Do it your way

Hi again everyone!

Sorry for the massive delay in posts, I've had a hell of a lot going on in the last few months.

Since my last post, I've started a new job- at The Guardian (swoon!) By far the best thing that has happened in my life so far! But more on that at a later stage.

Once again, I've decided to had a redesign of the blog, I was never 100% sure on "Chance for Choice" so I've decided that I'd really love to go with "Do it your way." Unfortunately, this subdomain seems to be taken, with no active site (I'll see what I can do around this) I also looked at "I did it my way" (Taken from Matt Monroe's "My Way") but this name is also taken, so any suggestions which are close to these, please do share! 
The title of the blog is, and will remain Do It Your Way but for now the domain will be yourcareeryourway.blogspot.com, which is a nice little tagline I think.

Now I'm starting to settle in to my new job, I'm really hoping to be posting a lot more often and really getting the blog up and running, please do share any posts you like. Your feedback is really important to me to, anything you think I can improve, something you'd like me to write about, questions, help or anything you want me to research for you around other options to university, please leave a quick comment, or email me at doityourwayblog@gmail.com

Follow on twitter too @IDidItMyWayBlog

I'll be back with more soon,
Keep focussed! 

Chance for Choice- Formerly known as Uni-not going

It's time for big things to happen.

I've started my career (visit www.thedigitalmarketingapprenticeship.wordpress.com) and now I'm settled, I'm ready to go full steam ahead with helping people.

So I thought for a long time about how I might go about taking this platform to the next step. 

First came the new name. Previously uni-notgoing was stepping on the toes of web-giant "notgoingtouni.com" and didn't fuly encompass the purpose of the bog. I want the bog to be more about not going to university, it needs to include university (as I have done in some posts) as well as YOUR other options. So, I came up with Chance for Choice (Please let me know what you think of the name) which hopefully doesn't exclude anyone. "Chance" first denoting that  the possibilities in everyone's lives, that you're not just limited to one route through life. "Choice" is an obvious one; YOUR life is about YOU and YOUR career is also about YOU- YOUR CHOICE.

Next, it seemed only fitting that as I am studying a digital marketing qualification, I use social media to promote my blog, with its own Facebook and Twitter pages (look out for links)

Finally, as part of the re-branding, I need a logo for Chance for Choice-again please let me know what you think: opinions, tweaks, criticisms,suggestions etc.

So here it is. Comment, Like, Follow and email me at riannaviggiano@googlemail.com for anything you'd like me to cover, any suggestions, if you have anything you'd like to see on here or any other ways I could help, I am grateful of anything.

I hope to be posting at least once a week with tips, comment features, news and opportunities. 

My Story: New Beginnings

I've started a digital marketing apprenticeship with Agilisys Arch, there will be more to follow, but if you want to know how I'm getting on each day, follow my new blog:
http://thedigitalmarketingapprenticeship.wordpress.com/

"I wish I had gone to Uni"

Your friends have left, your boyfriend has left, your girlfriend has left, people are being tagged in pictures on facebook of freshers' week left, right and centre. Everyone you know and love is off 200 miles away meeting new people, being introduced to their future spouse, getting drunk, partying and using lots of condoms and you're at home with your pet syrian hamster wondering "what on earth was I thinking when I decided not to go to university?!"
I'm here to tell you that that feeling is normal, and I guarantee 90% of people who actively decided not to go to uni feel the same. I certainly do.
All my friends have gone to uni in different corners of the country having the time of their life and I'm at home in London, struggling.
Having spoken to my friends, I can tell you that they are missing home and their family and me. Obviously.
If you really feel as though you've made a massive mistake by not going, you can always apply for next year.
Whilst I wish I was meeting new people, making new friends and partying every night, I know I have made the right decision for me.
I decided not to go to uni for a reason. The reasons haven't changed.

Words From The Wise aka Mike Duce

Spending a hundred million grand on tuition fees? Live life without a degree! - Lower Than Atlantis via I'm Not Bulemic

Gap Years- Enrich Yourself!

Planning a gap year? Taking a gap year unexpectedly? Either way, you need to find a way to spend your time wisely, and do something useful.

Firstly, understand why it is that you're taking this gap year. It will be a different reason for everyone, it may be a combination of reasons, but you will need to justify your gap year in some way, whether its a break before higher education, or whether its a break before employment. Will it be to take a break from education? Is it because you need more time to decide what course to do? Do you want to travel? Do you need to improve your grades? Do you need to do things to support you application to university? Do you need more time to decide whether or not university is the best next-step for you?

After you've worked out the reason you'll be taking a gap year, it will be easier to work out what it is you'll be doing in your gap year.

Will it be to take a break from education? 
-If you simply want a break after leaving sixthform or college before going to university, you will need to provide a reason for this in your personal statement. You will need to tell your university how your gap year  enriched you- how has it made you a better student? This might mean that you decide to get a part time job related to your undergraduate course, you get some work experience or you go travelling (not including travelling around the country sampling various freshers' weeks!)

Is it because you need more time to decide what course to do?
- Deciding what course to do can be very difficult, a lot of people I knew changed their minds 2 or 3 times before finally settling on a course. But it is a very important decision and you need to form it properly. In your gap year visit as many university open days as possible to find out how their courses differ from each other- visit even unis which you might not be interested in, you might change your mind. Prepare every question you can think of to ask about the courses, and when you get to the open day bombard the course tutor, and any students you can find with the questions, even if they seem silly or you think you know the answer, you may be surprised by a response completely different to what you had pre-empted.
Find out what careers the courses you are interested can lead to. As I keep stressing- university a bridge to get you to an end destination, do not forget to look beyond it!
Once you've found out about possible careers, try to get some work experience in that area so you can see if you would really be suited to it; that will make choosing a course much easier

 Do you want to travel?
- Travelling is a very popular thing to do, either after sixthform or after university. On applications, university often like students who have travelled for a period of time, and can show that it was an enriching experience for them. HOWEVER you have a very long summer before university, many young people do travelling in the two or three months they have straight after college or sixthform, find out about "inter-railing" as an alternative to 6 or 9 months away. On the other hand, a lot or companies run projects in third-world countries for young people to travel and give back to local communities, building schools or libraries for example. These companies often offer a support network and greater structure to your time away, instead of an independent experience, universities will be very impressed to know that you spent 9 months in India building a primary school.
Maybe you just want to travel for a change or scenery? To get away from the norm, or even to "find yourself" as corny as it sounds, but it is something which some people need to do. Again, as long as you can justify what you did whilst you were away go for it! Write a blog whilst you are away like my friend Raquel, who is volunteering in Thailand, to prove what you did.

 Do you need to improve your grades? 
-If you need to improve your grades because you didn't do as well as you hoped you would, and or you didn't get in to your chosen (or any) university, it can be hard to pick yourself back up, but you need to. Talk to your school or college and ask if you can repeat a year or resit some modules. It's a massive knock to your confidence, not to mention your ego when you have to sit in a class room or an exam hall with people a year younger than you, but will it matter when you get to the best uni you can be at? No.
If you can't go back to your school or college, as around at other schools or colleges to resit some exams

Do you need to do things to support you application to university? 
-If you know that by the end of the year you might not get the top grades, or the grades you need to get on to your uni course, defer your entry and find out what else you can do to support your application. Want to study veterinary science? Volunteer at a Vet's surgery or an animal shelter. Want to study journalism? Apply for a magazine internship.
Failing this, try to find other, 1 year college-based courses (which often come with a fee) which you can take in order to support your uni application and you can add to not only your personal statement, but your CV too (for that all-important career.) A lot of these courses will also boost your UCAS points as well.

Do you need more time to decide whether or not university is the best next-step for you?
-Thinking about maybe applying net year, or maybe go in to work now? Get a job. You will only know if you're ready for work and you've had enough of education if you have a job. You can apply for university when-ever

Whatever it is you decide to do in your gap year, make it worth while, make it something which will make you a more desirable student and a more enriched person. Don't spend a year at home watching re-runs of Friends on Comedy Central- don't do it.