Year 3...in a nutshell

So I have finally completed my third year at Cardiff, but I still have one year to go as I am enrolled on an integrated masters (MPhys). I would definitely say that this year has been the hardest yet - especially when it came to balancing project work, modules and extra curricular activities like netball and being on committees.

Instead of boring anyone who reads this with tons of text, I am going to summarise this past year with pictures and teen bits of text (for when I don't have pictures).

The academic year kicked off around September, and as I was voted onto the Chaos committee, it was time to recruit some new members.

By October, it was time to visit the Peak District for the Peak Star Party 2014! This year, it was decided that I would give a short talk about "my journey" as it would give an insight to how I ended up studying Astrophysics. I think it was okay.

November arrived and by this point my third year project had really started to take off. I spent days aligning a spatial/spectral interferometer and it was starting to pay off. Without spending too much time worrying about Physics, a spatial /spectral interferometer allows me to indirectly image objects whilst gaining an understanding of their spectral composition i.e for a star, I could work out what elements it contained.

December and January were a write off due to Christmas and exams, and I don't really remember anything interesting happening until the Easter holidays in April - that is when I visited Amsterdam!

By this point in the year, I had helped organised the most successful Annual Physics Ball ever! It was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in May.

Then exams happened again and removed the joy from life, but it was okay because Oxford University accepted my application for a summer internship...so goodbye Wales!

and hello Oxford!

I keep forgetting to blog...HELP

Once again, it's been many months since my last post. This is mainly because I have been really busy, but also because I do find it odd that people take the time to read this blog. Initially I just started it because someone suggested I should, and I never put much thought into what was being posted. 

Thanks to a lot of hard work, and a lot of luck, I have made it into my third year of Astrophysics. It's hard to believe that when I started this blog, I was completing my second year of A levels and never thought I could possibly get into a university as good as Cardiff. Now I am halfway through my degree, I have decided that it is probably a good time to start blogging more frequently. In the next two years, I have some tough decisions to make and blogging definitely helps. 

So goodbye for now, but I doubt it will be long before there is a new post.

ps, I am currently the Vice President of the Chaos Society at Cardiff.

What is quantum mechanics?

Well that was a fun exam. For the first time ever, I found all of the Maths straight forward, and struggled on basic definitions. Nightmare.

1 down, 2 to go!

That special time of year...

With what feels like day 5000/2647483 of revision, I am started to really lose interest in my modules. I just feel like I know most things - I probably know nothing - and they're no longer fun to learn about. By the 27th I'll be settling down into new modules, which sound rather difficult, and probably moaning about how hard the contents is.

Leaving A levels behind, I thought I'd finally got to where I wanted to be. University was the next big step to becoming a Physicist and it was really fun at first. Now I'm at the stage where it just feels like I'm constantly under pressure, learning a little about a lot just to pass an exam. I don't really feel like I know much about Physics, but I'm reasonably good at passing exams.

To say I haven't posted anything on  my blog in a while would be an understatement, but I don't feel like I have had anything remotely interesting to post about. Hopefully my second semester of my degree will be more exciting. 

At least someone enjoys revision.

Peak Star Party 2012

My prolonged period of absence, from this blog, is probably due to my insane workload (and lack of interesting things to say). As I tend to avoid doing work at the weekend, I can't really complain about my lack of free time in the week. However, I think I have a good enough excuse for not completing any homework the other weekend (which was several months ago...) - PSP2012!

That's right folks, after spending the majority of the last star party - without sensation in my toes - I decided to go back for more. I think it was one of my better choices, as I have had the best weekend. 

After two lectures and an exercise class, I was most certainly ready for a fun-filled weekend. Before this could occur, I had to somehow travel to Chelmorton in about six hours – which was almost impossible on public transport, but I managed it in less than seven.

Upon arrival, I was finally reunited with the lovely Angela. She then proceeded to give me a hard hat, for protection after last year’s unfortunate occurrence (see my previous blog post). Missing the welcome talks was unfortunate, but it was already rather dark (and cloudy) by 20:00; so putting up my tiny two man tent had to be prioritised.

Eventually I was greeted by the welcoming sight of sta...more clouds. It was a tad frustrating, as I had travelled for hours. Luckily enough, everyone was in a fantastic mood, so several hours of socialising commenced, which was then followed by a relatively (midnight) early night. 

At about 1am, one of my fellow campers started trying to wake me up, as the stars were coming out. That was it; I threw on around 8 layers, in the space of 3 minutes, and left my tent. The sight that I was greeted by was immense. Orion, Jupiter and Taurus were the only visible areas, but I was not disappointed. I have never seen the belts of Jupiter so clearly through my own telescope before, and it was simply wonderful.  Once I had woken up several neighbouring tents, and my database of about 10 easy-to-find objects was exhausted, I started doing my usual thing. For those of you who haven't witnessed my behaviour at a star party, I tend to just find the nearest gathering of people, and ask what they're looking at. This often leads to me being shown brilliant objects, and this year was no exception. 

One of my observing highlights, of that night, was probably M81 & M82. If you're rubbish with Messier catalogue numbers, like myself, then a more familiar name would be Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy (I think). It was astounding to see such beautiful galaxies in the same field of view. Either those, or the Owl Cluster - which definitely looks more like E.T than an owl. I really can't decide, as I really did see a lot that night, including: the triplet in Auriga, the Crab Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, Caroline's Rose, the Double Cluster and so many more! I really am grateful for being shown such wonderful objects. 

Staying up until 4:20am was probably a bad idea, but it was difficult to drag myself away from the night sky. 

Apparently this is as far as I got with my blog post - which is embarrassing as Peak Star Party 2013 has already passed, and I am now looking forward to PSP14.

Some surprising news

It's that time of year again - exam results day. After obtaining an average of about 74% for my first semester, I didn't really expect to be able to improve on that. I was pleasantly surprised:

Electricity, Magnetism and Waves (20 credits) - 82%

Mathematical Methods for Physicists 2 (10 credits) - 80%

Computational Methods for Problem Solving - 89%

Planets and Exoplanets - 86%

Experimental Physics 2 - 76%

I don't really know what to make of them, but they do bring my average up to 78.3%.

When I managed to get into Cardiff University, I really didn't ever see myself getting above a 2:1, and I doubt anyone else did because my A level results were pretty average for a Physics course. I was genuinely worried about not being able to stay on the Masters course (55% average and above). I suppose it just shows what is possible when you set your mind to it.

APOD never fails to amaze me.

Mid-exam update

1 exam down, and 2 more to go. In all fairness, I have had a really easy exam period, as my exams are so spread out. One major disadvantage to this is the fact most people will finish before me, and will even torture me with social invitations, or just keep me awake all night. That is my main concern, as an average night in the ghetto is noisy enough, never mind after the majority of its occupants have finished their exams. I will call security if it gets too noisy, I really couldn't care less if it ruins anyones night - be considerate. 

In other news, it's my parents 17th wedding anniversary today. I believe my poor Mother is being dragged camping, as my Father enjoys fishing. It's just fantastic that they're still together, as divorce appears to be so common these days. My sister has also finished school - which is terrifying. She's still got at least 12 exams left, but she no longer has any lessons. She is going to pursue A levels in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and IT from September. 

One weird update is that I decided to e-mail my primary school head teacher. It's well known that she is retiring from August, therefore I wanted to just say hello before she did. I genuinely received such a lovely response, and it's nice to know that she remembers me. Which isn't too hard, considering my name is on the big trophy that is in the school somewhere. I can't actually remember what I received the trophy for, but I remember that it was the big award every year, and that it was something I had wished for since year 1. 

I have a CUROP update also - I didn't get the placement. I am rather lucky though, as I think that I was the only first year to get an interview this year. I have always had a back up plan, and I think that it's actually going to work out. I will be spending my summer in the academic environment that I wanted to, and I will be making some money. 

I think this summer has the potential to be one of the best ever. 

I was cute a very long time ago. 

Oops!

I'm genuinely rubbish at updating my blog. 

One day it's Monday and I'm attempting to be a pro-coder; then before I know it, I am rushing to finish off two pieces of homework for Thursday. I don't know where my time goes. That's a bit of a lie, as I am genuinely busy doing really odd things. Such as:

• attending the Big Bang Fair and working on the Herschel Stand
• talking to potential applicants about Physics at Cardiff
• applying for a CUROP placement
• trying to not fail my modules
• finding asteroids

Mix in a bit of a social life, and I don't get much free time to myself. Not that this is a problem, because I am currently dreading summer. I have no desire to spend 12 (or however many it is) weeks in Nottingham. This is one of the reasons I applied for CUROP - I really don't want to waste my summer. 

For anyone who hasn't heard of the program, it provides undergraduates an opportunity to get involved with research that is taking place at Cardiff. It's obviously a fantastic opportunity, but there are only 8 places, so it appears to be rather competitive. I'm currently waiting for an e-mail, as it'll hopefully inform me that I have an  interview on Friday - so fingers crossed! 

Apart from all of that crazy nonsense, I haven't really got much to tell. I did manage to complete a rather fun assignment for computing, that involved finding asteroids, but so did the majority of people who attempted to. Between that and talking about Herschel in London, I have recently started to feel like a bit of an Astrophysicist. It's brilliant.

I also visited the bay again. It was not sunny.

Maybe I can do this whole Physics thing after all...

I am ridiculously happy with my exam results. Just for anyone who is interested, here they are:

Mechanics and Matter (20 credits) - 72%
Mathematical Methods for Physicists 1 (10 credits) - 66%
Mathematical Practise for Physical Sciences (10 credits) - 87%
The Universe from Particles to Galaxies (10 credits) - 85%
Experimental Physics (10 credits) - 62%. 

I'm still surprised by my lab mark, as I really did find it a challenge. However I must leave, as it's time to go (back) to the Taf (pub).

I can't wait for Astrofest tomorrow :)

Goodbye exams, hello new modules!

Exams are finally over, and my new modules begin today. I'm really looking forward to my modules this term, as they sound a lot better than the Autumn ones. The 60 credits worth of modules that I get to study this term are:

• Electromagnetism & Waves
• Planets & Exoplanets
• Computational Skills for Problem Solving
• Mathematical Methods for Physicists II
• Experimental Physics II

It's safe to say that I really don't fancy another term of labs, but at least I don't have to do it next year (it gets replaced by Observational Techniques in Astronomy!!!).

Enough of the boring timetable discussion, I have a bit of an exciting announcement. In a previous blog post, the STEM ambassadors programme was mentioned, and I now have the date of my first activity. I'm going into a primary school to help out with an astronomy evening. This does involve talking about myself (eek) & about my studies, but I then have the opportunity to talk about the night sky and help the pupils find constellations. As exciting as the prospect of finally getting involved in outreach is, I am absolutely terrified. I'm not entirely sure how to prepare for this evening, but I do need to gather together fun space facts (if anyone fancies contributing). 

I would like to mention that I do receive (unofficially) my module marks early in February, so if they're not dreadful I will post an update. However as my first lecture of the Spring semester starts in 10 hours, I am going to have to try to sleep.

Goodnight.

I miss George :(

...and I am back in Nottingham

Now all my work is complete, and I only exams left to go, I feel a bit lost. I haven't had to revise properly in such a long time, therefore I don't know where to start. With A level exams, there were so many past papers available, you could just do them, revise where you struggled and do another. It's not that simple when it comes to university level papers. For starters, the papers all have a new format this year, so previous papers (if any are available) will not really help me as much as they could. Plus, background reading is a very important aspect of completing the harder parts of exams (apparently) and I know I haven't done enough yet. It's all a bit of a nightmare if I am honest. 

Enough of that boring nonsense, as I am back in Nottingham for 3 weeks! I've been looking forward to coming home for weeks now, and I am finally here. The only downside is the lack of desk in my "new" room, so I am forced to work on the dining room table. As my Mum isn't working currently, due to no fault of her own, she tends to be a bit of a distraction. This is with the new Dining/Living Room divide up. Also, George is a bit of an issue. He's a puppy, and he probably requires more attention than a baby. Nightmare. Yet again, I have ended up on the topic of revision, but I do have some other news. 

Somehow, I have managed to acquire a job over the Christmas period. I'll only be working every Friday and Saturday night until I leave, but this does suit me rather well. This does also mean that I will be able to earn some of my deposit back - as I have signed a tenancy agreement for a house for next year (also big news). 

I think that's all I really have to say for now, as I really should be revising (without George).

George trying to be really helpful.

Busybusybusy

I am almost ashamed of how little I have blogged since moving to Cardiff. This is probably one of the most exciting times of my life so far, and I have nothing to look back on. I'm a little disappointed, but I really have been a busy bee. 

The workload for a Physics degree is insane. I have work due in everyday, and most of it takes 2-3 hours to complete - sometimes more! Although it is paying off, as my marks have been improving, and I do feel like I have absorbed most of the nonsense I have had thrown at me. As much as I moan about it on twitter, I do love my degree. I learn new things everyday and I have started to become actively involved in some fascinating projects. 

For example, I have recently become a STEM ambassador! I am yet to actually do anything for the programme, but I have agreed to help out at an Astronomy evening, at a local primary school. It's not until the second half of the Spring term, so I have plenty of time to brush up on the Spring sky. I'm also a student rep! Which has proved to be a lot of fun so far - as I generally just listen to first years moan about 9am lectures -but I have helped to improve homework feedback (a bit) and I did get a lecturer to explain a physics topic better. 

I would love to catch my blog up with current events, but I am extremely tired, so I will try again soon - I promise. 

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the Peak Star Party!

First Cardiff AS lecture.

After applying for my membership on Monday, I finally managed to attend my first Cardiff Astronomical Society lecture. It really was fascinating. Prof Mike Disney, of Cardiff University, presented his thoughts on several things. Although, my memory of them is pretty poor. As I spend my entire week taking notes, I decided to just listen and enjoy the talk. The only things I can remember from the lecture are; downsizing (the idea that larger galaxies formed before dwarf ones) and that we are seeing galaxies that we shouldn't be able to (Tolman effect - as the redshift of a galaxy increases, intensity of light coming from that galaxy rapidly reduces - I think). I suppose only being able to remember two main points from a lecture isn't bad. 

I am rather looking forward to the next lecture.

On a completely unrelated topic, I baked with my housemates the other day.

Finally getting an education...

Whilst freshers was amazing, I am so happy to actually be learning something. I must admit that it's taking a while to get back in to it, but I am really starting to enjoy Maths and Physics again. Although, I must exclude Tuesday from generally enjoying everything. Having 2 hours of lectures, followed by a 4 hour lab session, and after only 4 hours of sleep was traumatic. Students of House H need to learn how to cook, as I do not appreciate being woken up at 3:40am by the fire alarm. 

A few highlights from freshers...

The last photo illustrates how I intend to spend the rest of my year :)

I have also managed to finish off my noticeboard, so my room finally feels like my own.

I need to sleep now, as I have a 9am lecture, but I will update my blog tomorrow. I'm attending my first Cardiff Astronomical Society lecture at 19:30, and I am rather looking forward to it.

Hello Cardiff!

I want to make my first official Cardiff blog post interesting, but I haven't really got a lot to discuss and I am also very sleep deprived. I'm barely keeping up with being so social for freshers, and I am currently getting by on about 4 hours of sleep per night. Even if I do come home at a decent hour, you can guarantee someone will decide to burn toast at 4:30am. Not that I am moaning, I am having a fantastic time and also meeting some lovely people.

My full timetable will commence from Monday, therefore I need to start doing some work. I could barely recognise the double angle rule in the weird lecture-type thing that I attended today, so I am a little worried. I hope I will adjust this new system of learning (lectures, tutorials, etc), but I think it will take a while. Any tips for coping with lectures and lab sessions will be greatly appreciated :)

Meet my new textbook - Principles of Physics by Halliday, Resnick and Walker.

On a quick note, I have just noticed the new Hubble image, which includes the most distant galaxy. It is beautiful, but also slightly scary when you see that there are 5,500 galaxies in the image. Check it out!

08/10/12 UPDATE:

I forgot to upload a lovely (kidding) photo of me on the train.

Modules

As I have nothing to do, other than to pack, I have basically looked through the Cardiff School of Physics and Astronomy website about 50 times. Therefore, I thought I would post my new modules on here.

For anyone who has read this blog before, you will know that I only managed to achieve a B in A-level Maths (which was a huge struggle). This means I will have to do the 'Mathematical Practice for Physical Sciences' module. In all honesty, I am very glad that I get to have some extra maths practice, and I am generally very excited about my modules. 'The Universe from Particles to Galaxies' has obviously caught my eye and I literally cannot wait to start. Hopefully, by this time next week, I will have enrolled at the Physics. 

I should return to packing, but I probably will continue to avoid it. Anyway, I have still got a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory to watch again. Sorted.

Ps, just found this on twitter via Matt Parker (although, he had retweeted someone else) -> Pi in the sky!

The joys of packing.

I can't believe it's almost September. I've been waiting years to start university, and it's finally just around the corner. It's genuinely quite hard to communicate just how excited I am about moving to Cardiff, studying Astrophysics and just generally becoming more independent. Although, there is one major con involved with moving - packing. Today was the first day that I actually put stuff in boxes, and it was horrific. After spending an hour trying to decide which books to take with me to Cardiff, I just (carefully) threw in the essentials. I don't know what to take with me, as I realise my room in Senghennydd is tiny, and I definitely do not have enough cardboard boxes yet.

Before I wrap up this tiny blog post, I want to make a quick promise. Recently, this blog has been dedicated to me moaning about UCAS, exam results and other nonsense. My original intentions were to make this blog a bit more about Physics. Therefore, I promise to make my blog more academically pleasing - once my lectures have started - and to also discuss current Physics news, whilst only including the occasional moan about life.

It's been crazy.

It's safe to say that the last few days have been insane. After finding out that I had in fact got into university, I got allocated my accommodation. I somehow managed to get the accommodation I wanted - which is fantastic - and have now started searching for flat mates. With social networking sites, it is surprisingly easy to find people studying the same course or living in the same general area. It's nice to know that I should be able to recognise a few faces upon arrival. 

I am so excited! 

Just because this made me laugh uncontrollably! Poor little Martian basalt.

The UCAS post.

15/08/12 

19:24pm For anyone who hasn't really read my previous posts, I shall give you the "low down" on my UCAS situation.

My intentions are to study Astrophysics (MPhys) at Cardiff University, and to do this I will need AAB (including Maths and Physics). My other subject, which should provide me with an A, is Electronics. My insurance offer is for the same course at Leeds University, therefore it has the same entry requirements. This makes it a very bad back up plan, but I shall manage. So, whilst I wait for midnight, I am going to watch the Sky at Night :)

22:49pm Arghsj\hfjakkcjsakjhjsalknzvhdaijL. My friend, Sophie, came over for a bit. This calmed my nerves a lot,  but now she has left I feel lost. I have out some food on as I feel sick (doesn't really make sense) and have started drinking copious amounts of tea. The only good thing is that the clearing vacancies go live in just over an hour. I want to check to see if there are still places on my course, as that will make me feel better. There were places available through clearing last year, so I am hoping it'll be this year.

23:26pm NOT EVEN TIRED. I'm currently wide awake, dancing to Spice Girls and drinking Sunny D. What is life. I might watch Dirty Dancing. 

23:37pm Just went on UCAS. I love this image, it's so precise :) 

23:46pm There are no words (click the image).

16/08/12

00:02am I am currently refreshing UCAS a lot. It's good practise for today really. It's already been a minute and UCAS hasn't updated. This is really annoying and now Spotify is talking about results. I cannot cope.

00:05am FINALLY.

00:07am This is a good start! It surprised me last year how many vacancies were available for Physics.

00:09am There are also lots of vacancies at my ideal university and on the course I want. Life is good. I'm assuming this list means they are available. 

00:56am I'm surprisingly sleepy. I am actually going to try and sleep. This will probably fail miserably and I will more than likely be back on here moaning within an hour. If I do sleep, I will have the "I HAVE FAILED EVERYTHING" nightmare and wake up in tears. That is one traumatic dream. Goodnight (for now) and good luck.

06:19am I don't think I have really slept. It was very on/off as my stomach is in knots. I feel so ill, this is horrific. I don't think I have ever been more nervous for anything before. It's scary that everything I have been working for,  over these past 2 years, comes down to a couple of letters on a web page today. Then these silly letters decide on whether or not I get to live the dream, at Cardiff university in September. I'm so nervous I could cry. I am also ridiculously tired. I would also like to sleep for a very long time, but I know I won't be able to until I know what I am doing. I might wander to the shop for a copy of the telegraph. I need to waste some time. 

07:20am As predicted, I cannot access my results. Bilborough College, I hate you. Let me on pretty please. 

I don't really hate you, I just need my results.

07:40am That was fast. Right. I'll let you see my results first.

So overall, thats A*A*BB in Electronics, EPQ, Physics and Maths (I think). Now...for UCAS track.

I'm off to Cardiff University.

I hate waiting.

Seriously, this week is dragging already and it is only Tuesday! I found a cute countdown for my blog, so now I get to sit and watch time tick by.

Now for the important news: I have decided to try and "live-blog" during A level results day. This is only because I need a place to vent my frustration with crashing servers and clearing. Also, it'll be nice to look back and reflect on this traumatic day, when I do eventually get into university. However, if I am depressed (because my results were that bad), I will probably disappear of the face of the Earth until October.

Good luck everyone.