Natters: Volunteering, Teaching + Plan B

I've been volunteering with a group of people at a local boys comprehensive in Coventry. It's part of an Aim Higher scheme to teach kids about further and higher education. I love going there and discussing stuff with the kids, they're in Year 9, but they're doing their GCSEs a year earlier. They're all really smart but seriously know nothing about uni. We've had a few sessions with them now and I think they're finally starting to get that uni doesn't just mean constantly working and reading and being with strangers. It's taken them quite a while to understand the huge social and extra-curricular activities involved in university life. There faces when I told them I only had 9 hours of contact time was just like this :| then this :D. They still ask the usual questions though "Can I bring my Xbox?" "Can I have a fridge in my room?" "What if everyone I live with is an idiot?" They seem to assume they are going to spend ALL their time in their rooms. Madness. Hopefully after Week 10 they shall want to go to carry on in education :). A few kids have said "My parents don't have degrees and they have good jobs" and it's so hard to answer that in a way they can understand. Saying they're a different generation and times are different now isn't really an answer to them, I just sound all pompous. I have managed to explain it in normal people terms now though :)

Volunteering has just reinforced how much I want to be teacher. Teaching someone something gives you such a sense of achievement. I seem to be good at shushing children, which is ALWAYS helpful. I think it's because I'm really chatty and I doubt any child could be bothered trying to out-chat or out-argue me. We'll see. That's probably a reason I want to teach, I'll get to talk SO much. Yeeeesss! Nice. At the moment I'm filling in the form to get some teaching experience at a local school at home, I'm hoping to maybe do it in September when school has started, as it'd probably be better to do it then, rather than mid-July when they just want the summer holidays. I'm excited and so incredibly nervous.

I've been looking for Sociology based PGCEs and my God. It is haarrddd to find one I like. So far I have Leicester. That is it. I'm just not going to anywhere I know I'll hate/strongly dislike. It's only for a year, I'm very aware of that, but shush. It's a very important year!

If all fails I'm going to try and get a job like Lil' Jon's. That is my Plan B. He just says a few words in each song he ever appears on and he must get paid a fair amount for them. I find this so weird when all his music with the Eastside boyz wasn't even that good. But whatever. Lil' Jon, your job will be mine. YEAH! WHAT?! OKAY!

Cheeky bit of music now :)

Really good song, I didn't like this even slightly at first. But it's grown on me :D