(Click here to see the short version)
I began Warwick Road County Primary School in 1984 at the age of 5 (that was the norm back then!) I was a good student, but didn't really enjoy school, and the prospect of another 10 years of education filled me with dread.
At the age of 9, I began judo, but after a few months, the coach seemed to get really hard on us, and i got sick of it and stopped going. But I kept thinking about it, and a year later, I began at Wilmslow Judo Club, where I stayed until the age of 18, and really came into my own. Over the years, I've won the Cheshire County Championships 4 times, and I've got medals and trophies from several other competitions too. I got up to Brown Belt (one below Black) by the age of 15, which is pretty good even if I do say so myself. But every time I went for my Black Belt, I just got hammered by the other competitors, and found it really difficult.
In 1990, I began Henbury High School. I hated high school; I hated the patronising lessons, the ignorant teachers, being forced to do things I saw no value in, and getting bullied for no apparent reason. Despite this, I was in the top set for everything (ha!) and did well in my studies. I left high school in 1995, with 9 GCSE's (all A-C grades, natch) in the following subjects;
* Science x2 * Maths * French * English
* Art *Technology * History * Business Studies
By this time, my best friends were Emily Bayley and Gayle Carter - the former of whom I still consider to be my best friend, even though she lives in London and I don't see her a great deal. When we do meet up it's like no time has passed, and we pick up where we left off, and you can't shut us up. Hello Emily!
Despite hating school, I wanted to continue with my education and eventually get to university. Thus, in 1995, at the age of 16, I began my A Levels at Macclesfield College. I loved college, and was a really good student; you couldn't shut me up in the class discussions, and I became a far more confident person in general. I really enjoyed English and Media, but found Maths bloody difficult, and it took an awful lot of work for me to scrape the grade I did. 'Statistics' was interesting, useful, and not too difficult. But 'Pure Maths' seemed useless and extremely hard - I don't care what the area underneath a curve is, or how to factorise quadratic equations!! I left college in 1997 with the following qualifications;
A Levels: B-TEC's:
* Media Studies * Graphic Design
* English * Desktop Publishing
* Maths
* General Studies * AS Level French
In 1996, at the age of 17, I joined the Territorial Army; 3rd Cheshire Regiment, Ypres Barracks Macclesfield, Salerno Company, Milan (Anti-Tank) Platoon (if all that means anything to you.) I found the physical side of it demanding, cause I was only skinny (still am!) and wasn't as fit as the blokes, and everyone was expected to carry the same weight. Still, in the Passing Out Parade, I was named as the Most Improved Recruit out of the whole intake of new recruits (woo-hoo!) I stayed in the TA for the next year, where I did well and took it seriously. I enjoyed the discipline, cameraderie, and the feeling of doing something useful and fighting the good fight for Queen and country, or something like that. I left the TA when I went away to university; I missed the people and the training, but I was too busy with other things to fit it in.
In 1997, at the age of 18, I began my degree in Philosophy and Applied Social Studies as Keele University. I loved my course, I loved the social life, and I loved uni life in general. The university didn't have a judo club, and so I took up Jiu Jitsu, and in the first term, I won the National Aiuchi Jiu Jitsu Championships (which surprised even me!) In my second year, I was voted in as Captain - a position which I held for the next two years. By the time I graduated, I had achieved Light Blue Belt (two below Black) and although I was quite pleased with this, I think I could have got the next belt (Dark Blue) if I hadn't broken my finger in my final year and had to miss a grading. Oh well.
During university, I also got involved in the Hockey club (which was fun, but I was pretty dreadful at it!) the Folk Club (involving sitting in smoky rooms playing guitars and singing songs... not really 'folk' ones though - mainly the Levellers and New Model Army (my favourite band of all time, whom we went to see 4 times during my three years at Keele. OK, so maybe they're all in their 40's now, but they're better than ever, and still brilliant to see live.) As my final year drew to a close, I began to dread my graduation, and the idea of going out into the real world to join the rat-race and get a job (I still do really!)
In 1999 - when I was 20 - I went to New Jersey (USA) where I got a summer job for 16 weeks. I worked on Casino Pier (an amusement pier,) as a 'carnie'; trying to get holidaymakers to play games that were pretty difficult to win, and sometimes with crap prizes. It was a wonderful experience, and I loved my job; even though the customers knew the games were difficult to win, the sun was shining, they were on holiday, and everyone was generally in a good mood about everything. The days consisted of working in the game stands on the pier; the nights (and early hours of the morning!) entailed going to the beach, and getting drunk with all the other students there on summer jobs. I made some really good friends there, and generally had a great time. While there, I also visited New York, Philadelphia, and Montreal (in Canada.)
In 2000, at the age of 21, I graduated from Keele University with a 2:1 in Philosophy and Applied Social Studies, with a Subsidiary year in Computer Science, and Elective modules in English Literature, and Media in International Relations (if all that means anything to you?!)
I had difficulty finding a job after university, and ended up doing door-to-door work for charity. It was commission only, but I actually made more money doing that than I have at any job since! I got a temporary job in an office after that, and moved to Birmingham to live with my (then) boyfriend Mel. The plan was that we would work for a year, save up some money, then go travelling round Australia.
And that was indeed what we did: In May 2001, we set off on a 6-month travelling trip which covered Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. In Australia, I went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, and achieved the PADI Open Water Diver qualification - a truly wonderful experience. I fractured my foot while canoeing in Katherine Gorge, and was on crutches for a week, before I abandoned them to climb Ayres Rock - another brilliant experience (Ayres Rock - not being on crutches!) Another real highlight was simply driving through the outback, making camp fires, and cooking food under the stars. New Zealand highlights include snowboarding and Rotorua (thermal pools). Thailand was not a place I particularly enjoyed - lowlights included getting attacked by leeches, eating vegetables and rice 3 times a day (the only veggie food available!) and discovering that the World Trade Centre had been destroyed, and fearing that World War 3 might break out and I'd be stuck there!
In September 2001, we returned to England, and moved back to the lovely Birmingham, where I got another temporary office job which was tolerable, but not a great deal of job satisfaction to be had in it.
Unfortunately, in June 2002, I was forced to take time off work due to a bladder problem, which was diagnosed as Interstitial Cystitis - it had been developing over the previous 3 years or so. It got quite bad at times, and tends to fluctuate between feeling fine, and suffering a lot of pain, and sometimes using a wheelchair (my chariot!). But being disabled isn't all bad: you get free money off the state, you get the best parking spots, and you always have a seat in McDonalds!!
In January 2003, Mel and I moved to Chesterfield, and I applied to universities in order to train as a teacher of A Levels.
In September 2003, I began my PGCCE (Post-Graduate Certificate in Continuing Education) at Nottingham University, which was a positive experience overall, and I made some really good friends.
It was through one of these friends (Liz) that I met the lovely Austin, whom I've been living with since August 2004. There is a bit of an age gap (11 years) but I think he's really just a teenager trapped in the body of a 38-year-old. Mind you, the same goes for all men.
In September 2004, I got a job teaching A-Level Sociology and Philosophy at Loughborough College; this was just maternity cover till Christmas. But after Christmas, I was so darn good that they have kept me on. It's a really nice college and I love my job there. In September 2005, I will be teaching A-Level Philosophy, and A-Level Health and Social Care.
That's where I'm up to at the moment (Aug 2005). If something new and exciting happens in my life, you'll hear about it here first!! So watch this space!