Schoolin' Life

As the clock struck 6 a.m on Monday the 19th of August Irish time, I once more waited on bated breath for the results that would determine my future.

This was the second time I had applied for the CAO, the Central Application's Office, which would determine which course I would go onto study in college. The first time I applied was when I sat my Leaving Certificate in 2010. Once the stress & dread of the Leaving Cert results had come & passed, the CAO offers were all that was on your mind. 

I had applied to do the Bachelor of Arts degree in National University of Maynooth (NUIM) that first time around. When I awoke to the offer I was delighted. The course was my first choice & I was delighted with myself. My father was ecstatic as I was the first member of his family to actually get into college.

Orientation week came & passed and I began to get into the swing of things. I loved college. Well, I loved the social aspect of college, the actual academics were the problem. Only one other girl from my secondary school had come into the college with me, so I had to make new friends & that I did. Friends who I call my best friends now 3 years later.

While I was meeting up with these new friends, heading to the Student's Union bar & participating in the typical college activities, I was unaware that, even though I was having fun with them, I wasn't furthering myself academically. I actually hated my course to put it bluntly.

I got through 1st year anyway, how I did is beyond me as I did zero work. Before I knew it, 2nd year was coming around knocking on the door. Straight off the bat I fell back into the swing of drinking with my college friends. I loved the social aspect of it all. I just love making friends and having a good time. Many of my friends lived on campus where as I lived at home, so it was a bit of freedom that I lapped up and also envied.

Needless to say the whole year continued in this routine & before I knew it the school year had finished & I had failed. Horrendously. The worst part of it all was that, being honest, I didn't care. I think that was a sign that I wasn't happy in my course. If I was disappointed with myself for failing, then surely that would have meant more. I wasn't thinking at the time at all and when the time came to re-register for college I decided to repeat 2nd year. I had a long talk with myself & realised that I actually had to start making something of myself, so I thought it was the best thing to do.

I re-registered, back into 2nd year I went, my college friends all now in final year. Was I jealous? Sure a little bit but I saw it as an opportunity to put my head in the books. That lasted for about two months max. I began to miss college completely. I would rarely go in & I handed up little to no course work. I had to get two buses to the campus and I just wasn't bothered anymore. I was a complete slacker, lying to my parents that college wasn't on these days or saying I was heading in when I would go to town with friends. To say my parents were less than impressed with me when they eventually found out is an understatement.

I don't know what happened but one day I just reassessed my life. Other events had recently happened so I was in a new, yet promising place. I woke up and copped on that what I was doing wasn't entertaining me and I had to sort myself out. I began thinking about what appeals to me. The BA course was one which my teachers & family members had recommended to me. I was 17 years old, an age which I still think is so young too decide what you want to do with the rest of your life, so I took on their advice. I agreed with them, it wasn't all their fault.

So, at 20 years old, when I began to reassess myself, I was thinking of what I wanted to do. I'm interested in; Entertainment, Writing, Celebs, World Affairs, General Knowledge & Babble. I just enjoy learning things about anything & everything & writing my opinions on them. I enjoy making people laugh & also educating others as well as being educated. Therefore I decided to pursue a course in Journalism and yesterday, I was offered a place in that exact course.

When I clicked onto my CAO account to view my offer I was beyond nervous, especially since I had wasted the past 10 months by completely dropping out of college, I was worried I had made the wrong decision. Not only had I wasted the past 10 months, I had also wasted the past 3 years. Seeing that offer for Journalism thrilled me so much. I can't wait to start in 3 weeks time. Sure, I'll be three years older than some of my fellow undergrads but I'm in a much better place in my life in every sense & now doing something I actually want to do, it can only go up from here.

For anyone out there who is unhappy in their current situation, whatever it may be, stop, think about it & do what YOU want to do, not what others want you to do.

T.G.GOODBYE. Friday's.

As my J1 adventure dwindles down into the final weeks, I have said "GOODBYE", to employment at T.G.I Friday's and it is one bout of employment I won't ever forget. The establishment, the employees & the downright peculiar customers have left a lasting impression in my brain for life.

Before I started working, when I was being interviewed for the job, I lied saying I had had previous serving experience. That is one thing that was obviously lacking on my first day of work. I didn't know how to hold a plate, hold multiple drinks at once or even understand the difference between a Caesar Salad & a House Salad. Being honest, if it wasn't for my friend previously working there during her J1 last year, I don't think I would have been kept on. One thing I can say now, however, is that I am a whiz at the 'ol serving. I only dropped glasses twice during my 3 month stint. The first time was fine as it was a plastic cup of water. Take 2 was a bit more dangerous as I dropped 3 glasses on an OAP. In my defence though, he DID take the glasses off my tray which unbalanced it, so I'm going to blame him. Luckily, there was no harm done and not a smashed glass was to be seen anywhere.

The employees, well, I don't even know where to begin. From 20 year olds acting as though they're going through menopause & routinely crying to drug users being suspended for stinking of BO, they are an eclectic (I use that word loosely) bunch of people. There were a lot of people of Spanish origin working there who spoke the language constantly. I was talking to one of them and happened to mention we don't have much Spanish speakers back home in Ireland and their reply was, "Yeah, but isn't that because you are all racist in Ireland?". I just laughed awkwardly at the response as I was dumbfounded that that was something people over in the States must think about us. I wouldn't call it ignorance, I'd put it down to being uneducated about us. I mean after all, another co-worker of mine thought the Irish language was a made up language used purely in tales & fables.
As odd and unconventional as the employees were, they are also some of the nicest people I have met. They appreciated us Irish who were working there so much as we always said "Please" and "Thanks". Words & manners which seem to have been lost somewhere in America over the years. In a country with such a large population & a country with such a large influence on the rest of the world, you would think they would be more courteous. Walking on the sidewalk is one of the most rude experiences you will encounter but that's a conversation for a different day.

Ferris Bueller & Disney Kid are among some of the names I was given by customers over the summer. I'm not going to lie, I took them both as a compliment. FB was a cool guy and I WISH I had been a Disney kid, hanging out with the likes of Selena & Miley and currently twerking away these days in my mansion in LA but ALAS I am on the other end of the spectrum. Patrons trying to guess where my accent was from was always a fun part of the day. Most of the time people would guess European alright but rarely they'd say Irish. I got German, Danish & English a good bit. Even Canadian once or twice. Really, Canadian?! One guy was dumbfounded I was Irish because I didn't speak with a, "Higgledy, Piggledy" accent. I got a laugh out of that to be honest. Americans just say what's on their mind. That's something which was entertaining but was also bad when it came to complaints.
For some reason, complaining about food here in the States & getting free/discounted food is totally the norm. I don't understand it. I mean, if your food is under-cooked, alright that's fine but some people take advantage of it. I had one woman who ordered a spinach flat bread, which is topped with cheese. The woman ate 3/4 of her flat bread, then informed me it was "Too cheesy", and it was then taken off her bill. I mean what?! YOU ATE NEARLY ALL OF IT AND NOW YOU GET IT FOR FREE?! My mind is baffled. I think restaurant owners need to put their foot down in those sort of circumstances but that's their problem.

In a nutshell, after a week chocked with job applications, interviews & Craigslist searching ( The Job Listings not Men Seeking Men section obviously) back when I first arrived here in June, I am delighted I got the opportunity to work at T.G.I's over the summer. Memories, Friends & little money were made and I enjoyed (almost) every second of it.

Life Loving in NYC

Oh haiii y'all!
As one can see I haven't blogged in an absolute AGE. This is down to the pure lack of time I have had, since June anyway. Let's just forget about the two months in between since my last post.

Since June 2nd I have been living the high life in The Big Apple. Working in TGI Friday's and constant drinking has left me with zero time & zero money but that's all part of the fun. The summer is going by much quicker than I was expecting it to. I currently have just over 4 weeks left before I head home. I can't begin to describe this experience so far & I can only imagine what the final month has in store, especially as we (myself & those I live with) will be finished work and have all the free time we want to drink, sight-see, drink, sleep, drink & shop. And drink some more.

I am merely posting this so I get myself back into the habit of blogging and get back into the swing things.

Hope everyone is enjoying their respective summers!