Home for the Christmas party

18/12/14

Tonight was the last meeting of the term for my unit back home and I was home from university so I went to the Christmas party. This year, instead of having each girl bring an item of food, as we usually do, we used up a lot of food that was left over from various other events (biscuits and sweets) and bought some grapes, melon and pineapple to go with them.

When I arrived, I helped set up all the food with the two Young Leaders and spoke to a few girls who were happy to see me! I was also introduced to the 4 new girls who've joined since I left.

The evening was run, as it usually is, by a group of the older girls who has organised a game of pass the parcel, wrapping up a girl as a snowman in toilet paper, and a game of Honeypot (instructions here). The game of pass the parcel didn't go particularly well because the CD player they had brought wasn't loud enough for us to distinguish between the end of a song and it actually being paused.

While the girls wrapped a couple of girls up in toilet paper, the Leaders took it in turn to go into the kitchen and sign the Christmas cards for the girls. I then sat in there putting them into the envelopes while catching up with a Young Leader for a bit.

We then had the food and so I stood by the table, making sure the girls weren't taking more than their fair share and eating some food myself! I also ended up on spillage duty as 3 girls spilt their drinks (one right next to me while I was cleaning up her friends'!).

We ended the meeting with our circle and gave out cards to the girls and a few presents for the leaders before wishing them a Merry Christmas and letting them go.

It was a very relaxed evening and meant I could catch up with some Leaders and a couple of girls and I am looking forwards to the meetings and trips I am going to be able to go on in the New Year as my 2nd semester timetable still doesn't allow me time for Brownies at university.

Look Wider - Independant Living

It's been so long since I posted anything on here. I'm really hoping my timetable for next semester gives me time to find a Brownie unit to help at; I'm really missing it. But I'm home in time for the party with my old unit which will be nice.

However, with my extra time, I have finally managed to complete an Octant of my Look Wider qualification; the Independent Living one. Below I have detailed what I did for each phase so you can get some ideas if you're planning on doing this octant but are stuck for ideas. I found that starting university really helped me to find things to do for it as I was living independently for the first time in my life so if you're moving out soon or have already done so you will probably find you've done enough to get this one without really trying too hard.

Phase 1

• Improve cooking:
• I had to learn pretty quickly about cooking for myself after moving out. I knew the basics but wasn't particularly confident about actually cooking decent meals.
• It took me a while to get used to the idea of preplanning meals and remembering to defrost things before I needed them.
• I learnt the usefulness  of a microwave in these situations!
• I am getting more confident when it comes to timing everything to be ready at the same time.
• Update CV:
•  I hadn't updated my CV in over 2 years so I decided finishing school was a good time to update it, ready for looking for jobs at university.
• I added in all my GCSEs, AS levels and A levels as well as updating the paragraph about me to make it more relevant.
• I also created accounts on 3 websites to help me find jobs:
• LinkedIn - connect yourself to professionals in fields you want to work in.
• Mahara - create an online portfolio to show off your work to future employers (this was done as part of my degree course so it may not be open to non-students).
• Intern Avenue - find internships and summer placements in various fields.
• Research Equal Opportunities and their impact on yourself:
•  I am an Academic Rep for my course and I did a training where one of the sessions I attended was on equal opportunities but it's fairly easy to research yourself.
• I included some facts and figures and then added my own opinion and a little about my goal in life - to get more women involved in STEM subjects, starting with educating young girls on what is out there.

Phase 2

• Keep accounts for some time:
• I kept the Brownie unit accounts for a term as part of my ALQ.
• I also keep my own personal accounts which I included for this too.

Phase 3

• Pass driving test:
• I passed my driving test 6 months after I turned 18, having had weekly lessons and driven Mum's car a lot in between (which I think helped immensely).

I hope you find this helpful and I will get back to working on other Octants (or possibly my coursework - may be a little more important!).