Panic Mode!

Hi all,

I am going to start this blog off with education! *yawn*. It dawned on me recently I have hippopotomonstrosesquippediliophobia; which ironically is the fear of long words. Lecturers at university are always telling us to use big words so that we sound more articulated and more intelligent. So this week I have been looking up big words and thought I would share my favourites with you all. Aside from the word above I also liked the word circumbilivagination which basically means to rotate. However my favourite long word I found had to be a Nipmuk (American Indian) lake named Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. The lake was named to convey an agreement between the Nipmuks and their neighbouring tribes. It translates to “You fish on the left side, I’ll fish on the right side, and no one fishes in the middle.”

Where I found these crazy words!!!

http://wordsyoudontknow.com/10-very-long-words-you-dont-know/all/1/

Ok that’s my top three long words and now onto what’s been happening this week in my life. This week was the dreaded project pitch week!

Being a third year you have to undertake a big project that goes someway to highlighting how great you are at your course. Therefore we had to present/pitch our project idea to our lecturers to show that we know what we are talking about and that we have done enough research to put us in a good starting position. It also allows them to give us a push in the right direction if need be. Now, I hate public speaking and I feel very awkward even in social situations so this was my idea of a nightmare! I was given lots of tips to help my nerves and to stop myself from freezing up. These tips ranged from preparation to repeating rhymes in my head to drinking water every time I paused for a long time. Anyway I basically went into that room as a nervous wreck who already knew they were doomed to fail. It turns out at the end of the day if you are passionate enough about an area of interest it shows! It also is nice to know that nerves are a great help and not a burden. You see if you are nervous it keeps you on edge and ready to tackle those hard questions. To cut a long story short I was nervous but hey I am confident I passed! On a side note I really, really need to start Christmas shopping!!! Who else is with me?

So Tired....

This week my feeling has been consistently schleepy (Basically meaning I am halfway between sleepy and can’t be bothered to operate normally). An example of this would be the other day on the bus. I got on the bus paid with my oyster card (You should all get a student oyster card to get discounted fees!!!) and sat down. I then had my heavy bag with me and I moved it in front of my feet and was shocked to find it made a strange clunking noise like I had a glass bottle in there. I immediately got confused and then went about trying to find this bottle but I finally realised it doesn’t exist. It seems a lady in front of me also had a bag with a bottle of wine in and she moved her bag at the same time as mine! Blonde moment over....

In fairness the lack of sleep is my fault but it’s also a lack of energy as I seem to be in a never ending cycle right now. My life basically consists of wake up, eat, go to university, go home, eat, sleep and then start all over again. So my advice for all students would be to plan your weeks out in advance! I know it sounds silly but simple things such as a tick list really can help. I know when I get home I will write out a quick list of all the things I need to do for the next day or sometimes the whole week. By using lists I do have the occasional day off to play my computer games (all in the name of education, of course!) I also, as some may know, did not pass my second year so I really am putting everything I have into my third year!

Final part of my blog is an announcement: I have started Christmas shopping! I am not sure though if I have started early or just at a normal time.... I have been consistently told at university that I need to manage my time efficiently so I believe this is merely using that principle. I will also leave you with a little figure (which may annoy some people):

36 days till Christmas!!!

Student life is a riot...

As some of you may have seen on the news recently the protest against the rise in tuition fee costs did not go according to plan. It ended with some angry students climbing onto the roofs of the Tory headquarters and throwing down things such as fire extinguishers. They also decided to smash a number of windows and graffiti the establishment. I have to say that I am disappointed that this has happened as it seems to have taken away the message we was trying to get across. People seem to think that education is a privilege and in reality it is not; it is a basic human right! I have had a number of friends (who have never been to university) remarking that ‘students are stupid’ and ‘clearly the education is not paying off’ all because of the reckless action at the protests. They do not realise that people are going to be angry and i am sure if they were told their tax was due to double, if not triple, they would do more than vandalise property. I think at the end of the day students will still apply for university for the very fact that it is worth the cost. I know I have blogged before that student life is stressful and hard at times but if you don’t work hard for something then is it really worth it?

I actually did not go to the student protest as I was unsure at what they actually were trying to accomplish. I disagree that university funding is going to be cut and disagree that course fees will increase but i also acknowledge that cuts need to be made. I just do not see why they hit the students who are, after all, the investment of the future. It also goes back to students generally getting a hard time. I have often heard people say the students get an easy time and they have the good life etcetera. I do not believe this at all. I know students that work the hardest to get the most out of their course and they work a lot harder than they many people who have a full time job. Also many students, such as me, have part time jobs. I think what I am rambling on about is basically; university is tough but it’s worth the effort!

I also wanted to leave you with this quote which, to me, talks about broadening your mind and listening to all sides of an argument so that you can see the truth:

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.  ~George Bernard Shaw ~

Fable 3!!!

As I have blogged previously; my life has gotten rather hectic with all the university coursework I have to do so obviously I have been working extremely hard....

... Well I was going to but then I bought a brand new game. At first I was not sure about the game because I have heard some bad reviews about it. So during the last week, with every spare moment I have, I have been trying to complete Fable 3. To be honest it is a good game but it does lack in certain areas as when I finished the game I couldn’t help but think ‘did they rush this?’ I went through the game thinking how much effort and consideration they had taken but towards the end the game seemed more rushed as the storyline deteriorated in quality. The actual gameplay was brilliant and that was consistent throughout. The whole game revolves around an evil king who has thrown his land into a time of gloom and misery and it is up to you, the prince or princess, to end his reign of tyranny.

As you progress through the game you are constantly made to choose between good and evil by way of the decisions you make. At first I thought this was a good concept but at times the decision made little difference on the outcome and the options were too simplistic. For example it would be like ‘Do you want to kill someone or let them live?’ erm lets think I am good therefore I think I will let them live?! It would have been more true to life if the decisions were less obvious in my opinion. Other parts of the game were really clever such as the game as a whole element. The game does involve you, the main character, leading a revolution and becoming the hero of the people but it also plays on the common thought of ‘What happens to the hero in everyday life?’ Fable has played on this by providing the hero character the ability to settle down and have children or possibly adopt. The hero can also purchase a business or rent out houses etc. To me this showed a lot of wit and also a lot of effort to make the game a fun piece.

Overall though I would recommend the game as it has helped me keep sane over the past week or so! Also I would just to like to add that yes I have spent ages playing a computer game when I should, most probably, have been working extremely hard on my course but I assure you i was merely ‘studying’ the game on a professional level ;-). After all I am studying Games and Multimedia Technologies!

Image Obtained from:

IGN: Fable 3 Artwork