Studying at TAFE!

So wow, I'm nearly half way through my TAFE course already! It's just gone SO fast! I am about two and a half weeks from finishing my first semester.


We have learnt a lot of interesting things so far. We get to play around with Photoshop and InDesign, cameras and video cameras. It's a lot of fun.


I must admit, I do struggle a little with Photoshop and InDesign though. I think it's just the fact that there are so many tools that you are able to use, but not one of them explain what they are actually used for! 


I'm not worried though, I know that I'll get the hang of it eventually. I'm a pretty fast learner and I'm always up for a challenge, so I know that it will be a great accomplishment once I do learn how to use them properly.

In our camera operations class, we have spent a few lessons filming short videos for our assignments. At first it was a little awkward having to act and come up with scripts etc, but now it's actually quite fun.

I am quite pleased with my results so far as well. For every assignment that I have handed in, I have been only 2 marks from getting a full score, apart from two assignments where I got four marks off, and five marks off. 

That's ok too though, it encourages me to study harder so that I can get full marks on my next assignment. It is my goal during this course to get no less than 5 marks off a total score for every assignment.

It is a little bit more full on that I thought it would be too. Every week we seem to have more and more assignments due. It is a lot of work, but I know that in the end it will all be worth it.

All that I need to remember is that I am working towards my goal of scoring my dream job, which gives me the motivation to put in the extra effort!


Lela xx

 







 

Running Out of Time??

So, I only have two days of work left to go.
I am starting to get a little worried that all of my paperwork will not be finalised in time for me to start TAFE on Monday. :-/
I am still waiting on the lease/ tenancy agreement documents from the real estate, so that I can take them into Centrelink, so that I can claim my Youth Allowance payments, so that I can enrol in my Communications and Media course.
I spoke to the real estate this morning who say that my lease/ tenancy agreement documents should be ready by the end of the week. The only problem is that it is already Thursday! I have let them know that I need these documents urgently, and they assure me that they are doing the best they can.
All I am hoping is that I will be able to pick them up some time tomorrow (hopefully in the morning), so that I can do everything else that I need to do.
I have sent an email to my TAFE teacher to let her know exactly what is going on. I am trying to find out whether I can start class on Monday while my paperwork is being processed, or if I will need to wait for all of my paperwork to be finalised.
Anxiously awaiting her reply. I hope everything works out soon!!


Lela xx

ALWAYS STAY POSITIVE, ALWAYS KEEP TRYING, NEVER DOUBT YOURSELF, NEVER GIVE UP!! ;)

One step forward, two steps back:

Today I have been trying to get all of my running around done, but there always seems to be something standing in my way.
I got to work this morning and realised that I had a hell of a lot to do today, so I emailed my boss (who was obviously not in the office at the time), and asked her if she would prefer me to tackle an item each day, or if she would prefer it if I had a whole day off to try and get everything done. I received a phone call from her shortly after to let me know that she was on her way into the office, and that once she got in, she was happy for me to leave and do all of the things that I needed to do.
When I got home I jumped straight on the internet to finish filing my claim for Youth Allowance. I spoke to a lady this morning who gave me my Centrelink reference number and created me a temporary password so that I could log on and find all of the documents that I needed to fill out.
Once I had finished filling out all of the forms (almost an hour later!), I had a look at the last page. One day this week I will need to go into a Centrelink office with one hundred points of ID. That is fine, I'm not worried about that as I have all of the items of ID that I will need, but what I also noticed, was that they will need to see a copy of my lease/ tenancy agreement, which brings me to my first obstacle, I am not on the lease where I am living at the moment!
Luckily I had a feeling that Centrelink may need to see this document, so last week I got Mat to get a tenancy application form from the real estate. I have the forms all filled out, however, our appointment to see them is not until this afternoon. I am hoping that they will give me the documents that I need straight away instead of having to send them to me in a couple of days.
So that eliminates any chance of me going into the Centrelink office today. Next, I decide to call my bank again to extend my loan repayment so that I can decrease the amount of money that the bank takes out per week. Now, for the past few weeks, my pay hasn't been going in on time. My loan repayment comes out on the same day each week, and up until recently, so did my pay. Now, through no fault of my own, I have been given a bad credit rating. The bank has told me that they will need to see this improve over the next six months before they will consider letting me extend my loan.
So I have now done as much as I can possibly do today. I have gone into the real estate to hand them my lease/ tenancy application, which I need before I can go into Centrelink, which I need before I can enrol in my course.
I am just praying that I can get this all done by the end of the week and on time for me to start my communications and media course. Fingers crossed!

Lela xx

The joys of dealing with Centrelink:

So it's a Sunday evening and I have just wasted an hour of my life trying to apply for my Youth Allowance payments.
When I spoke to Centrelink the other day, the lady on the phone told me that I could apply for Youth Allowance online. Sounds simple enough right? Wrong!!
I jump online thinking that I will be able to fill out a few forms and send them off to be processed. Not that simple...
They start off by asking me to register for online services, which also sounds simple. Create a user name, a password and five security questions.
Each time I try to create a password, I am told that this type of password is not allowed. They give me no instruction or explanation as to why I am not allowed to use this particular password but, luckily for me I have created passwords for other types of accounts that explain that you need to use so many letters, so many numbers, symbols etc.
Finally they accept my password, so I type in my security questions and answers, and try to proceed to the next step. A warning comes up: "Questions may not use leading or tailing spaces."
I sit staring at the screen for a minute wondering what this means before deciding to use one-word questions and answers, when the same warning comes up on my screen: "Questions may not use leading or tailing spaces."
After taking a few deep breaths, I scroll up and down the page looking for some sort of instruction. Turns out that your security questions must be questions that you, and you alone, know the answers to. Not that they had explained that anywhere before asking me to create my security questions!
So, finally I had completed that step. Next, they ask me to fill out my details; name, address, DOB etc. which I do. At the top of the page they have asked me for a Centrelink reference number (which I don't have), a child support number (which I don't have), and a Medicare card number. Note: Every other piece of information to be filled out is marked with an asterisk to mark that it is mandatory information, except for these three items.
I try to proceed to the next step and the page clears all of the information that I have just typed in, and says that I have not provided them with enough information.
I fill the form out again, this time including my Medicare number, when the same thing happens! The page clears all of the information that I have just typed, and tells me that I have not provided them with enough information.
Frustrated, I decide to go back to the home page, hoping that I have missed something, and I can just start again.
I try to type in the new user ID that they have just given me, along with the exact password that I have just created. The password keeps getting wiped off of the screen, and they tell me that I am using the incorrect user ID or password.
This is when I decide that I'll just type in all of the information again, and create a new account.
So I try again to register for online services but this time, when I click the link, it takes me to a page that tells me that I have just successfully logged out.
I try to go back to the previous page, when it tells me that the page is broken. When I hit refresh, it tells me the same thing. I then decide to go back to the home page and try again.
I get the same result four separate times before giving up. Looks like I will just have to waste another hour and a half on the phone to them tomorrow while I'm at work, and then another half an hour, at least, online, trying to lodge my claim.
Hopefully I have better luck tomorrow. Oh, the joys of dealing with Centrelink!

Lela xx

STEPS THAT I HAVE TAKEN SO FAR:

1. Applying for work experience.
2. Enrolling in a 'Communications and Media' course.
3. Recording, watching and reading the news daily. 
4. Starting a blog.
5. Preparing short stories to send to publishers.
6. Subscribing for daily email alerts from job seeker websites for work within the magazine industry. 
7. Sending my resume to various magazine companies, regardless of whether I've seen jobs going or not.
8. Applying for part-time jobs to take up once I start my course.
9. Trying to organise Youth Allowance payments for when I start my course.
10. Buying all of the items that I will need to complete my course (stationery, USB etc.).  
11. Writing EVERYTHING down in my diary and checking it every day so that I stay organised. 

Starting my blog:

When I was at the TAFE having my one-on-one interview with the teacher, she showed me a list of items and asked if I had done any of the things on the list.
The list included things such as having something published, writing a blog, acting classes etc. When I told her that I had never done any of the things on her list, she informed me that I would need to take up at least one of them as part of the course.
When I got home, I thought about which of the items from the list I would do, and decided to pick the blog.
At first I felt a bit lost as I had no idea what I was going to write about.
I typed in the word 'blog' on my computer, and a list of blogging sites appeared. I clicked on the first site and decided to create a blog.
I typed in all of my information, which was easy. Until I was asked what I wanted to name my blog. I still had no idea what I wanted to write about, therefore I was even more lost when it came to naming my blog.
I sat staring at my computer screen for a while with a hundred and one ideas running through my head, which was when I decided to write about my journey to getting my dream job.
I thought to myself, what better to write about than life experience? Which was when I finally came up with a name for my blog.
Now that I have taken the first step, the rest of the blog has been easy. I am finding that I am actually really enjoying writing it, and so far I have a lot more to write about than I first thought I would.

The next thing that I am working on is getting a few of my short stories published. I already have a list of publishers to send my stories to. I have all of the envelopes written up, stamped and ready to go once I print out final copies of my last short story.
In total I have about five short stories ready to go, so I will see what type of response I get once they have been sent.

Lela xx

Money worries:

After visiting the TAFE counsellor, I started to think that it may not be a very good idea for me to start my course.
Although I was so excited to be accepted into the course, I had just found out that I would need to apply for Youth Allowance payments from Centrelink.
I had known all along that Youth Allowance payments would not be very much money, but I was shocked when I found out how small the payments actually are!
If I was a year older (25), I would be able to apply for Austudy, which I'm sure would be at least a little more money.
The base rate for Youth Allowance was something ridiculous like $388.70...... per fortnight!!! I just don't understand how they could possibly think that just over $150 a week would even nearly be enough for a person to survive on.
Fair enough, I will be able to apply for rent assistance as well, but even then it's not a great deal more money. I mean, I have a loan repayment that comes out of my account each week that is more money than what I would be getting.
Even if I get a part-time job (which I am going to have to do), I will only be able to earn $250 without it affecting my Youth Allowance payments.
Another thing that makes life a little more difficult is the fact that the course runs from 9-5, four days a week. When I first expressed interest in the course, I was told that it would run three days a week. So once I get my part time job, I will be extremely busy trying to juggle work and study.
The next day I decided to call my bank and see if I could get my loan extended so that I would be able to pay it off over seven years, instead of five. I called them to explain my situation and let them know that I would be making less than half of the amount of money that I am earning now.
At first it sounded like everything was going to work out, until the man on the phone told me that to be able to extend the loan, he would first need to put in a new loan application.
Everything seemed to be going well, until they told me that, as they had to put it in as a new application, I would, in their eyes, not be making enough money to be able to afford the loan repayments once I start my course.
I was extremely upset and frustrated at first, and was convinced that I would not be able to enrol in my TAFE course.
As I was so upset, I had convinced myself that everything I had done to prepare for this had been nothing but a waste of time, and I was going to be stuck doing a job that I was not interested in for the rest of my life. I was just about ready to give up. I even sent my TAFE teacher an email to thank her for her time and explain why I wouldn't be able to take the course.
When I had finished work for the day, I got a phone call from my boyfriend Mat, who instantly asked me why I was crying. When I explained the situation to him, he told me that I would regret it if I didn't take this course, and that although it would be a struggle, we would somehow make it work.
Still upset, I got home from work and called my mum. She had pointed out that while I was so busy being upset and frustrated about the whole situation, I had not thoroughly considered all of my options. I then realised that once I get a part-time job, I should be earning at least enough money to cover my bills.
I then spoke to my friend Danni, who suggested that I call the bank a few times to see if I can find any way around this. She told me that sometimes, you just need do know the right things to say, so I am going to call them on Monday to try to extend my loan, without telling them that I will only be working at my current job for one more week.
The next day I thought I'd better email my teacher back to apologise for the email that I'd sent her about not being able to do the course as I didn't want my spot to be filled. I let her know that I had wrote her the email when I was upset (which I probably shouldn't have done), and that I was still interested in taking the course.
The next day I was speaking to my employer about my whole financial situation, and they have agreed to let me work the Friday that I am not at TAFE, TAFE holidays, and a couple of hours on a Saturday if I would like to, which will be such a great help. Other than that, I will also try to apply for a part-time job at Woolworths or something maybe for a couple hours, a couple of nights a week, after TAFE.
So fair enough I will be making a BIG financial sacrifice, not to mention sacrificing the majority of my time, but at the end of the day, if it's going to land me my dream job, then it will all be worth it.

Lela xx

Enrolling at TAFE:

While I was on my Christmas break from work, I would check my email daily waiting for a response from the TAFE teacher to find out what day my test would be.
I realised that the teacher would probably take a while to reply as I knew that the TAFE holidays had not finished yet.
On my second day back at work, I finally got a response. The email said that I MUST be at the TAFE by 1pm the following day!
I called my employer to let them know, and was told that it wouldn't be a problem. Luckily they had known for a while that I was waiting to find out what day the test would be.
When I had first enquired about the course a few months beforehand, I had asked the TAFE teacher what the test would involve, so that I would be able to prepare myself a little. She informed me that the test would be on current affairs and, also, they would provide some information on which I would have to write a short news story, no longer than 250 words.
I knew that I would have no trouble writing the news story, but I was a little concerned about the whole current affairs side of things. I had never really been very interested in the news or anything like that (until now).
As soon as I found out, I started to record and watch the news every day, and I now also read a lot about the news etc. on the internet.
I spent the morning of the test watching the news, and preparing myself to head to the TAFE to sit the test.
I had found out that there were two separate TAFE campuses. I only knew where one campus was. I needed to head to the south campus, but there was no signage anywhere stating which campus I was actually on.
I was starting to get a little worried as it was coming very close to 1pm. The last thing I wanted to do was make a bad impression by being late.
I had tried to give myself plenty of time to find the campus and my room, but everything seemed to take  so much longer than I had expected.
Once I had finally found parking (which was a mission in itself), I made my way into the TAFE. I was about to be late, and I had no idea where I was going, so I was starting to panic a little.
When I got inside there was a big information desk set up, as all TAFE enrolments were happening that day. I told the man at the desk what campus, block and room I was after, and he informed me that I was on the north campus, so I needed to cross the road and walk down to the south campus.
By now it was about 12.55pm and I thought for sure that I would be late for the test. I was really not looking forward to walking into a room full of people staring at me.
Once I walked through the gates of the south campus, I had to ask two girls if they could point me in the right direction to find the room that I was after. I was really surprised to find that there was really no signage around anywhere. The whole place was very confusing.
After finally finding the block that I was after, I now had to find my room. As I walked into block G, there was another information desk set up, so I asked the man at the desk if he could point me to my room. Luckily it was right in front of us, so all I had to do was walk in.
When I walked in, I was relieved to find that I was right on time, and there were still no teachers in the room. We waited there for about half an hour before the teachers closed the door and started explaining about the course.
When it finally came time to do the test, I was nervous. I thought for sure that I would know none of the answers to the questions that I would be asked. Then, I took a deep breath and reassured myself that I would do fine. I also remembered the words of my boyfriend Mat, who had wished me luck that morning and told me that I had nothing to worry about.
Writing the news story came very easy for me, and I found that I did actually know most of the answers to the questions that I was asked.
Once the test was over, it was time to have them marked. This was actually the most nerve-racking part of the day.
One-by-one I watched people get up and have one-on-one interviews with the teachers to find out whether they got into the course or not.
It felt like hours had passed before it was finally my turn, and I was so happy when I found out that I had been accepted into the course. I got given my timetable, and I start my course on 6/2/12.
After realising that I only had a week to figure out where my money was going to come from for the next year, I decided to go and see one of the TAFE counsellors to find out what my options were.

Lela xx

Applying for work experience:

The next step I needed to take was to look and apply for work experience, which sounded easier than it was. 

I went straight to my favourite magazines to find either an email address, or a postal address, or somewhere to apply for work experience. 

I found nothing in any of the magazines that could help me. I don't know if I was just looking in the wrong place, but I'm pretty sure there was nothing in any of them. I think they may do it that way on purpose, as I'm sure that hundreds of people would be applying for work experience, and I'm sure that they don't want to be bombarded by all of these people with letters and emails etc.

I then jumped online and checked out all of their websites. I still found nothing! I just couldn't figure out how to apply for work experience.

Then, finally I decided to go back to the magazines and just pick out random email addresses (that I thought may be the most relevant), and send letters to their general mailing addresses.

I sent a cover letter explaining that I was after work experience, and also letting them know that I was unsure of how to apply, which was why I was sending my details to them (in case whoever received my details was not the right person). I also sent in a copy of my resume and asked to be considered if there were any jobs going.

I let them know that I am a fast learner, a good worker and a very keen to work with them. All I hoped was that someone would respond.

Finally I got a response from Pacific magazines, who told me that work experience for 2011 had already been all booked out, but if I wanted to apply for work experience for 2012, then I could apply via there website in October 2011. October was still a couple of months away, so I made sure to make a note in my diary so that I wouldn't forget to apply when the time came.

In October I could finally apply for work experience.When I filled out the application form, they asked me what dates I would like to do my work experience. I was unsure of what date I would be able to do it, so I emailed Michelle to find out what dates the TAFE holidays fell on. 

Once I had found out the dates of the TAFE holidays, I sent in three separate applications for work experience. 

I received an email back shortly after from Pacific magazines who offered me work experience with Girlfriend magazine in September 2012. I immediately sent them an email back thanking them and letting them know how excited I am about being able to do work experience with them.

My plan is to gain as much work experience as I possibly can, so I am going to try to apply for work experience with a few other magazine companies as well.

Lela xx

Taking the first steps:

So now that I had made my decision, it was time to do some research and find out what I would need to do to get the ball rolling. 

The first thing I did was contact my local TAFE to find out what courses I would need to do to be able to get a job in my chosen field. 

The TAFE informed me that the best course for me to enrol in would be a communications and media course. They gave me the email address of one of the course teachers and I emailed her right away. 

I was a little worried at first as entry requirements to get into the course stated that an HSC was required. As I don't have one, I emailed Michelle (the course teacher) and asked her if this would be a problem. When I got an email back from her I was relieved to find out that there was a test that I could take to see if I would be suitable for the course. 

Michelle then gave me a phone call to give me all of the course details. I found out that the course ran three days a week, and that they were already in their second week. 

I started to panic a little as I hadn't had any time to prepare myself for something like that. I would have no time to organise where my money would come from while I was studying the course and I wouldn't be able to give my employer any notice that I was leaving my job. 

As much as I wanted to do the course and start working towards getting my dream job, unfortunately it just wasn't the right time.

I didn't lose hope though, I now had time to work on all of the finer details and really think things through. I also knew that as it was already half way through the year, it would probably be better for me anyway to start fresh at the beginning of 2012 instead of half way through 2011, when everyone was already in their second week of study.

I informed Michelle that I was unable to sit the test at that time, and that I would more than likely start the course at the beginning of 2012. I then went straight to my bosses wife, Toni to let her know my plans for the future.  

As I was giving her plenty of notice, she couldn't really be upset with me, and she agreed to let me keep my job until the end of the year.

Now that I had all of that figured out, I decided to look on a few job seeking websites to see if there were any magazine jobs going. 

I had a bit of a search and applied for anything that I thought I may be able to do. 

Even if I don't think I'm suitable for a particular job, my plan is to apply for it anyway and send in my resume. I want all of the magazine companies to know that I am really keen, and the way I see it, if they see my name often enough, they will either realise how keen I am to break into the industry, or they will get sick of seeing my name every time they have a job advertised, and they will give me a go! :)

I also put my resume up on all of the job seeking websites for any potential employers to see, and I now get daily emails from the job seeking websites to let me know of any magazine jobs going anywhere.

My next step was to apply for some work experience, as every time I see anything about how anyone got a job working for a magazine, they always say how much of an important role work experience played in helping them get their foot in the door.

Lela xx

Coming to my decision:

I was working at my current job with one of my best friends Melissa, who was having a hard time at work. Eventually, Melissa made the decision to leave and find a new job, which got me thinking about my future.
Melissa had opened my eyes to the fact that my job wasn't really going anywhere, which made me think about what I wanted in life.
I couldn't decide what I really wanted to do with my life, so I asked myself the questions that everyone asks themselves when considering a new career. Two of the main questions were: "What do I enjoy doing?" and "What am I good at?"
I started by writing a list of things that I am good at. My list included reading, writing and spelling. I am also pretty good with grammar and punctuation.
I then wrote a list of some of the things that I enjoy doing. This list also included reading and writing, as well as writing short stories, cutting pictures out of magazines, which I use to create collages and decorate my stories, and reading magazines.
It was then that I realised that I have always loved magazines, ever since I read my first one when I was twelve. I got it in a show bag from the Easter show, and I fell in love with it straight away. I loved everything about it. I loved the pictures and I loved the stories.
I think that I got about five magazines in that show bag, all of which I read from cover-to-cover. I then started buying magazines weekly. I would buy all of them; Girlfriend, Dolly, Cosmopolitan, Cleo, Marie Clare... I just couldn't get enough! 
So I had finally come to a decision: Working for a magazine would be the perfect job for me. After coming to my conclusion, I wondered why I had never thought of it before? I suppose I just never really thought that it was a possibility.
I realise now that anything is possible, you just have to work for it!! It also helps to have faith in yourself, and to have supportive, positive people in your life.
I think that if it weren't for my beautiful friends and family, I might still think that trying to get a job working for a magazine was not an option for me.
After I'd made my decision I wanted a few opinions on whether it was a good idea or not, so I asked a few of the people who are closest to me. 
Everyone that I asked said that it would be the perfect career for me, and that I would regret it if I didn't just go for it.
My mum was so happy when I told her what I wanted to do, she has always told me that I should become a writer and was always asking me why I wasn't doing anything with my talent.
My gorgeous boyfriend Mat was also extremely supportive when I told him about my plans. He is always telling me that I really have a way with words and is always telling me how expressive my writing can be.
And then there's Melissa, who was so excited when I told her about the decision that I had made. It's thanks to her that I made my decision in the first place.
Now it's time to turn my dreams into reality! :)

Lela xx