Week 2:
This week we were given our first formal assignment.

Wednesday:

Morning. Given the assignment and read through it as a class. Initially it all looked very confusing and had a lot of terms I didn’t understand. After we had read through and digested each section, it all became much clearer. We picked out the keywords and established exactly what was being asked of us.
We were then divided into groups of 3, our ‘Peer Groups‘, and asked to come up with a list of tasks that would need to be done in order to complete the assignment. These ranged from, having a bibliography in the assignment to having petrol in the car, a complete list! I didn’t realise we had to be so thorough but when we compiled a combined list, I could see why we did, it put things in perspective and almost provided us with an itinerary. Although, there were things that we’d missed off, and it was in no particular order. We were also asked to put an estimated time at the side of each task to then try and determine an approximate time scale. Although it is approximate, it has helped me put together my timetable.
That afternoon we explored what each section of the assignment actually meant. We did this with bullet points. This helped me a lot. As I work on my assignment, I refer back to the bullet points, they are a useful guide of what whether or not you are headed in the right direction.
I left on Wednesday with a lot of questions.

Thursday:

During Thursday we were given dates on which we will attend evaluative sessions with our Peer Groups. The first one we had was of no particular subject and we had a look at some of the previous years work. I was impressed and found it hard to imagine that my work would look similar in just a year. I also used this time to get a lot of my questions answered.
Most of the afternoon was spent working on the assignment, internet researching with the useful web addresses we had been given. I found I used my time relatively well, which I don’t generally do in a class situation. I find it much easier to work on my own, although the room was quiet, so I could work uninterrupted.
I left on Thursday looking forward to Wednesday and working on the assignment.

Formative Statement

My background, as a person, is one of a good up bringing, despite my parents being divorced when I was at an early age and me being heavily reliant on my mum. Patience and a time were plentiful, and a balanced “we’ll see” attitude enforced, skills which are now part of me.
Schooling was average, public, and in an area not known for its ‘achievements’. Despite this I did well and came out of school with good grades, grades which got me onto a course in Fashion College.
After a year and a half of college I lost motivation and didn’t like the people around me. I’m not sure which came first, but after then, nothing could make me stay and I quit. At the time I wasn’t proud of myself for doing so, but I’m now glad I made the decision to leave.
During college I was working a weekend job in a local hairdresser and enjoyed the money. I decided that rather than go back to college I would work for a while and got a full time job.
After a few months I realised the people I worked for were not what I thought they were and I left. Whilst working there I was lucky enough to meet people that could give me a job and so I went to work for someone else. 6 Months later, and I realised the job was going nowhere. I gave that one up too.
The next year was spent with my friends doing nothing but partying and drinking, something I’m very glad I did because I now have it out of my system, and the mere thought of living that again exhausts me!
Next I decided to grow up and get a “proper job”, and went to work for a Leeds based menswear company at their head office. I loved this job. So you can imagine I was extremely disappointed when I became ill and, after only 12 months in the job, had to give it up.
My illness. Where do I start? Such a lengthy waste of precious time has been spent, firstly establishing exactly what was wrong with me, secondly trial and error with treatments, and lastly, the supreme waste of time, the NHS. To cut a long story short, I have endometriosis, an illness that not only prevents me from working, but is silent, debilitating and unpredictable in every way imaginable. It is the leading cause of infertility in women, but remits during pregnancy, a callous torment.
The focus of where I am in my life now has been centred on my illness as my illness is my main focus, and until I am fit and well, I find it hard to move on to the next section of my statement, “Where are you going?”.
Like most people I can only speculate about where I am heading in life. I don’t like tempting fate, but I do like to think I am determined and understand myself well enough to get to where I want to be, where ever that may be. So my answer to the question…………we’ll see.