Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Life in the Bus Lane


Well, it seams that life doesn't seem to move as fast as one might like, even if I am a month away from turning 25 and starting to feel like time is running out! (Excuse the amateur dramatics). I've decided that I want to train to be a physics teacher. It's something I'm extremely passionate about, and I definitely think that I'd be good at it. Only problem is, my degree isn't really good enough. What I need to do in order to begin Initial Teacher Training is something called a subject enhancement course. These are designed for graduates who have a degree in a subject different to the one they want to teach. Now, here's the catch. I can't get accepted to ITT unless I complete the subject enhancement course; but I also can't get accepted onto the subject enhancement course unless I've been offered a place on some form of ITT. Catch-22? It certainly feels like it!

Hopefully, by talking to the right people, I will be able to get a kind of double conditional offer. I'll be able to do the enhancement course on the condition that I get accepted onto a Qualified Teacher Status programme on the condition that I do the subject enhancement course. It's not as complicated as it seems. The only other problem is that the enhancement course doesn't start until January, meaning it will be September 2007 when I finally start my teacher training! In the mean time, I have to work for the rest of this year, and with a degree as mickey-mouse as mine - well, I can't actually get a job that I couldn't have got without it! I've managed to find a new job that I start next week, doing pretty much the same thing as what I'm doing now, but for a little bit more money (but unfortunately not significantly more), but with guaranteed work for at least the next three months.

Now, on to my money woes! I still owe my landlord a backlog of rent, and to cut a long story short I need to give him just over a thousand pounds to cover me up until the end of June (I'm still in student accommodation). With the money I'm earning, I can just about afford to pay that, but I can't afford to put anything aside so that I can actually move when my contract is up! At the rate I'm going, I'm going to have to try and get a second job working in a bar on weekends.

Oh well, life trundles on. I guess for now, I just have to deal, and try as best I can to fit in time for my uni work. C'est la vie...

Sunday, March 12, 2006

The Adventures of Matt


Whew! What a week! I've had explosive arguments at work, family issues for both me and the other half, managed to get drunk (twice) for the first time since new year, and still found time to have my first driving lesson for seven years! (Not while drunk ;) )

Aside from that, this week has been the same as any other. Still working in a boring, poorly paid, dead end job that forces me to compromise my integrity; and now everyone at work hates me because I refuse to turn a blind eye to certain 'inconsistencies' (unfortunately I can't really say much more at this point in time). Still having trouble finding a graduate scheme I can get onto that I actually want to do, worrying about how I'm ever going to get onto the property ladder, and not doing a damn thing about any of it.

On the plus side, I am now working (sort of) on no less than three graphic novels, which with any luck I might get interest from a publisher (hopefully DC - but I'm a realist). In the mean time, I still need to find a literary agent that handles this kind of stuff, and find the time to actually work on them between my day job, taking time to de-stress after work, uni work, learning to drive, play guitar better, and a whole heap of other stuff. Man, do I wish I was organized...