Appealing Decisions

SO, after stressing out about Student Finance not letting me have a Tuition Fee Loan for my first year, and thinking I was going to have to pull £9250 out of my back pocket to pay for university (money I honestly do not have and have no idea how to even start to get that type of money) We decided to put a formal appeal into Student Finance England (they will be known as SFE so I don't have to keep writing this out #sorrynotsorry)  and explain to them how ridiculous they had been in their decision. Miraculously they agreed straight away and overturned their original decision. 

I've decided to update you on this as I had no idea how to even start to appeal the decision as they didn't help in the slightest. They told me to speak to my University to see what they could do to help, so I emailed the University and they told me to speak to SFE. So I then emailed my employer to see if they could help at all, but with no luck everybody had started to just stare at me blankly and shrug their shoulders. Eventually, I had to go to my university in to have an Occupational health meeting and my mother decided to seek out the finance office and ask in person. They told us that SFE have an official appeals process that we should look into, instead of writing multiple letters that SFE didn't seem to read or understand what I was saying. We put in the formal appeal (which is just a form where you explain why you are appealing) and within 5 days they sent me a letter giving me the finance. 

I guess I was super shocked that they just handed over the money when I felt like I was going to have to gear up for a massive fight as they had made it so impossible to know who to ask and who to go to. 

Is this the right time to say 'Never give up folks' 

xxx

Getting Nervous...

This week is my last official week at work and then I'll be setting off into my journey of becoming a student. I literally don't think I've ever had to deal with this level of nervousness and excitement all in one go. I'm so excited to be starting a new journey and adventure but also the worry that comes along with that. This will be the first time I have moved away from home, the first time where I will have had to solely rely on my own finances and also will have to be a fully fledged adult and do all sorts of adulty things.

Not only do I have to worry about keeping myself alive, but you also have the worries of 'will I enjoy this when I get there' 'what if the people I live with don't get on with me' 'what if I'm a giant wimp and start to freak out as soon as I arrive'. Just some mad thoughts of a rambling worrier. 

One way in which my anxiety likes to come out is to disrupt my sleep. I'll sometimes be waking up every hour on the hour. The only way I have managed to shut my brain off is to get a glass of water and then count sheep until I drift off again, and then repeat in another hour when my body decides to have another dream about leaving for University.

I have no tips for this type of worry. So far all I have managed to do is talk about it to those around me and remind myself that although this is a massive and scary adventure, EVERYBODY who I know that has been to university has come out with some of the best memories they have ever made and that is what is keeping me going. 

Also, whats the worst that could happen, I don't like it, I come home and I try something new.

It's late and this probably made very little sense but sometimes you just have to keep typing or talking. 

xxx

Frustrating Finance

So, the worst part about trying to get to university; STUDENT FINANCE. 

I remember hearing all my friends talk about trying to fill out the student finance forms and in my head I was just like ‘I’m sure it can’t be that difficult, it’s just one form’. But let me tell you, this is a whole new level of annoying. You have to fill in a request for student finance and then you have to get your parents to fill in there support information. And once you’ve sat there for a good hour and a half trying to find all of the correct information, you have to then send them evidence of the stuff they had asked for. This will take all of like 3 months and then you find out that they can’t offer you the full loan because of some rules that they haven’t previously made clear. Maybe it’s just a current frustration because the system doesn’t seem to be working for me right now but ughhh if I could pay for university outright then I would and that’s just to avoid speaking to student finance. 

This is Changing...

I literally have not been on here for a good year and a half to 2 years. I'm sorry.

I still love make up- but I found it so hard to find things that I wanted to blog about. I don't really change up my make up routine anymore because I just don't have the time to change anything. I even stopped wearing make up to work because I became ok with myself and my face! That sounds very dramatic. 

Maybe I should introduce myself again.

My name is Grace, I'm 22 years old (cue Taylor Swift) and I am just about to change up my whole life (again very dramatic). In September I will be going to University, which I never thought I would ever do because I'm such a home bird and love where I live. 

I'm just about to start a 3 year course studying Speech and Language therapy. I'm so excited to start something new, but every now and again I get a wave of anxiety and I just want to curl up and pretend this isn't happening. This is mostly because the thought of having to start a new life in a whole new city surrounded by people I don't know, who I could hate or could hate me, is terrifying to me. So far I have a plan to come home every month because there are so many people here I'm going to miss that I know I'm going to get home sick immediately. 

I thought that one thing that might just help me get through this is to use this space as a journal. So I hope you don't mind. You never know I might still post about make up if I have the time. 

Thank you for listening to my ramblings. 

Grace xx