Personal Profile

From an early age, dance was a huge influence in all that I did. As a keen gymnast, dance and performance were a big part of my training. Then came the time in my early teens where a choice had to be made. I chose dance. After years of training at a dance school, and fully supported by my family, I went to college to study for a BTec National Certificate.  From here, I was able to explore the different paths towards professional training and was granted a place at The Hammond School in Chester.

After a long, hard, exhausting, thrilling, challenging (I could go on!!) 3 years at The Hammond, I graduated with a distinction in my National Diploma in Professional Dance. I then moved from Chester to London where I lived for two years and I worked on and off the stage, at The London Palladium. Some of the work was paid, some voluntary.

I have certainly had my eyes opened to the ups and downs in the ‘world of showbiz’ and I have learnt to look ahead to try to make, and stabilise, a future for myself. I have recently gained experience working in a school to see how I feel about using the teaching skills from gymnastics in a school setting.  All of these experiences have given me a great advantage in life and I feel it has given me a good grounding.  I enjoy attending the theatre, reading, socialising and exercising.  I am a person who enjoys life and realise’s the hard work it takes to continue to do so. From this, I am now furthering my qualifications and studying for a degree, hoping it will be the stepping stone needed to continue in my path towards full time teaching.  I would like to think that I will be using my training and further education to help and advise others. I feel I am dedicated and committed to making my own pathway, starting with gaining a degree. I am hard working and motivated enough to make a stable living for myself and my future, through gaining this qualification. 

CV

I currently have 2 different CV's saved on my laptop. One was for my auditions, made up solely of previous performing experience and training and all things image related that our teachers say we have to have on there! My other one, was one I made after moving home from London and applying for teaching assistant jobs in primary Schools. I was therefore unsure which one to post on my blog.

In the end, I went with a mixture of both, looking at it as my life now and how I want to proceed, which is in the teaching industry rather than the performing industry.
However, Id really appreciate some feedback on whether you think all info in there is necessary or too much?
Thanks in advance!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k_l9wSEvrAoRbvfkAlnSLxEddFBy3CdUr_0uZNem3Kk/edit?hl=en_US

Getting started!!

So, Ive been pretty busy today! I set myself some time to really get my head down and get started with what needs to be done for the module. Starting with getting completely up to date with all the web 2.0 tools.
I, probably like most others on here, was surprised to learn how much I already knew about these tools, without actually realising that, thats what web 2.0 was!!?

Im completely hooked on social network sites Facebook and Twitter! When living in London, I found Facebook especially, to be a great source for finding out about auditions, or even different shows that were on locally for me to go and see for research purposes. I think its fair to say that everyones familiar with Wikipedia, however, Im probably going to slightly embarass myself here by admitting that I had no idea that it was a resource that members of the public could add their own research to!! I find that fascinating that such a large tool has grown because of peoples input from all over the world, coming from all walks of life!

While I cant help but agree with some points made by a few people on here about the use of web 2.0 (Liam writes his view so well I found myself nodding along in agreement!) and how it may be destructive for the future, I also cant help but marvel at the revolutionary of it all! I mean, none of us would be here, doing this course and gaining the degree without it, right? Dont get me wrong, the idea of people using technology to 'lead' our lives seems absurd. I love nothing more than catching up with friends and family over a good old lunch!! But where would the world be without these tools and resources??

I find myself going round and round in circles thinking about this. There are so many pro's weighed out by an equal amount of con's that Im finding it difficult to summarize my opinion................
I think, for me, having already lived a life where these sites and tools are made available so easily to us (phones/laptops) I could never imagine a life without them!!

Induction Day

So I'm now officially a student again!! I cant begin to tell you all how nervous I was about starting this course. I was still slightly unsure what to expect when venturing down to London to meet other students, and of course the advisers. I needn't have worried, I was the 1st one there and Paula immediately made me feel welcome and at ease (think this goes to show I'm much more used to scary dance teachers 1st impression meetings, being judged solely on your image!!) It continued to get easier throughout the day as more students came in and we introduced ourselves. I got the feeling that I wasn't on my own with the nervousness! I also got to have a surprise catch up with a friend of mine Aicha, who I trained with at Hammond!

As the day progressed, I continued to make notes (my memory isn't great if I don't write it down first!) and get my head around whats needed for the modules!!
Before the induction day, I think my biggest worry was writing essay after essay, now its most definitely getting used to blogging and uploading photos and what not!
I wouldn't say I was useless with a computer, I'd say I was just about average. But when it comes to fixing photos and changing sizes of them to upload etc, I think that's going to take a little bit of practice!!

I am, however, really looking forward to 'blogging'. Initially, I thought, "what will I write about?" however this one seems to be flowing nicely, I just hope I can keep them interesting and critical for the duration of the course!
The day was finished in a bit of rush yesterday, with myself along with a few others, having to leave sharpish to catch a train. I managed to get a few peoples emails, and I'm sure for the ones I didn't get, we'll all be in contact through blogging and what have you. Again, what started as an extremely nerve wracking day, progressed and ended on a massive high and I'm really looking forward to getting things started and getting to know everyone!