Name Change

A quick word on the reason for the name change. I know that one day I will be an aeronautical engineer in some way shape or form so it doesn't really count as a dream anymore but becoming an astronaut is really my big goal and well this is how I am achieving it!

Approaching the End of Term at 100mph

So I have been very bad at keeping up with the blog. This term has been the busiest of my life ever! I'm half way through week 10 so I thought it was time for a bit of an update!

So what have I been up to?

My autumn term timetable bought a more relaxing schedule than in previous years (17 hours a week in comparison to 24). I finally got to choose some of my modules (Materials in Action and French this term and Advanced Propulsion next term). Materials in Action is quite interesting thought the two hour lectures can be a bit trying and I am loving learning a language again though I'm not as good at it as I used to be. Fortunately my coursework load has been fairly low this term, though this fills me with absolute dread about next term (that's next term Rachel's problem - this phrase has become a kind of catch phrase), although I have got a couple of deadlines in the next two weeks.

Although my workload has been relatively low I've been keeping myself more than busy enough by being on three committees almost to the extent that I forget I've got a degree to get. There is always something that needs doing or someone that needs speaking to but I am thriving off of it (fortunately).

Also this term for the 1st time I think I am properly taking advantage of being a student in London.

My flatmates and I spent a day being tourists in Greenwich for one of their birthdays!

On the Prime Meridian

We went to see the Battersea Park fireworks display for Guy Fawkes!

!!FIREWORKS!!

We went to see the Covent Garden Christmas light switch on!

We went to see Phantom of the Opera!

I sang in the Royal Albert Hall!

I went ice-skating at the Natural History Museum!

I visited the science museum lates!

I attended my departments formal dinner!

I went on a fantastic weekend away to Oxford with windband!

I have prepared for and performed/going to perform in two concerts!

And on top of all this last weekend I turned 21. For the celebrations two of my best friends from home came to visit and we had an absolute ball! On the night before my birthday we had cocktail making lessons and then danced the night away with cheesy music and cabaret style dancers. On my actual birthday we went to a local cocktail bar B@1 and got quite tipsy to say the least! It was an amazing weekend except now I feel old.

Me learning to mix a bramble!

 So what about that list of aims I had for the coming term. Well the good news is that I have at least succeeded in at least four of them but also drastically failed in four of them (see if you can work out which ones).

All in all this term has been pretty good but I can't wait to go home even if being at home is going to mean a lot of revision and not nearly enough festive cheer! 

Less Stress

Now that term has properly started and I've had, lets be honest, a pretty stressful week I started coming up with a list of things to do to try and make my life less stressful and more enjoyable. I usually do this but I don't every tell anyone or write them down so I'm never accountable for them but now I am and I can be. So here goes (they're in no particular order):

• Learn how to say "no" to people.
• Use my diary.
• Don't dwell on the past or the future; live in the present.
• Do things well in advance of when they need to be done.
• Be happy with what I achieve.
• But still strive to do better.
• Remember uni isn't all about getting a degree; don't feel guilty for having fun!
• Most people won't judge you over small things.
• Go to and pay attention in every lecture.
• Be tidy.
• Don't stay up until stupid o'clock procrastinating (though OK for work if necessary).

And finally the most important one:

• Remember: I CAN DO IT

So that's my list. Inevitably I will fail on all of them at some point in the year but now I've got a starting point so I can have a much more successful year than last!

The Summer Break and Looking Forward

So now that I'm back in London it means that the summer break is over and I'm only a week away from starting my 3rd year. 

It's been 16 long weeks that right now feels like some sort of crazy dream. Performing in the Olympic Opening Ceremony was one of the most amazing things I have ever done, Greenbelt was a wet weekend of hilarity and hard work, my holiday to Morocco was the perfect balance between relaxation and activity. I also completed 10 weeks of work with National Grid. This was a great opportunity to earn some money and also gain some real working experience. Among all of this I also found time, though not nearly enough, to see most of my home friends. 

This summer was amazing but now I am really looking forward to getting back into the swing of uni life and settling into my new flat. It's been nearly six months since I properly went to Wind Band and Choir and I've really missed them both. I'm also on a number of society executive committees, including the chair of SSAGO (which is both terrifying and exciting at the same time), so I've spent the last few days organizing things for Freshers Fair and the start of term. I also can't wait to properly catch up with all my uni friends. I haven't seen most of them since the start of May and it'll be great to see them again as well!

Also I finally get to choose some of the modules that I'm going to be studying and by the looks of the timetable I have far fewer nine o'clock lectures! This should be a great improvement on 2nd year (which I'm really really glad is over.) I'm also taking up French again, which should be an adventure considering I haven't done any French for four years.

And believe it or not I'm already looking forward to next summer. I need to find an internship with an aerospace company and I'm hoping to attend LeakyCon 2013 in Portland at the end of June next year. However there is a lot of life to live before then!

Anyway this morning when I was procrastinating I came across this quote that I think perfectly describes my summer:

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

12 of 12 September 2012

I'm in Morocco.

Audiobooks

I love audiobooks. 

There was a time when many people seemed to think that audio books were just for little kids as bed-time stories and were dying out because of the cost of putting up to twenty hours of audio onto CDs  but not anymore; websites such as audible.co.uk have made digital audiobooks cheap, easily accessible from any device with PC connectivity and most importantly acceptable entertainment for adults.

I have always loved stories and books and was a sort of bookworm at school however as I grew older there were other distractions and things to occupy my time and I began to read fewer and fewer books (and those I did read were usually fairly abstract science books, 'The Science of Doctor Who' being a particular favourite when I was about fourteen). And so for my fifteenth birthday my parents gave me a year long subscription to audible and I have been hooked on audiobooks ever since. 

They're great to listen to at any time and although I do have to admit I do most of my listening when falling asleep I have also listened to them whilst cleaning, in the car, on an aeroplane, whilst performing menial tasks, just chilling in my room. Basically you can listen to them whenever, where-ever and the best thing is you can listen whilst doing other things. Perfect for a busy life.

Not only is it the convenience that is so great about them you get some proper good old fashioned story telling. There is nothing like being wide awake at two in the morning terrified and gripped by a reading of Sherlock Holmes or laughing out loud to Stephen Briggs reading of Good Omens. The means of being read a story means atmospheric music can be added, the characters can have different voices (or even be read by different people) and you can fall in love with the readers voices (I have a particular soft spot for Neil Gaiman on that front).

In my opinion an example of an exquisitely done audiobook is Gareth Malone reading is non-fiction book Music for the People. The book introduces different types of classical music and plays samples of pieces alongside the reading. Just perfect. On the other hand you do get some poorly read books. A recent example in my opinion is the audiobook of Game of Thrones. This was recommended to me by audible but however hard I tried the reader just bored me and then it became a phenomenon and I just find it boring. But trust me I have listened to over 100 books and this very rarely happens.

So what am I listening to now? Well I've currently got the 35 hour epic space opera Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton on the go (I'm fourteen hours in and loving it!) and for something a bit lighter I have just finished listening to Mockingjay, the last book in the hunger games trilogy. 

I'll always love reading a good book when I get time but I hope I convinced you that audiobooks are great and I would urge you to give it a go. As a helping hand here's a link to audible and a free trial month with a free audiobook (though I would imagine that Fifty Shades of Grey possibly wouldn't be the best to start one to start with).

http://www.audible.co.uk/at/FRYB_at?source_code=BIG30DFT1Bk000YMA032112

Greenbelt 2012

This last weekend was GREENBELT! Woot!

For those of you who don't know what Greenbelt is it can be described as a "Christian liberal arts festival". A weekend full of good music, though provoking talks and a whole lot of fun.

This year I was once again volunteering for a charity, formerly called BibleLands and relaunching at Greenbelt as Embrace the Middle East. I volunteered for 18 hours over the weekend telling people about the charity and handing out free goodies plus setting up the stand at the Centaur venue. There were a lot of laughs and late night singing sessions when it was quiet! We even had our own personalized Tinky-Winky!?

Volunteering with Embrace at Centaur

Embrace Tinky-Winky

But Greenbelt wasn't just about the volunteering. Over the weekend I saw a number of music acts and talks. Megson on the Friday evening and Seth Lakeman on the Monday evening. Both of whom are amazing folk artists whose music is really catchy and great fun to listen to. Definitely considering purchasing a Seth album! 

Seth Lakeman

As well as all the music I went to see a number of talks. I saw Peter Tatchell speak on the equal love campaign, Frank Skinner doing a comedy interview about being a Catholic and his relationship with the Catholic church. Probably my favourite talk was by a vicar called Dave Tomlinson who spoke on "How to be a bad Christian and a better human being." which was basically about spiritual intelligence and how actually Church sometimes stifles spirituality. I loved this talk as it basically described how I feel about being a Christian. I actually went out and bought the book the talk was based on.

I also saw Casper Melville, the editor of New Humanist magazine,  speak on "Is there hope for heathens?". A talk about how atheists can have hope and it was actually really thought provoking and really well received by the audience. 

A significant part of the weekend was the ridiculous amounts of mud which never really happens at Greenbelt. Not like those pictures you always see in the media about Glastonbury but this weekend it really was. Anywhere that was grass turned into a mud-bath and everything was muddy. It just became a fact of life!

That was Greenbelt 2012! <3

Olympic Opening Ceremony

So I discovered I'm a bit rubbish at keeping this blog up to date...

Anyway though I'd make a post after the last crazy few months. Basically on Friday I was one of 10,000 volunteer performers who appeared in front of billions of people (though maybe only the back of my head!) in the Olympic Opening Ceremony!

A picture of my segment in which the back of my head can be identified though you might have to trust me on that one!

The experience began back in November when I had my first audition followed by the recall during which we had to do a strange set of dance/acting combination routines. Once I found out I had been selected for a role it was time to attend my first rehearsal! I found out that I would be a "Working Men and Women" in a spectacular sequence reinacting the industrial revolution by removing "England's Green and Pleasant Land".

We quickly progressed to the 1:1 rehearsal venue out in Dagenham East (and I thought it would be easy to get over to East London from Fulham!! HAHAHA!!). This was basically a massive carpark the same size as the field of play. Here we got allocated into Counties (Go County Jersey) then pieces and jobs (eventually). It turns out my star position was being one of 16 people manning a rachet that pulled the currently imaginary chimnies out of the ground. There was also a lot of hanging around.

A picture of us hanging around in Dagenham. These are the props that were so nothing like the real pieces!

We got to see the stadium for the 1st time about 1 month before the actual show. The stadium is amazing and the set was even more amazing! We continued rehearsing; perfecting the sequence, adding choreography and final flourishes to make it spectacular.

A picture of some of us chilling in front of the Olympic Stadium!

I just need to add that it was raining about 90% of rehearsal time up to this point. It wouldn't be the London Olympics without it though!

A picture of us rehearsing at the stadium courtesy of The Sunday Times (I am on this one identifiable by a bright pink rain coat!)

About 10 days before show day we get moved out to our holding venue Eton Manor which was literally a half hour walk away from the stadium. Anyway it had the changing tents and a nice large lawn which we could all sit on and enjoy ourselves on whilst being their in total for about 7 hours a day for a 20min section!

Eton Manor on the very left - Stadium on the very right = very long walk

Fortunatly the persistant rain cleared away for the last week of dress rehearsals during which games makers and friends and family of the cast were invited and then it was show night...

The atmosphere in that staidum was just incredible, the applause just phenonmanl, and the whole thing so emotional. I didn't want it to end. And the newspaper reaction the next day was pretty cool as well!

Cover of The Independent the next day. I am also in this one though you really really do have to trust me here because I can't even find myself though I know I'm here because I was standing behind the Jarrow Crusade sign on that side of the rings!

The last few months doing this have just been so incredible and I am so proud to have been part of something so special. :D

12 of 12 May 2012

So this idea was given to me by one of my housemates (whom I also have to thank for some of the pictures because my phone battery died so I couldn't take any more! Thanks Becca!!) Basically 12 photos of my life on the 12th of each month!





1. Waking up at 08:30 to discover the bright gorgeous sunlight had melted the remains of my Lindt Bunny into a gooey pile which I then proceeded to eat at bit! Wooops!!

2. Onto a bit of stats revision as I realised I hadn't done any stats revision yet at all.

3. Off to the Imperial Festival where we saw a recreation of a heart attack...

4. ...and then drew some geeky drawings...

5. ...and visited the Haemo Globe Inn (groan)!

6. Then it was off to get ready for Sarah's 21st Birthday party. Unfortunatly no photos of that as I was rushing to get ready (2.5 hours goes rather quickly when there's a lot to do!!)!! So this is us on the tube heading into Central London!

7. Look who I met at Embankment!

8. And here it is: the london eye with a private champange capsule! Exciting!

9. The whole party with everyone looking beautiful and elegant!

10. Another capsule from the top. I think the rest of the passengers hated us!

11. This luxury was followed by dinner at Gillrays Steakhouse and Bar in the County Hall Marriott! It was very yummy!

12. And finally to top everything off a "Very-Slippery-Weather" in the bar afterwards!!

End of Easter

So I go back to London today and therefore here ends the Easter holidays. Although technically they don't end for another week I have to back in London for a flight test course this week. The holidays have flown by (I literally have no idea where the last four weeks have gone) and with every week that goes by it means a week closer to the exams!

So what have I done during the holidays?

I have spent a lot of time at home just chilling. This was lovely as I really needed a break at the end of last term and not doing nothing occasionally or maybe a little more than occasionally this holiday was brilliant!

Chilling with Meg and Tiggy in the Garden!

 I have spent some time with my lovely friends. It's always amazing to see them and to rave with them. This included going to Wylie's tearoom in Warwick which is our favourite place in the world!! I also raved around with them dressed up as My Little Ponies for Jen's 20th birthday party! I was Fluttershy which was awesome!

The outside of Wylie's! Isn't it cute!

I have unfortunately had do to some work with two pieces of coursework still to complete and seven exams to revise for and couldn't spend the whole time doing nothing. Although this next sentence is going to sound completely boring it is true: I wanted to do more. My exams start in a few weeks and I currently feel like I know less than I did at the end of the last year so I've got massive hurdles to jump if I want to do well or even pass!!

I also spent a few days down with Grandpa just to see him as well as had Grandsir to visit for my brother's birthday (he turned 18 - now that's just scary!). I've also seen a few family friends who dropped by on their way past.

All in all a good Easter holiday. Now to go back and face the realities of London and university life. Though the period running up to exams will be really tough there are some lovely things planned and I have a lot to look forward to after exams.

Rach
xxx

Hello!

So writing this blog is probably going to be a bad idea; not least because it's currently 01:18 in the morning and I still have 424 words to write on a lab report due at 16:00 tomorrow. But I'm bored of that and desperately need a massive procrastination technique. What better than doing something completely out of my comfort zone and writing a blog.

A bit about me:

I am a 2nd year undergraduate at Imperial College London and am believe it or not studying aeronautical engineering at the same time as doing probably way to many clubs and societies and way too much socializing. But what is the point of university otherwise? And my blog is going to be about cool things that happen in my life and some not so cool things as well and maybe some opinions as well!

Today counts as a cool day (at least some of it does). As part of 2nd year we have to perform an "applications" project to test our knowledge and design a wind turbine. Today tested it it the massive 6 foot working section wind tunnel! And much to my surprise (I don't know why I doubt myself so much) it worked really well even though the design was "funky"!

The Wind Turbine

Me Holding Said Wind Turbine

And that's basically where the excitement for today ends! I spent the rest of the day working, careers workshopping, and realizing how much work I actually have to do between now and then end of term . And now I really must return to my lab report or else I will die of tiredness.

Rach

xxx