The Future!

Hello there!

It’s been a very long time since my last post when I was telling people to say no. Did you read it? “NO” Oh… you can say yes this time!

Okay, recently I’ve been thinking about my future – well I’m always thinking about my future, but this time it was serious. I’m currently waiting on 3/5 Universities to reply to my offer to study History. I’ve had 2 offers from the University of Warwick and the University of Birmingham but I’ve been reconsidering my choice.

Last summer I began teaching myself computer programming, using Java in a program called ‘Processing’. I got the ‘bug’ straight away once I saw the potential for ideas I had. I began working on a 2D Zombie game for PC (like Boxhead) but when Christmas hit I stopped because my school work was mounting. This year I have made a 6 Nations application (that’s all I’m revealing) which I am still working on fixing bugs and trying to implement more features.

So I began to think about my University choice. Should I be doing History or Computer Science/Software Engineering? I’ve been researching and for a start some C.S courses want Science/Maths related A Levels, well I have none so that was a no-no. Then I thought about what future I could look forward to if I did do C.S over History.

Now the pay for programmers is pretty good, it’s over the national average and would get me by. But programming jobs are being ‘shipped’ abroad – and this was a major put-off for me. What if there just weren’t any jobs available when I start applying for them?

And apparently the working conditions and status isn’t a positive one for programmers. They are at the bottom of the hierarchy and don’t get treated in the sam way as the managers and directors in a company. With a History degree, I’m going to be more likely to get a directorial position with a higher salary.

So I’ve made my decision. I’m going to go ahead with my History course, it’s a broad subject in which I will learn lots of skills that I can carry on into the workplace. However I’m not going to stop programming, oh no, indeed I am going to join a computer society at University. I’m going to meet new people that are interested in computers and programming, and I will develop skills ‘on the side’ to my History degree. Because I have ideas, ideas that I hope to pursue and create on the screen.

Ideas that could change networking (no more info 😛 ) for the better.

Yours

It’s okay to say NO

It’s okay to say no to somebody

A friend at school asked me if I was helping out after-school with the Sixth Form open evening by talking about my choices. I told her that I’d been asked but I had turned down the offer because I have revision to do, honestly.

With that she frowned and admitted she wished she had done so too, for she also has exams, more than me in fact. I told her, it’s okay to say no.

Don’t let anyone rule you or your agenda

If you’ve been asked a favour that you know isn’t important, and you have more important things to do, say no. We’re so inclined to say yes because we feel we should be helpful and reliable – but not if it means you miss out.

It’s important to remember that at the end of the day this is your life, and you are the most important thing in your life. That’s not to say that you should run down the street yelling “I’m so important,” all of a sudden. Remain humble, prioritise your agenda, and only accept something if you know you can deal with having another day of the week booked up.

Just a thought,

Yours

Exams

Passing an exam doesn’t mean you are really intelligent and will get the best and most high paid jobs

Today I had a bit of a lecture from my A Level Geography teacher about exams and success in this society compared with in the past. He believes that just passing an exam isn’t the best way of measuring intelligence and potential success, financially or in terms of quality of life. He reckons that some people are just very good at exams, and others aren’t.

Lots of great names in the past were not good at exams

Albert Einstein, according to my Geography teacher, was not good at taking exams. He didn’t get the best grades because he had an idea, and he wanted to pursue it:

he didn’t want to learn what everybody else was learning.

He wanted to develop his own ideas, not to learn what the teachers and lecturers

already knew.

So he got a low paid job which would allow him to work on his ideas and earn enough to get by, then when it came to exam time he borrowed his friends’ revision notes and studied to pass it. Over a period of years he created the fundamental basis for which all modern physics is based on, and he wasn’t good at exams.

Charles Dickens didn’t do well in exams. But he was, and still is, possibly the most influential figure in English literature.

And modern day equivalents such as Bill Gates who built up the Microsoft empire, and Mark Zuckerburg who created the Facebook phenomenon both dropped out of college. These people had figured out what they wanted to do, and they knew everything they needed to do it – what was the point in carrying on in University learning the same things as all the other students?

It made me think about my choices and aspirations for this year and beyond. I’ve applied to study History at University and have had a few offers already. But I don’t know what I want to do after that, hopefully University will inspire me while I’m there and I could spend endless nights like Einstein, working away; not partying, like everybody else.

Yours

Priorities

We all know what priorities are, but I think we struggle to use the in our busy lives.

Prioritising can lead to an efficient lifestyle where we get things done, and we get the most important things done first. It’s hard for me to prioritise my lifestyle because it’s a difficult task to decide what is more important than what. And I think that’s where many people get stuck.

I think writing down all the things that you do in your life is a good start. Then over a period of say a week or a month, do a tally of how many times you’ve had to think about or do each thing. At the end of your time period you can see which thing has been thought about, or done the most and that will be your most important activity.

I’m going to start today, if you are too then good luck and I’d love to know how you get on and whether it worked or not.

Yours.

Sleep

Last night was New Years Eve, and as per usual I went to bed way later than I should have…

I think I eventually went up to bed at 3.15. And didn’t wake up till 2pm!

I couldn’t believe it!

Now, I am 17 and some would say that’s pretty normal but I don’t have lie-ins that often at all.

On a Saturday I wake at 7 to catch a bus to Oxford to go rowing, yes I row in Oxford – but not at the Uni obviously (for City of Oxford). And on a Sunday, I normally wake at 8 because being an A level student brings with it so much work that I need as many hours in the day as possible without making myself ill.

So today’s unusual lie-in led me to think about planning and organisation.

It’s so important nowadays to be prepared for your daily activities. Wasting time sleeping, or staying up till the early hours of the morning playing games, watching TV or surfing the web will affect each aspect of your day immensely.

From the way you greet loved ones in the morning, or even new people on the bus or train to work, to cracking on with assignments; lack of sleep and planning can, and will, reduce your performance at work and with friends.

After reading many sites I’ve concluded that 8 hours sleep should be plentiful to rest our bodies in the night. I’ve decided to try and get to bed at 10-10.30 from now on, and to wake at 6-6.30.

Perhaps you may reconsider when you turn in?

Failing to plan is planning to fail. Just another fought.

Yours.

The little Un’ got it!

Kim Jong Un has just been named Supreme Commander of North Korea’s military.

Scary fought.

1.2 million strong men (women too?) all under the command of a man in his early twenties who looks like he really just wants to go to LegoLand. It’s very worrying, particularly if you’re a westerner like me. The many targets that the West have on its back are nothing compared to the might of North Koreas army and weapons cache. I’m going to start building my nuclear bunker if you don’t mind – hey, it could happen you know!

Just think about the consequences of yet another secretive North Korea if all goes well for the young ‘Un. He’s got a long reign ahead of him, a long time to consider his options about how to deal with the “foolish West.” The world’s already getting tenser with the upset being caused in the Middle East at the moment. The last thing we want is an inexperienced leader of such a secretive yet powerful state.

Food for fought. (I had to, sorry).

Yours.

My first fought

Hello.

I thought you may want to know what this blog is about so I’ve just updated the About section for you all.

Yours.