Admissions checks & NHS bursary forms...enough to make my head spin!

Well, yesterday I went to my signing day at uni where I had to take in proof of my qualifications, sign my CRB forms and complete the occupational health stuff. As daft as it sounds I was a little nervous going in, thinking it would be purely teenagers and I would stick out like a sore thumb, but it wasn't at all like that. I didn't feel out of place at all - there were younger people, people who looked a similar age to me and some who looked a lot older so it did put my mind at ease a bit. Anyway, I got there nice and early, expecting to be there a couple of hours. As I have already achieved all my qualifications and won't need to apply for accomodation or anything I was pretty much done and dusted in 45 mins which was great. All I have to do is get the occupational health form finished and post it in to them, so today I've been to the doctors to get a printout of my vaccination history. All pretty simple.
However, I received my student number from the NHS yesterday which means I can go ahead and apply for the bursary now but this has been quite stressful. The application form is 36 pages long and they want all kinds of info and evidence for absolutely everything. I'm not holding much hope of getting much of a bursary but fingers crossed. With petrol prices the way they are I'm going to need every penny I can for the journey to uni each day.

I can't believe next week it will be July. It feels as though September is fast approaching now. Although I already had met the entry requirements I took a couple of OU courses and I get my results this Friday. I know I have passed one already, failed one of them as I didn't submit the coursework and the third one I'm not too sure about. I think I passed the first part but not so sure about the short-answer questions but even so it was a learning curve and served its purpose. Fingers crossed for Friday!

Hello

I thought I would start off my blog with a bit about me and why I decided to start one. I'm going to be starting uni this coming September and will be studying Diagnostic Radiography as a mature student. I don't want to give too much personal info away at this stage about where I'm studying etc for now, as although I do want to give anyone who is interested in the degree and becoming a radiographer a chance to see what it is like I do want to use the blog for me to look back on and as a bit of an outlet for me to vent when things start to get tough which I know they will.  I won't be mentioning anything about the uni I will be going to or any hospitals I may end up for obvious issues surrounding confidentiality. However, I thought a blog might be helpful not only to myself but also to others because when I was applying and searching on the net looking to find out as much as I could about the course I couldn't find anything like this and I'd have really appreciated it. So if you've got any questions or comments please let me know.

Anyway, enough with the rambling already hehe. I have had my place on the course confirmed since before Christmas so I have had a bit of a wait to get started. I'm so excited but I am also starting to feel the nerves kicking in a bit too as it feels like it's been such a long time since I've studied, even though it's only been 5/6 years which I know is nothing compared to some people. I've bored friends and family to death over the past year babbling on about radiography but now September is only a few months away I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have a signing day to go to at the uni on Tuesday where I have to take in my certificates to confirm my qualifications, complete an occupational health check and get the ball rolling with the CRB checks which all form the conditions of my offer.

I so can't wait to get started. As I said, I am a mature student - I'm 29, no kids but have a husband and two dogs (does that count???) so I will travel in to the local uni which is close enough to home. This will be the second time I have been to uni and I am hoping this time I will be able to walk straight into a career and paid employment that I enjoy. Not that I don't enjoy what I do now but I would like a bit more of what I call a "normal" life. Lately I have really been struggling to get myself motivated to do anything and have gotten rather lazy so it is definitely time to move on to the next and very exciting chapter in my life.

I think that's enough for now, I've gotten rather carried away for what I planned to be a quick hello....and there was me thinking I didn't have anything to say. I will try and post on here as and when I can. Roll on September :-)