cheerful mode: on

[chibichan]

I went to the doctor again today, because I was prescribed capsules and I just can't swallow them; so I had the doctor prescribe me tablets instead. He was a new doctor at the practice and I really liked him! He made me feel at ease, was very friendly and smiled a lot. He asked about my law degree and I said I wasn't going to continue with it and that I'm thinking of going into Journalism or Web Design. He looked at me, smiled broadly and said, "Oh, that's very exciting!" He looked genuinely happy for me, haha. And I agree, it is very exciting. This put me in a good mood. :)

Speaking of web design, I found a PDA course in Perth College in Web Design that covers pretty much what I'm interested in. It should last only one year and it's a part-time course that runs from 6-9pm, which would be perfect for me if I got a job at Waterstones. It starts quite soon (in about a week and a half's time), but I should still be be able to apply for it. I asked a few specific questions about the course and am now waiting for a reply to my email before I apply. Hopefully there are no major entry requirements for this course, and if there are, then hopefully my knowledge of HTML and CSS, plus the fact that I've been designing websites for years, will help me in my application. But anyway, I'm very excited about it! This way I can see if I would enjoy studying computing, I can experience what working for clients is like, study at least the basics of some programming languages that I don't know very well and even get a certificate for it! :D

I also called in order to apply for a National Insurance number today. My appointment to prove my identity and submit my application for the NINO is on Monday morning, in Edinburgh. I would've done this sooner if I had known I needed one, but hopefully I'll get one before I get a reply to my job applications. From what I understand, I can technically work without a NINO, it just won't count towards my pension? Or something like that. I don't know how it works in terms of benefits and stuff like that. I've always been horrible at understanding this stuff.

That's about it, really. I'll go enjoy the rest of my day, since I feel so cheerful today. :D

P.S. I watched The Lion King II last night and now I have the song "Not One of Us" stuck in my head. XD

Comments

[northsky]

Yeah, as far as I've always understood it you can work without a NINO but there'll be no contributions to your pension and you can't receive benefits without it, but I've never really thought about it before. This link gives a list of benefits you can get with it.

Journalism and web design were two I was really interested in a couple of years ago actually, they sound very interesting.

[chibichan]

Thanks for the link! I guess you wouldn't really have to think about it, as you're from the UK and, from what I've read, UK citizens automatically receive a NINO when they're 16. I'm not too bothered about the NINO right now, but I guess it will be better to have one in the long run.

Yeah, I'm interested in both and I just don't know which one to pursue right now... although I'm leaning more towards Journalism as a degree and maybe just get a certificate in web design, or just build a good portfolio. I would feel safer having a Journalism degree and I just think it would be easier to get a job as a writer for a magazine with that kind of degree, you know?

By the way, what did you end up choosing? Journalism or web design (or neither)?

[northsky]

Yeah I received mine automatically, which meant I shoved it into a drawer and promptly forgot about it until this post.

If working for a magazine is your end goal, then I think either degree would be valuable. Although I do know with the news industry turning more electronic, journalists are finding it harder to do work (research I did a couple of years ago when I was picking). I was really interested in web design but I don't have a good eye for design (it was coding that caught my attention mostly), so I ended up going for a engineering degree. Kind of the opposite!

But getting a journalism degree with a good background in web design would be smart and give you essentially two options when finding jobs.

[chibichan]

Ah, an engineering degree is still good! I'm horrible at maths and physics, so that's out of the question for me, haha. I'll do some research myself and see how the journalism/magazine sector is doing at the moment.

But getting a journalism degree with a good background in web design would be smart and give you essentially two options when finding jobs.

That's what I'm hoping for, yes. :) I can always do some freelance web designing as a part-time job and make writing my primary goal... but nothing is set in stone yet. I'll think about it carefully some more first.