What a tiring, yet awesome, weekend!

The last two events held by the ever successful VIP (Volunteering in Portsmouth) went smoothly this weekend and although I enjoyed them as always, a small part of me was very sad indeed. Unfortunately these two events would be my last and I really am gonna miss it for several different reasons. I love all the people who help out at these events, the children from the CP Centre who always seem to have fun and the elderly people who are great to chat to.

I think it really hit me today how much VIP has influenced my life (as cliche as that may seem!). I lost my nan the week before returning to uni this year after a summer of caring for her during her fight against leukemia and it hit me really hard. It took me months to get back to my normal chirpy self and I believe that the VIP OAP Christmas dinner last year was a real turning point. I realised that even though many of my immediate family (esp. on my dad's side) have passed on, there was still ways of interacting with elderly people, it's just case of putting yourself out there. This particular event also suprised me as I believed that I would have got upset during the day due to missing my nan, but I was strong enough and had so much support from those around me that I stuck it out.

Reflecting upon today's final OAP luncheon was quite a sad affair. I got a bit upset shortly after the event after talking to one of the guests who lost someone dear to them in the same way I lost my nan and who was also suffering from the same condition my uncle is at the moment. It's been a year since all the "bad stuff" that has happened in the past year started, and just recently we nearly lost yet another family member who is still quite poorly. I feel I've grown over the past year and am now able to cope much better with such events and even though I am still petrified that everything may go wrong again, I reckon I will be able to cope better. But most importantly, I now know who to turn to and who I can confide in when I'm feeling the strain and ironically all of these people I have met through volunteering in some way at the Union.

So if you're wanting to get that little something extra from your uni career then think about doing some sort of volunteering. It could be anything from helping to run a club or society, helping RAG to raise money for charities, writing or designing for the student media publications or simply getting involved with a VIP project. It's the best thing I've done with my time at uni for so many different reasons, and I just wish my time in Pompey wasn't nearly over... 

Life goes on...

Ha I feel like I'm on Pure Fm again by avoiding any talk about the "ERECTIONS" again, but this time for reasons solely related to self-preservation.

Anyhow, I was very lucky enough to be offered a place up at Northampton on a Paramedic Science degree starting in September this week, so will face the whole university experience again. To be truthful, I don't know if I can take it all again! I remember when I was a little Fresher and how blimmin' naieve I was, but it was that naievity that got me through. Coming out of my third year I feel I may be a little too cynical now to fully appreciate all the joys of being a Fresher again!!!

Maybe that's a good thing as the course is notoriously hardcore on both the academic and the physical sides. It's also pretty scary to think I will be on my first placement by the end of the year. I'm not having doubts though, this is what I have wanted for ages now (just ask my mates who are sick of me talking about the ambulance service!), I'm just kinda anxious that I may struggle with the academic side of things. I doubt my BA (Hons) Drama and English will be able to help me much when revising anatomy and physiology and it's been over 4 years since my Biology A Level  Anyone wanna tutor me????

Let's just hope that my drive and passion will shine through this time! I know I'm gonna work my little butt off when I'm there so I best get the most out of my final few months in Pompey. First up, SRA Conference in Bath tomoz (yay!!!) where I get to talk about all things radio and see my fab mates I made when I attended last year. Then it's Activist Academy, the famous Isle of Wight Pub Crawl, Societies Carnival, AU Dinner and the event of the year: the VIP Awards Dinner!!! Oh, and I might squeeze in a dissertation too!

I feel in a bit of an agony aunt mood now as I feel like telling everyone to really make the most of their time here in Pompey. It hit me yesterday just how much I love this city and Pompey really is my home.

Maybe one day I'll return, maybe not but that's life: unpredictable. 

On a final note (even though I said I wouldn't mention it), just wanna say thanks to everyone who has shown their support over the past few weeks. I love you all and am sorry I let you all down. I'm not disappearing though (no matter what was said at a time when the age-old evil of vodka was being consumed!), you can guarantee that the Societies Carnival and VIP Awards Dinner will be the best ever - Ben, Sarah and I will definately leave with a bang! (Not that sort you cheeki minxes!) I also know Northampton's Union is pretty retro when it comes to volunteering and societies, so let's hope they are prepared for a shake-up!

Enjoy your hols and I'll see you all soon you sexy peeps!

Luv Jezni -x- 

As some of you may be aware, every year there is a national competition to find the nation's Miss Student and this year I decided to enter for a bit of fun! I didn't think too much of it and then after posting my profile on the site I didn't check it for a month or so. Then one of my mate's said she thought I might stand a chance getting to the next round. I didn't know what she was on about so I pondered off and had a gander. I was really suprized to see that I wasn't actually doing too badly - and it's from then on that I decided to try and push for some more votes.

Firstly, I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has very kindly votes for me already as I found out the other day that I had been invited to the regional finals of the competition - Woohoo!!! 3 other lovely girlies from Pompey Uni have also made it to this stage, so congrats to all!!!

Now, obviously I'd love everyone to vote for me (as I would be lying if I said I didn't want you all to vote for me!), but you guys and girls have a choice. So I'm asking you all to support all 4 of us girlies!!! Check out the website: http://www.missstudent.co.uk to check out all of us, and if you're feeling exceptionally generous then maybe pop a vote or two our way! All the details are on the website!

So now for some self-promotion...

Why do I think I could be an awesome Miss Student? Well, I love all aspects of student life, I love to get involved with everything (from helping to publicise RAG to writing for the Union media and presenting on Pure Fm, from volunteering at VIP events to organising the best socials the Polo Club has ever seen!) and I also manage to do fairly well academically and still have the time to party hard! Basically, I love uni life and all it has to offer and I'm dedicated to trying to make it better and more accessible to all the students at Pompey Uni. So if you think a winner of Miss Student should be a strong representative of what your uni has to offer, as well as someone who likes to party like a rockstar, then vote for me!!!

Ok, that's enough ego relief for now...Also, I just wanna say that the Society's Takeover event is steadily growing bigger and I'm getting more and more excited about it now, but it's still not too late to get involved! Either message me or email our lovely SADO Ben at ben.norman@port.ac.uk for more info!!! It will be an amazing event...trust me!!! 

And so we end for another semester...Phew! Then I realised that I haven't done nearly as much work as I need to (being in my final year and all ) so my Christmas "holiday" will be filled with the joys of essay writing, journal construction and the eternal deliberation over what one should do for one's dissertation..hmmmmm any ideas???

"At least I have my job" I think....then bam in at work at 7am and ready for more 999 calls, "at least I'll be broken in easily I think to myself" - WRONG again. A day of cardiac arrests and poorly babies - makes you wonder where all the festive cheer is. See that's what I love about my job, it makes you think about what really is important in life.

Some people at this time of year are so wrapped up in the stress that the Christmas period brings; from the shopping to the family dilemmas, that often they fail to remember to pop by a mate's or family member's house just to say hi. And unfortunately sometimes this can have dire consequences. Being part of the volunteer team at the OAP Christmas Dinner last week gave me a chance to speak to some people who are lonely at Christmas and I felt really selfish. I realised that my biggest worry was my uni work and whether or not I have enough cash for a Snakebite and that in the grand scheme of things I am a very lucky girl.

To be honest, it hasn't been the best of years for moi, but at least I've got my health, mates, happiness and some close family. So my message to you is just take 5mins today to call a loved one - you never know when someone's lonely until you call