Why I Could Never be a Vet

The first career I can remember aspiring towards was a vet. I always loved animals (probably unsurprising seeing as I grew up with at least 2 dogs and 2 cats at a time), so it seemed as if the obvious job for me was a vet.

Most little girls love barbies and dolls, I personally hated both… in fact I distinctively remember my older sister allowing me to play with her precious barbies and me continuing to pull their heads off (this seemed like totally normal thing to do…). I was more interesting in animals of all kinds, cuddly ones, toy ones, at one point I did ask for a Barbie – veterinary Barbie. I then threw away the actual Barbie and just played with the animals.

I was so set on being a vet, when we had to take one of our cats in to the vet to have some shots my sister had to leave the room due to feeling faint, but I stayed in, interested to watch and discover what was going on. I had no fear, what harm was a little blood?

I can’t put a day, month, or even year on when I changed, but I did. I turned into one of those people who DOES have the fear, I hate blood and all things gruesome. I am probably one of the most squeamish people you will ever meet! So I never made a decision not to be a vet, I just realized although I loved animals, I did NOT love seeing their insides. I mean realistically WHO wants to shove their arm up an animal’s backside? What kind of job would that be? Luckily there are some people who find that appealing… But not me!

So there it is, the reason I stopped wanting to become a vet. Unfortunately not liking blood or anything like that kind of makes you unable to go into any form of medicine… surprisingly it’s impossible to go through med school without getting your hands messy at one point or another. I don’t really think I need to explain why I wouldn’t suit being a doctor – but if you need me to spell it out I will – I used to pull heads off barbies. Does that sound like someone you’d like to treat you? No. I didn’t think so.

However, even if I had loved all things gruesome I still would not have been able to become a doctor, vet or dentist due to my lack of ability to understand any form of science. At school it was just something i wasn't able to get my head around... All the different enzymes in biology... and then something about Moles in chemistry?! The only Moles that I have the capacity to understand are the ones underground. Sure, the simpler stuff was ok, but as soon as it got to the remotely complicated stuff it all just went over my head. I guess I just don’t have the mind for it… this was the same with all kinds of science, biology, chemistry, physics… I did not understand any of them, and coincidently they did not interest me either. So that was that, I managed to get through GCSEs but swiftly dropped them after and have not studied them since. 

So needless to say any chance of a career in medicine went out the window a long time ago. It just was not to be… This is kind of annoying, because if you do a degree in medicine you know what you are going in to, which means you no longer have to think about what to do with your life – the work part of your life is mapped out for you! Sure, there’s a lot of very, very hard work, but other than that you don’t have to think about anything! Whereas here I am doing my degree in politics, wondering what on earth I should do with it… law? Journalism? Maybe marketing? Even a politician? (not my first choice but we’ll get to that another time…) the possibilities are endless, the hard part is finding something that I actually want to go in to.

So there you have it, I am pretty sure that my dream job is not anything to do with medicine... This does mean that unfortunately unlike medicine students I do have to keep trying to discover where my life is going, but hopefully it will be worth it when I finally find my perfect career. 

What Do I Want To Be When I 'Grow Up'?

Growing up always seemed as if it was so far away. It never really occurred to me that the time when I had to actually figure out what I wanted to do with my life would actually come. But here it is - my second year of university, the time that I really should start to figure out what I want to do. The problem is i'm no closer to knowing what I wanted to do than when I was little, indeed if anything I actually am further away! There were the early days of wanting to be a vet, then the dream of becoming a lawyer - which was quickly taken out of the picture when I saw my brother and sister go through the process and come out of the end looking tired and realising it wasn't all that great. 

I have never managed to find that one thing that I love doing; some people are naturally good at art, some at science, some sport. I unfortunately wasn't one of those lucky few. However, seeing as it is now necessary to decide upon something I figured I would write through my process of decided what I want to be when I am grown up.

I think I am going to do this through a process of elimination, going through the options and decided why this is definitely not for me. So, here it goes, why is it that I could never be a musician of any kind.

From an early age my parents were sure that I was a musical genius, and that this skill just had to be forced out of me through hours and hours of piano practice. My brother had been a chorister and a grade 8 flute player - so they figured what made me so different? So I went through three years of piano playing, practicing every day, trying my best... And at the end of those three years I had gone through three different music teachers and achieved a grand total of zero grades... I was still not even at the standard to do my grade 1 piano exam! After a long time of convincing my parents realised that PERHAPS the piano just wasn't for me... However, this didn't mean that there wasn't still a musical genius hidden in me, it just meant that I had chosen the wrong instrument! 

And so the process started again, only this time with the saxophone. The saxophone was not quite as much of a fail as the piano was, I was able to play and remember which notes were where (which was a large improvement...) and even sound quite nice at some points. However then we reached a new problem - I wasn't exactly gifted when it came to reading music... And by this I mean I could see which notes were which on the piece of paper, but when it came to extra funny symbols which were meant to all mean different things... it all just got too much for me! However this problem was slowly overcome and I became just about used to all the different symbols. THEN yet another problem arose... part of the exam I would be taking had some improvisation... this included knowing which notes sounded good together and having a beat - I could do neither of these and so, to cut to the end, I stopped playing the saxophone after roughly three years and again no grades... My worst memory of the saxophone had to be when I offered to play in my house music performance at school... During the rehearsals I just about held it together, not sounding great but that didn't really matter - it's not as if they could exactly ask me not to play seeing as I had volunteered). However, on the actual day of the performance for some reason my saxophone refused to play a single note! I had to stand on stage PRETENDING to play. I'm pretty sure that it was obvious that I wasn't actually playing seeing as the saxophone was a pretty crucial and loud part of the performance. So that was the first and last time I went on stage with an instrument...

So maybe an instrument wasn't for me...Maybe I had to use my natural musical talents - my voice? Well, there's really no story there... I have a vague memory in junior school of being turned away from the choir - either that or kicked out... Some people have a theory that everyone is able to sing, just some people have to be taught how and others are naturally good at it. I think that these people are wrong - and if they want me to prove it they can try and get me to sing! 

Other than that there was one last try with guitar; this lasted less time (partially due to being taught by a very pervy teacher who later tried to talk to me on Facebook through a strange alias...). I (and more importantly my parents) realised that music was not for me.

So there it is - the story of why I must cross of musician from my list of what I could be when I grow up. Hopefully I am one step closer to finding out what I could be. 

The North vs South

Here it is, the age-old debate: which is better out of the North and the South of England? Doesn't it seem bizarre that there is such a large difference between two halves of such a small country? Can you believe that around 7 million Britons have never ventured across the north south divide? Three quarters of the British public actually admit that they discriminate against those from the other side of the 'divide', with northerners thinking southerners are arrogant and up themselves, and southerners thinking that northerners are backwards and bleak. So which half of the country wins?

So here it goes, the top 5 best things about the North and South:

The North:

1) The People: In general, although I hate to say it, I have found that the people in the North are so much more kind and welcoming than those in the South. Always being more willing to take the time out of their day to give you directions or just say good morning.

2) The Cost:  Everything is cheaper in the North! From houses to alcohol, it's just easier to live in the North... The average house price in the South is around £280,000, whereas in the North it is £140,000 - making it literally half as expensive to live in the North as the South.

3) The Beauty: Obviously this is a plus side for both the North and South, but there is definitely something to be said for the beauty of places such as North, on the whole it seems less ruined than the majority of the South.

4) York: The South has London, the North has York. Although these places are incomparable there is definitely something to be said for York, this is proved by the fact that it is the second biggest tourist destination after London. Considering York is tiny in comparison this is pretty impressive...

5) Community: Generally people in the North feel more of a sense of belonging to a community, this may well be due to my earlier point about the people being kinder, but I think it is also because in the lifestyle in the north doesn't seem to be so rushed and busy as it can be in the South.

The South

1) London: With hundreds of attractions including the London Eye, Madame Tussaud's, and the tower of London, the West end... the list goes on! You can be in London your whole life and still be surprised by what you find, it never gets boring.

2) The Weather: Whatever the weather is like in the North, it's always better in the South... Maybe it's because it's less windy, maybe it's warmer, and all I know is that it always seems to be nicer...

3) The Accents: (controversial, I know....) This isn't really a sound argument for why the North is better, but in general I just prefer Southern accents to Northern, the exception being Newcastle which has a great accent.

4) Cornwall: With the beaches and surfing you can sometimes forget you are still in dreary England. Although there are of course plenty of beaches in the North, I’m not sure that Blackpool measures up to Cornwall when it comes to a summer holiday.

5) The Businesses: Although it isn't easy to find a job anywhere at the moment, there are more job opportunities in the South compared to in the North. This is to be expected seeing as London is the hub of trade in England.

The worst things about the North and South have already been explained through the opposites top 5. For example the main worst things about the South are the high prices and the often rude people, whereas the worst things about the North is the weather and the fact that overall it isn't as wealthy as the south. However seeing as this is probably what makes the people kinder this is not necessarily a bad thing...

So there isn't really a better out of the two - it's purely a personal preference... In such a small country it seems silly to have such a big split and to have formed such harsh prejudices against the other side of the 'divide'. Everyone should just put their pride to their side and admit one is not better than the other - they are simply different.

Parody of the Party

The other week I went to a parody of the party 'social' at uni; this meant that everyone had to dress as their political affiliation (it was a politics social...). I didn't have a clue what to go as, i mean.. i am conservative,  but what does that mean i go as? In the end i just dressed in blue and, as a joke, printed out a Maggie Thatcher mask. This seemed like the best thing to do because it would be obvious what i was - meaning i wouldn't have to give the awkward explanation of what i was meant to be and then just get given awkward looks, whereas if i just wore blue people could partially think i was just depressed...

So, i set off to the bar, dressed from head to toe in blue with my mask on - although it was the best mask for looking out of so i had to put it on the back of my head. I had told a few friends what i was going as and they had just laughed and said 'that's brave'. I had shaken this off as a joke, thinking nothing of it, however when i got to the social i realised that this was no joke... Quite the contrary as soon as i walked in i was already getting bizarre looks and evil stares.

Now, i know that i grew up in a sort of bubble, where i live there wasn't even an local election last year because no one stood against the conservatives. So i am just used to no one being that against Thatcher... Even people who are Labour and Liberal still seem to respect her. It probably isn't just because of where i live, but also because non of the people i know at home are as politically inclined. So really doing a politics degree at uni i should have seen the whole thatcher hatred coming...

One of the funniest things that happened in the course of the night was a conversation between me and two bartenders. I was talking to a group of people and suddenly heard laughter behind me, so turned around to see two of the bartenders looking at me and saying "you literally are a two-faced bitch! No offense.." (They soon reassured me that it was nothing to do with me being a bitch personally, purely because Thatcher was, to them, a bitch). So there it was, two complete strangers felt that because i was wearing a mask with Thatcher on it they were suddenly able to call me a two faced bitch! Of course i saw the funny side of it, but that didn't make it any more shocking at the time.

If i thought that the bartenders were bad i had no clue about what was coming for the rest of the night. At one point i found myself surrounded by a group of people who turned out to be Marxists - obviously not fans of Thatcher... They were so shocked that i was a supporter of Thatcher and actually seemed insulted that i was wearing her face on the back of my head. I quickly reassured them that i didn't particularly support Thatcher, that it was just an idea i had that i thought would be apt for the social. I quickly made my way out of that particular group i managed to stay away from them for the rest of then night.

What i was most shocked about was the fact that multiple people were dressed as Sarkozy and Palin, yet that was fine because they were obviously joking, whereas me with a Thatcher mask meant that i was obviously a keen Thatcherite and supported all of her policies and therefore hated the North (which seeing as i was surrounded by Northerners wasn't a good thing).

Now i know i'm making this evening sound worse than it was, the majority of people (after me explaining that it was a joke) did see the funny side, even if a few people obviously didn't find it funny... But it was just such a different reaction than i had imagined. What was amusing was that the next day when photos appeared from the event i found that there were more of the back of my head (with my mask) than with me. Random people that i hadn't even talked to had secretly posed with the back of my head!

So although I definitely don't regret wearing the mask, I was still shocked at the response and probably won't do it again in the future. It was a great starting point for conversations, but for certain people it meant it was a definite ending point. It surprisingly took me a year to work out that people doing a politics degree actually take offense when people support something that they hate.