Author Post Archive

Posts by Charlie Porter

Dear Prospective Dissertation-ers

Dear Prospective Dissertation-ers, While my degree might be slightly different to yours –  you might be conducting an experiment in a lab, examining the theory of something I’ll never understand, delving into the history of a past event or reviewing a piece of literature – there is still some kind of ominous dissertation looming in …

Applying for Jobs: What I Think and What I Should Actually Think

After handing in my last piece of coursework a couple of weeks ago, I have begun seriously dwelling on what the next steps of my life will be. Naturally, this topic has come up in more than one conversation. “You’re finished?” some ask. “What are you going to do now?” “So have you started looking …

Stages of Writing an Essay

I have been in complete essay mode over the last month, writing an accumulative total of 18,000 words. Now that I’ve emerged on the other side, I think it’s safe to say I’ve become relatively well-versed in the stages of writing an essay…   First of all, there’s the Planning stage. A teacher once told …

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Finding the Perfect Birthday Present

Unless you’re some kind of birthday prodigy, getting presents  can be one of life’s most challenging tasks. Throughout the year you’ll be browsing through shops and high-streets and accidentally stumble across the perfect gift for so-and-so or something that what’s-his-face would absolutely love… but when it’s actually the week before their birthday your mind draws …

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Ski Trip Blues

I woke up on Sunday two weeks ago with the smell of sunshine and snow and skiing seeping under my door. I struggled with the clasps on my boots and bumbled with my poles but by early morning I was out on the slopes, gliding across freshly-fallen snow with the Val Thorens air coursing through my hair. …

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A Final Year’s Bucket List

With my last day of lectures tomorrow, my final hand-ins approaching and my dissertation just around the corner, the end is ver much nigh for me (I do a great degree that doesn’t have exams btw). The more little hurdles I pass the more real it’s becoming… and scary. I can remember getting my offer …

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Things I’ve Learnt When Doing My Dissertation

Already into the third month of 2016, your dissertation deadline’s probably getting dangerously close. We’re all dealing with it differently – denial, followed by another day in bed watching House of Cards. Rage. Frustration. Calling your mum in a panic. Worry. Even accepting defeat.   Don’t worry. We’re going to get through this.   Here …

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Things I Miss About Living in Halls

I hit snooze on my phone for the umpteenth time that morning, realising my window for showering, getting ready, eating breakfast and making lunch for the day is narrowing. A February breeze shrieks through the bit of my unsealed window, and I wonder if I should finally get round to telling my landlord about the mould-infested corner in my …

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Things Not To Ask a Final Year

It’s that time in a third year’s life when things are starting to accumulate. The work loads looming, dissertation and project deadlines creeping, the omniscient real-life approaching… But I’m not alone in my sorrow and stress. We final years gather together and share our woes, discussing the questions that trouble us so. Especially after a …

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“Do Something Different”

When I first came to the University of Nottingham, I was a visionary. I had decided before I even got there I would dip my toes in gymnastics or skydiving or other sports I’d never tried; that I’d be part of a handful of societies; and that I’d try things out that I’d never get …

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