there was me thinking that everything was sorting itself out… the next year of my life was pretty much all planned out, and it had all happened quite easily. i was awarded a first degree honors, and then i had applied to only universities and been accepted to both; one without even having to go to an interview. then i had sent my acceptance form off with plenty of time to sort out a place to live and to fill out my loan forms… when i realise that i cant *actually* get a student loan for a “postgraduate” course unless its a PGCE (a PGCE leads to becoming a teacher.) i could teach with my masters but apparantly it doesnt count.

basically no money = no masters. my first idea was that perhaps i could find and apply for a scholarship which would pay for my coursefees (and sometimes maintenance) turns out my university does have a scholarship but its only available for “fashion students” not my course. i search again because sometimes there are scholarships provided by institutions, charities and government departments will help… but again… not for graphics or art and design courses.

so now i have to find a way to pay the £3830 tuition fees and the endless amounts of money its actually going to cost me to live in london all by myself. thankyou government. if i had the money to afford to pay to go to university in the first place why would i have been applying to the student loans company!?

i had no idea that there was no help available from the SLC for postgraduate degrees. why wouldnt there be? they are willing to help you get onto the first step but the rest is up to you. that is fine, the answer to that is i will now have to work/get an actual loan and save up to go on and do a masters but i personally didnt want to have to work between my degree and my masters because i know that i would get stuck in a job for the money, and be too scared to quit my job and become a student again… living off beans and supernoodles when i had been earning an income already.

i had so much fun at university with the projects and i was so excited about specialising in something that i could really throw myself into by completing an MA, but now i have to take a step back and figure out… what now?

im really hoping that this is when my first class honors will be my golden ticket into some kind of magical scholarship that will save me and let me still go on and complete my MA. everything is turning out to be so difficult now time is running out.

i have my finger in many pies at the moment… six to be precise, so expect one of the first updates to my portfolio in the next week. im trying to expand upon the work i really enjoy doing, because then when someone views my portfolio they can clearly see my own personal style throughout every portfolio piece.
so also expect some pieces to be removed from my portfolio to make room for the new things! (that means you, awful flash animations!) there is no room for crap here! ^_^

check back soon

well i just got back from being away from home for a long while and waiting for me when i got back was a letter from “The University of the Arts London” and a letter from “Bath Spa University”! oh so excitement as soon as i get home!
i opened both, ofcourse, and i found out that i have been accepted onto the MA Graphic Design course at London unconditionally, even though i havent been for an interview with them… and also the MA for Brand Development at Bath Spa.

i am obviously super pleased, but i was annoyed too, as i had spent most of the week trying to get through to London to ask if they had even received my application! i had no idea how i was getting on and i was completely suprised!

it was obviously a really good idea to include my business card with the application (it includes a link to my portfolio site) as being accepted without having to actually go there saved myself a long trip to london for the interview, and the train fare.

London said that they would send me the full course information when i send my acceptance letter to them, and i sent that off first thing this morning. so hopefully that will arrive sometime soon as i dont know much about the dates of the course, like when it starts/ends, and i have to start thinking about getting a place to live in London!
someone had mentioned on the phone from London that the MA courses start in january, so i might have to think about getting some kind of job until then, especially as its five whole months away! i better get looking…