Writing a Personal Statement...

For the past two months I have been facing a task that millions are battling against at this current moment. A task so stressful, so painful, so emotionally crippling that it strikes fear into students hearts across the country.. The personal statement. 

If you don't know what a personal statement is than you are under the age of 10 as from this tender age, you've constantly been reminded "You'll need this for when you write your personal statement" and "This will look great on your personal statement". What it actually is, is an essay you have to write about yourself that you bring together every little thing you have achieved or accomplished on your 17 years on the planet to make yourself sound great. The end goal is attract the attention from your first choice university and make them love you so much they give you the unconditional offer you desperately desire.

I spent evening after evening, night after night sat with a coffee in one hand and the laptop on my knee staring at a blank page. What am i meant to write? How am i even meant to start it? My mind was blank, I had writers block and I hadn't even began. I read through countless of examples and read too many "How to" guides on writing a personal statement but I still remained stuck. 

Eventually I began to think; what do I want to be when I grow up, well, what have I always answered to that question. Every time I've been asked my reply has forever been "I want to be a journalist" because of this I decided to open with that question.  

I felt like I needed to show my passion in my statement. I needed it to be in the words I typed and I wanted it to shine so brightly off the page that it could actually blind the reader. My heart belongs within Journalism, I wrote about the fashion magazines I wrote featuring the duvet wedding dresses I made with my little sister. I wrote about the family newspapers I mass produced in my living room on a Sunday afternoon reporting the "who ate the remaining chocolate cake". I have always loved reporting and writing, if I didn't include this in the statement, I don't know what else I could've written to show this love.

I managed to finish my personal statement... eventually. But I'm proud of it. I never been a Grade A student, I've always had to work extremely hard to get the grades I want, I was too shy to become a prefect or put myself forward for DOE (Duke of Edinburgh) so I had to show my passion for writing and I think I managed to do that and I hope my efforts have been successful. 

My advice for anyone who is writing (attempting to write) a personal statement Is to just go for it. Show your personality in your words and sentences, don't become a robot and fall into a boring, stereotypical, follow the crowd statement. Remember that there is a person out there who is reading hundreds of personal statements for YOUR course! Have a bit of flare, show your passion and show you know the subject. Make it individual. 

I hope I've helped you today and Good Luck! 

Lets get personal.

Learn a little more about me, heres a few questions i have answered. If you're reading them you go and make a post answering them too!

Romance Life;

Story of your first kiss? My first kiss wasn't a romantic affair. I expected so much from my first kiss, it was due to the exposure to romantic films from a young age. My first proper kiss was with my "boyfriend". I say that but it was a 13 year old girl relationship, we held hands and went to the cinema but nothing was serious. I thought I was in love but I just loved the idea of having a boyfriend. I was 13! I thought i was so grown up. Well, me and my boyfriend was out together just walking around the estates holding hands and chatting. We sat on a small hill on this dodgy estate, as I was chatting he leaned in and kissed me, quite hard.  I was on cloud nine, high on love. The kiss was long and i was enjoying myself, he then stuck his tongue in my mouth and I had no idea what to do, i just copied him! It was horrible, lots of spit and too much tongue. The kiss ended and he said "You need more practice" and kissed me again.

Story of you first date? I don't know what i can class as a "first date", i think i've been on a few. Im going to talk about the first date i had with my current boyfriend. We met through friends because we both are going to a festival. We ended up talking a lot and getting really close. We kissed at a party and decided to meet up for coffee a few days later. We went to Cafe Nero and ended up sitting on the couch talking for hours. We eventually kissed again (but sober this time!!) and i can happily say it was the best date id ever been on. I was informed later on by one of my friends that he had said "i wish i could have sat all day talking in that coffee shop"

Have you ever been in love?Yes, i have been in love about three times in my life. In fact I am in love right now. The first time i felt i can properly say i was in love was when i was 14. I got a boyfriend and i was so blinded, i ended hurting my best friend. 
The second time i was in love, i fell for one of my closest friends. We were getting really close he was complimenting me, telling me i was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, I fell so hard and i pined after him. He eventually just dropped me. He stopped talking to me and avoided seeing me. I felt so embarrassed and questioned everything about myself, thinking of ways to change myself so he would fall in love with me. He made me hate myself more then i ever had before. The hardest thing I've ever had to do was get over him. 
Right now i am in love with an amazing lad. He makes me laugh and smile, he tells me I'm gorgeous and i don't have to change. He is making me extremely happy and i don't want to lose him. 

Have you ever cheated or been cheated on? I have never been cheated on thankfully well, to my knowledge! I don't getting cheating.. i have never understood the concept. If you don't like someone anymore leave them, it may be hard for you and them at the time but you would rather hurt them with the truth then to hurt them twice as much with a lie.  

Social Life;

Are you popular? In high school i was never popular. But i didn't really care, i had my group of friends which i loved and had a right laugh with! So i didn't really care about popularity. 

Whats your stereotype? I don't get this question. Am i supposed to label myself as something? Is this the "Hipster" "indie" trend that seems to be going on? If i was to label myself as anything i would be "The Rubmeister" who enjoys sic-fi, folk music and cold Chinese food for breakfast. 

Who's your best friend? My best friend is called Chloe and I met her in my first year of High school. She is the best friend i have ever had. We are similar yet different and i feel like we fit together perfectly. I can trust her with anything which sounds cliche but i really do. I feel i can unload all my problems onto her and she will actually listen to me. She is one of the people i really want in my life forever and we plan to do just that. 

Out of your friends who have you known the longest? I am really lucky to have the friends i do, right now I have quite a large group of friends, most i have met through high school and college. My oldest and most dearest friend i met at 3 years old and she was my childhood best friend and we still are friends to this day! Her name is Chloe as well. (i must have a type!) We went through a lot together and she is the fondest memory of my childhood.

Have you ever had a large fight with a friend that you won't ever forget? Who hasn't been in fights with friends? We all have fights that will stick with us purely the fact that we learned so much from that fight. This fight included my entire friendship group. There was five of us and a significant split two one way and two the other. I didn't know which side i belonged to. So for a bit of time i flitted between the two. There was a lot of bitching going on, on both sides. Eventually i chose a side and this caused an eruption of bitching and fighting. The group couldn't even sit together anymore and i changed myself to fit in with the girls i was hanging about with. I remember standing in a street arguing, all five of us until eventually we started crying and apologising, there was lots of hugging and emotions on that quite road that summer evening. It made me realise i didn't like what id changed into and vowed to stay true to myself. I also realised that i couldn't ever lose my best friend Chloe again.

Other;

What do you want to do as an adult? My ultimate dream is to be an editor to a magazine, any magazine i don't care! I wouldn't even mind editing horse and hound (Nottinghill reference) I would love to have my own column that i write about what i think about and my personal views on everything. 

Do you consider your future dreams realistic? I am a dreamer, in the words of John Lennon. I romanticise everything. I have high hopes and dreams for my life and not all of them are realistic but realistic dreams are boring. If your dreams are realistic then you're wasting a dream

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years... a lot can happen in five years and its hard to pin point exactly where i could be. I would like to see myself just leaving Edinburgh university, Hopefully moving to London to to start my career. Ready to face the world.  

Do you want to move away from your home town? Yes. Without a doubt. I have enjoyed growing up living in the North of England but i need to get away. I cannot stay here forever, i feel i won't have made the most of my life if i don't leave and see the world.

Do you miss anyone specific? At the moment i miss my boyfriend. I haven't seen him for about a week and it is actually killing me. I feel quite proud that i can admit that as i hate showing my feelings towards people. 

Song of the week; Wings - Birdy. It's such a powerful and emotional song. Listen to it in the bath with some candles, you feel like you're in a music video.

The me I want to be.

There are two sides of me. First of there is "Ruby Flanagan" who is the Ruby who cannot function in the morning without a cup of coffee, who forgets to reply to texts once she's read them, who procrastinates to hell by avoiding important work and responsibilities, who eats cold Chinese food for breakfast, who always has a wonky fringe. This is the Ruby that i am day to day that I have been my entire life but it isn't the Ruby I want to be. 

The second side of me is completely different and consists of everything i dream of being. This is Ruby Flanagan. She is amazing. She is confident and is proud of herself for everything she has ever achieved, especially the time she marathoned the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in one night. She is spontaneous and tries to surprise herself daily. She is optimistic and has high hopes for everything and everyone. She is the sim with the best traits.

I have always felt held back by "Ruby Flanagan" so i have never been able to merge the two personalities into one. 

Recently i've felt very nostalgic, i've looked back at old pictures at ridiculous times in the night remembering the good times but also remembering the chances i've missed because I've stood in the way of myself. 

But not anymore; i have now made a vow. 

I vow to say yes more.

I vow to step out of my comfort zone more.

I vow to compliment myself once a day.

I vow to sing more.

I vow to do whatever makes me happy.

I vow to become more like Ruby Flanagan (but not forget to be "Ruby Flanagan" either! - i mean Chinese food for breakfast is just too good) 

I vow to be the me i want to be. 

Everyone has a side to themselves that they want to be more like, no one else can unlock this side but yourself. So everyday do one thing that the other your would do, you'd surprise yourself at how quickly your two personalities merge and you soon become the person you want to be. Trust me. 

Bye guys

Ruby x

Song of the week; Fleet Foxes - Can't help falling in love with you.

p.s I joined a band! (Spontaneous decision) called Elder Fawn. We are a indie/folk/rock band, i play violin and sing mainly. We are only starting out but it would be amazing if you could support us by liking our Facebook page and subscribing to youtube links below. Thank you! 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ElderFawnBand?fref=ts

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgWcPgORK-qo4T4oj2V0POQ

Till' death do us together - 50 Word story

Till' death do us together

I watch her sleep. The ward is hauntingly quite apart from the hum of the monitors, it's strangely peaceful. Her machine suddenly comes to life, nurses are frantic for a long time then, silence. Someone holds my hand, it's been seventeen years and she's still so beautiful. Finally together again. 

we're all going on a summer holiday

The date is August 15th, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, i can hear the laughter of the children next door, it is a beautiful summers day. What am i doing this fine day i hear you ask? I am sat in my room, freezing my bollacks off, wrapped in about 4 duvets, watching The Holiday and drinking about a gallon of water every hour because I feel like shit. Watching this film, it got me thinking about holidays. So that is what i'm going to talk to you about today! *woo*

1 of the only pictures of me from Barcelona

I love holidays. I love the idea that you can escape everyday life for one or two weeks ( 3 - 6 if you're lucky!) and go and discover somewhere new. My mum and dad feel the exact same about holidays as i do, so throughout my childhood my mum and dad made it their duty to take my family away from home to someplace new, for at least a week. Now we are far from rich so we hardly ever went anywhere fancy! I mean the first time i went abroad was when i was 10 and that was to the south of france in my aunties old converted barn house. We went every year though. Cornwall, Devon, Bath ( My favourite place ever!) Scotland, Wales, Ireland, London. We travelled all across Britain eventually we went to France and i managed a holiday to Barcelona with my bestfriends! (It was a school trip but it felt like a holiday with my friends!) So i have been extremely lucky in my childhood to go on Holiday and i am so grateful that i have had the chance to go as some people don't get the chance to go away. 

Me, My sister and brother at the Love
fountain in Bath

I do appreciate going to interesting and cultural places more than party and the kids club places. You know the holidays i mean! I love walking around cities, walking down streets of market stalls, eating new foods and getting a little bit lost. Bath is a beautiful city to go to. It is full of markets and historical places like the Roman baths and The cathedral is absolutely stunning. Barcelona was beautiful as well, me and my bestfriend wandered off from everyone else and walked around the market stalls, i loved it so much! i never got a chance to eat traditional spanish tapas while i was there as everyone else went to McDonalds so i didn't want to argue with everyone. I honestly would not enjoy myself one but if i went to anywhere like Gran Canaria or Benidorm, i am not slating them! i am just saying that there is no more culture left there (for me) and it feels a bit over run by Brits abroad! 

My bestfriend, Chloe, told me about her plan to visit Copenhagen as her first holiday, rather then go to a typical 18 year old brit holiday such as Ibitha and Magaluf. Copenhagen is the capital city of Denmark and is a beautiful city. We have now planned that this will be our first holiday together. We checked flight costs and Bed and Breakfast prices and it all looks affordable! We checked all the tourist sights we could check out during the week we would stay. there is Tivoli gardens which is the worlds second oldest amusement park, it has live music playing everyday and they cook traditional danish food for you. (Brakken which is the oldest amusement park in the world is also in copenhagen!) Copenhagen zoo where there are tunnels that run through the polar bear attraction so you can see the polar bear swimming!, Of course we would have to see the Little mermaid statue! and i'd drag chloe along to look at Frederiksborg Palace. Also being the huge historical geek i am i would love to see the Viking ship memorial. Then to top it off there is Stroget and Christiania which are large shopping areas with lots of shops and market stall of artists and up and individual designers. 

My first holiday plans really excite me as it sounds amazing! It sounds like the perfect place to visit. I hope it would be the first holiday of many as i would also love to backpack around Europe, visit Africa, australia and Japan. Also i need to go to Disneyland! I have so many trips that i would love to do and it would be perfect if they all happened! I would like to go on a holiday with a group of people where we could drink and soak up a lot of sun, but maybe when i am a little older and not brand new to the holidaying without mum and dad game. If i was going on one of them holidays i would love to go to the greek island of Cos! 

Au revior! 

Making a bit of cash off of Ebay

I have mentioned before that i am very poor and a shopoholic. Being a shopoholic i have a stupid amount of clothes in my wardrobe, like it's shocking how many items i have! i don't even wear them all! i have decided i am going to sell on Ebay. I am a lover of Ebay and a frequent buyer so i thought.. why not!

I'm just a beginner in the Ebay game but I'm gonna tell you how I'm doing it. 

First of, i went through all my clothes, EVERY SINGLE ITEM, and asked these three questions;

'Do i like it?' - what's the point in having clothes if you don't even like it.

'Do i wear it?' - Yes i may love it, but if it is too small or too big i won't be able to wear it!

'Will i wear it?' - If it is a bit tight now, i might be able to lose some weight to fit into them but if they are a size 8 and I'm a size 12, i don't think my arse will be fitting into them jeans anytime soon.

After sorting them out, i look at the condition of the clothes, only the best conditioned items can be sold online as Ebay has strict rules on supplying the best. The best can be sold online, the rest you can either recycle at a clothes bank or donate to charity shops such as Oxfam and Bernados. 

You have now your clothes to sell. Sometimes by adding a quirk to them
will bump up the value. Such as baggy denim jeans are not in fashion and wouldn't be bought for much. By cutting them shorter making them into boyfriend shorts and maybe dip dying them. You can increase the value and sell them for £6 or £7. Thats what i have done and i have put them online for £6. 

I have dip dyed, bleach splattered and tie dyed the shorts i have in hope the value will be increased! There are so many sites telling you how to dye shorts and the instructions are easy to follow as well. You can go wild designing them! You can buy coloured dye and sew on badges, make these clothes interesting and one of a kind, the more unique they are, the more chance someone will want to buy them.

Once thats all done, you need to upload the product. Make sure you title the product right. Naming the product 'sexy indie tie dye shorts' will not gain the views you want but calling it 'women's Tie dye shorts size 14' will. Also the picture needs to be good. A clear picture showing the product. You can have 14 pictures uploaded for free. So take close up shots of the front, back and buttons. So the buyers can see as much as the product as they can.

It costs about 80p to put the item up but it will be worth it when you can get a profit! 

Im hoping to earn a little bit of cash from selling online and to get rid of a few clothes! 

If you decide to sell or make some unique clothes i would love to see them! Email me on rubyeleanorflanagan1996@gmail.com or comment a link to a picture! 

My third Midlife crisis and I'm only 16!

I have hit a bit of a midlife crisis at the tender age of 16 years. Unemployed, overweight and starting to spiral into debt as i owe a number of people ALOT of money because i have an unnecessary need to shop.

I have spent today watching chick flicks (6 in total), eating my weight in butter popcorn and rolling about on the un-hoovered floor walloping in the sorrows of what is my life. A little voice inside my head is screaming at me saying 'Shut up Ruby! you have the grades you need to get into college, you can still fit on a single seat on the bus and yes you owe over £50 but once you get a job you can fix that!' but that voice is being drowned out by an even louder voice 'WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO WITH YOUR LIFE RUBY, HOW ARE YOU GONNA LIVE AND SURVIVE IN THE REAL WORLD!' The arguments that are going on inside my head are really distracting me from getting things done.
You see, for about 2 years now i have had a plan. I have had a plan for my future. I knew exactly what i wanted to do. I would go to college and study Photography, English Language, Sociology and Music. Pass all with A* and then go off to University to study Journalism. After that i would move to Minneapolis and live with my Auntie there. I would then hopefully gain an internship at a Magazine over in America and after a few years i would hopefully move to the Big apple at around 25 working as a music or fashion writer/editor for a big time magazine.
This is the best possible outcome of my life! I desperately want this to happen but today i finally realized that this probably won't happen? Life will throw things at me that will change the entire path for me. For example; My brother is an actor and planned to go to Central School of Speech and Drama in London. This is the top drama school in England and it is very hard to get in. My brother auditioned and tried his hardest but unfortunately didn't get in. He told us that he didn't want to go to any other drama school or university and his dream was to attend Central. This changed his entire path and is now taking a year out to build up his Acting CV. This new path is a 180' contrast from his plan this time 6 months ago! This scares me so much that plans  and expectations can change so fast.

What i'm trying to say and tell myself, is that i cannot plan my future to the exact second. I can plan tomorrow and at a push next week but i've got to remember that, life isn't easy and it will throw what it can to make journey challenging. It's hard for me to accept that as i am a control freak. I like knowing exact plans and what, when, where and how everything happens. Today i have vowed to myself that i will try and change my ways! Stop this unnecessary planning and stop worrying about the unnecessary plans and stop the stress from the unnecessary plans. What i'm going to do is sort myself out. Throw my crappy CV's at every shop going to get a job, stop pointless eating for eatings sake and lose a few pounds and slowly pay back the money i owe and stop the pointless buying!
I will survive my third midlife crisis!

Au revior!

p.s God i hope i'm not the only person who is life this!