel like a burden living with them in my mid-20s as it is. So no house- no child... even if I were to ever want one. And lastly I worry about pensions. It's almost impossible to survive just on a state pension. That means I have to start saving for when I'm old now too. Or I'll have to work until I die. So yeah. Those are the fun thoughts of the night. I'm just going to curl up into a tight little ball and sleep now.

[studyingwiththeou]

Attempting to figure out how to make the first two scenes of my script better from tutor comments ♥

[merakinotes]

 hey ! i basically live online, so i thought this would be really useful :] this is moreso a school edition

youtube channels

appsademia

studyign

nehrdist

haleystudies

leo studies 

studywithmariana

darlingrachel

crashcourse

khanacademy

storage

google drive

dropbox

organization

google calendar

todoist

notetaking

google docs

coggle [mindmaps]

evernote

music

8tracks

spotify

pandora

soundrown

coffitivity

rainymood

english

grammarly

paperrater

rhymezone

thesaurus

reverse dictionary

hemingway editor

lit crash course

free classic books

more ebooks !!!

essay writing tips

how to annotate

improve ur vocab

affect vs effect

more essay tips

gr8 essay advice

transitional words

editing checklist

maths

symbolab

wolframalpha

purplemath

math vocab

formula sheet

unit circle song

khanacademy

mathway

graphing utility

sparknotes

guide to math

study fr math

sciences

chem crash course

astro crash course

a&p crash course

bio crash course

biology guide !!

history

tackling apush

us hist crash course

us gov crash course

learn languages

linguti

french

more french

japanese

italian

spanish

lang masterpost

+ more tips

[+++]

make the most of ur day

get ur life back on track

beat procrastination

school organization

transitional words

bullet journaling

gr8 powerpoint

homework tips

essay writin

study tips

more !!!

hope this helps !! + i’m sure i’m forgetting some but i will add more when i think of them x