u/sesameprawntoast50

Currently doing a level 2 module - S284 to be specific, and there is a post-exam discussion however from what I know they're going to be doing this with only a set amount of students rather than everyone. I wonder what this is like??

Are they going to test me on the entire module's knowledge? Are they going to only discuss the questions from the exam with me? I'm kind of nervous for this haha, this sounds like a half oral examination in my Anxiety induced mind.

They better not try to throw me off lol. Sometimes I can't even remember half the stuff I answered after an exam.

I’ve got a Teams interview tomorrow for a Customer Representative role at Thames Water and I’m a bit nervous as it’s my first interview in quite a long time 😅

I’ve previously worked in retail and hospitality, but never in a call-centre/customer contact environment where I’d be the first point of contact for customers.

I was wondering if anyone has advice for this type of interview?

• Is it bad if I come across too friendly? I tend to communicate better when I treat interviews more like a professional conversation rather than sounding overly scripted.
• Would it be appropriate to ask questions about career progression, future training opportunities, or development within the company?
• I’ve also seen posts online saying “over friendliness” can be a reason for rejection, but since this is customer service I assumed friendliness would actually be a positive?

Any advice would genuinely be appreciated. Thank you!

This year has been really hard for me, and I've been struggling a lot with my mental health. I was scared to reach out to SST and my tutors initially because of all the negative reviews other students had left. My tutors though were and still are incredibly supportive, and they've been trying to help me out in whatever way they can. The SST person I spoke to as well was really kind and helpful, and she made me feel like I was talking to a close friend. Honestly I am so glad I had a positive experience. I do understand though when people say their experience hasn't been that positive, One of my tutor last year was rather ....unhelpful and dismissive. Never gave proper feedback etc. So I'm really glad that this year has been better for me.

Just wanted to casually share this, if anyone's put off by the negative reviews honestly don't be, because in every work place every academic setting you get one or two managers/lecturers/ Staff who are just miserable and unhelpful.

I (20F) am in desperate need of a Job and am willing to accept any work that comes my way. Warehouse work is the easiest to get in the UK (with a high turnover rate as well but that's for a different story), I'm quite short 5'1 and can't lift overly heavy items. Will I even last in a warehouse..? I would say I can manage lifting items up to 20kg depending on how long/wide they are, it's not like I am incapable of lifting anything at all, but I am definitely not going to be a fast worker. But I am so desperate for work so I am still applying anyways. It's just a matter of working in a warehouse for 3 months, so I think I can manage for 3 months.

For context I am doing BSc Mathematics and Physics, and have been introduced to python in my level 1 studies which I do plan on developing over summer. I am going into level 2 and I was wondering if I would have any success applying for placement....or to jobs related? Has anyone had any success with this?

I've been struggling with my mental health since 2022 (16 at the time now 20), and I never spoke to anyone regarding it apart from the time I had a panic attack at school where I did beg the teacher to not phone my parents up. Since 2022 my mental health has been fluctuating really badly. In terms of my mood, I had months or weeks where I feel really low, low social battery, exhausted, wanting to disappear, wanting to cut off everyone, hopeless, anxious. I don't really follow any routine during these "phases", after I wake up I'd want to brush but I can't brush? So I just don't brush or shower for 4 or 5 days. Deodorant mouthwash and wipes! I scroll my phone and feel numb. I ignore all my university work no matter how much I want to study no matter how much I love my subject I just can't start studying. I feel this immense dread as if something terrible is going to happen where my palms tingle and my stomach feels a drop, and I either feel nauseous or I feel like I'm going to poop. Then for a few days I feel completely normal, happy even, talking to people, studying, as if nothing had ever happened. Then it starts again. I'm honestly tired of this. I've booked a doctor's appointment at last and they did give me 3 forms to fill out - ADHD Autism Anxiety. I need to book a follow up appointment but I am so scared to book it, I keep thinking the doctors are going to dismiss me, or what if I'm faking it or making it a big deal or just being lazy. It did come to a point where because I was feeling so anxious and dreadful I quit my job. Now it's come to a point where I have to repeat an uni year because I'm failing. I just want to end it sometimes....so I start googling the easiest ways to die becasue I hate pain

I've been having very bad mental health problems lately and I just wish I could talk to my dad and just leave Uni and come back home to him for a while. He's always been the most understanding with these situations and talking to him always relieves my worries. But he always has to tell my mum about this because he believes since she's my mother she also has the right to know if something's going on in my life and secondly he can't hide nothing from his wife. My concern is, my mum doesn't understand me at all, sometimes I wonder how my dad and mum even got married they're two completely different people with different religious views different moral views different political views. My mum is head on catholic, she's very religious goes to church 3 times a week, confession every week - ironically she's the most sinless person I know of, and just mainly God oriented, she doesn't see mental health as something valid and thinks depression/ADHD/Anxiety is just made up and if I fix my sleep schedule and stick to a strict routine it'll all go away, as if I've not tried that multiple times and failed every time. If I tell her about my mental health issues, she'll react in a very weird way which'll make me want to just cry and scream. She's going to tell me to go church, she's also going to overreact and make it sound like it's the end of the world and make It sound like I'm about to die, she'll start treating me differently and walk on eggshells around me.

Which is why I don't want her to know. I understand my dad can't hide stuff from her, but ...I Really need my dad right now, can't he just respect my wishes ...and idk just be my dad for 20 mins ........I so badly want to talk to him about it because I'll feel so much better. URGH

EDIT: SORRY FOR THE RANT, I KNOW I'VE RECENTLY BEEN POSTING ON HERE ABOUT MY MENTAL HEALTH RANTS BUT IDK WHAT ELSE TO DO

My mental health is terrible and I am not even exaggerating because it's reached a point where my anxiety is making me throw up and whatever other issues I have are making me stay in bed and not continue with my day to day routine/functioning. NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY I'VE TRIED A LOT I REALLY HAVE. This is my fault because I didn't even contact anyone regarding this up until last week where I spoke to my GP.

I need to ask for help and I'm really lost right now, I just want to tell my lecturer that I won't be able to take the final exam and I'll likely be failing half the shit and I want to redo the year (I have more lecturers but I just want to focus on one right now). I don't know how to email them.....without sounding like I am making excuses. I first thought I was possibly gaslighting myself but it seems like ive been prescribed meds for my issues so iT DOES Seem like they're unfortunately real and I'm not faking it.

I just dont know how to word this email......also considering every time they asked me if I was okay I lied and said yes and that I was on top of things.

EDIT: Guys thank you !!!!!! Your responses have been really really helpful I hope all of you get unlimited food. my lecturer replied eve tho its like 10:30pm And he seems to be understanding and I was scared for no reason, he said he'll try to help me contact the other 2 lecturers if I'm feeling anxious about it, and he'll have a chat with me tomorrow. I WAS SO SCARED Before sending that email.

I have a video appointment with the NHS regarding my mental health and I don't have the privacy needed at home. I was wondering if there's any private spaces I can go to for a few minutes - likely 30mins as the appointment won't be too long.

Any advice would help !

I'll go first, I just turned 20 this month 😃 and though I'm not attending lectures in a physical lecture hall, I personally am not missing out any social life if I'm being honest. A lot of my friends and even parents told me to just attend physical Uni doing a foundation year rather than go through the OU route solely because I'd be missing out on a lot of social stuff. But honestly I don't feel like it? Well that's just for me, I make friends at work who are the same age as me, and I also have been connecting with other people my age on social media mainly through the OU group chat's I'm in. It's surprising just how close other students are to my area. I've been doing all the fun clubbing and the very disgraceful drinking (yes I'll stop) but life has been fun. I don't see how different my life is to another uni student who's perhaps commuting to Uni rather than staying in an accommodation. I obv don't get to experience the horrors of staying in a shared uni accommodation as well. Life has honestly been good well apart from the Terrible math stress I'm going through right now which is making me feel like every other student anyways. I am quite excited to go on and do my masters at a physical university though solely because I do sometimes miss the face to face lectures.

HOW'S YOUR EXPERIENCE GOING? 😊

I stay with my parents and, for privacy reasons, I can’t have letters being sent to my home address. I’m concerned that anything sent by post in my name may be opened.

I know GP practices can contact patients by phone, text, or email, but I’m not sure how reliable it is to request no postal correspondence. If I ask them not to send any letters, is this something they will consistently follow?

Also, is it possible to use a different correspondence address (for example, a friend’s address) while still being registered at the same GP practice?

I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences with this.

How are you guys revising? The entire year I think I focused on TMAs and tried to get them out the way, I've realized now that I have forgotten half the information...because I never visited the topics again due to 2 other modules and work. This wasn't a good idea I know and I am really stressed right now just trying to efficiently revise since MST125 has an invigilated exam as well though we're allowed the handbook with annotations.

Would it be a good idea to just skim over the material and focus on watching tutorials and answering questions until I am confident with these questions? I'd also like to ask if the tutorials are worth watching? I barely had the time to watch tutorials through the year but I did manage to attend some of them whenever I could.

If I read material at this stage I think I will not get anything done. Any advice would be greatly appreciated Regardless I think I've come to reality, level 2 I will not do more than 60 credits, I am not suffering like this again with 120 credits and a full time job, this year has traumatized me enough I can't wait to get it over with.

THIS IS A LONG POST SO I DON'T EXPECT ANYONE TO READ IT OR REPLY I AM JUST RANTING IT OUT.

I know it's easy for me to speak of it and say they should've done so and so but hear me out, I think I am making reasonable points here. For context I am 20 now and we're financially fine now, but most my life my parents were struggling financially. Also it was me mum dad and brother.

1- The place my dad worked at had tons of overtime every week, to the point where his manager would insist that he take overtimes because they were short staffed. My dad refused to do overtime, and if he did accept those overtimes, we would've gotten an extra £200 every week and this would create a good buffer. Instead he worked his contracted 4 days a week 12 hour shifts and spent his 4 days off finding part-time work elsewhere. He didn't get any part-time work because this was around 2018 and the town we lived in, the job market was pretty over saturated. His reason for not accepting overtime from his work place was that he didn't like the managers. He worked a rotating shift of 4 days work 4 days off for context, and for the rest of our poverty era he didn't take any overtime and he kept trying to find other part-time work which he never got.

2- No budgeting whatsoever. Though I was only around 12 at the time, I had realized that my parents were not budgeting. Be it grocery, utilities or rent. If they had allocated a budget we'd have been at a much better position. And I am saying this after having seen our rent and utilities bills and any credit card payments and loan repayments. If they had budgeted back then, they'd have been in a much better place.

3- My dad would often send money back to our home country to his mother to pay for house repairs and other expenses. My dad is the eldest brother among 4 other siblings who earn way more than my dad. Considering the 4 other siblings had no family and were living with their mother, whereas my dad had responsibilities and a family to look after, why was my dad the one sending money back home. It was my dad's responsibility to set these boundaries so that the 12 year old me and my 11 year old brother wouldn't be feeling financially stressed at such an young age, it was his responsibility as our dad to set these boundaries with his mother and family back home so that his wife and children wouldn't have to compromise on basic necessities.

4- Spending money on Alcohol. This was the big one and the most common one among financially unstable households in my opinion. £60 a week on alcohol give or take. some weeks maybe 50 other weeks 70. You know you're not in a financial position to be spending £60 a week on alcohol, and no one needs £60 worth of alcohol every week.

5- Anger Problems that lead to him breaking things at home. Microwaves, TVs, Mobile phones, punching walls, breaking windows, throwing out food. This definitely gave their financial situation a big hit. Things that would've lasted the next 4 to 10 years were being broken on a regular basis.

6- My mother refusing to work because according to her she had to stay at home with the kids otherwise me and my brother would wander down the wrong path. It's a different story that me and my brother turned out to be one of the biggest liars. I mentioned above that my dad would work 4 days and had off 4 days where he wouldn't take up overtime and would instead go out to find other part-time work. He'd leave home around 11am and be back by 2pm. Most weeks he wouldn't even bother looking for this part-time Job and rather stay home and spend his day sleeping away and drinking and lashing out at us. Those 4 days if my mum worked and my dad looked after us, we'd have been fine financially.

There has to be other reasons but these are the big ones. I remember most my childhood I'd have to really struggle for new clothes for non school uniform days and I'd have one outfit for summer and maybe 2 for winter. Though this is pretty normal and I am not complaining about the clothes because I did have clothes, this was also the same with my brother, I'd also spend most my nights hearing my dad lash out about money while he drank away. All this could've been so avoided if it weren't for my parents critical thinking skills in the outside world. I am grateful for the roof I had and the 2 meals I'd get everyday, and for my education, I will always be grateful for that because the country I come from I know how hard things are, and what's been going on in the world lately I know many don't have the bare minimum. But that is not to say that I JUST WISH MY PARENTS WEREN'T LIKE THAT. Mine and my brother's childhood would've been so much more positive and happier.

I know it's been years for this whole ordeal and I am 20 now, but once in a while I think back to how things were and I am holding onto grudges against my dad, also the fact that my dad is still a very shitty human being in so many other ways.

I am aware that level 1 doesn't count toward the final degree classification. However, will it have a strong impact on my overall application to a post-grad degree If I am applying after level 2 completion - which would mean I'd be using my predicted grades to apply for a Post-grad qualification.

For context, I am doing Math and Physics and am interested in doing applied math/physics/theoretical physics or something within these areas for my Masters. I am thinking of KCL, Bristol, Southampton, Manchester, York, Liverpool or UCL for these courses since I really like the course structure overall. I'm scared that my poor level 1 grades might impact the judgment of my overall application especially if I am wanting to apply to UCL ...? I think I am a bit nervous for no reason and I am probably overthinking a lot.

EDIT: I just found out that on my final transcript a numerical score doesn't appear? I didn't know this until now, so if I am right to say level 1 is only a pass or fail? And level 2 has distinction pass grade 1,2,3 and the same for level 3? So as long as I pass my modules this year....

So as we all know full-time students get 3 years + 1 buffer/gift year (for unexpected circumstances/resits/course changes). I've used up my 1 gift year when I changed my course from Physics to Math&Physics. Back then I didn't anticipate my current situation, I've been diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety this year - never anticipated this I don't even know how it came to this, I spoke to my GP after having a whole breakdown and what I think was a panic attack where I threw up and couldn't breathe, on top of which I've been ignoring for quite a few years the problem with my focus, I have a massive issue struggling to focus and I procrastinate a lot, honestly don't know how I got through GCSEs and A-levels, but all I do remember is being beyond miserable but somehow still got average grades and got through, I think it has all finally caught up to me. The cherry on top in my situation was mum getting diagnosed with cancer. WHAT A LIFE. But this has severely impacted my studies this year, and I don't think I can push through anymore I want to go to sleep already. The past assignments have been absolutely terrible, I don't think I'll pass this year. I want to take a break from studies, perhaps take a gap year before I join back.

I know I definitely want to continue studying and continue university, I love the course I am doing, but ofcourse loving the course isn't enough and I have to sit down and understand the material in order to move forward with my studies. However, having used the one gift year previously I'm not too sure where I stand at this point with student finance. I'll fill out the CPR form that they provide, and see what happens. if it gets rejected I guess I will just work during the gap year I plan on taking, save up and pay the first year myself.

Has anyone had a good experience with the CPR form?

SORRY ABOUT THE LONG POST BTW

I used to absolutely hate reading back in secondary school, but now that I’m 20 and reading on my own terms, I’ve realized how nice it actually is.

I started my journey back into books with authors like Holly Jackson and Freida McFadden. They were great re-entry books with easy to understand language , sort of like watching a solid Netflix movie. The plot moves fast, you get your answers, and the story comes to a clean end.

However, I recently went back to some of the literature they forced us to read in school. I re-read Of Mice and Men and I loved it!! I realized it holds so much more meaning than I ever gave it credit for. It’s the kind of book I can read over and over, or even just go back to specific chapters just to sit with the atmosphere.

In contrast, I’ve realized that a lot of the viral "BookTok" stuff, like Colleen Hoover or the Twisted series - is sort of "grab and chuck." You binge them for 5 hours of dopamine, but once it’s over, there’s no lasting substance. (Not hating, because some are fun reads, though CoHo specifically makes me question my sanity after I finish her books lol).

It got me thinking: What actually separates a "classic" from a "non-classic" in the long run? Why do some books become the subject of literature study for decades while others, even if they sell millions of copies, just fade away? Is it the "goal" of the book, the themes like classism/war, or just the way they’re written? I’d love to hear how you guys define a "classic" versus just a "bestseller."