If you're an undergrad Geology student, chances are you've been hearing people banging on about your Independent Mapping Project from the moment you downloaded the course prospectus.

Now that you're in the last semester of your second year and you're finally staring it in the face, it's time to start preparing for what will undoubtedly be one of the toughest challenges you've ever faced.

Don't listen to students in the year above you who tell you how awesome it was and all of their clutch-your-sides-from-laughing stories. They're lying to you. The same way women who've had children tell first time mums that you forget all the pain once you hold your baby for the first time. That's a tactful way of saying that labour and birth really does hurt like a motherfucker, it's just worth it in the end.

Same with mapping. It is HARD (although probably not quite as hard as childbirth but you get my point). But you too will survive it and become one of those asshole third years who regale innocent second years with hilarious stories and conveniently miss out how the daily grind can wear you down.

So here are my tips to make sure you're well prepared!

1. Start your prep early

By that I mean do not leave it until you only have a few weeks to go to start making arrangements. Ideally you need to start 6 months before you leave.

Probably one of the few days where it wasn't raining :D

2. Consider your choice of mapping partner carefully

In my opinion this can be the most critical decision you make. You will spend eight hours a day with them for 6 weeks. Just the two of you alone. Chances are you will probably be living with them too and you are quite likely to be sharing a room together too. My mapping partner and I even had to share a double bed for 6 weeks. Plus we had four fabulous days cooped up in a car together traveling to Scotland and back. Luckily we managed it all without a cross word.

How did we do this? We mapped together before and we were good friends. We approached our mapping as a partnership and we were a team. The project itself might be 'independent' but you and your mapping partner MUST be on board. You have to make lots of little decisions together daily.

Where are we going today? Whats our plan? What are we trying to achieve? Try and pick someone with a similar level of physical ability to yourself. My mapping partner was fitter than I was and I had to push myself to keep up with her pace but overall we were reasonably equally matched. Especially by the end of the trip. If you have different attitudes about wanting to scramble up vertical cliff faces to reach an interesting outcrop or climb an actual mountain daily then you might be in for a conflict filled 6 weeks.

Plus you will need to take days off. Nobody can map for 30 days straight without going insane. So you need to be able to have a laugh together when you're not working.

My top tips? Pick someone who is a good friend, understands you, has a similar work ethic and fitness level and try to map together beforehand as a practice run.

Better to find out halfway through a week long field trip they're driving you nuts than when you're on day 10 in the pissing rain and you're contemplating pushing them in a river.

Our holiday cottage that we rented, complete with hot tub ;)

3. Book your accommodation asap

As soon as you know where you are going and how many of you are going, book your accommodation STRAIGHT AWAY. Chances are you will be mapping during the summer holidays, which is peak tourist season for just about everywhere you could possibly go.

As a result, accommodation gets booked up fast. Especially when you want to book it out for 6 weeks at a time.

Try and negotiate a lower price as you will be staying for a lengthy period as high summer tends to command peak prices. If you are mapping somewhere popular like I did (the Isle of Skye has been the training ground for generations of geologists), then you may find that lots of cottage owners are very used to geology students.

The owners of the cottage we stayed in rent to geologists for the majority of the summer. As soon as one group leaves, the next one arrives. One of the best places for a recommendation is to ask the students who went the year before you and see if they can put you in touch with someone.

You will be stuck behind a campervan 98% of the time

4. Make your travel arrangements

Think seriously about how you are going to get to your mapping area. And I don't just mean from where you go to uni to whatever far flung location the uni have chosen for you to map in, but also how you will get from your accommodation to your mapping area.  

For some groups from my uni this was simple as everything was walking distance. Not so for us. My mapping partner and I had a 45 min commute each way along terrifying single track, sheep filled highland roads. A car was 100% essential for us in Skye. Taking a car can have it's pros and cons. It cost us an absolute fortune in fuel, but it became our safe haven. Sitting in it shivering with the heating on full blast and watching the rain lash down is one of my fondest memories of Skye.

So think about your travel arrangements and get planning them as soon as you know where you are staying.

5. Create and print your field slips well in advance

If your uni wants you to do this yourself then do it well ahead of time. Do not leave it to two days before departure like I did. It took me a whole day to make them and it was incredibly stressful.

Get ahead of the game and do this when you have lots of time to tackle it calmly. The finished result will be better too.

6. Make copies

Print off at least one spare copy of your field slips and leave them at your accommodation. If a gust of wind happens to catch your field slip and send it off somewhere irretrievable you will be incredibly grateful you had the foresight to make a spare.

Everyone's boots drying by the fire. My Brashers on the right stuffed with newspaper and away from the heat because I was stupid enough to put my foot in a bog that day

7. Seriously consider some new walking boots

My lecturer said she would recommend we all bought a pair of full grain leather boots to take to Skye with us and to avoid anything with Goretex as they don't keep your feet dry for long.

I listened to her and splashed out on a new pair of Brasher full leather walking boots as my current pair at the time were a pair of Regatta ones I fished out of a bargain bin at an outdoor discount store and paid £5.99 for. They had lasted me well but were starting to fall apart and they were made of goretex.

This was the best piece of advice I ever listened to. Unless I actually submerged my foot in a bog (which I did do several times) my feet were dry throughout the trip. I still have the boots and they're still fantastic. Everyone else on the trip had very good quality boots but they weren't full leather and they all had wet feet at the end of each day. Quite a few peoples boots were ruined by the end of it and they ended up replacing them anyway.  

If you are going mapping anywhere in the UK I suggest you do the same. You will be forever grateful. The few days I did have wet feet were utterly miserable and this is avoidable (as long as you watch where you are putting your feet). Make sure they are thoroughly worn in before you go.

Although Brasher don't seem to still sell the pair I have these ones looks quite similar. 

People aren't exaggerating when they say the midges can be really bad in Skye

8.  Purchase any additional kit you need

What you need exactly will be specific to where you are going but if you are mapping in Skye get yourself a decent midge hat, midge repellent, good quality waterproof trousers and a proper coat. A weather writer is an absolute must if you don't already have one.

If you are going somewhere hot you will obviously need different kit. Chat to your lecturer who is running the trip and the students who went the year before. They will tell you what will be helpful.

9. Check your existing kit

Check you have it all, it still works and replace anything if needed. Make sure you have enough notebooks.

If you are mapping in the UK you must be prepared for all weathers. We had a three day heatwave (that lasted three weeks back home) and we both got completely sun burnt as we were caught off guard. 

Pack sun cream, even if you're going to the Hebrides. You just don't know what the weather will do!

10. Check if there is a BGS map available

Or the local equivalent if you are off abroad. The BGS maps aren't done in the same scale but they are a valuable resource that can be used.

Bear in mind that they are also just someone's interpretation and may not be completely accurate...

11. Photo copy and laminate useful reference material

If there is some useful info you think might help you in the field (log keys, relevant section of the BGS map, rock descriptions etc) then photocopy them and laminate them. Keep them in the back of your weather writer.

They can be extremely useful in the field when you just want to check something for reference as chances are you won't have any phone reception.

12. Order any prescriptions you need well in advance

It's no good running out while you're out there. You could be mapping somewhere extremely rural or even in a different country, which could make getting your medication extremely difficult. Try to make sure you have enough to last you.

Ladies, if you are taking a contraceptive pill I would recommend taking it back to back while you map to avoid the hassle and aggravation of being on your period. Chances are there is nowhere to even have a wee in comfort let alone change a tampon. It is completely fine to take more than one strip back to back too. Ask your doctor if you're not sure.

13. Try to do some reading around the subject

Find some books and reference material to read before you go. If you find anything useful print it off and take it with you. 

14. Chat to the students in the year above

They will be your greatest resource for help. This is particularly true once you get back and you're struggling to interpret your results.

They've been there and done it before so don't be afraid to ask them for advice. Just take all anecdotes with a pinch of salt, as 30 days of staring at rocks is enough to make anyone a little bit loopy.

Life after Graduation - My job hunting experience

This post is going to be the first in a mini series about the trickiness that is navigating life after you graduate. So if you're graduating next summer, are about to graduate, or have just graduated then these posts will be for you.

Its now been over a year since I graduated (how has the time gone so quickly?!) and I can tell you that I was seriously unprepared. I had no plans and zero interest in working within my degree field. A lot happened in my life very rapidly during the period between handing my dissertation in and actually graduating. One of the biggest things that happened was that I got made redundant. I hadn't even graduated yet and I was losing my job! Talk about bad timing! 

I worked throughout my degree but had spent the final two years working in a challenging office role within the care industry. The job suited me perfectly as the hours were ideal for a student and although the job was tough, I learnt a huge amount about the working world (not to mention kept my finances healthy, but more of that in a later post). The upshot is, a week after handing my dissertation in I found out the job that I currently had, was no longer going to provide me with the income I was hoping to rely on between finishing uni and finding another job. 

So I worked my final shift a week after finding out about the redundancy and when I got home I fired off two job applications. Nothing fancy, I just saw two roles that sounded like I could do and quickly emailed over a CV. To be honest it was the first time I had ever actually applied for a job and it was a pretty lazy attempt. But I wanted to be able to tell my parents I had applied for something, to keep the inevitable 'have you applied for jobs yet' at bay.

The roles I had applied for were through a recruitment agency and I received a call from them the very next day. It turned out the two roles I had applied for, were with the same company, one of which was temp work and the other was full time but required more experience. The recruitment agency asked if I could start temping on Monday. So less than 48 hours later I had a new job working night shifts for a large financial services company. No it wasn't the dream, I definitely wanted a job with more security, better pay and more sociable hours but beggers can't be choosers. 

I was used to working shifts from my job in care so the hours didn't bother me but the world of work within financial services was a whole world away from what I was used to doing in the care sector.

The industry is heavily regulated and working for such a large corporate company was a bit of a shock as well. I was so nervous before my first shift, especially because most of the other temps had been working there for a while and a lot of them had relevant industry experience. But I adapted quickly and proved myself to be efficient and capable at my new role. Turns out that the experience I had from working in care, as well as the skills I gained at uni were a lot more transferable than I had thought.

A few weeks later the boss approached me and asked if I was still interested in the full time position. I eagerly confirmed that I was and I had my interview a few days later. Despite having worked throughout my four years at uni this was actually my first interview! It was a tough interview which lasted over 2 hours, but I actually found to my surprise I was enjoying it. Thanks to all the experience I had with working in care I had lots of good responses to the questions they asked and was able to draw upon examples of handling tricky clients etc. 

I was so excited when they offered me the job! The role was a big step up from what I had been doing while I was temping but I was so glad that I had the opportunity to find out what it was like to work both within the industry and for the company beforehand. Mostly because I would never have thought that I would be any good at it! I now had what I had wanted all along, a steady job, with regular hours and decent pay. It also helped ease the transition as I was familiar with the company systems, had already completed some of my training and had started to get to know some of the full time staff from other departments. All in less than a month after graduating and being made redundant.

If you had asked me before I went to uni if I would ever work in finance I would have laughed til I cried. Me work with money? What a crazy idea. Now though, a year on from graduation I have moved onto my next role, still within the finance sector but this time my role is more technical and builds upon the skills I have gained since I first started temping. 

I've surprised myself with finding I actually have a genuine interest in the industry. One which sounds as dull as dishwater but actually learning how people build wealth, manage their finances and what goes on behind the scenes in a large financial company is really interesting. 

So why have I written this? To let other recent graduates know that it can be done, job hunting is not impossible. You might end up surprising yourself and putting your skills to use in ways you never thought you would. What seems like a set back, might actually be putting you on a better path all along!

9 Things I've learnt since graduation

If you had asked me how I felt about graduating this time last year I would have probably just shrugged and reeled off some vague answer about getting a job and figuring it out when it happened. Inside though I was losing my mind with panic. 

Graduating from uni and leaving the education system is terrifying when your life has always been clearly mapped out for you with a simple path to follow. You go to school, then sixth form and then onto uni. While changing between them was scary to start with, the familiar patterns of progressing from one year to the next with the constant routine of work, revision and exams soon make them all blend together. Yes your first few weeks at uni were probably quite a shock but the academic work is essentially what you've been doing for over a decade. By the time you're in your final year at uni you are quite the seasoned pro at the education malarkey. 

But the idea of leaving it? Mind blowing. 

And I was no exception, I was just as scared as everyone else. But just like everyone else, I got through it and I'm still here.

It's been 6 months since I graduated now and I've learnt a lot in that time, in ways that I wasn't expecting to. I experienced some of the things I feared and while some of them were hard, others turned out to be ok in the end.

1. I feel more like I'm my own person. Considering we're widely told that university is the best time of our lives and that we should make the most of it while it lasts, it isn't paradise for everyone. While I enjoyed my 4 years at uni immensely, in hindsight I can recognise that there were some really tricky parts. I had to take modules I struggled with, go on lengthy field trips I didn't want to go on and research things that didn't interest me just because the lecturer decided that's what they wanted us to write about. While these are all excellent life skills (we all have do things we don't want to) now I get to choose what field of work I want to be in, I choose where I take my trips and I choose to learn about the things that I want to. This level of freedom was quite mind blowing when you're used to being told what to do by teachers all the time. I get to be in charge of my own life and decide what direction I want to take.

2. Not having as many friends after uni can be lonely and it's something you should prepare yourself for. At uni you're surrounded by your friends. In first year they live just down the hall and in the years after that you probably moved in with them. You spend all day hanging out with your friends on your course and your free time is spent with friends from clubs and societies. 

Its also incredibly easy to make friends at uni, after all you have common ground with everyone because you all chose the same university to attend. 

Once you leave though, your friends are scattered around the country with various commitments of their own and it can become really tough to see them. Not only that but your support network is now hundreds of miles away. 

I don't really have many old friends from back home to hang out with and I'm not ashamed to admit I haven't made any new yet friends either. It has been a bit of a lonely time for me but its early days. Trying to forge a new life doesn't happen overnight and my friendships are having to adapt with it. But I have learnt I can survive without them being in the room next door. I now appreciate the time I do get to spend with them a whole lot more.

3. Any port in a storm. Its a thought worth bearing in mind. Every headline seems to be full of depressing news for young people - less opportunities, lower wages and rising unemployment. 

But it doesn't have to be this way. Sometimes what needs to change is your mindset and expectations. If you lower them a little you might be pleasantly surprised and find that job hunting isn't always hard. 

Your first job probably isn't going to be anything to shout about anyway, so if something is offered to you, take it. Even if it isn't the dream job you will learn a heck of a lot. 

It can be difficult to get a job without experience. So when a chance to gain some comes your way don't turn it down because you think it's beneath you. Going to uni and getting a degree doesn't make you that special these days. 

Every job you ever have is likely going to involve answering the phone, talking to customers, handling queries and sending letters or emails. Whether you work in a tiny shop or you're CEO of a major company, everyone has to engage with other people.  It's the nature of business. 

If you can't even prove on your CV that you can do some basic level stuff like that then your degree is worthless to a lot of employers. They're looking for real world experience in handling the 'small stuff' so if you keep getting rejected look for something less prestigious and get some solid skills under your belt. 

The next time you're asked in an interview to give an example of how you handled a difficult customer you will have endless answers to choose from.

4. Having a job isn't that hard. If your course at uni was fairly rigorous and you worked hard chances are you're already in a pretty good routine and mind set to handle a 9-5. I always feared actually having to get a job in case I wasn't very good at it but if you're prepared to learn then it really isn't that hard at all. After all you've just spent a number of year learning HOW to learn so chances are you'll pick things up pretty quickly and soon get into the swing of things.

5. I actually have less money to spend. This is something friends and family are struggling to grasp. I had a job at uni and worked a lot on top of student loans and grants so I actually had a fairly healthy amount of money to live on. But back then I wasn't saving for anything, so all my disposable income was mine to spend on whatever I wanted. I worked hard to earn that money and balancing a job and a degree (read my post about that particular minefield) at the same time isn't easy despite what people might say. If you read my post on goals for this year you'll know I'm trying to save for a deposit for a house. So now I have to live frugally and I'm not able to splash my cash. This was a bit of a reality check for me because I always imagined once I had a job I'd have loads of money. The reality is a little different. If I want to regain the independent life I had at uni then I need to save to buy my own house. I had to decide if I want that more than I want to buy new things I don't really need.

6. My free time is my own. This was something that I never really considered before. I don't have a deadline coming up, I don't have revision to be doing and I don't have a dissertation I should be writing. I go to work and when I come home I don't have more work that I need to do. I can do what I enjoy with this time, no guilt required. After a lifetime of homework and revision its quite a revelation.

7. I no longer feel like a child. This is something that happens at a different rate for everyone but uni has equipped me to deal with adult things bit by bit. Registering at the doctor, looking for a house to rent, managing my money - all things that seemed like a big deal at first but are no drama now. For me, uni was an 'intro to adulting' which meant that after 4 years I left feeling like I could handle myself. Now that I have a job and I make my own money I feel like I've actually come to terms with the fact everything I need doing has to be handled by me. Its liberating because I get to be in control of my own life.

8. Life becomes more stable. The one thing about work (for most people at least) is that it's fairly constant. For me uni was full of peaks and troughs. I'd feel on top of the world after handing in a tricky piece of work and hit rock bottom staring at a practice exam paper the night before the exam realising I didn't know half the module. Uni is constantly changing and your work load is dynamic. My routine is much more solid now I have a job and this gives me structure to work around. Its surprising how much more I get done because I procrastinate less. 

9. I'm way happier. Going back to the whole 'uni is the best time of your life' thing from the first point, I've found this isn't necessarily true. Overall my life has improved massively since I've graduated and although it hasn't been without its challenges, it's still been a change for the better. I didn't realise how anxious uni was making me feel. I constantly felt ever so slightly sick whenever I thought about how much work I should be doing. I didn't see how much it was affecting me until the feeling was lifted. I no longer carry around a huge amount of stress and worry. I am actually making progress towards my overall life goals now that I have my own money and I feel happier as a result. 

Overall leaving uni wasn't as hard or as scary as I thought it would be. If you're at uni and about to graduate I hope this helps. Yes it will still be scary. Change is scary there's no getting away from it, but hopefully you might now see that it can change your life for the better as well.

Boat Party 2015

So this is my third year attending this event, and if I'm honest its probably one of the most anticipated events in my years social calendar. This year tickets were virtually impossible to come by but luckily I have connections so made sure we had some ;)

We kicked the night off with a girly getting ready session which involved large amounts of wine. I actually really enjoyed the part of the night spent at Pitcher and Piano before boarding the boat as its a great chance to catch up with the anticipation of a great night.

The actual party itself was amazing and I had such a great time. So glad I got to spend it with such an amazing group of friends and I'm so sad its the last time we will all be together to enjoy it. I love you girls so much!

Top photo credit: Hannah Cheales

Why the university system is backwards

I would like to start this post off by saying I actually really love my uni, and have really enjoyed the past three years here. I am not trying to slate the University of Southampton and I am proud to be a part of it. BUT there are major issues with the way that the university system works overall. Often these are to the detriment of their students and in my opinion that has serious repercussions for society.

I believe the problem lies in the backwards approach that universities take and this particularly affects Russel Group Universities. They focus on bringing in people to teach who are leaders in their field and then use this to draw in students. How many of you have seen on a university website about the 'ground breaking research being done' or this lecturer has just been awarded some prize for being the biggest smarty pants? If your uni is anything like mine (or the numerous others that I have looked at) then I would bet its quite often. After all this is the whole idea on which Russel Group Universities (including the University of Southampton) are based.

Now this seems like a good idea, because you want the next generation to be trained by the best people in their field. As a result, people often choose universities based on how good their research is in their particular area of study. I myself am among those people. The Ocean and Earth Science department at the University of Southampton is considered to be one of the best in the world and that certainly made me want to apply. I wanted to be able to say I had graduated with my geology degree from Southampton and for people to think 'Wow, she must have a good degree then'. The leading research they do creates respect for the institution.

In order for Southampton to maintain its reputation it must employ the top researchers for a particular subject and they attract these people to their uni by having a research based ethos. The idea being: 'Come to our uni and teach our students but you get to carry on your research using our incredible facilities'. Now by this point you are probably thinking: isn't the whole point of a university is to do research? That is where I would argue you are wrong.

To me, it feels like my university (and many others) have forgotten they are an institution of learning primarily as they are too focused on their research. Being taught by the top people within their profession sounds great, but these people are academics and often do not have the people skills that are needed to be a good teacher. Now I appreciate that you need to be at least a bit of an expert to teach at university level but it often feels like my uni gives no thought as to whether or not these people have the ABILITY to teach, not just the knowledge.

The other problem is lecturing is not most member of staffs priority. Their research comes first and their teaching second, maybe even lower depending on what other responsibilities they have. This is something that I feel particularly affects Ocean and Earth Science. Within the National Oceanography Centre where OES is based there are people who are paid just to do research and people who research as well as lecture. This means that in order to keep up with their colleagues lecturers have to do a lot of extra work. If they cannot stay at the fore front of science our university will not be interested in employing them anymore (not any other uni). Its no wonder then that as a student it can feel like a lot of lecturers can't be bothered or don't really care.

This I think is the fundamental problem: that universities do not consider being a good teacher to be important. As an undergrad who is paying NINE THOUSAND POUNDS A YEAR for the privilege to be here I would say this is not acceptable. The university system is providing a service for me, but I cannot afford to simply take my custom elsewhere as I have invested too much money in it. Also, the fact is that society says I need a degree. If I want to get a job and earn myself enough money to enjoy my life then I need that precious piece of paper. There is no alternative for getting it other than going through the university system. So I am trapped like millions of others by this situation and I wish I had the power to change it.

I am not saying that university should be exactly like schools but I do think that a lecturer should be accountable for our education in the same way that teachers are for their pupils. If all of a teachers class fails an exam, then questions are raised. It does not appear to be that way for lecturers in my experience.

Now there are some genuinely very talented lecturers at my uni who are passionate about their teaching. One of them is so good that he was the runner up for the best lecturer out of the entire university. But even for them it must play second fiddle to their research because their very job depends on it.

I would love to see universities move towards employing lecturer who actually WANT to teach and who are actually good at it. After all, the people they are teaching could one day go on to be the world renowned expert. But they will never reach such lofty heights if they do not receive the correct support during their undergrad degree.

So in conclusion universities need to stop putting the cart before the horse and focus more on teaching their students actual stuff and less on how many papers they published this year. Otherwise their might not be anyone to teach it in the future. If someone could just grant me some super powers and I'll fix all this in a jiffy.

Rant over.