Readarama

New week, new start and I'm feeling brave. I've signed myself up (quite literally via email confirmation newsletter) to Penguin Books' Readarama. The idea is pretty simple - read a novel a week. You can either read along with what THE mysterious 'reader' is reading (and no it's not the boy reading to Kate Winslet) or you can simply read whatever floats your boat... as long as it's a novel. In a week.

Obviously the idea is to hashtag away to your hearts content via #readarama on Twitter, in order to fully participate, or to let anyone who's bothered know what you're reading!

At the moment I'm juggling a full time job, uni Masters applications, a house hunt etc etc blah blah sob sob, but hopefully I'll give myself the kick up the bottom to do this little resolution! (And if I'm having a particularly bust week then yes, The Very Hungry Caterpillar WILL count as a novel.)

£9,000 = 9.9%

Naturally, as a student at a ‘prestigious Russell Group university,’ I was far from happy with the idea of having to pay £9,000 per year for my degree as opposed to £3,290… Although it wouldn’t directly affect me (unless I continue with a Masters) I have a younger sister who will pay the price. Literally.  Today BBC News announced that there’s been a 9.9% drop in university applications, which, although not as much as expected, is still a lot and, obviously, I do empathize with those less fortunate than myself who will have to think twice about a degree. But then again it does make me think…maybe this is a good thing? Ok so I really don’t want to be a uni-snob and I’m going to try and put this as nicely as I can, but surely there are a heap of degrees out there now that are, well, a bit pointless?! I’m not going to point the finger, but I’m sure you get the jist… On another note, going into my third and final year at university and DESPERATELY (blood, sweat and tears desperately) looking for any type of job/internship/work experience, has very boldly and bluntly taught me that a university career does not automatically get you a job. It may have done a few years back, but nowadays there are SO many graduates all battling it out for those 10 desired places at X, Y and Z in ‘the city’ that quite frankly I almost feel I should be 7 feet tall to metaphorically and literally stand out from the crowd.  So perhaps a decline in applications isn’t as bleak as it at first appears? (I’ll keep you posted on how the job hunt goes…)