A Fascinating Day

Today has been a long, but very enjoyable day, I only got home a couple of hours ago. I will keep this post rather brief though as I am very tired now and my bed is calling. =)

I had two clinical skills sessions and they were brilliant. The first one we had was 'Personal Care & Hygiene'; this session contained 4 different stations where we had to (1) Take care of a baby (a doll which weighed the same as a normal baby) by giving it a bath, change it's nappy, dress it, etc, which brought back a lot of memories for me, haha! (2) Learn the correct hand washing technique and also brush eachothers teeth... yes, we really did! We had to interact with our partner as though they were a child. It was quite fun. (3) Remake a hospital bed with the patient (a child mannequin) still in the bed, and learn how to do 'hospital corners', that was fun to learn. (4) Give a child mannequin a bed bath. I had a lot of fun in this session and feel a lot more confident after learning all the correct techniques.

SimBaby:
Image taken from Google

Our second session was 'Patient Assessment & Vital Signs'. In this session we learnt all about pulses, taking blood pressure, temperature and what to look for in a baby who is experiencing respiratory distress. Our uni, like many others, has what is called a 'SimBaby' its a simulation baby that is hooked up to an ECG monitor and is capable of 'breathing' so we can monitor it's pulse and respiratory rate. It also makes noises and cries. It's an amazing piece of equipment. I am sure those of you doing adult nursing have something similar. We also got shown how to fill in observation sheets correctly which has put my mind at ease.

I have also found out where I am going on placement. Due to the NMC Code on confidentiality I cannot divulge where I am going, I can say, however, that I will seeing patients with respiratory, neurological and gastrointestinal conditions, I have already started studying things that I may come across in order to get a better understanding. Once again, in order to maintain confidentiality at all times I must stress that I will at no point be discussing specifics with regards to where I am, patients or their conditions. I am really excited about learning from this placement and I cannot wait to get out there and start interacting with people. I visit my placement this week and meet with my mentor to have a look around and collect my shift times, I can't wait! I also collect my uniform next Tuesday which is really exciting.

My attitude is very positive now, I had been experiencing a slight blip over the past couple of days. To any person reading this who wants to be a student nurse, I must warn you now that you may experience several blips at the beginning of the course, but I assure you these will subside with time. Always remember why you're doing the course and look ahead to where you might be. I am so proud to be a student nurse, I won't let anyone or anything dampen my determination.

I have so much coming up so I will post again as soon as I can. Hope you are all well. =)

The Hard Work Starts Now

I thought I'd post another entry as I've been asked my a few people when my next one is going to be. I can only apologise that I'm not posting as often as I originally thought I would be. My fellow student nurses will agree that before long university life slowly begins to take over and you find yourself with less and less free time, and in my personal opinion that's not a bad thing. I'm enjoying getting my teeth stuck into the challenge.

After the recent lecture we had I am even more determined to work hard. We had a lecture on the different ways in which we'll be assessed throughout the course, the pass marks required to pass each year, how many chances we get, and the consequences of failing. It really brought it home just how hard we need to work. I'll give you a brief overview of how it works at my uni, it may be similar for you, I don't know lol. In terms of academic work, we get 4 opportunities to pass, however, we've been told we get 2 chances in semester 1, and 1 chances in semester 2. If we don't pass after those chances, we have to step off the course for up to 6 months and rejoin with the new cohort for our final chance. If we fail then, we have to step off the course. We also have 2 chances to pass practice placement, if we fail both times, we step off the course, and they emphasised that even if we get to our last placement of year 3 and we've been excellent throughout the course both in academic work and on placement, if we fail that final placement, we're off the course with no exceptions and we'll only get a CertHE. It's brutal. I would be devastated if I got that far and then failed. Fingers crossed it never comes to that. However, despite how tough it sounds, I guess there's a reason for it. For my fellow student nurses, how does it work at your uni. I'd be interested in seeing a post from you explaining it.

On a more happy note, it was my birthday on Wednesday, haha. I had a brilliant day. I had my kids stay over on the Tuesday so I could take them to school, and then I picked them up again and spent some time with them. It was a great day. I didn't do anything that exciting, like go out drinking. I know, sounds a bit boring, but I'm actually not much of a drinker. I'd pick a night in on the sofa every time. There's nothing better than the creature comforts of home, haha.

I hope everyone is doing well, and you're all settling in OK. =)

Rekindling My Interests

Since starting university I had to put some of my hobbies on hold until I started getting myself into a routine. One of my hobbies is writing; I’ve always loved writing short stories. In fact, I thought I’d share an extract from something I wrote after my first day at university. It’s nothing much but it kind of gives you some idea of how I was feeling on the morning of that day.

“Walking up the steps towards the entrance I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of apprehension - that intense feeling of butterflies whirling around my stomach was unmistakable. I felt sick with nerves. Was a really here!? What if they made a mistake? What if I wasn’t meant to be here at all? I remember walking through the doors with my hands intertwined with each other, fidgeting and trying my hardest to keep my anxiety at bay. I surveyed the entrance area as I stood there with what must have been a look of disbelief on my face - it sure felt that way inside.  

After bringing myself back to my senses, I looked to my left and saw the familiar sign that read ‘Costa Coffee’. Why not? I thought to myself, I had time. As I walked through the door way, slowly but surely the unmistakable delectable aroma of coffee began to fill my nostrils, taking me to a quiet, peaceful place that made me feel calm again – it’s strange what effects certain smells can have on you.  With time to spare I collected my coffee, sat down on one of the empty sofas, and began pondering on what the day would hold for me. 

Glaring out of the window, I couldn’t help but notice all the self-assured, competent students enter the building for what was, for them at least, an ordinary day. I hoped I would one day be like that. “Hello” Said a voice. I looked over at the sofa opposite me to see a young girl sitting there, she looked somewhat familiar. “Hi”, I replied. I couldn’t help but notice that she looked how I felt. “Sorry to bother you, but… are you new?” She asked, with a slight quiver in her voice. “Yes” I said, “Is it your first day too? I think I remember you from the interview day”. She confirmed she was there and that this was indeed her first day too. “Nervous?” I asked. She nodded, stared at the floor as though willing the ground to swallow her whole. I looked at the time and noticed it was time to head up to the room. “Come on”, I said, “We’re going to be just fine”.

This really makes me remember how I felt that day, and I can say it was a total contrast to how I’m feeling now. I actually do feel like one of those self-assured students, entering the building each morning with confidence and enthusiasm… I won’t say competent yet, haha. I still have a lot to learn. I got told today that I could sign up for a writing class in my spare time if I wanted to continue with my writing, doing it at uni would definitely be convenient.

I’m really looking forward to the coming weeks; so much is going to be happening. Our assignment is finally going to be launched, we’ll be doing some more clinical skills sessions, receiving our uniforms, and most exciting of all, we’ll be finding out where we are going on placements, I cannot wait.

Hope you're all getting on well with whatever you are doing. =)

Uni Life Thus Far

Hello Everyone...

My apologies that it has been so long since my last post. There has been sooooooo much going on. Not so much in terms of doing assignments or essays (wish I was), but our first module is all about preparing us for placement. We have been going through so much, things such as basic A&P, Law and ethics, the NMC Code, infection control,  record keeping, etc. We start our clinical skills sessions next week which will be on communication, basic life support and patient handling. I'm really looking forward to these sessions.

A big part of the module is also based on our personal, professional and academic development. So we have been given an online portfolio (an e-portfolio) to work on, this is a place where we can post things such as journals, blogs, reflections, anything to do with our development which our personal tutor can see and give us feedback. We can also create a resumé/CV. That is only the basics, there is so much more you can do with it. I think it's brilliant. We have also been given our Practice Placement Support Packs, this contains 2 booklets, one being our Ongoing Achievement Record and the other is our Assessment of Practice book which contains many, many competencies we have to learn, which will also be graded on by our mentor! It also contains a CD which holds all the documents we need for placement. I've loved going through it all, reading everything that needs to be learned makes it all so much more real!

We have had it drilled into us how important professionalism is, and I have listened very carefully about what is and isn't acceptable, so after hearing everything I am being even more careful now about what I post. I am not going to go into specifics about anything I write so my apologies if things I talk about appear a little vague.

We won't be set an assignment for another couple of weeks so I have been keeping myself busy with all our pre-lecture reading and post-lecture activities. We also have online learning to complete which is actually really interesting - this whole self directed learning thing is quite fun! We're still waiting to be given our uniforms, so for now, we just have to wear something appropriate for our clinical skills sessions. We have a session coming up that empthasises on personal care, and involves us feeding each other and brushing each others teeth... hmm, that should be interesting...!

Well, I have a busy week next week so I will post when possible. Hope you're all well.

Take care.

And So It Begins

Hi everyone. It has been a while since my last post, this is mainly because I have been really busy and have been trying to get my head around all of this. It is all so new and after my induction week I admit I had some niggling doubts about whether I could really do this. During induction we had a course overview lecture which told us how the course works and what is expected of us. They went through the grading system and what happens if we fail.

We got told that in each year we have 4 modules to complete which are each worth 15 credits, and in terms of academic work, we get 4 attempts to pass the first year. This includes assignments, OSCE's (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) and numeracy exams. In practice, we get 2 attempts to pass placements. If we fail to pass after all of those attempts, we are out, simple as that. We could reach the final placement of our third year, and if we failed that placement a second time, the previous years would count for nothing, and we would be dismissed from the course... ouch! We also got told that when it comes to our maths exams, in first year we have to get 70% to pass, second year 80% and third year 90%, if we are so much as one mark off, we are removed from the course for 6 months, and we then get to retake. This really began to make me wonder if I was really ready for this, but I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be, and I'm going to give it a damn good go. It all sounds harsh but I guess they have to be, and I respect that.

We have also been told that we won't find out our placements until 4 weeks prior to placement, we also have to pass the mandatory training that will come in the following weeks. If we fail, we can't go on to placement.

Tomorrow is my first day of lectures, we are starting our module launch and then having a lecture on cells and homeostasis. I'm really looking forward to this because I think physiology is one of my strong points. Even though I have done plenty of reading over the summer, I am going to spend today going over everything again so it's all fresh in my mind. I really can't wait to get started. Wednesday is another day off (feel like a part time lol) and thursday we have a field specific seminar and a lecture of the history of nursing (really can't wait for that one).

I'm not going to post a blog on each day, if there is anything in particular I want to talk about then you may find posts on the Student Nurse Forums. Hope all my fellow student nurses are getting on well at uni. Looking forward to reading more updates from you all. To all my followers aren't doing nursing, apologies if you were anticipating more blogs from me, but I guess I didn't realise how hectic uni life was going to be lol.

Speak to you all soon. =)

The Journey Begins Tomorrow

So the day has finally come! Tomorrow will be my first day at uni, and despite the likelihood of the day consisting of paperwork and 'non-nursey' lectures, I am dying to get started and I couldn't be more excited!

Today I finally went out and did some stationery shopping... talk about procrastination, already! Haha! No, the reason it was left so late was because I am quite low on funds, and unfortunately my loan installment didn't go in to day as hoped. I guess I have to wait until my attendance has been confirmed.

I love stationery shopping, I'm like a kid a christmas and I always take my time when looking. I must have been in the store for quite a while today, I had employees coming up to me and asking if I was ok, haha. I have only brought a few essentials for now, and a few extras which I got cheap in Poundland (result!). So, I brought;

• Pens
• Highlighters
• Post-Its
• A Scientific Calculator
• A Pocket Notepad
• An A4 Pad
• Page Dividers
• Punched Pockets
• A Folder; aaaaand....
• An Academic Diary

I thought I'd be nice and take a picture for my fellow stationery lovers (you know who you are, haha!).

I will be buying more stuff once my money comes through as there is no doubt I will need more. I will let you all know how I get on tomorrow. We have to be there for 8:30am but I am meeting my friends there at 8am as we want to get coffee first and then go to the lecture theatre before everyone else, we don't like the thought of sitting at the back of a crowded room lol. So this means I have to get up at 6am to get ready, get the 6:55am bus to the train station and get the 7:30am train to be at the university by 8am. Oooh what fun this is going to be... =/

I'll post another blog tomorrow when I get home, and I have no idea when that will be. I'll be tweeting tomorrow so if you want to know how things are going, take a look at Twitter when you can.

Wish me luck

Just An Update

As some of you may know, yesterday I had an interview for Bank HCA work at a Children's Hospice. The interview went rather well, a lot better than I anticipated anyway. I was a bit daunted at first when one of the interviewers told me there were 4 pages of questions!! (Panic Alert!) Although, to be honest the questions were pretty simple, I actually don't know what I was worried about. There were questions on why I wanted to work there, what I could bring to the team, what I thought the importance of teamwork was, what skills could I bring from my previous job to this role, there were questions on equality and diversity, and how i'd manage with some of the stressful situations that come with working in a hospice. I was pretty happy with my answers and the interviewers seemed happy too. With that said I was still quite nervous and must have had several glasses of water, I lost count haha.

I was honest and told them I had no previous experience with children in a healthcare setting and judging from their reactions they seemed pretty impressed by my explanation on how I could transfer the skills I used with adults to this role with children. The only downside is there were other candidates and imagine the standard are pretty high. They said they'd let people know pretty quickly, so... fingers crossed!

As the interview ended they wished me luck for next week... Only a few days to go now before I start uni and I cannot wait. They told me that they have other student nurses on the bank so that was reassuring. I am dying to start uni now, I'm hearing how my fellow student nurses are getting on and it makes me want to get stuck in even more. I still have a bit of preparation left, I get my first loan installment on Monday so intend to go on a shopping spree where I'll be getting a new computer, a printer and all the stationary I need. I've decided to go for a desktop PC rather than another laptop. I also need to purchase a Bus & Train Term Time pass too ready for when I start, getting the pass will save me a hell of a lot of money in the long term.

For those who are at uni, I hope things are going well for you. For my followers who are on the Access course, I hope your course is going well and you're not too stressed, haha. Just to end I want to let you all know that I am planning on doing a fortnightly blog entry from now on. I don't think i'm going to have the time to do one each week, and I feel after two weeks there will be more to talk about, so that's my plan. If there is anything in between that I particularly want to blog about then I will.

Follow by email or on Twitter to receive updates on when a new entry has been posted. =)

Student Nurses & Social Networking

This post contains my own personal opinions and preferences, as well as those from other potentially unreliable resources, and should not be taken as official advice. If you have any concerns about social networking as a student nurse, please seek advice from your university tutor.

There has been much talk lately between my friends and I regarding how student nurses should approach social networking, and a discussion tonight with my friends on 'Student Nurse Forum' has made me think more about it. We all agree unanimously that the Nursing & Midwifery Council Code of Conduct should be obeyed at all times and that we must always maintain professionalism and be constantly aware that we are representing our universities and the nursing profession as a whole. There are, however, some who are completely unsure of how to approach the issue. I know people who are considering deleting their accounts completely, I know people who want to remove several 'friends', I know people who feel that some scenarios they have read about seem absolutely ludicrous, and I also know people, myself included, who don't feel the need to worry - all are valid concerns and opinions, but we must remember what the NMC says.

The NMC claims that student Nurses may jeopardise their ability to join the NMC Register, if they: 

• Share confidential information online.
• Post inappropriate comments about colleagues or patients.
• Use social networking sites to bully or intimidate colleagues.
• Pursue personal relationships with patients or service users.
• Distribute sexually explicit material.
• Use social networking sites in any way which is unlawful.

I don't know about you, but I have never behaved in such a way, professionally or personally, throughout my entire life and I certainly don't intend to start now. I think this all comes down to common sense, I just don't see how anyone would happily discuss confidential information online, or talk about people in a negative way online, or try and search for, and then attempt to get with, a patient... to me that's just all kinds of wrong! I certainly wouldn't distribute sexually explicit material now, let alone while I'm a student. As long as you're not unprofessional and insensitive, then I think everyone is perfectly safe to use social networking sites. I certainly won't be giving up my Facebook or Twitter accounts, and certainly not this blog. "Before you run for the hills, bury your head in the sand, or change your name by deed poll, all is not lost and it is possible to exist in the digital world without compromising your life in the real world..."

I have found some pretty good advice to ensure we use social networking sites safely;

• Once you have put anything on the internet it is out of your hands. Don’t assume because you are hidden behind a wall of privacy settings, that you control your information. Anyone who can see what you’ve written or uploaded can make a copy and forward it on to others. If you wouldn’t be happy to say it to someone’s face don’t say it at all.
• They say a picture paints a thousand words and when trying to maintain a professional appearance this has never been more true. Those drunken snaps from Aunt Sally’s wedding or the bikini shot from your last trip to Malaga might not be the most appropriate selection for your Facebook profile picture, especially when perspective employers these days may well Google your name.
• You’ve made sure all the pictures and videos you post online show the model nurse, and everything you write about obeys the code of conduct and portrays you as the next Florence Nightingale? Just remember all those people you call friends all have the potential to drop you in big trouble and it can be very difficult to control what they might say about you or post pictures or videos of. If somebody does post something you’re not happy about you can always ask them to take it down, but remember to be polite and professional about it - they might not feel very co-operative if you start shouting at them.
• Remember patient respect, dignity and confidentiality; if it relates to a patient best keep it offline. Social networks are a great tool for setting up meetings, but if you absolutely cannot meet in person then e-mail is the best medium for this and preferably a work e-mail address as this can always be printed and attached to patient notes if necessary.

Personally, I wholeheartedly concur that any student who does break this policy should indeed be removed from their course, or at least be given a warning depending on the severity of the incident. These rules are in place for a reason and we should all bare in mind that we have reputations to maintain, and not just necessarily our own. We are now a student of a university who are giving us an extraordinary opportunity, we will be student nurses on a placement who will be giving us extremely valuable training and support, and will be taking care of many vulnerable patients who will give us their trust, a trust that is earned based on our professionalism, it is only right that we treat each with the respect they deserve.

My final bit of advice - In a nutshell, just be careful, sensible and stay professional, then nothing can come back to bite you. 

STAY CALM AND CARRY ON POSTING.  =)

 

Got A Present....!!!

Random post but thought I'd share it with you all...

Today I got surprised with this fob watch. It was actually the same one I was going to get, I absolutely love it and can't wait to get my uniform so I can pin it on, haha.

Roll on 2nd October!!! I just want to get started now. =)

"This Could Really Be A Good Life"

This is a short entry but I just wanted to share with everyone how I'm feeling right now, and this song, that I absolutely love, sums it up.

It's called 'Good Life' by OneRepublic, and the band themselves have expressed what the meaning of the song is... "In the song, Tedder, the band’s frontman and chief songwriter, sings about having the choice to live a good life no matter what hurdles or rough patches come your way."

Personally, I see this song as a great inspiration to live life to the full and to never have any regrets. Like its telling you to be the person you want to be and to hold nothing back. It kind of makes me stop and look at the journey I'm about to embark on and realise, I have a shot to make the most out of my life, to be the best I can be and that I have all the potential to make my life a good one.

Have a listen, and envision your journey... It really makes you think. It makes me want to stick two fingers up to my doubters and say I'm going to do this, and if you don't believe in me, just watch me. Whatever life throws at me, they'll just be inconvenient hurdles that I have to overcome, but regardless, I will do this.

*UPDATE* - I think this still applies, even though I have left nursing, I am side stepping into a new career and I will get there. This is just another hurdle to jump over, I'm still going.

My Introductory Learning Day

Today's introductory learning day for child health was absolutely brilliant. I hardly got a wink of sleep last night, partly because I was excited, but partly because I'm having trouble sleeping anyway. I woke up at 6am and got ready, I met my college friend at the train station and we headed up to the uni together.

The day started at 9:30 with an introduction from all the staff on the Faculty of Child Health. There were 30-40 of us in this one room and we were told to get up from the table we were sitting at, and basically mingle around the room and talk... I have to admit these kind of icebreakers make me a little nervous and I felt a bit out of place being the one of two males amongst all these women, haha. After this we were given a presentation on what the university expect of us, their values and how we must remain professional at all times within university. We then had a presentation from the clinical lecturer who followed on from this, telling us about the NMC and the code we must adhere to when out on placement, telling us what was and wasn't acceptable. It was really interesting. After this we had a Q&A session where we got to ask all the tutors any questions we wanted, and found out one or two things I didn't actually know, which helped a lot.

After a break came the best part of the day... practical sessions. We started off in the mock children's ward where some real children we in our hospital beds, they were acting of course, but we got to go round to each bed and ask questions to the patient and/or their parent/guardian, asking things like why they were in and what was wrong. It was fascinating to learn some of the questions that should be asked that you initially wouldn't think to ask, that's where the child protection and safeguarding came in, it was brilliant. We then went into the next ward where the simulators were, which held a 9 year old, a toddler and a newborn, the simulators were so life like, feeling their pulses and watching their chests rise and fall were amazing, hearing the 9 year old talk back at you and the baby sims cry made the situations so life like, I really can't wait to begin learning more about observations. The final room was set out like a family clinic, where baby would come to get weighed and measured, etc. It was set up to inform us what kind of things community nurses do, although community nursing isn't of major interest to me, it was fascinating all the same and I'll definitely go into a community placement a lot more open minded.

After lunch we did an A&P session, where we took apart of model that has organs attached to it (you know what I mean?) and we had to take all the organs off and then replace them as quickly as we could. We also has an A&P quiz to test our basic knowledge, my group didn't win (booo) haha. We had two current third years there too who gave us some great advice, and said that we should spend the next 4 weeks brushing up on our A&P knowledge, which is something I will definitely do. I met some wonderful people and I'm looking forward to spending the next 3 years sharing this journey with them. All the staff are really friendly and so approachable. Overall it was an incredible day and I really, really, reeeeeally cannot wait to start officially.

We got sent an email during the day which contained our official reading list and our 3 year course plan which gave us dates, such as when we're in university, on placement, when we have exams and annual leave, etc, exciting.

Ooooh, and when we first went in, we were given a name badge and a goody bag, check out my two little goodies...

 Nurse USB Stick

Spongy Male Nurse (My Fave)

'Toughest Place to be a Nurse' BBC2

This is just a short entry in response to the programme ‘Toughest Place to be a Nurse’ shown on BBC2 tonight. Apologies if it doesn't make much sense in places, as it is late I am merely "jotting down" the thoughts in my head at this precise moment, and am pretty much writing this off the top of my head as I go along. Here it goes...

Watching this programme really hit it home to me how incredibly lucky we are here. It showed just how extremely limited they are in Mexico, especially in terms of medical equipment and the budgets they have. It showed how much medical staff have to cope with, and that despite helping people, their lives are just as much at risk on a daily basis. It was emphasised that to work as a doctor or nurse, you were deemed wealthy and therefore at risk of kidnap. It was remarkable how these people could go to work each day with a smile on their face. It also shocked me when they started talking about men armed with guns entering the hospital; yet medical staff would carry on working after such an incident… amazing!

I was in awe of the male nurse who worked the night shifts. It surprised me when he talked about changing the route to work every day in fear of being recognised and kidnapped. It amazed me how much he has to go through on a daily basis, not only fearing his safety at work, but also having a family who he worries for constantly… to have to go through all of that and still go to work with a smile on his face, and return home to a happy family life, it’s unbelievable!

After seeing this programme it really put things into perspective. It highlights just how lucky we are to live in a society where we can pretty much go through our day to day lives without enduring such violence that some cultures consider to be the norm. Also, it makes you appreciate even more the excellent healthcare we receive, and the advanced medical technology we have. Nurses over there go to work fearing their safety on a daily basis, some nurses here go to work and their main concern is how much they’re getting paid. It really annoys me how some people can criticize our NHS… be grateful that we have such a thing! Be grateful you live in a decent society! Be grateful you have a decent paid job! I’ve always said that when I become a nurse I will vow never to get caught up in political squabbles such as pay, I will be grateful to have a job, to be doing something I love and to be able to get paid to do it. Sure life may get a bit difficult, finances may get a bit stretched, but hey, life isn’t perfect. You may think I’m being naïve... well, think what you will, but I’m not going to get into the whole pay dispute… ever! There are many people in this world who are worse off, who am I to complain!?

If you watched this programme and have thoughts on it, I'd love to hear what you think, please comment!

Ok… rant over. Good night!  =)

Writing A Personal Statement

Recently I’ve had a few people ask me for advice on Personal Statements as they prepare their UCAS applications for the 2013 intake. I have been reading a couple of statements and helping people improve on them. So for those who are looking for help with personal statements (whether that is you or someone you know), I have decided to write up this blog in order to help you. What I have found most is that people mainly lack structure in their statement. It all makes perfect sense, but a lot of it isn’t quite in the right ‘order’. In this blog I’ll give you some pointers on how best to structure your statement, the kinds of things you can do to make your statement stand out, and what admissions tutors look out for.

I will start off with a quote made by UCAS;
“A good statement is important – it could help to persuade an admissions tutor to offer you a place. In many cases, applicants are not interviewed, so this may be your only chance to make the case for your admission.”

You need to begin by thinking up some preliminary ideas on the content and style of your personal statement. So you need to begin by thinking what the purpose of a personal statement is…  For instance, it is an opportunity to sell yourself, to express your reasons as to why you should be picked for the course, and a chance to share your background, experiences and any qualifications you have that you feel may be relevant and will enable your statement stand out. 

You also need to think of the format and layout of your personal statement. Below is a list of tips on how you could structure your statement;

Start by introducing yourself, perhaps begin by stating how you got to this point, for instance, was there an inspirational moment where you realised this was the career for you? Or is this the career you’ve wanted all your life? Include as much positive language as possible and make it clear why you want to be on the course. Remember, it is the start of the statement where you really need to get the admissions tutor’s attention!

In the next few paragraphs (main body), you need to provide information about what you have been doing up to this point. So what experiences have you gain that you feel are relevant? Are you making a career change? If so, talk about the skills you have obtained and how they can transfer into your chosen career. However, don’t just list your experience, make the most of them, don’t just say what you did, but also say what you learnt. Do not repeat information that is already on your UCAS form, this wastes characters, they already know where you have worked/studied.

Include a paragraph about any recent studies and your experiences at the college/university you were at. For instance, did you enjoy the challenge? How did you find the subject(s)? Mention the social aspect of college/university life. Draw as much out of these experiences as you can as you need to emphasise your suitability and enthusiasm. Also include a paragraph about your hobbies and interests, make sure you are specific! For instance, did you play for a local team? If so, how did you benefit from that as an individual? What did you learn from it?

In the final paragraph, and I can’t stress this enough, you need to end on a positive, ‘forward looking’ way. Reiterate your interest in the particular course and mention your long term aims. Once you have finished it is imperative you proof read your statement, make changes in necessary, and ask for other people’s input. It needs to be word perfect, clear, correctly spelt and interesting.

For additional tips, please click here.

Note: Some of the above information has been taken from a handbook I received when I was at college, in the hope that it will help you. The wording of this blog is completely my own. I have not plagiarised.