University Life My Official First Year!

So after finishing my foundation year in Carmel college in St Helens with a pretty high average of 92% across  my exams, I finally reached my official first year at the University of Liverpool to study a degree in Physics.

I've already had my first eventful semester and as always, have met some incredible people, one of which includes my amazing flatmate and now also girlfriend Amy!

Monday night in the Raz one of Liverpools popular nights among students

First semester seemed to fly by and with juggling my bar job with Uni, even though it just being first year which most people seem to take with the laid back approach, I felt highly under pressure when it came to the January exam period.

With barely missing my grades to reach university and having to do the foundation year, it was like a relaxation and party year in which I had no worries about passing. I only needed to average 40% in the foundation exams to get to university and I pulled of 92%.. so it was almost as if I had a year free from the struggle of learning and being tested on new information!

I handed in my resignation for the bar I worked in effective the week after new years to buckle down and concentrate on exams. The week of new years being a very busy one with having to work new years eve then heading over to Ireland to visit Amy on the 2nd of January and coming back on the 4th of january to my final shift at Revolution on the 5th.

Chilling on a mini beach in Clough, Northern Ireland

A final shift at which I was cling filmed to a post... fed chilli vodka... and soaked in champagne.... Everyone had so much fun at that bar, so sad to leave, but university has to come before anything else!

The only picture I could find anywhere of my Suffering!

I had never felt so unprepared for exams in my entire life and these exams were going to be, and easily were, the hardest exams I have ever sat in my life. I felt pressured when I only had 3 exams, some people had 9 or even 10.. I would have gone absolutely insane..

The worst part of January exam time for me is the fact my birthday is smack bang in the middle of exams EVERY year, the 18th of January always seems to be placed right in the middle of a busy and horrible exam timetable.

It made turning 20 feel that little more worse, the fact I'm not a teenager any more and the fact I have reverted to calling myself twenteen to make myself feel better is horrible.

but results day has been and gone and it seems my worries of passing were for no reason, I passed each of my exams and have learnt from my first semester.

Working harder for semester 2 and all the knew modules has to be done since I no longer have a job and therefore money to distract me from studying!

Plus the fact that one of my modules is on Einstein's General relativity, it may need some work putting into it to make sure I know what's going on!

Cant believe how good this year has been already! Hopefully it continues like this

The Bar.

Wow.

I am feeling absolutely drained.

My freshly cleaned black shirt now covered in all sorts of marks and spillages.

My apron cleared of my things and thrown on my table.

My shoes, shoes I used for sixth form college, for job interviews, for nights out, for parties, shoes, that have lasted about 3 years of constant abuse in some of the dirtiest clubs Liverpool has to offer.. now at the end of their tether and coming away from the soles.

Almost like me and my soul almost being ripped out after this weekend!

Friday I decided I wanted to step up from glass washing and collecting, and so asked a supervisor about Bar Backing experience.. since it was a friday and the opening of the Olympics, the bar was relatively quiet and they said I could try it out and get some basics..

I didnt realise the work that went into it... glass collecting is great, run around the club enjoy the atmosphere, if you have time chat to some customers and have a laugh.. being on the glass wash machines similar but you can have a laugh with bar staff... bar backing.. you are a slave.

Constant trips up and down the stairs to the cellar for spirits, crates of bottles, ice for the wells behind the bar, making sure the crates of juices are full underneath each of the bar tenders stations whilst keeping an eye on the levels of all the spirits in their stations and checking what needs refilling, but at the same time making sure every bottle is in the right order.. keeping the back of the bar presentable, clean and tidy...

It's a LOT more than just taking glasses of tables, wiping them down and putting them in a machine!

I worked 9 PM till bar close on Friday night and ended up at home for 5.30 am on Saturday morning and felt destroyed but with happy with a good £10 in tips and a £5 bar tab for making the strangest noise, my signature freaky laugh, in the bar staffs Funday Friday competitions.

This is the first weekend I have been given both Friday and Saturday shifts so I had to work again the next day, honestly felt like I wasn't going to make it through the night.

I turned up last night for the second shift and had a breath of relief when I was on the rota for glass collecting.. half an hour in.. one of the supervisors strolls over and tells me he wants me bar backing again tonight.. the busiest night of the week.. im his new protege and he wants me to work my arse off. At this point I thought. "I am not making it through the night."

But the idea of getting to know the bar and getting some experience involving where things go and how much of certain stock gets used in comparison to others is a very useful thing. Bar Backing is also the next step up from glass collection so being able to get experience in it in only my 4th weekend in the job must be decent.

The only problem was the fact that we were understaffed and had only one person collecting the bars glasses, washing them and then also putting them back into the bar.. a job normally done by at least two people. So I had to alternate between backing and floor work.

I began and started by running a load of popular stock from the cellar to the bar.. I say running.. I should say walking.. the previous night started to hit me as I attempted to use the stairs..

The night seemed to go pretty well.. until we were told that only one person was on the main bar for both collection and washing glasses and had been for an hour so the floor was a STATE.. so now I had to somehow back the bar I was on and clean the floor for two bars... bar backing on hold... to say the main bar was a state was an understatement... it was horrific.. glasses, pitchers, shots trays, were all piled high on all the tables..

The final part of the night that the bar was open I was devoted to floor work and glass collection.. when we closed I was thrown back to bar backing and had to restock every fridge on the bar, this includes all the beers, the ciders, the red bulls, every flavour of our own vodka shots, the bottles of water, the wine, the champagne... then after the bar staff had cleaned their stations.. I had to refill all the bottled spirits both behind the bar and also in all the stations, my bar having three stations with the same spirits in each one, mainly vodkas.

This took a lot longer than I expected but probably was due to me now knowing exactly what I was doing and asking everyone who was already busy for help... but it got done in the end..

Then I ended up helping the downstairs bar restock. which has completely different stations with them being based around rum cocktails instead of vodka... so again I had no idea what was going on.. but that also got done.. we went upstairs .. counted tips.. ended up with a nice £14 and a new flat cap I found cleaning bits of the bar up... 

9.30 AM in need of a good sleep.

Overall .. a decent night!

What a year. part 3

Since the excitement of Malia and returning home.

I got my exam results and wiped the floor with them. I needed 40% to pass and ended up with 88% average!!

Finally on the path I wanted.

Reality decided to pop up and say hello.
The reality of being nearly £500 overdrawn has pushed me to getting a job!

Since I left W H Smith to go to university I attempted to get a job with the University to motivate me during the term but due to being in college every day of the week I physically couldn't work any shifts that were offered.. luckily the job was flexible and it wasn't too important that I actually worked for them.. I had one shift at the end of term showing primary school children around campus and sitting in a mock lecture to give them a taster of the university life.. something to be considered important in the younger stages of a child's education now.. so that they can aim to go to university.. even if they come from underprivileged backgrounds.. hopefully I will get some shifts next year with them as I should have a more flexible timetable!

BUT ANYWAY.

I applied for a ton of jobs online and on the off chance found a facebook group for Revolution Vodka Bar hiring staff.. I was a little sceptical of a facebook group as I have friends that have applied through the official website recruitment process..

But .. I decided to go with a few friends also trying to get a job. I dressed smart in a shirt, black jeans, shoes and took a cv..

I walked in.. got interviewed and asked to attend a trial shift on the saturday! With being in university so locally job was perfect for me and it must have been good for the bar too.. my friends weren't as lucky as they are in university in Derby, Nottingham and Leeds.

I turned up on the Saturday, was handed my Revolution shirt and started glass collecting and glass washing.

I was working form 8 pm till the bar closed, followed by cleaning of the bar. I ended up getting home at 7 am but the shift went surprisingly quick and I was on the rota for the next week!

Since then I have had a total of 3 shifts and have one tonight and one tomorrow night!
Every single shift I've had so far has seemed faster than any 4 hour shift I ever had W H Smith and its easy to see how Revolution has been voted as one of the top 100 companies to work for.

The staff are all utter legends which makes everything all the more enjoyable.