So as promised a post dedicated to my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. I started my Gold Award in October 2009 with the group Canterbury Gold. The best part of doing my award with Canterbury Gold is that we're going to Mozambique in South Africa to complete the expedition and residential parts of the award. I'm so excited!
The only slightly tricky part is that because of going to Africa there is a cost of over £2000 - that's a lot of cake sales! So far on the whole fund-raising front I've gone round local shops asking them to donate product that I'll sell at a boot fair as soon as I've got enough stuff. Most shops have been really good and C&H Fabrics, Shared Earth, Fudge Kitchen and Siesta have all donated products.
If anyone has any other ideas though I'd love to know!
While we're in Africa as well as walking 75-85km (!) we get to visit local schools and orphanages, swim with dolphins, go on a day trip to St Lucia and even dissect an impala! What more could a girl want?
Yesterday at school we had this talk on 'the whole UCAS procedure' the summary of which was the next six months will either kill me or result in me being in a good position to get into vet school. Me being the worrier that I am got home and immediately started planning MORE work experience and producing an edexcel spreadsheet showing the pros and cons of universities I'm looking at- slightly OTT some may say.
I've been trying to organise work experience at Pfizer for the past few weeks but their summer work experience week clashes with the Nottingham Uni Vet-Sim course which I really wanted to go on after having such a good time on their Vet-Med Link course last December. After much deliberation I think I'm going with Pfizer... simply because its a field of veterinary that I haven't looked at before.
Liverpool Vet course has the biggest work experience requirement list (10 weeks in total!) including 4 weeks at at least 2 practices. I'm in the middle of contacting Burnham House Vets to see if I can go there for a week in summer and Lady Dane is next on my list - I've already done 2 weeks at Manor Vets which I loved and am trying to fit in the odd day for me to go back.
Abattoirs are so hard to get work experience at! Thanks to that vet student who went in and videoed one no abattoirs want any work experience people, hopefully JR Farm Meats will let me come for a day!
Turns out the vet at Port Lympne is away in Germany until next Tuesday so I'll have to wait to find out about that one.
Fund raising for my Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award is going well, I'll make my next post about that.
AND as well as all that stress we have mocks starting next week! I'm really not looking forward to them, I may have left starting my revision a bit late - cough, cough last night - but I really want them to go well as our predicted grades for A Level are partly based on them. Oh no. Needless to say I'm stressed.
Today I went to my local Army branch to find my ACAO- (thats army careers advisor officer to the non-military ones out there) and after filling in several forms, stepping on the weighing scales (a traumatic experience) and having my height measured, I found out that I'll be invited back within a month for an interview to decide whether or not I can join the RAVC and receive a grant towards my uni fees! Looks like I better brush up on my army knowledge.
wow, this is a bit scary - what to write!
well a bit more about myself... I'm 17 and doing my first year of A Levels (I'm doing Biology, Chemistry, English and Physics) and finding it amazingly hard. I've actually just got home from my physics tutor which I organised after deciding 3 U's (ungradables) were just a few too many.
I should apologise now for the awful spelling that those who (hopefully!) read this will be subjected too because although I am taking English A Level and read copious numbers of books I just don't seem to be able to spell. So, sorry guys.
I've always wanted to be a vet and love that I'm finally old enough to be doing stuff about it. Like work experience - I love it! Although what's with the 18 age limit on everything? HOW IS ANYONE MEANT TO GET ANY PLACEMENTS! Hopefully though I've got a family friend who is also a zoo keeper to get me a week at my local zoo, fingers crossed for that!
I'm a bit of a Planner in that I'm slightly obsessed with organisation. My life plan (this does change on quite a regular basis) is to go to vet uni, join the RAVC (Royal Army Vet Corps) and then maybe become a zoo vet. But I don't know how one does this? I've spent literally hours looking for somewhere, anywhere! to tell me in simple words how to become a zoo vet. I've so far deduced that you have to go back to uni and take another course... more research needed I think.
So this is basically me- hopefully someone out there will find this blog useful.
Thanks for reading!
