We all have things we ‘have’ to do in life that we don’t really enjoy.  Inevitable jobs that don’t give us any pleasure but there very existence makes our own little worlds go round.  Things like cleaning the bathroom, taking the bins out and, included on my own personal list, going to Ikea.

I’m not a big fan of shopping in general but Ikea has a very special place in my mind.  The mention of the word brings me out in a sweat, the mere glance of  an allan key shortens my breath and the sight of the giant yellow letters dominating the skyline of which every provincial town the store landed on*brings a small tear of regret to my eyes.

You’d think that my hatred for Ikea would mean that I would never have to go there, never swing a big blue bag over my shoulder and picking up a pocket full of little pencils because they look like they might be useful at a later date but no; my name is Jim and I am an IKEAHOLIC.

I appreciated that the furniture (and lets not forget the tea lights) that are within my Swedish Flat Pack hell are cheap, functional and sometimes stylish, I’m even partial to a plateful of Meatballs from time to time but I am also aware that once I walk through the big automatic sliding doors and spot a brightly coloured lamp or a big sofa with “oh-so-clever” storage it has a similar effect on me to having a lobotomy.

Now, I’m not a doctor and I have only pretended to be so on a number of occasions (and those were for either sex of money) but I’m pretty sure that I could put together a reasonable assessment of the ‘Flat Pack Effect’ and the physiological changes that go through the mind once entering the Blue and Yellow walls of Ikea.  They manifest themselves in three, very clear areas.

Ikea Blindness:

Once inside Ikea it is impossible to think of a world outside Ikea.  For example. If you are organised enough to go into Ikea with a list of items you might like (this will in no way be an exclusive list – you will have at least twice as many items in your trolley as on your list by the end of your eight hour shopping spree) You become incapable of imagining another shop that might sell an item as rare as, for example, a bed.  Ikea is the only option.  On several occasions I have actually had vary versions of the below conversations:
Jim: “Well these are the Dressing tables”
Mrs Jim: “Hmmm. They’re not very nice are they?”
Jim: “No, and I don’t think they’ll really fit where we want them.”
Mrs Jim: “Yes, but we do need a dressing table and this is all they have so we better get one of them”
Jim: “Yes, we do NEED to get one”
(Jim then a happily purchase horrible and ill fitting dressing table)

Maybe it’s the lack of windows (or maybe it’s the unwillingness to ever go to any other shops ever again) but for that brief time the furniture on offer in that store is the ONLY furniture on earth.

Ikea Divorce:

It is impossible to leave Ikea as much in love with your partner than you went in.  In fact I think that only the strongest relationships can result in both members coming out of Ikea alive.  There are so many different things to argue about, not only the design, colour etc but also the realms of physics can be argued over.  Simple facts are not enough in this situation and it is perfectly normal to ‘Loudly discuss’ if a 2 meter wide item will fit into a 1meter wide space… it wont… I’ve tried… I was wrong…. And I will never forget it.

In fact, I think the store could make a killing selling DIY divorces.  They would be called ‘Fuckov’ and there probably wouldn’t be any left when you got to the self service area. Incidentally, Ikea is a very stressful environment for men.

I thought this might be down to the unnaturally high levels of scatter cushions but I have been informed of late that it is in fact because we can’t see the exit to the store at any one moment and this messes with the male primeval instinct for escape.

Ikea Rage:

It starts as you turn off the motorway into the car park. You thought you were being clever by getting up at stupid o’clock in the morning to beat the rush: so did 8,000 others. The car park is full and it takes a good hour to park.
Simmering now, you walk three miles to the entrance to find that all the trolleys have been left not far from where you parked. Another half-hour wasted. Finally you are inside. Sucked into the one-way system. You pick up your BLOMMA flower bouquet and carry on. Three steps later, you realise you forgot the VASEN glass vase, so you turn round to pick it up. Only thousands of Ikeaholics are trudging relentlessly towards you like the Red Army. You can see it, but it remains tantalisingly out of reach.

Now you have to go all the way round the shop to get back to it. Half-way round you see a short-cut so dive through. But there are no short-cuts in Ikea: only worm holes. You come out by the meatballs and start again. This time you get the VASEN glass vase on your way past, together with the glasses, table mats, napkins and cutlery you didn’t want. You have made it to bedroom furniture. And the assistant is loading the last PAX wardrobe with 2 doors in the entire shop onto the guy in front’s trolley. This is only wardrobe in the entire fucking universe that fits the one metre gap that has had me sleeping on the couch for the last two weeks. So you push your trolley into the bastard in front and storm off screaming ‘I didn’t fucking want it anyway’.

That’s it, that’s my thesis.  Yes, it’s not that scientific but it has been the result of several hours of blood, sweat and tears literally.

All I have to do now is sit back and wait for the Nobel Prize to arrive… but I may just nip out for 100 tea lights whilst I’m waiting.

Hello to you all!

So it’s been a while since Flip! has received  lots of your questions for me to help with, so I just wanted to remind you all that I’m still here and still more than willing to help anyone with any questions that you need help with! Whether it be sex, drugs, future or friendship problems, I promise to do my best to help each and everyone of you out there!

All you have to do is send me your questions to katie@flipstudents.com

Or visit the contact us page and fill in the quick little form. All problems are sent to us confidentially and names can be changed at request.

Remember kids, HIGSON IS HERE TO HELP!

Its funny how new things find a way into your life. How an existence without internet would seem rather strange, going for a night out without your mobile phone would be an impossibility and a quiet evening in in front of the Television would be unimaginable without, well a television (that would be a night in looking at the wall looking at the wall).

This morning, whilst carefully considering what I’d eaten for Breakfast and whether to share this news with a community of cyber geeks, I realised that I had spent over 16 hours of my life ‘Tweeting’ (that’s 2000 Tweets at what I reckon is 30 seconds per Tweet). Once you add into that equation the additional time spent explaining to people what Tweeting is that’s quite a commitment to something that wasn’t even in my life 6 months ago. If I’m honest I’ll be surprised if I spend this much time and attention on my first born child when the inevitable happens.

(Actually, my clever bastard geek friend pointed out that 16 hours and 40 minutes spread over 6 months is just over 5 minutes and 30 seconds a day and I’d be arrested if I gave my first born that little attention. But I digress).

For those of you who don’t know… I’m talking Twitter! I think most people understand the world of Twitter now days but if you don’t. Here is my quick explanation… It’s like a personalised news feed: updates from your world… sport, friends, celebrities – all the news and intimate thoughts from the areas that float your personal social network boat.

So, I reckon I’ve got my head around what it is but I’m still not sure why it is. Most of the information on Twitter is so horribly mundane it can’t be of interest. I don’t separate myself from the mindless babble either. Take this random selection of Tweetings from the last week of my life…

“Sometimes the Status Quo is the best thing… unless the status quo happens to be Status Quo.”

“Music is Dead – Blame Pixie Lott”

“How much Crackling is it acceptable to eat from a large joint of pork? If the answer is ‘All’, I’m on safe ground.”

Why would anyone care? But it seems people do. I have many more followers than I do friends or even colleagues in the real world and all because I have an unreasonable obsession with Pork products (Scotch Eggs particularly)? I don’t think so.

I think Twitter is a bit like sneaking up to the house next door, hiding behind the rubbish bins, peaking through the double glazing and checking out what your neighbours are up to. That’s if your neighbours happen to be Jonathan Ross, Philip Scofield and Eddie Izzard all living in one weird celebrity commune. It’s the British obsession with voyeurism. The same reason we’ll buy a copy of a news paper because a celebrity has been ‘papped’ or the inexplicable reason that reality TV gets such a huge audience. But, this way, we can remain all high brow on the outside and sleazy on the inside without running the risk of getting caught hiding in the neighbour’s garden. Who’s shagging who in 140 characters? Welcome to the 21^st century.

You too can follow Jim on Twitter using the links on the sidebar. Plus you can also find out more about Jim and his day job at XFM Manchester producing the Breakfast Show here

Well its that time of year again when the music industry sits in a room and finds out if what they have been making is actually any good. This years awards have been much hyped because the Brits is now 30 years old. So before the show kicks off lets bring you the stories of the Brits.

N-Dubz star Tulisa has claimed that the group would be up for more Brit Awards if it were up to the public. In an interview with STV, Tulisa said that the groups nod is not a true nomination for the group as only Dappy’s vocals are featured on the song. We all know this wouldn’t be the case, if anything they would be nominated for less.

Cheryl Cole has been photographed looking “downcast” as she makes her way to the Brit Awards. The Girls Aloud star’s husband have been having relationship troubles of late with reports that Ashley has slept witha secretary on two separate occasions while he was away from home with Chelsea for Premier League matches. Ironically Cole is set to perform “Fight For This Love’.

and finally. Lily Allen has claimed that Robbie Williams is too young to be honoured with the ‘Outstanding Contribution To Music’ prize at the Brit Awards. The singer admitted that she was surprised when she heard that Williams would take home the coveted award at the 30th anniversary ceremony tonight.

19:50 – The stars are coming up the red carpet thick and fast and back stage is packed. We’re all ready on the Blog and On Twitter @flipstudents Lets GO!!

20:00 And we are off, Lily Allen is kicking of the show on a floating air ship. She is looking amazing. Not quite sure what the deal is with the prams though.

20:02 Lots of men dressed in pink have just come on to the stage by umbrellas, That’s the Brits budget blown straight away

20:04 Peter Kay has just taken to the stage, he has to be better than James Cordon and Matt Horn surely?

20:06 The First award is presented by Sam Fox, Its for the most memorable Brits performance and it has gone to The Spice Girls. Oh Dear it could all go down hill from here

20:09 British Male Solo Artist next award, Dizzee, Calvin and Robbie getting the largest cheers of the lot. Dizzee Rascal is the winner. Well done lad much deserved.

20:10 JLS now taking to the stage, Well the air.

20:12 The all black Bucksfizz is getting a bit close to them lazers, lets hope they slice them in half.

20:14 We cant believe this band has managed to do so well…dam the x factory

20:17 Dizzee seems happy with his award, dancing all over the stage and knocking over Fearne Cotton Ha Ha!

20:20 Peter Kay welcomes on to the stage Yorkshires Answer to Beyonce, Mel B to present the award for Best International Male award

20:22 Jay Z Wins the award, the second Brits prediction of ours to come true. Can we get a third?

20:24 Noddy Holder, we thought he was dead? Brits album of 30 years, Please go to Oasis we want our third prediction to come true.

20:26 Oasis got the award, and now there replacement is on the stage. They have definitely set fire to the stage.

20:29 Can we push N Dubz on stage and burn them alive please?

20:30 Mel B got a new agent or something, she is all over the brits this year like a rash.

20:32 Geri Halliwell must have the same agent as Mel B? – Anyway next award is for Breakthrough Artist and the competition is pretty strong. Unfortunately it went down to the shit act, Its Simon Cowells shite that wins – JLS.

20:40 – Courtney Love has just hit the stage to present the award for Critics Choice to Ellie Goulding. Well done to her she is gonna be big this year.

20:43 Its time to go Gaga for the ultimate breakthrough artist of the year, Its Lady Gaga. Expect a big big big performance.

20:45 Is it us or is Lady Gaga wearing Curtains?

20:48 Dizzee Rascal and Florence and the Machine are getting ready to go, We are very much so looking forward to this

20:54 British Group is up now presented by some guy we dont know, Kasabian or Muse surely?

20:56 The Peoples Band, Its Kasabian win!

20:58 Cat Deeley’s on the stage to present International Break Through Act! – It has to be Gaga!

21:00 Lady Gaga has got it in the bag, we thought she might have been on her third outfit by now though!

21:01 Its time for Dizzee and Florence. We have been looking forward to this all night

21:05 Nice try from Florence and Dizzee but it dint quite work for us. Sorry.

21:10 Rossy looks like something out of a Clockwork Orange, Anyway he’s on to present the award for Best International Female Artist award. And as you can guess it went to Lady Gaga

21:13 Shirley Bassey is on the stage now in a leopard striped dress, And the gays think she is a fashion icon…oh dear. Anyway the awards for British Female Solo Artist goes to Lily Allen. WOOP!!!

21:16 Katie from our Digital Team will be screaming at her telly right now i imagine.

21:18 Jay Z is on the stage now Smashing It!!!

21:27 Mika is on the stage, please throw sharp objects at him someone?

2129 And the winner for Best International Album goes to Lady Gaga. Surprise? i think not. Expecting Peter kay to joke about her being a man!

21:30 Oh and there he goes. Cheryl Cole takes to the stage now. Time for ear plugs it is then.

21:31 Irony that she is doing this song considering her husbands banging someone else.

21:36 Alan Carr is on the stage to present Best British Single, Come on La Roux!!!

21:37 feck…it went to JLS

21:40 British Album of the Year is presented by Tom Ford.

21:42 Florence bags the album prize and we could not be happier for her. Well Done Luv!!

21:46 So Robbie Williams is taking to the stage to close the show, Fair few of his songs to go through. Apparently he’s doing one with Lily Allen. Should be good.

21:49 Robbie Williams is on to do his medley. Question is will Take That be joining him?

21:52 Let Me Entertain you!

21:55 Robbie Williams may just become the highlight of the night…and we dont even like him that much.

21:58 Robbie is smashing it. No Regrets had to be sung, The irony of it makes the perfect song to close the show. Leaving take that was the best thing he ever did and becoming the winner of the most brits ever shows you exactly why he did.

21:59 Im loving angles instead! Even Ellie Goulding is loving it.

22:00 Thats your lot. The Brits is over for another year, Thank you for joining us and see you again next year.

I don’t know if this is just me but, considering all the hype with all the ‘best’ TV coming back onto our screens, I personally have been let down, by pretty much all of it.

Last week we saw the come back of Shameless and Skins, and three weeks ago we had Americas rich kids from 90210 reappear again, and well I was very much looking forward more gripping stories unlike the ones we have been given as our opening scenes.

My issues mainly lie with Shameless and Skins, mainly because, with any American TV show, as sad as this may sound, I am pretty much always receptive to it, this is because I, like the people of my age, have grown up with American TV with most cartoons being American, as well as teen shows like Saved By The Bell, Kenan & Kel, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Friends. But we don’t really get many decent British shows, apart from the soaps, so when we are given such good series as Skins and Shameless many of us feel a proud rush and excitement to watch TV from Britain, whether its a positive or negative  representation of us Brits, well British teenagers and people on the dole…

So last Tuesday and last Thursday, after getting home from work, I got my tea, lay in bed switched on the tele, with anticipation and excitement, only to be let down, and pretty much given the same stories but in a different way. I mean OK fair enough we had a new addition to the Maguire’s in Shameless and a random coke head dieing, but still I wasn’t very entertained to be honest, but that may be because I disagreed with the decision of changing the original cast of Skins, and with Shameless, it’s been going for quite a while now, which is amazing for the show and the cast, but there’s only so far you can go with a family like the Gallagher’s isn’t there?

I really hope i’m the only one, because I think we need shows like this to be just as successful as American TV, so then maybe one day, we’ll have more than one channel to relate to over in the states rather than being rammed day in day out with adverts when we’re on holiday, waiting for that one person who takes at least an hour to get dressed…for breakfast!

Friday just gone (7th Aug) me and my friend went down to donate our blood and help a worthy cause.

We’ve been meaning to do it since we turned 17, but never got around to it.

Once we got there we had a little intro, with a few health questions and a glass of water, to hydate us. We then sat and waited until it was our turn to give away a pint of blood. Whilst waiting we were asked to read the welcome pack, which informed us of health issues, factors that could effect us from giving blood and a brief thing on what effect it may cause to us after donating our healthy blood.

Just before you lie down on the beds, they go through your answers to the previous questions you were asked before, and inform you if you can or cannot donate your blood, me and jenna both got the all clear and off we went on our seperate beds, happy and please we were about to do the world some good, and hope for none of the side effects.

After my needle was in, my nurse asked me to sqeeze a cotton role kind of thing, to increase my blood flow, as my was going very slow…which i wasnt to impressed with, to be honest i was rather worried, but to my delight, pretty much everyone in the room was doing the same thing.

After several minutes of trying to avoid the tube with my flowing blood, a nurse came over and took my needle out and told me i could relax now, which i did. After 5 more minutes, she asked me about 10 times if i was OK to sit up, i kept saying yes, and eventually she let me off the bed, after informing me, i was one of the unlucky ones and had suffered with bruising, she also told me it would get worse before it got better…i was OK with that, until i removed my plaster and saw the state of my arm! It looks like the latter result of a pub brawl, as well as making me look like abit of a skanky crack head.

Before I saw the state of my arm though, just after checking on my lovely and amazing friend, i went to sit down, then woke up with 10 differnt faces in my face, which confused me alot! Apparently i’d fainted…which i was quite embarrassed about to say the least. This probably happend because for one it was my first time and two your meant to eat alot before you got to donate blood, which I hadn’t, nor did Jenna.

So after fainting, not being able to move my arm for the rest of the day, feeling dizzy and sick…oh and the lovely state of my arm, is donating blood really worth it? To be honest, i think it is, just to know that i could be saving someones life, like someone saved my nephew, and jennas little nephew, i’m happy with that thought, and the brusing will go away…eventually!

I’d recomend it, just to have the satisfaction of helping someone in need.

DONATE YOUR BLOOD TODAY!

Well thats what our goverment thinks.

Yes thats right, in order to reduce child obesity they believe reducing the size of chocolates, crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks will reduce the size of the young guns of this country!

In theory, its a good idea, however, I think they’re a little behind with this idea…..I remember the sizes of Curly Wurly’s, they were massive way back in the day, now…they’re pretty small, they shrunk a few years ago, we still have fat kids.

Is this really a good idea? I’m on the border line to be honest, what do you lot think?

P.s I hope the shrinking of the Mars Bars means a shrinking of the prices…

I am inspired to write, but I do not know what it is I am inspired to write about. Maybe the fact that the world is fucked up and nothing makes sense anymore, or maybe how life is perfect and people are just never satisfied with what they have. Either way I am inspired, right now, at this very moment, I can feel a masterpiece emerging…

You see, the way I see it, people go about their lives in one of two ways, either thinking they have no choices and that life, fate, destiny or whatever they want to call it will decide itself, no matter what we do, or alternatively, they think that every single choice they make will result in a consequence which will affect the rest of their life.

I am not writing this to give you an answer to this debate, so if that is what you hope to get from this, I suggest you stop reading now, because you will be unpleasantly disappointed. I am writing this as a result of whatever pops into my head at the time of writing, I’m not even sure it will make much sense to the rest of you, but I would rather it be down on paper, than go to waste in my head.

Whether you will find this entertaining or to say the least readable at all is beyond my current knowledge, but if you do, I am a better writer than I had anticipated.

Chapter 1: The Beauty of the Unknown

Have you ever sat somewhere or even lay somewhere, out in the open, on a sunny day when the sky is clear of grey clouds, maybe on a park bench or simply on the ground, felling the prickle of the grass on your bare arms and just, let your mind go? Let it go wherever it wants, to the ends of the perimeters of your imagination and enjoyed that single moment of freedom that you never knew was possible? If you let your mind go far enough, you might even start to believe your thoughts, however extreme or farfetched they may be, are real. This is when you know, you are completely and utterly…crazy.

But to say that you are crazy, would suggest that there is a norm. And to suggest that there is a norm, would also suggest that there is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable, but aren’t these things just simple rules and regulations made up by someone, somewhere, sometime, that everybody seemed to just, follow? Who’s to say what is right and wrong? Normal or crazy? Who’s to say, that the normal people aren’t the crazy ones and the crazy ones aren’t the normal ones? Confused yet? I am. This is why I write these things down, to show you what goes on in my head, these thoughts that are there, aching to come out, be set free, but can’t be, because they do not fit in with the norms, the societal guidelines of acceptable behaviour. To question all existence and power of the unknown is entirely pointless, we know all there is to know about reality and what is real, what is fiction or non-fiction, what we should believe… or do we?

Remember the time, when you were a child, and you truly believed that the clouds were made from cotton candy and that the tooth-fairy would take the tooth from underneath your pillow and replace it with a coin. How do we lose such an imagination? By being taught such things as reality, that’s how. Well there are people still out there, right now, full grown adults, who still have that imagination, and that still believe in the unknown and things that could be. I am one of these people.

Have you ever seen something, or heard something, and had an instant thought come into your mind, a thought that made you smile, but you and only you thought it, nobody else knows why there is a big grin on your face and you held back telling this thought because of how they might judge you? This is your imagination, trying to escape, trying to pull you back to how you once were; free, innocent, naive, all the things that made you happy. You should not hold this back, you should embrace it, embrace it and share it with the people you trust most, whether they judge you or not should not matter, it should not be the reason you hold your thoughts inside.

Have you ever stopped, for just a moment, and really listened to a song, listened to it in depth, analysed each word, each chord, each note, and asked yourself what it means to you? Why do you like it so much? Why do you repeat it to yourself until you know every word, every riff, and every octave change until you can replay it in your mind anytime you want to? What is it about that song which makes you want to cry, even though it seems the words have no relevance to your life at all?

I realise this is beginning to become quite a deep, intense piece of writing, and I would entirely understand if you felt the urge to stop reading, maybe it means nothing to you, just a passage of words all piled up into meaningless sentences, making no sense at all, and that is fine. But to those of you whom I have reached, in whatever way, whether it is just one sentence where I made you stop and think to yourself, ‘she’s right’ and realise you felt the same way I do. I applaud you, not me, you. For taking the time to tap into something, a feeling, a thought, anything, which may seem to be on a different ‘level’ to the ‘normal’ everyday life you lead.

Kayleigh x

This will appeal to pretty much every girlfriend in the world who’s boyfriend has invested in microsofts worst invention, the xbox! Yeah, its fun for you both to play on together at first, until your other half has found the game of his dreams, that your shit at.

In my case, this would be, Call of Duty!

Whilst i’m at work, all michael (my boyfriend of 17months)  does is play on that friggin game! Well, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, to be persise. Then after meeting me, and we come home, i can guarantee that at some point through the night he will either indicate that he wants to go back on it, or he will point out that i’ve been on facebook, then go on it. Oh and when he comes home from work, its tea, xbox time, Katie time then bedtime. I come after the xbox! Rediculous! OK, i dont always come after the Xbox, but most of the time i do!

To be fair, mike does have to put up with my facebook problem, which im attempting to deal with, but at the same time, i think he should admit that he has a problem, and deal with it too !

Anyway, I know for a fact im not the only girlfriend in the world that has to deal with this. One of my best friends, also has to compete with this console. Hollie’s nemisis game is Saints Row, a game she bought him for Christmas. OK so she may have bought this on herself, but she never intended on it, as I never intended it to happen to me when i bought Mike Xbox Live (gold membership) for Valentines Day, which he wants every year for Valentines Day, mainly because at first i suggested it too him (so i didnt have to think about the perfect gift to get him every year, sad but true) to which i now regret.

I love him so much, as he does me, but sometimes, i do believe he would leave me for his ’other woman’  if it talked, no joke!

Well rant over, that is of course until, November 10th, when Modern Warfare two comes out, God help me!

I wish I loved my DS as much as he does for his Xbox, it wouldnt bother me as much then.

BAD TIMES PEOPLE!

Now its been a long time since i’ve written a blog that was a personal blog, so hopefully this one will make up for it. I also hope it will give some people an insight in to what college can really be like. I have been a student now for 3 years and on Friday last week (22nd May) this all came to an end. To be honest i couldn’t have been happier because i could have quite easily have up’d sticks and left last September.

The college i had been attending has been taking the biscuit for far too long. When i first walked in the door back in 2006, i could not wait to get started. I had a burning passion for media that i wanted to explore. My first year at college i smashed all the targets i set myself by coming out with 4 Grade Distinctions. The highest in my class too according to my tutor. This gave me the confidence to do the next course with my passion still burning. The course in question being a Btec Level 3 In Media with a Film Studies A Level attached.

I went in to the year looking forward to the course, i was all set. The tutor i had as my group tutor was great, he kept me on target with everything i was doing, and if i got stuck i knew where i could find him. The Film Studies classes i enjoyed too because it was something different. By about the 4th week in this all changed. Everything becoming monotonous due to my tutor repeating things we already knew twice over from last year. The only thing i was enjoying now was Film Studies. By the end of the  year i couldn’t wait for summer to come.

Start of Third year, New group tutor that i can never find when i need. Lovely start. Oh and i get told the Friday i originally had off will now be taken off me and instead replaced with 2 hours of Film Studies. As the work started,  it became apparent that it was all repeated from my previous 2 years at college. My passion by now had officially sparked out. I would have quite happily left then, but my girlfriend of the time advised me to stick it out til after my holiday to give me time to think about it.

I came back from Ibiza feeling refreshed. This was until i got home. 4 letters from my college and 2 phone calls asking where i had been? Even though i had told all my tutors exactly where i was the previous year and signed and dotted all the Tee’s on the paperwork. I dragged myself in to college to make sure my tutors knew the score and to sort my work experience out.

For my work placement i had choosen an organisation called Peopleprint. I knew of them but not what they did. So after finding out about them on the Internet, i popped in for my induction interview. At the time of going in i was in the process of telling college where they can stick it. I didn’t want to be there, id lost all passion for the subject i used to love so i wasn’t even sure i was going to even do my work experience.

After my interview, i came out thinking “Why cant my college be just like Peopleprint?”. Id gone into the building thinking “Am gonna quit college” and leaving thinking “Ill give it another week, just so i can work at Peopleprint”. My induction interview made me realise just how much i already knew and how i could apply it to the work i do on my work experience week. It made me feel uplifted and somewhat happier. By just talking to 2 people i had never met before. Wow!

My first week at Peopleprint gave me the chance to work with them on a project. Editing photos for a client of their’s to turn them into a canvas. I would be working alongside one of their placement workers on the project. Looking back on the project now, to some it may have been boring. To me it wasn’t. I had gotten to learn so much about Peopleprint, its staff and the work it does. By working there for just a week it gave me the motivation to go back into college and finish everything i could as quick as possible.

On my last day i was sad to be leaving and wish i had another week there. After my work experience though, there were several opportunities for me to go back to Peopleprint, I took everyone of them. I managed to get more of my college work done at Peopleprint than i would of at college.

The environment at Peopleprint is what has made me want to continue with my Media Career. I cant thank Christine and Dawn enough for this. They have helped me express myself and be more creative in the 8 month’s i have known them than my college has in the 3 years i have been there.

For more information on Peopleprint, Please visit www.peopleprint.org.uk