Perspectives on Starting Work

This week is pretty important.

On Wednesday I start my first proper job, and it would be an understatement to say that I am nervous. Having had my traineeship position secured for over a year and a half, I've gone through periods when I've not had to think about it much. Now, with just a couple more sleeps until I slip on my first suit in anger, it's pretty much all I'm thinking about. Getting to sleep hasn't been the easiest of tasks recently.

But if nervous energy is what's keeping me up at night then the equal and opposite feeling of excitement is what is getting me up in the morning. This is what I have been working towards for the last five years and now that it's finally here I can't wait to get started.

Forward Thinking, But Not Too Far

Looking into the future can be a whole lot of fun. We are inherently tuned to make plans; to always want for something more. This serves as the topic for my upcoming posts, starting with today’s.

My interest for this topic of discussion stems from a number of different sources. Firstly, I’m sitting in the gap between undergraduate life and my first year of professional training. In transitional periods such as this it is difficult not to be in a forward-looking state of mind. The subject of today’s post – an experience I had a couple of months ago – provided another spark of interest in thinking about this type of thing. I also met someone recently who has taken ownership of their life like few others I’ve met before. Listening to this person’s story over the last couple of months has led me to consider my own.

Post 100: Symmetry, Change and What's to Come

I've only gone and done it again! It is with great pleasure that I report to you that this post is my 100th on Ramblings of a Twenty-Something. For those of you who have been following me over the years, you will know that we've been here before over on Ramblings of a Teenager. However, this time seems to matter more for some reason.

It has taken me over two years to get to this point again, with the coincidence between the end of my undergraduate degree and this landmark being almost poetic. I'll not bore you with the romance of it all  - I like to write, I think we all get that now! - but it is enough to say that the majority of the 236 posts that I have written over the years map my whole time at university. With that in mind, can you at least let me indulge myself with a quick look back at that time? Tough, I'm doing it anyway!

Good Morning Edinburgh

"Everyone we know is down there sleeping just now".

It's about half four in the morning and we are scaling the side of Arthur's seat to see the city that I love wake up. The wind is crisp and the ground is damp from yesterday's downpour. We're not really dressed for the climb but the warmth of the white wine and beer is keeping out the cold. I can feel my lungs straining and my legs burning with every stone that I scale. Every twenty metres calls for another break; a gulp of ginger beer and half a sausage roll bought from the twenty-four hour shop. Onwards.

Summer 2014 is Here!

Time. Zeit. Summer. Sommer.

I don't want to check the time-stamp on my most recent post because I think it will make me greet. It might have been just after dissertation, or it might have been just after my eighteenth birthday - time has felt like that recently. Anyway, I'm here now and that's all that matters.

Another Year, Another Year

When I saw the last dregs of 2012 slip away I felt like I had done a pretty good job. Having nailed my exams in May of that year I went on to enjoy a great summer of sport; a summer which culminated in me taking the plunge into the world of employment. The start of third year was tough and was to be a sign of things to come, but for me 2013 couldn't cause me too many problems. Aside from being on one of the lower parts of Edinburgh on New Year's Eve, I felt like I might be standing on top of the world.

The Morning Plan of Action/Madness

So I'm a bit fed up with things at the moment. OK, so I've got my future sorted out and I'm smiling and laughing more than I ever have before, but something just isn't quite clicking at the moment. What I'm trying to say is that I'm boring myself. I'm fed up with not get out of bed when I plan to and when I don't start uni work when I want to. I'm fed up with taking an extra five minutes in the shower just because it's warm. In short, I'm losing patience with myself at a time when I should on top of everything. With all of this in mind, I've resolved to do something about it - I'm going to get out of bed.

Old News, New Future

My voice always sounds that little bit clearer when I write. That's why I have chosen this medium to tell my readers some good news this evening. It also feels fitting that I should have a post in my blog about this. My whole blogging experience has mapped a huge numbers of changes in my life over the years and I feel that the first page in my new chapter should be on Ramblings of a Twenty-Something.

I might as well just get on with it then because I fancy getting to bed after a long day in the library. Tomorrow marks three weeks since I received the best phone call I have ever received in my life. I knew I was getting the call but I wasn't sure what the person on the other end was going to say - yay or nay? Thankfully it was the former as I became the delighted recipient of a traineeship offer. I haven't stopped smiling since.

A tonne of stuff has happened in the last three weeks which I don't need to tell the world about. I am, however, at liberty to say that I am the happiest I have ever been and have never had quite as much self-confidence as I do now. Just a couple of months ago I was fretting about what I was going to do with my future. Fast forward to now and, well, you get the picture I think.

The reason why I didn't tell everyone? It doesn't really matter all that much now. I didn't want to sound like I was bragging at a time when people hadn't heard back after applications. I also don't like being the centre of attention. I told the people who I wanted to tell and then decided to let it come out on its own eventually. Then I came to tonight I just felt that I needed to let it all out! Something felt right about me putting together this post.

So that's me. I know that others are still waiting to hear back and others are unsure about what they are going to do over the next few years. It will amaze how how the right thing pops up when you want it hard enough though. Trust me.

Thanks for reading.

Martin.

Reporting from the Exam Front Line

I know I said that I wouldn't blog over exam period but I can't face any more revision for tonight. It's that mentality that had dogged me over the last week or so, just at the time when I've needed a little bit extra. Having said that I've been giving 'a little bit extra' for the last month or so; it's hardly surprising that I'm feeling the effects. So with that in mind, I'm going to share a few thoughts tonight about exams and penumbra of stress, doubt, anxiety and so forth that surrounds them.

Reflections on Recent Changes and Turning 21

The last week and a half of my life have been nothing short of peculiar. I discovered something that is potentially life-changing, felt empowered by it for a few days and then struggled to sustain it thereafter. Thankfully I think I'm on the way back up again because those of you who have talked to me recently or read my last couple of blogs will know that something has changed in me slightly. I'm certainly not enlightened nor have I have reached a different level of understanding - I'm just happier than I was this time two weeks ago.

Night Time, Write Time

The title is cheesy but it rhymes - what more do you want? I got in about half an hour ago after being at the pub with a few mates and thought that I might be able to get a little bit of the work that I've got to get done for tomorrow out of the way. I picked up said work and put it down almost immediately, safe in the knowledge that it will still be there in the morning. What, then, is the next best thing to do when I can't be bothered doing university work? Blog of course - it's been a while since I've had a good proper ramble about nothing in particular.

Baby, Baby, Baby? No

Until about six months ago I didn't really have to deal with people. Prior to getting a job I didn't ever have to talk to people that I didn't know except at university or, well, in fact that was the only time really. I'm the kind of person that tries to cut down as much as possible on potentially irritating conversations - i.e. small talk. Two examples: I use the ticket machine at the train station instead of getting my ticket on the train and always use the self-serve machines in shops - as irritating as they can be, anything is a step up from someone talking about the weather. Imagine my disgust when I found myself on the other side of the counter talking about how cold it is outside to hundreds of strangers! That's not what I'm here to talk about today though - I'm happy with the way that I talk to people. The topic of today's post is more about a certain type of person that I occasionally serve - the young parent.

The New Beginning Brought in by the Cathartic End

It suddenly occurred to me the other day that I still go to university. It's been almost 4 months since I set down my pen for the last time in a 2nd year exam but it feels like even longer. At the time not a single part of me was disappointed to see the summer - I'm pretty sure I clicked my heels after that exam - but never did I think it would get to the stage where university felt like a memory rather than a reality. Thankfully that reality came running back to me today as I finally sat down to clear out my notes from last year - it was nice to see it again.

Everything that I did last year was brought home from my flat in Edinburgh in the summer and left in a drawer under my bed to be dealt with at a later date - I'm sure that's a familiar experience for a lot of you. I occasionally opened the drawer, looked at it and then quickly remembered that I had something much more important to be doing. Throughout the summer I thought that this was just a symptom of my prevalent summer laziness. Today, however, made me realise that there might have been another reason for the fact that this much needed clear-out remained in an almost permanent state of 'pending' in my head.

How to Take Inspiration From the Olympics

Last night's post is the last time I think I'll get 'deep' for a while. As much as I've enjoyed writing the last few posts, I feel that the style of them isn't really what most people want of an evening. With that in mind I set out on a quest of lightheartedness and jocularity and I hope you'll come along for the ride - that sounded like something from Disneyland; this isn't Disneyland.

It seems apt that I'm sitting down to write this post. I should say that I sit down to write all of my posts, just in case you had any images of me on my feet - sorry if that ruins your dreams. Anyway I'm very much in a sitting down position as I prepare, in my own inimitable way, to explain how to take inspiration from the Olympics. We've been told every day this week about the 'legacy' that the 2012 Games will have in Britain and how it's going to encourage people to get up and take part in sport. How does that legacy apply to the regular Joe though and how do we derive the necessary inspiration from Bolt and Co?

A Hopeful Return to the Basics

So with the finish line of the Olympics 2012 before us, it's about time that I found myself back on the blogging boat again. I've spent a lot of words on this blog in the past saying just how much I enjoy writing and, in particular, how much I enjoy writing my blog. That being said, I've actually enjoyed a brief hiatus from Ramblings of a Twenty-Something for one reason or another. 

First and foremost I've really enjoyed the last 2 weeks of sport on the TV and that is what I've been spending most of my time doing. Secondly (and I'm not sure why this is the case) I've enjoyed not having to thing about topics to write about - a break from the pressure that I put on myself to come up with good content. And that last note is third and final reason why I don't feel that guilty having not written for a while: I don't feel like I've written well for a long time. Looking back at my last 5 posts, there have only been a couple that I've come away with that satisfied feeling of having written what I what I wanted to. For those of you that click on my posts whatever the weather, you might have noticed this as well and for that I apologise. You might remember that I wrote about wanting to boost my readership through writing in quantity and with quality but neither of those things have come to fruition - time to pick things up I guess.

The Real Spine-Tingling Sensation

The sheer volume of things that I could have written about in this last week is almost as big as the Chinese medal haul at the half way point in the Olympics. The thing is that I've spent all of the last 9 days watching sport on TV therefore I've found very little time for anything else. The greatest irony of the Olympics so far for me in fact has been that I feel inspired to go out and run and cycle, yet I've been sitting down for about 90% of the last week. I've missed nothing though and there is plenty of time for inspiration to carry me outside when the Olympics come to a sorry close next week.

As I said, there has been a lot for me to write about this week, with last night's excellence in the Olympic Stadium in London being the pinnacle of an awesome week of sport. I watched every heat and final in the swimming, I've not missed a single important rowing race, I've lapped up the cycling and I've enjoyed learning about so many sports that I knew little (or nothing) about this time last week. Veined through all of that has been something that I've heard people talk about but never actually felt myself - in fact I thought that it was just a turn of phrase. Everyone has claimed to felt tingles in their spine at some point in their life and I can now state that well over 10 events this week have done that to me. Whether it be the outburst of emotion from a British athlete or the national anthem, I've never witnessed so many moments that I've felt such pride, awe, inspiration etc.

Yes, that's right, I said that hearing the national anthem sent shivers down my spine - I wasn't just going to wash over that point. I've said it in a couple of Facebook statuses: I've felt very British this year and never more than that during these Olympics. I won't get into Scottish independence discussion here but if it does come to fruition then we'll lose those moments because they won't be ours anymore. Scottish athletes have done well (Andy Murray you beauty!) but last night Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah did something beautiful for the whole of Great Britain, not just Scotland.

Other highlights? Well watching Michael Phelps this week in his final Olympics has been truly awesome - it always is - and the whole swimming competition has been really exciting. I've really enjoyed watching the Brits compete in the Judo - pure emotion flowing from them all. The stories coming out of the rowing have really caught my attention and have produced some great TV moments - I think that was where my first 'spine-tingler' came from. The last one that I will mention (because I could write a book on the last week) is the action from the velodrome. Watching Team GB win and break a world-record pretty much every time they got on the track in the first few days has been fantastic and that, mixed with Bradley Wiggins' success during the week, has made me think about dusting down the old bike in the coming days - or at least when the Olympics is over!

Thanks for reading and I hope to comment on the Olympics some more in the coming days when I find a gap in the coverage - it'll be hard but I'll try my best.

Marti

Green Fingers the Answer to Idle Thumbs?

The summer months usually mean a whole bunch of changes to our daily lives. For me it meant no more lectures, no more exams, having more free time, being able to play more football etc. It should also have meant better weather but that has yet to materialise here in not-so-sunny Scotland. All that being said there has been one thing that seems to have defined my summer. I've attempted to find something to keep myself occupied, whether that be a job, work experience, a 'project' or anything along those lines. In all respects I've come up short and I've only really got myself to blame. As a result of all that I've also found myself moping and moaning a lot more - not a great change for the summer months. I might have found the answer though: the garden.

A Pure Scottish Mindset

So Andy Murray was beaten by one of the greatest Tennis players, no sorry, one of the greatest sportsmen in history - what of it? That is not the issue here though really. The issue is whether is was the Brit Murray that was beaten or the Scot Murray that lost. Time and again this argument about the negativity of the Scottish psyche comes to the fore and sadly I noticed Facebook was littered with such discussion after the final yesterday. The thing that bears the bug for me above all is that such accusations (although hurtful) are probably true. As much as I tried to fight it throughout yesterday's match, I was unable to fend off the demon that haunted the final with the air that Murray just wasn't going to win. Even with the first set under his belt and a break in the second I just knew. I'm Scottish after all, but should that matter?

Success in all the Right Places

It's taken me about a week to get around to writing this post but I knew as soon as my last exam result was out that it was going to happen. Why the delay then? Well firstly I thought I should let the dust settle after what had been an arduous period of waiting for everyone. Secondly I didn't want to come across as being someone who brags about their results as soon as they got them through. Yes, you got it, I'm going to spout for 5 or more paragraphs about how happy I am with my results and be under no illusion that I couldn't be prouder of myself just now. Gloating? Probably to an extent but everyone that I study with has had some time to digest their results so why shouldn't I get to talk about mine?

Freedom

Yes, the title to this post is cliche but it is the word on everyone's lips at the moment. After a gruelling 4 week exam diet, I can finally say that I am free. As well as being happy for myself I'm also delighted for the people that sat those exams alongside me because I know what they have been going through for the last couple of months - really pleased for everyone. I'm also happy that they're done for my parent's sake as well. I don't think I'll ever quite grasp what it's like for them when I've got exams but I think they go through the wringer as well. Not only do I spent a lot of time being anxious and hard on myself (which I know they don't like), they also just want me to do well and to be successful. They never put pressure on me in any way but it is the pressure that I place on myself to do well that is the biggest thing for me - I don't just want to do well for myself, I want to do well for them as well.