Dissertation on Disney.

This year is my final year at university. *Sad face* and this year I decided to write a dissertation instead of creating a short film or a magazine. I know, crazy right!?

Before you start thinking I’m mad because I chose to write 10,000 words on one subject, let me just explain what I’m actually writing my dissertation about!

I’ve decided to write it on Disney. It. Is. Great. I’m one of the very few people that are actually enjoying writing their dissertation. I’m not writing on just any Disney film either, I’m writing on the Disney Princesses. Not many people can say they enjoy what they write about J I mean, I’m in the library watching Disney movies! And it’s actually for my work! I’m mainly focusing on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid and Frozen.

To be fair though, it’s not all watching films (I almost cried over the ending to Beauty and the Beast in the library the other day – how sad). I have had to do a lot of research into the films themselves and into feminist film theory. My thesis is about how both men and women are represented in the films, and how the relationships between the two are portrayed. I still find it pretty interesting but going through feminist film theory is a bit dull after a while.

I have to admit, it is pretty difficult to find books about the Disney Princesses and even harder to find books about gender representations within the Disney animations. I can hardly find books about Disney’s Frozen!! I am enjoying it though. I’m a feminist so to research this is interesting (even if it does get extremely boring). What’s your Dissertation about?

UGM CARNIVAL!

Playboy and this year it was Carnival theme! I was super excited because I had bought my entire outfit and was so excited to see what everyone else was wearing!

I got all of my outfit accessories from eBay. I got a feather headdress, feather wings and extra feathers. When they arrived I glued the extra feathers to the headdress and the feather wings to make them appear bigger. I then went over the feather wings with gold glitter paint to give them a bit of extra sparkle!

The night went really well and everyone looked amazing. We had stalls selling sweets, a lucky dip box, girls selling shots, a piñata and we also had limbo which went down really well and everyone had so much fun. The music was really popular as well and just as doors closed it got so busy. American Football Mariners won the prize for most people from one sports team. It’s nice to have the support from our friends and other sports teams as well.

I felt like I got to know my Mermaids so much better because everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves. We made quite a lot of money so we were all really pleased with how the night went. 

Here are some pictures from the night.

Mermaid love xox

UNIVERSITY NATIONALS CHEERLEADING COMPETITION

So all the hard work my squad put in is finally over. This actually makes me really sad, I miss practices where we do full out routines one after the other. It’s really tiring but so rewarding! We competed in both Level 1 Co-ed and Level 2 Co-ed and it was an amazing atmosphere.

We had to leave ridiculously early as the competition was in Birmingham so we had to meet at our university campus at 3am (I KNOW RIGHT!?) and we stopped off at McDonalds as we were running a little early (obviously McDonalds was the best choice of breakfast on the day of competition) and then we arrived at about 7am at the Genting Arena. Most of the other squads already had gotten ready with their cheer hair and makeup and their cheer bows! So we went in, got our seats (which we had an amazing view from) and started getting ready.

First up were our dance groups for Jazz and Pom, they did so well and looked so good! Level 1 were up first which is what I was competing in this time. I was super nervous because I was flying a stunt as well so if I fell it wouldn’t be good! I was worried in the warm up because my stunt wasn’t going up but luckily I had the support of my squad and everything went really well! We were all in time; we looked clean and had so much sass!

This picture was us just before we were about to compete! Try to spot me! It’s a great feeling putting on our uniform and our bows. We had new bows for this competition as our old coach made them which was really sweet of her!

Next up was Level 2 who were equally as great. For the rest of the day we could relax, buy some Cheerleading merchandise from Future Cheer (the best kind of merchandise, I bought a really cute bow!) and watch all the other squads routines which is my favourite part. It’s really interesting to see what type of stunts and tumbles they’ve incorporated into their routine. Some are so imaginative and look fantastic. It really makes you want to try harder and get better yourself.

I had so much fun competing with my squad, I can’t wait for our next competition! Watch this space! 

Year 3 = stress!

So the fact that I’m in my third and final year is finally starting to sink in now. Last term I had 8 deadlines and this term I have 7. Crazy right? Last term the stress levels were high but I managed to stay relatively calm. I have my dissertation due in this term in April and I’ve managed to write about 2,500 words. Not my best but better than nothing! I guess that’s a positive way to look at it…? I’m gonna say it is! I also have a script due in which is 25 pages long and has to be binded professionally. Then on top of that I have essays and portfolios too!

Although I’m saying I’m stressing out a little bit, I’m actually really proud of myself with the grades I’ve received so far. On one of my essays which is worth 40% I got a first and then on a creative project which is worth 50% I received a high 2:1 so I’m pleased that all the hard work I’m putting in is paying off! I graduate this year as well and my third year is worth 75% so I know I have to put in as much hard work as possible!

I feel like all I talk about on this blog is cheerleading and stress but I swear university isn’t all about these two things! It’s really fun and I never want to leave! Of course everyone’s experience at uni is different but I’ve loved it. I’m scared to graduate and go out into the real world!

CHEERLEADING IS TAKING OVER MY LIFE

It’s true; lately I have been obsessed with cheerleading. Over Christmas I was bitten by the cheer bug

and now I’m obsessed. For Christmas I received some lovely gym gear which is great for practice and a beautiful cheer bag which is helpful for our competitions! Over the past few weeks I’ve also watched two seasons of Cheerleaders on Awesomeness TV on YouTube (the episodes only run for 10 minutes each so don’t judge me!) which has really given me loads of motivation!

I’ve been trying my hardest to stretch every day and I’ve actually managed to scorp! (SEE THE PICTURE!!!) It’s a long stretching process and I’m not perfect but if I continue to stretch then hopefully I’ll be there soon! I’m really happy with the results so far though. If you have any stretching tips I’d love to hear them!

I’ve also been stretching for heel stretch and splits, I’ve been following one video on YouTube in particular and within the first few days I noticed loads of progress. Unfortunately I’ve managed to strain one of my muscles and now I’ve lost it all! It’s so painful when I attempt to do these stretches so I now need to rest it from now till competition (which is only like just over 2 weeks away which is crazy scary!!!!).

We’ve been having practice twice a week and from next week we’ll have practice three times a week (!!) so it’s going to be tiring but it’s all worth it when you see your routine come together. Last night we done a full out with the music and it was great, I was so buzzing after we done it! I also got a new cheer bow in blue with gold writing (our colours) with ‘STACEY’ on one side and ‘MERMAIDS’ on the other. I love it!

We’re planning on competing in more competitions this year which I’m excited about. I do love competing, it’s so much fun and when you’re on stage it’s an unreal feeling you get. The amount of adrenaline is so mad! Just before I go on I feel super nervous, but when you’re competing you have to do your best. Not just for yourself but for your squad.

Also, if you do go to this university, you may see some of the cheerleaders around as we’re selling heart shaped lollies for Valentine’s Day! They are £1.50 for 1 or £2 for 2. If you are interested you can find us on Twitter (@uog_mermaids) or on Facebook (University of Greenwich Cheerleading Squad 2014/2015). You can add a personalised message for your crush/love as well J

You can find out more information about our squad here: http://www.suug.co.uk/sports/cheerleading/

Hope you’re all okay!

END OF TERM 1 OF YEAR 3.

So term 1 of my final year has quickly come to a close. It’s so surprising how fast a term can go when you’re so busy. This term alone I’ve had 8 deadlines (some of those deadlines only counts for 10% but everything is important in third year!!), and I’ve been stressing out a lot to try and get them done. So far I have completed 5 of these deadlines with 3 more to go but thankfully I have nearly completed them all! The 3 only need tweaking whereas another one needs about 600 words to be added to it!

Nobody said university was going to be easy, and I admit that I am struggling a bit this year. Every course is different though, some of my friends only had 3 deadlines this term (lucky for them). Thankfully the workload is not too hard otherwise I think I would have had a breakdown by now. Some of them were quite difficult but nothing that has caused me to cry! - Yet.

What I’m looking forward to now is when I finally upload my final 3 assignments to Turnitin and having a wonderful Christmas with my family. To me, Christmas is all about family and in the run up and after Christmas means spending time with those who are important to me. I’ve probably spent way too much money on my family this year and also way too much on Christmas decorations but it’s all in good spirit.

Next term I’m going to work harder on my assignments (if that’s possible) and get them done way in advance so I don’t need to stress majorly over them in the final month. Here’s to term 2!

WINTER WONDERLAND!!!

The other week my friend and I decided to pay Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park a visit as I had never been before. I’m actually surprised I’d never been before as it was absolutely amazing! There were so many different stalls (mainly food – but who’s complaining!?). I was surprised as to how huge the place was, there were hundreds of stalls and tons of rides and everything just looked so good!

There were stalls full of sweets, candy floss, pulled pork burgers, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts and so, so much more! It is a bit pricey but it’s free admission so that kind of evens it out a little bit and makes the price of the food/items a little bit more reasonable. My favourite ever stall was the one where they sold Churros (can’t believe I’ve never tried this before!). They gave us 7 churros (yes – SEVEN!!!) with powdered sugar and a massive scoop of melted chocolate and they were absolutely amazing. They were £5 but my friend and I decided to split it (because who can eat 7 churros to themselves?!) so it wasn’t as harsh on our student purses.

Overall, I had an absolutely brilliant day and I would definitely go back this year. It was so Christmassy and gave off a great vibe. I would recommend going the time that we did (around 1pm) as I hear it gets extremely busy at night. But I guess it’s worth it as all the stalls and rides light up with fairy lights. I would definitely recommend giving Winter Wonderland a go! Even if you can’t afford to buy anything, it’s great to walk around.