Archive for Just For Fun

My evil plans for 2013 and stuff

12 January 2013 Rachel Career, Featured, Just For Fun, Student Life No comments
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There are mixed views on making new year resolutions so I chose to do it differently. Rather than begin my aims for the year at the start of the month I left it until the 12th January.

We’re now far enough into 2013 that eating for chocolate is no longer acceptable, the fairy lights have returned to a dusty loft and optimistic hopes and desires for the years are fading as the miserable January weather brings up back to reality. This means that now is the perfect time to decide what I want to achieve in the next year. I did this last year (although slightly more timely), you can read that here. So how did I do? Well I read more books, I obtained some brilliant placements but I didn’t improve the frisbee, in fact I barely picked one up. Instead I concentrated on other areas of fitness.

So my plan for this year incluldes:

1) I want to read and write more I read more last year than the previous one, but I want to read more in 2013. Instead of watching repeats of the Big Bang Theory I want to turn to books. Additionally I want to write more, my job involves a lot of writing but I want to vary styles. The internet offers us all bountiful opportunities to write so hopefully I can take advantage of this.

I did it! I beat the Great South Run! via bark...

2) I want to learn to run I really don’t like running, so it’s a bit bizarre that I popped this on my aims for the year. Last year I had a running low when problems with my asthma meant I struggled to run 5k for Race for Life, later in the year I had a high when I ran the majority of the 10 mile Great South Run. I’ve never had much success with running over the last few years, so I want to be able to build my fitness up to a point where I am able to run 5k with ease.

3) Seriously reflect upon my career I’m currently half way through my placement year and will finish 2013 having already completed a considerable chunk of my final year of university. We may all enjoy our university years but I do feel ready to graduate and take on the big bad world out there. This means that this is a good time to seriously reflect upon my career. Do I have skills I want to develop? Do I have companies I want to aim to work at? I like to plan, so now is a great time to draw up a career plan, I also know from experience very few people’s careers pan out as expected, so not to let my plans get in the way of potential opportunities.

Well those are my evil (and less evil) plans for the year. What are you wanting to achieve in 2013?

 

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3 things the Great South Run taught me

30 October 2012 Rachel Interests, Just For Fun No comments
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Life is a funny thing, the smallest thing can teach you the most important lessons. Last weekend I did a Not so small thing and joined 25,000 for the 10 mile Great South Run in Portsmouth. It was a tough journey but it taught me 3 lessons.

 

1) I can achieve more than I thought possible

I didn’t think I could complete the run, previously I’d never completed a full mile! I was determined to run the first mile, but I got through the first one, then the next and I kept going. I didn’t run all of it, but I managed 80%, far surpassing my expectations. Cheesey maybe, but we’re all capable of more than we realise!

2) Practice makes perfect

It’s hardly a breakthrough but entirely true. My training consisted of a couple of meek jogs and my daily cycle. This practice left my cardio fitness high but my running ability near zero. My friend on the other hand started as a complete beginner, trained hard and was able to run the race in an impressive time.

3) I’m a sprinter

I’m glad I did the 10 mile run but I don’t think Ix’ll do something similar again. I didn’t enjoy the run, I found it boring. I don’t like holding back and keeping a steady pace, my favourite part of the run was the final 200m because I could finally run at my fastest. I like being able to exercise for short periods at full power. Some people love long runs, but it simply isn’t for me!

I enjoyed my experience and have been able to raise money for Children with Cancer, an inspiring national charity. If you would like to support them you can find my link on this post.

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Efficiency exercise: what do we actually need?

7 October 2012 Rachel Just For Fun No comments
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There’s been a lot of packing up and moving happening in my life recently. I’ve just moved to my forth house in 12 months, and I’m also preparing to move desks at work. All this moving inevitably has one thinking about just how much stuff I hold on, and what exactly do I need to have?

If you were asked to put the most important and necessary items in your life into a crate, could you do it? I dare say it actually would not be as difficult to do as you may first think. Then what is left over?

Asking yourself what you need compared to what you have can be a good efficiency exercise. It can be developed further to include what you do compared to what you need to do. We have limited time so are we using the time we have effectively? Or are we spending our time performing tasks which add little or no value to our days?

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PR Students: How do you stay informed?

20 September 2012 Rachel Education, Just For Fun, Student Life No comments
newspapers (Tehrān)

newspapers (Tehrān) (Photo credit: birdfarm)

The successful PR student is curious, passionate and persuasive. They have a natural instinct for understanding the motivations and interests of their audience and understand how to use these. They also understand what results their client desires and expects and is able to meet  these. The only way that you can achieve this successfully is through staying informed.

When beginning a course in PR you will quickly learn that being informed is very important. In seminars and lectures you will be expected to be aware of current news and affairs and how these relate to PR. This can be a daunting prospect, there is so much news out there, how can you possibly stay informed?

Eight tips for staying informed

1) Social Media

I am a self-confessed Twitter addict, I check it when I wake, when I sleep and multiple times in between. However there are great benefits to using Twitter for staying informed, by following news accounts and PR professionals you can learn so much information. The knowledge I have gained through Twitter has even awarded me a box of chocolates following a class quiz!

Twitter also gives you a great idea of what people are talking about. Following Trending Topics and other hashtags can give you a great idea of what is capturing people’s interest at any time. For example, earlier this year in March #Kony2012 took over Twitter and other social media sites, this is the sort of thing that PR students need to know about.

Blogs are another great source of information, I use Bloglovin’ to keep up-to-date with my favourite blogs, and I have learnt so much from them. Everything from new trends in PR to current issues in the news.

2) News Websites

BBC News is my homepage, and lets me quickly get an idea of the latest news stories. There are many other news sites out there which will give you great up to date information and opinion on news. You can follow news directly from News Agencies such as Reuters, or even from press releases on sites such as PR Newswire if you are keen!

3) Broadcast Media

As a future practitioner you need to understand all types of media from new to traditional. I get a lot of my news from the radio. At times I believe I have a middle aged mind in the body of a twenty-something! Radio 4 is my station of preference, and there is a lot to be said to waking up to the morning news. There are also so many great current affairs programmes, and if you do not want to tune your radio, then they are available via iPlayer.

Understanding the types of news and stories that the radio broadcast is also vital in your career as a PR practitioner when you need to get a client coverage.

The TV is also a great resource, I love watching TV News and current issue programmes. If these are not your preference there is a lot to be said for keeping up to date with Soaps and Reality TV. As long as you understand how you can use these types of TV in PR then they are a useful resource.

4) Newspapers

You will frequently be told to read newspapers, but this can be inconvenient. I get a lot of my news from online newspaper sites, but it is very important to understand that this is not the same as reading a printed paper. The Daily Mail is targeting a very different audience online to the one they target in print.

I would recommend making an effort to buy one newspaper a week, this will allow you to get an idea of how articles are written, where they are published within the newspaper and what interests the paper’s audience. Vary the newspaper you buy from local to national, tabloid to broadband.

Free newspapers are brilliant as well, imagine how many people read the Metro or the Evening Standard each day on their commutes.

5) Celebrity News

Understanding the importance of celebrity in marketing communications is important. As a result it is useful to keep up to date with what celebrities are doing, what products they are releasing, or what they are currently promoting. Understanding their personal preferences and beliefs can be beneficial if you have a relevant product you need them to promote in the future.

6) Politics

It may not be fashionable to be interested in politics, but this affects you lives and job roles so it is useful to understand what is happening in the political world. If you are passionate and opinionated it may even be worth getting involved with student politics and your university will have societies to meet most political interests.

7) PR Specific News

You need to be aware of changes in the PR industry. It is a vibrant, innovative industry and as such issues such as measurement, definitions and communications tactics being regularly discussed. You can follow such news on relevant industry blogs (see my Blogroll for suggestions) and also by following websites such as Brand Republic, PR Week and The Drum.

It is also good to keep an eye on current PR campaigns, I cut out information about my favourite ones and collect them in a book. This is useful when needing to understand relevant campaigns.

8 ) Sector News

If you have a good idea of what sector you want to work in you need to understand current issues in that area. For example, if you like fashion you want to know the latest trends. I have an interest in Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals and as such websites like Pharma Times can keep me updated on relevant news issues.

Anyone starting a PR degree, you have chosen well, you are about to start a journey learning about one of the most exciting industries! To get the best out of your experience take opportunities to learn in and outside of the classroom.

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Where am I?

9 August 2012 Rachel Just For Fun, Placements, Student Life No comments

My morning commute (image via mbswindon)

It’s funny how quickly 6 weeks will fly by, barely allowing you a moment to catch your breath. At least that is how I have felt over the past month. It seems no time since I packed my bag and moved 130 miles south.

I lead a very different lifestyle here to the one to which I am so accustomed. There I live between a leafy Nottingham suburb, or a student-ridden part of Leeds. Here I live in a small village in the Thames Valley. There I shop at my ease, 24 hour supermarkets make my slightest grocery whim a reality. Here I have endured Weetabix with water for breakfast because I couldn’t get hold of a pint of milk until the next evening. There I am treated to a variety of forms of public transport, would I like to travel by regular bus, train, tram or taxi if I’m feeling rich. Here there is transport, but a lot less.

I’m in Oxfordshire while I undertake my placement year, while this was never what I imagined I’d be doing with my life I learnt long ago life doesn’t stick to your plans, and the placement opportunity was just too perfect for me to pass up. I have high hopes for the year, primarily in building my skills and knowledge but also to continue to develop a strong degree grade. So far, it is proving to be going my way. Six weeks in, I am understanding my job role, the part it plays within my organisation and I have settled in well with my colleagues. Country living is proving to be more challenging!

There are some huge advantaged to the countryside. My commute to work takes me up and down hills with some of the most amazing views I have seen in this country, the 5000 year old Ridgeway is a pleasure to cycle along, even when it’s muddy and defeats my bike, simply because in the worst weather conditions it still looks fantastic. I have seen animals, lots of animals; rabbits run wild in their tens, red kites soar through the skies and I even saw my first cockerel one morning – I thought I’d stepped into a Cornflakes box. Living in the countryside has seen me far more active that I used to be, aside from cycling 12 miles a day, I love walking in the area, have started jogging along the Thames Path and really want to try rowing down the glorious river. Oxfordshire is so breathtakingly beautiful that I can barely keep myself in the house, I want to be outside all the time.

There are major disadvantages, it’s hard to meet people. I am living in a family-orientated village of commuters. The social side of the village is limiting and that can be very isolating. However the village is nicely connected with trains every half hour running between Oxford and Reading, going on to London. Trips to the capital are pain free and I enjoyed my visit to watch Olympic Hockey the weekend before last. The lack of transport to my workplace has been difficult as well, it was that which led me to give up city life as without a car, living any further away would have left me stranded.

Another problem I have is lack of access to the Internet. In the last 6 weeks I have learnt to adapt to a www-free life, but I miss it all the same. Instant information is a commodity I feel uneasy without and I am sure when I get back to connected life I won’t be reminiscing on these web-free days!

So that’s where I currently am, in rural Oxfordshire, working on furthering my career into communications. Who’d have thought it?

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Three avoidable student situations

14 May 2012 Rachel Just For Fun, Student Life No comments
Surviving students life: Hangovers, overdrafts and all-nighters

Student Life (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

University has become an accepted rite of passage into adulthood, three years of independent living, self-motivated learning and enriching opportunities. Inevitably this experience comes with a fair few bumps and bruises, but as long as there is no serious damage then it is all part of the learning process.

I take a look at three uncomfortable, but usually avoidable situations in which students can regularly find themselves.
The Hangover
Alcohol plays a huge part in student culture, from booze-fuelled freshers weeks, to visits to the union between lectures. The subsequent hangover can steal away entire productive days, even interfering with education. The easy cure would be to give up alcohol, which is what I chose to do, but that can be seen as not embracing the student spirit. So what else can you do?
  1. Know your limits, if you have an important morning then be sensible with your drink.
  2. Find your hangover prevention or cure, it may be a big fry up, or drinking raw egg before bed, or maybe one of these.
The All-Nighter
There are time where despite your best intentions you find yourself stocking up on high-caffeinated drinks and sugary snacks in preparation for an all-nighter. These are not fun experiences, forcing yourself to work very hard mentally when usually you would be relaxing. Having said this, they are not an indication of failure, my best essays tend to be written the night before hand-in. So how can you turn an all-nighter into a success?
  1. Prepare, by having an essay plan, plenty of reading and detailed notes you make the essay process much more simple. Without this preparation you make the chances of writing a good essay significantly lower.
  2. Find the right environment, usually a case of home versus 24 hour library. Personally the library offers less distractions, shelves full of books to reference and is far enough away from bed I can forget about it for a while.
  3. Avoid following all-nighters with busy days. If you haven’t had the sleep you usually need you will struggle the following day.
The Overdraft
Budgeting is not unique to student life, but often it is one of the first experiences of managing money effectively. Sometimes a visit to the overdraft can be the only way to afford food and electricity. Top tips:
  1. Know your income and expenses then budget around these.
  2. Do not treat your overdraft as free money. This is often a sales tactic used by banks when getting you to sign up for student accounts. Your overdraft should be a last resort if possible.
  3. Don’t panic if you are in your overdraft, ensure that you are managing your money responsibly and have a plan to pay it back.

So there’s a little snippet from my personal guide for surviving student life, it may not suit everyone but so far it hasn’t done me any harm.

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Three online tools to make your life easier

20 April 2012 Rachel Just For Fun No comments

Isn’t the internet clever? Perhaps not, but clever people out there have used the internet to create clever little tools to make our lives so much easier. As a friendly, giving person I have shared three of my current favourites below.

Right Inbox

It is all well and good being a night owl, but sometimes you do not want to share this fact with the world! As I attribute many of my best ideas to appearing during the night it is when I am keenest to send out emails, however filling people’s inboxes at 3am is not always appropriate, so what is better than scheduling your emails.

It surprises me that this is not a common feature of Gmail, in my opinion it should be! This can be changed with Right Inbox, quick installation and it gives you the option to schedule what time your message should be sent. There is an alternative tool, Boomerang, but I personally prefer this one as it integrates itself so well with Gmail.

You may also notice the Track button, I have not used this tool, but it lets you know when people open your mail, if they click links in your mail, then only slightly creepily, their location. This video explains all.

 

Pearltrees

Think Pinterest but for websites. Bookmarking every interesting page, article or post can mess your browser up, so if you are like me and have everything sorted into folders, then you may like this tool. All you do is install the little tool into your browser (I use Chrome and do not know how well it works with other browsers), then every time a page catches your interest for later, ping, and it is saved forever on your pearl tree.

Bloglovin

If you are the sort of person who likes to read everything, but then gets a bit overwhelmed with keeping up with everything, then Bloglovin is for you.

Basically it is a blog reader, let it know what blogs you want to follow and ta’da! all the latest posts from your followed blogs are there for you to read. It is not the only tool which does this, and perhaps it is not the greatest, but, excusing the omission of a certain G, it is the one which suits me best. It looks clean, it is very user-friendly and has a great mobile site. I wrote my original post about the site over a year ago and since then I have used the site on a daily basis and now never miss a post from my favourite blogs without the hassle of checking them regularly or subscribing by email.

Finally, if you do sign up, don’t forget to follow this blog!

bloglovin

 

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What is $1 billion?

10 April 2012 Rachel Just For Fun, News No comments

If 1,000,000,000 people gave you $1 you would now be a billionaire. Where would you find these people? Well, if you speak to the whole population of the United State, Brazil, Japan, Russia, Mexico, Germany and France, then you might just about be able to scrape that kind of money together. It is a huge number.

1 billion is equivalent to one thousand million and not quite the million millions that some would expect. Does this particularly reduce the enormity of the sum? Yes and no. A million millions would be an even more ridiculous number to comprehend, but the current billion is still hugely grotesque as a number.

The average UK salary is about £25,000 p/a, if you did not spend a penny of your wages it would take 25222 years to save a billion dollars.

You could buy this rather smashing 10 bedroom, detached, late Victorian residence in a desirable area of Birmingham 1096 times. They were only asking for £575,000, that would be sure to keep one estate agent rather happy!

According to other sites on the internet, you could also treat yourself to 285,714,285 McDonald’s Big Macs. 6 F22 Raptor fighter jets. 1,177,856 iPhone 4S. You could also feed 682,583 malnourished children in Africa 3 meals a day for a whole year. (Thanks to Infobarrel for the facts!)

In basic terms it is a lot of cash!

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Happy mother’s day: How my Mum inspired me

18 March 2012 Rachel Just For Fun 4 comments

Something a little different for mother’s day, I try out a bit of v-logging. Please excuse my poor camera quality, but I hope the message is strong enough to overcome it, my mother’s support inspires me to succeed.

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Ode to the ‘To-Do’ list

6 March 2012 Rachel Just For Fun One comment
L is for Lists

L is for Lists (Photo credit: Swiv)

In times of chaos, you settle me.

For cannot you see, without you I be, a catastrophe.

In times of quiet, you inspire me.

A buzzing bee? A new born tree? Not for me!

My imagination as ink and paper.

The insight into my thoughts.

You bring my ideas to life.

No matter the result nor strife.

You take a peek into my dreams

Craziness, disaster and all they deem.

I rely on your structure to steady me.

I rely on your promises to create me.

Without you, I am lost. Cannot create! Cannot design! Can I even be?

Oh cannot you see? I do need thee? To complete me.

You are me.

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