I'm still The Perpetual Student (although I'm not a student any more!)

My alias is The Perpetual Student, but technically I'm not a student any more! When I started this blog I was in the 3rd year of my BA, which I finished in June 2011, and since then I have completed my MA, which I did from September 2011 to September 2012. But since then, I haven't been in university, but I still consider myself to be a Perpetual Student!

This is because I believe that we never stop being students. Even if you aren't in university, college or school, we never stop learning, and life is a great teacher! But I also push myself to be scholarly and academically constructive at home.

Egyptology:

This is my main focus, because I am an Egyptologist! 

During my MA I focused on the Theban 'kings' of the First Intermediate Period, and I thought my future research area would be on this period of Egyptian history, but my research project evolved more into an investigation of what was kingship during this period, which is an issue I found really fascinating (and it turns out I find the First Intermediate Period quite boring, actually!), so I decided to focus on the issue of ancient Egyptian kingship as my own research area. I try to research this in my spare time at least a couple of times per week.

Anyway, enough of my Egyptology waffle. What I mean to say is that even if you have finished your university course, it doesn't mean that you have to stop studying that subject! If you enjoy it, and have the time and resources (books etc), it is brilliant to do your own research! In fact, I think it is more fun! Since I finished uni, I have enjoyed doing Egyptology much more, because I don't have the pressure of deadlines and feedback etc (I HATE feedback!!). Also, you don't have professors saying that you can't or shouldn't research a certain subject- if you enjoy a subject, make it your own!! Don't give up!! 

Languages:

I have quite big goals for learning languages. I aim to learn German well enough to be able to read German Egyptology articles (conversing is a whole nuther ball game!!), and I need to revise my French, because bits of it are dropping out of my head every day! Also, I need to continue with my Middle Egyptian (Hieroglyphs), because it's fascinating and really important to my research, but also because one of my Egyptology tutors said you have to do some Hieroglyphs (mainly translation) at least once every 3 weeks, or you will start to forget it!

So I push myself to learn languages. French is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment, maybe because I can't be bothered (bad girl!!), but also because I feel the other 2 are a bit more important.  I am trying to teach myself German, as I have a background in learning languages in university, having been taught by really amazing teachers, so I use their languages learning methods to teach myself German- basically, I start with the structure of the language- grammar (like the skeleton of the language), and fill it in with the vocabulary etc (like the muscles, skin etc). I have a few German grammar books, a dictionary, a couple of vocab/phrase books- so I just read the sections in these books, and make notes, then revise. I try to do these a couple of times a week, but I have been neglecting them recently :(

Languages are really important, because the world is becoming much more multi-cultural, so if you learn another language, you are investing in your future!

Creative writing:

This is more like a hobby, but I think it is scholarly too, because writing a novel etc is very difficult. When I was little I always wanted to be an author, and since I finished university I have had some really good ideas! I'm not going to tell you about them now, they are secret!

I think creative writing, like any hobby, can be really beneficial to you. When I read, I like to feel like I am transported to another world. When I'm thinking up ideas for my novel (I'm only at the ideas stage, not the writing stage yet), I'm transported again, but this time to a world that I create!

I am sure when I start writing (hopefully in the summer), I will feel as though I'm really accomplishing something important, just when you are on a roll with writing an essay. I don't know if my novels will ever be published, but I think that the exercise of writing it is a great task in itself. At the moment I just write down ideas as I think of them, but when I'm ready to start writing I will sit down a few times a week and work properly on it!

So although I'm technically not a student any more, I'm still learning, and working hard to do my scholarly projects and hobbies. Just because you've graduated university, it doesn't mean that you have to stop being academic! It makes me feel sad when people finish a course and say good bye to that subject- I will never say good bye to Egyptology! 

I'm a student of the world, and I'm committed to continuing learning!

Having a job while studying at university

Hello class!

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin!

I'm going to talk to you a little bit about having a job while studying at uni. This is all based on my own experiences, so it might not be true for everyone, but I think most of what I say will be true for everyone.


As you probably know if you have read my blog, I have done 2 degrees at the University of Liverpool, studying a BA in Egyptian Archaeology Hons. and an MA in Egyptology Hons., so I have spent 4 years at uni. I lived either in Halls of Residence (years 1 and 2), or private rented houses (year 3 and my MA), rather than living at home because I couldn't commute to uni. So I was in Liverpool for about 8 months of the year.

When you are a student at university in the UK (other countries are different), you can apply for government grants, loans etc etc to help pay for your degree, accommodation, and other living expenses. However, as I am sure most students will agree, it is hard to make that money go far enough! And for postgraduate students, you generally can't get any money from the government, and although you can take out loans from banks, you will have to pay back a lot more than you are getting. So, a great way of getting money is by working while at university.

Obviously there are lots of different types of jobs you could do while at uni. Most unis will probably offer some opportunities like showing people around during open days etc, in which you can earn an hourly wage, but these opportunities can be quite irregular. If you are doing a specific degree, you may be able to get a job related to your degree, such as a job in a bank if you are doing a degree in business, mathematics etc, which would give you work experience as well as money. However, I think the majority of students with jobs work in 'unskilled' positions, for example as a bar tender or as a shop assistant. In my personal experience, it's nice to have a job where you don't have to think too much, as you are using your brain so much in you university degree!

During year 3 of my BA, and during my MA, I worked in my students' union shop. It is a little shop selling lunch food, especially crisps, sandwiches, soft drinks and chocolate, and stationery and university memorabilia, particularly hoodies. It is a nice little shop, and I have enjoyed working there, and I want to carry on working there when I do my PhD. I wish I had started work there during my year 2, when I lived on campus- it would have been a very short walk to work! I am very glad I worked there during my degrees, as it gave me something to do other than my essays! I made some good friends, and I feel like I have gained skills in many areas I didn't have before, and I have gained confidence too!!

There are some things you have to take into consideration when you are thinking about getting a job at university.
In particular, where you work: I worked in my students' union. 99% of people who work there are students, and therefore the working situation is very flexible for us- we tell the managers our availability for working by the Thursday, and then on the Friday we get the rota for the next week. If we can't do a shift for whatever reason, we email everyone on the staff email "Can you cover my shift", so you can have time off if you need it. If you can't work a certain week, for example if you have an essay due in, you just don't give in your availability. You can work as many or as few hours as you want. The shop isn't open during Christmas and Easter vacations, so we don't need to work then when I want to go home, and it is only open for short hours during revision periods, so they didn't expect many of us to work when we had to revise.
However, other companies and employers are not so flexible. If you work somewhere such as a shop in the city centre, they may give you a fixed rota, and they will expect you to work that. It may be very difficult to get time off when you need it, or get cover. If you have a timetable of lectures for your degree, you can try to fit your rota around that, which would be ideal, but in my experience, lecturers rearrange lectures quite often, and this is difficult if you have a fixed rota for work. If you are late because a lecture over-ran, you may get in trouble at work. If you work in a shop, most likely you will need to work during Christmas Eve and Boxing day, which means that you will find it difficult to spend Christmas at home if you can't commute. If you work in a bar or similar, you may need to work very late, which means that if you need to get up for a 9am lecture, you may not get much sleep! Also, some degrees require you to do a work experience placement, which may be difficult if you have to work in your job! And if you have a permanent job which requires you to work during the summer, you may never be able to go home to visit your parents!
Remember, working while at uni is a big commitment. If you are doing your uni course full-time, you are probably expected to work around 40 hours on your projects etc; if you work, for example, 12 hours per week in a shop, you are actually working 52 hours per week!
Don't forget that you have to factor in travelling to and from work. Fortunately, my work was on campus, so about 5 minutes work from my department, and if I walked REALLY quickly, a 7 minute walk from my house. However, if you work somewhere off-campus, it might take you quite a long journey to get to work. It may cost you extra money every day to get to and from work, such as if you take the bus, and it will take you time to get there and back, especially if you walk.


All-in-all, having a job at uni is very beneficial; however, I would recommend getting one that will be flexible, such as a job in your students' union! Your uni might (should) have a 'job shop', which will hopefully be full of flexible jobs suitable for students! There are other places you can go to find a job, such as employment agencies, where they can either find you a job or temp work, the Job Centre, online, or ask for vacancies in shops and bars! Remember to update your CV, and have a photocopy available when you are out and about, just in case you see an 'Employees Needed' sign in a shop window!

University advice to my 18 year old-self!

Hi everyone!!

Today's post is about becoming prepared for university, or What would I say to my 18 year old-self regarding university? This was a question asked by Deborah-Jane, whose daughter is going to university next year. I know I haven't been writing about studenthood much lately, so I'm glad to be writing this post to help people thinking of going to university!

What would I say to my 18 year old-self regarding university?

Before I went to uni, I really wanted to know what it was like, because no-one in my family had ever gone before, so I knew nothing about it. I wanted to find some young-peoples' fiction about it, to see what the day-to-day experience was like, but I never did. So this is what I would say to myself now:
 
    University isn't like school, it's actually a whole way-of-life. Mostly so if you live away from home, especially in halls; if you live at home, it might feel different. When you live in Halls (which the majority of 1st Years do), you are surrounded by students; you may travel to campus everyday on a bus surrounded by students; you spend all day in lectures and the library surrounded by students; and, if you live in catered halls, you eat in the canteen with students. It's very different to being at home and school, but in a good way, and it's easy to transition into this new environment, if you go with the flow!

    You do need to do a lot of work, definitely more than at school! Think of your course as a full-time job, around 40 hours of work per week. You will be expected to read a lot, and learn a lot of information. Expect to have weekly work, including set books or articles to read, perhaps a little test or two, and at least one essay for each module per term. Also, there will be the big exams at the end of term- make sure you write revision notes regularly (after each lecture would be ideal), so that you don't have to catch-up all subjects at once!

University is about independent work- you are set work in your lectures, seminars and tutorials, with instructions, and a bit of extra guidance if you ask your tutor, but otherwise you are expected to do the work mostly yourself. You can work with your classmates, but remember that you are at uni for your own education, so make sure you put the work in yourself! Don't let your classmates do all the work for you! And importantly, assessed work, especially essays etc, are supposed to be independent- if your teachers suspect you have been working with someone else on your work, UNLESS it is a joint or team project, then you will be in big trouble!

I used to worry about silly little things, like how people would think about me, what I should dress like, will they judge me by my appearance?

No-one cares about what you look like. Or, at least in my experience, they don't! University is much more grown-up than school, and people tend not to judge you so much by what you look like. Not to mention, people tend to think of uni as a place where you can be yourself- no rules about what you can or can't wear, or do your hair or make-up like at school- if you want green hair and nose-studs, feel free!! If you want to wear no make-up today, then people won't care, because they judge you by your actions and your personality instead!

Being the first person in my family to go to uni, I had no-one to give me specific advice about university- which is one of the reasons why I write this blog, so that I can give advice to new students! Now I have lots of info to share to others. And one major thing I should tell you about uni is: it's not that scary!!

It's a big responsibility, and it's not a walk in the park- but it's all manageable! It takes a lot of time, energy, and requires a lot of motivation. You might not get a lot of sleep some nights, and have to neglect your social life, but it is all worth it! It's such a satisfying experience, and it's fun; you get to meet so many amazing people, it feels like such an achievement, and you are doing something for yourself, to help your future, which is so satisfying!! If you feel like you are struggling, there will be a great support network at your uni, so use them. Make friends, have fun, don't drink too much, work hard, play hard, and do well! You will only do your degree once (hopefully!), so make the most of it!

I've written about a few of the pieces of advice I wish I could have told my 18 year old-self- but there are many more things I could talk about! 

Do you have any questions? Write them in the comments below!

How to avoid internet distractions and procrastinations

I get terribly distracted from what I'm supposed to be doing- I say that I have the attention span of a gnat! So having the internet available nearly all the time is my downfall. Facebook, twitter, online tv channels... they're either on all the time, or I go back to them every 5 minutes while I'm supposed to be working.
I said this on twitter once and someone referred me to a piece of software called Freedom, the different variations of which are usable for both Mac and PC. It blocks all internet access for a certain period of time that you choose. There's a free trial that you can download, where you can try it out 3 times to see if you like it. After the free trial, the software costs $10 for unlimited use.
Then I found another piece of software called Cold Turkey. I think it was designed as social network-blocking software, but you can choose which websites to block or not to block, and you can add more websites than they suggest- I added BBC iplayer, ITV player etc, philofaxy of course!!! (I get so easily distracted on there!!), flikr etc, as well as the ubiquitous twitter, facebook, ebay etc. I love how it is so customisable- instead of blocking the internet completely like Freedom does, it blocks only what you tell it to, so you will still have access to your email, search engines, online dictionaries etc! Perfect. You choose the time it blocks your internet access for, so you could have it for as little or as long as you like. And the best thing? It's FREEEEEEEE!!! There's a pay-for option, which is only $2, but I don't see much difference between the pay and non-pay options.
I've downloaded Cold Turkey and I'm going to use it to stop me getting distracted over the next few months finishing my MA, and I will continue to use it through my PhD! :D

Reader question: How to organise/write a dissertation

Hi!

Recently EmmerLouise asked me to write a post on how to organise or write a dissertation/thesis. This is an important issue for students who are about to start their last year in university, and are facing this scary time.
    This post is going to be a list of tips which should help you organise yourself in writing your dissertation. I am not going to tell you how to actually write your dissertation, because each university, course and dissertation question will need a different way, which I can't summarise here. However, I think my tips should cover every type of dissertation, whether arts/sciences/humanities, undergraduate or postgraduate level, polytechnic or Oxbridge. This is because these are fundamental tips ALL students should use. Even if you're in last year of uni, it's best you learn them now, rather than after it was too late like I did. No-one told me these things and I had to learn them for myself. So please print this list out and think about how to use these tips to help you in your dissertation/thesis writing.
    I have to be honest, I didn't do very well in my dissertation. This is because I didn't follow the tips I am about to give you. Over the summer holiday, I've realised what I should have done to make my organisation better, and this is what I have listed here. I will be implementing these rules/tips when I am writing my MA dissertation over the next 12 months.
    I really hope these help you! If you think of any more, please write them in the comments, and I will add them to the list!
In no particular order:

1. Start early! If you can, do some preliminary research during the preceding summer, or start early in the first term. Time goes quickly and soon you will have lots of other work to do, so get as much done as early as possible.
2. Use the research and writing skills you have learnt throughout your course. 
3. Make sure you have regular contact (meetings) with your dissertation supervisor.
4. Make sure your dissertation/thesis question is one you can understand. I didn't, and it screwed me up for the whole research and writing. You can always change it early (ask your supervisor), but always make sure you understand it.
5. There will be some specific things you have to do to format your dissertation- for example, a particular way to format the bibliography and pictures, specific chapters you need to write etc. Make sure you know about these early because doing them as you go along will save you a LOT of time just before you hand your dissertation in. 
6. Make scheduled time to do your dissertation research every week. Once you have lots of other work to do in other modules, it's easily forgotten. 
7. Write a diary listing what progress you have made so you can tell your supervisor when he asks at meetings. 
8. Do your bibliography etc as you go along. This is the easiest way to make sure you haven't forgotten to list a specific book, and means you don't have to rush doing it at the end. Not doing this is what has made me late on so many essays!
9. Very important: Keep your stuff organised, whether it's on your computer or on paper, or both. I had a folder full of articles. I decided not to staple the pages of individual articles together, because I thought I may need to lay the pages of the article across my desk to cross reference things, which I couldn't do if they were stapled. Because of this, when I put my articles together in a pile on my bed, and kept on flicking through them to find a particular page, everything got very mixed up and I had to spend my precious time sorting them all out again. Whether it's a folder full of articles like mine, or your own notes, or computer documents and folders, make sure you are organised. This is essential and invaluable!
10. If you need books etc that may be popular and out of the library for a long time when you need them, make sure you request them (ask the librarian to recall them from the user) early so you can have access to them before it's too late. This is especially important when you need a book that your library doesn't have. You can use a system called Interlibrary Loan, where your library requests the book you need from another library, sometimes for a small fee. This can take a few days to a few weeks. When I was trying to order the massive list of books I needed that weren't available in my library, it was that April time when there were LOADS of bank holidays! So my books either came late or not at all! Always be careful of this!
11. Set yourself deadlines. Your university may set you draft deadlines, but setting your own deadlines might keep your progress on track a bit more.
12. Back your work up all the time! It would be a nightmare if you lost the only copy of your work (trust me, this has happened to me once!). Email it to yourself, buy a memory stick, back it up on the university central system. Print hard copies and put them somewhere safe.
13. Ask you friends to read it through to see if it makes sense. Tell them to give you constructive criticism.
14. Finish as early as possible, preferably about a week before the deadline- you need to check references etc, possibly change things etc. The most important reason you need to do this is that you need to get your dissertation printed and bound. It is chaotic trying to do this at the last minute- hundreds of other students are trying to do this at the same time as you! 

Good luck everyone!!

   

The Perpetual Student BA Hons. :D

Hiya!!

I just graduated!!! On Wednesday, we all got dressed up in our robes and mortar boards and walked across the stage and became official graduates!!

The gown was uncomfortable and the hat is the silliest thing I've ever seen! But it was really fun!
I was worried I would fall up the stairs onto the stage or trip over, but I didn't! Unfortunately my dad couldn't come because he had to stay home to look after my brother who has tonsillitis :(

It's a momentous occasion, I am the first person in my dad's family ever to go to university, and now I can't believe I've actually graduated! The last 3 years has gone so quickly!
It was great seeing my friends again, who I haven't seen in 6 weeks, and some of whom I won't be seeing again :( I hope they'll come back and visit! It's strange, because I've moved house so many times, it's usually me who's leaving, but this time I'm staying for MA and they're leaving! But it's the natural progression of their lives and I wish them the best in their futures :)

For anyone who is currently a student or is about to start a course, enjoy every minute of it! It goes by SO fast and you are always busy with assignments and exams, so make sure you make the most of it!
If anyone has any questions about university and studenthood, send me a message, my email is on my profile :)

Filofax for students

Hello!

This Tuesday, Katie asked a question on Philofaxy's Free For All Tuesday asking if anybody was using their filofax to get organised for university, and for any tips.
TPS to the rescue!!

This is an excellent question because this is just the sort of job Filofaxes are designed for! I think the advantages of using filofaxes for this function might be overlooked slightly on the internet, because blogs dedicated to filofaxes are written by (ahhem cough cough) slightly more mature people ;b And I mean that in the nicest possible way, they are people with real lives, jobs, families etc!!
This blog post is about being organised at university. If anyone wants me to write a post on using your filofax to get you organised for PLANNING to go to university in the future, or just how to prepare for uni generally (not necessarily with a filofax) please ask in the comments!
Now I am going to discuss how you could use your Filofax for organising your life while at university!

First up, the diary.
For people who have already used their filofax for a while, or even another kind of diary, they may already have a diary format that works for them and know how to use it properly for their lives. However, being a student (in comparison to being at school, or on your gap year etc) introduces a LOT more that needs writing into your diary on a daily basis. So read on, you may learn something new or get some new ideas, even if you don't change your actual diary that much.
Which type of diary you use is completely up to you. However, I think a version that gives you ample room is essential. You will probably need to write quite a lot into your diary on certain days. (Some of these things are applicable to non-students too).
For example:

• Appointments- lectures etc; meetings and appointments; shifts if you work a job; social appointments etc
• Whole day things- deadlines, goals for that day (for example, "[today I will] FINISH ESSAY"; birthdays, anniversaries etc
• Recorded things- journal entries; log-book; recording the weather etc; food eaten and amount of water drunk (I tend to get de-hydrated); money spent (esp. good if you're on a budget) etc
• To-dos
• Notes on above things- e.g. clarification on to-dos; information on location of lectures, homework due for them etc

(I've probably forgotten some things, but they will come to you gradually as the need arises when you are actually at uni, and you can add them to your diary then).

As you can see, this list is quite long. And when you have a couple of entries of each on a page, even a page-per-day diary, it can get quite hectic on the page, especially if all this is written in 1 colour! A really good way to deal with this is colour-coding (e.g. Jordan). Assign a colour ink to a specific thing in your diary, so that you know at a glance what you are looking at/for. A really good type of pen for this is the 4-colour pen, I like Bic 4 colour-pens, as they have the normal black-blue-green-red and the lovely fashion colours, pink-purple-light blue-light green. These type of pens are really handy because sometimes when you need to colour-code you don't have access to your pencil-case. However, these are very thick pens and don't fit in many of the pen holders in filofaxes as they tend to be slim, but soon I'll do a post on alternative ways to fix your pen inside your filofax.

So, with all this to write in your diary, you may need quite a large space to write in your diary. I prefer the day-per-page format, which nearly always has enough space for my day's writing. I love the appointments view on this, as I need to be able to see my day in chronological order and the gaps in between appointments to see how long I can spend in the library. If I need any more space for notes, I write them on a post-it and stick in on the page, or for a long list I write it on a piece of notepaper. However, some people prefer to see their whole week at a glance (WO2P)- this has less space to write stuff, though.

I also have month on 2 pages diary. I use this for deadlines etc. I put DL for a deadline, EX for an exam etc. This is especially important to know how many days you have got before a deadline or exam, how many days you have left to research, write or revise because day-per-page and WO2P obscure this. This has really helped me to get organised in my uni work.

Sections

This part is completely up to the individual. You may want a separate section, with dividers, for each part, or just a few sheets together for each not in a separate section. I have only used filofax since March, and I am still working out my system. You may already have a system of your own, but these are just a few things to think about when going to university.

- Finances

You could write down your student loan instalment dates (and then you could write them into your diary), customer number/username and password for the Student Loans Company, also phone numbers if you ever need to call them. Make lists of direct debits/standing orders- rent, bills etc. Your budget (a good idea to stick to as a poor student!), and your income/outgoings on the filofax finance pages. On a piece of notepaper, make a list of IOUs: who owes you how much, when, and for what. Of course, DON'T write down your credit/debit card pin in your filofax, just in case it falls into the wrong hands!

- Addresses

Obviously, family, friends etc, just in case your phone stops working. For emergencies, put an emergency contact/next of kin down, where it would be easy to find. A good idea is to note down the phone numbers, email addresses and office room numbers of your lecturers or the secretaries in your department just in case you ever need to phone/email/write them a letter. This might be a good idea too for any experts in your field you happen to know- I am slowly getting a list of Egyptologists' phone numbers! 

- Assignments

This might be one of the most important sections of your filofax. You could dedicate a single piece of notepaper just to write down the title of the essay you have to write and the deadline; or you could have many sheets of paper, with notes such as books to look up, issues to investigate, maybe even notes from your research. However, I find that this really fills up your filofax; writing your lecture notes and research notes in an A5 filofax might work, but it would be a bit of a tight squeeze in a personal-sized filo or smaller. In my opinion, a normal notebook or folder would be better.

Also, sections like shopping lists, general notes section, maybe a separate to-do list, etc

I may have forgotten some things, but this is the basic stuff you will need for using your filofax to organise yourself. Each course and individual differs, so you could find things you need to add when you actually get to uni. Just use this as the framework for your filofax, and let the rest evolve naturally! 

If you have any other ideas, feel free to add them in the comments!!

Hope this helps! x