Somewhere Over the Rainbow

As the days tick by into weeks and weeks into months, I have somehow gotten here. In just less than a month I'll be heading off to the "big wide world"! (I hear they have stocked supermarkets and working buses there).

University has been my dream since I was little. I've always loved learning and always loved being around those who have a lot to teach. How blessed I am to be going to one of the best universities in one of the loveliest cities in the country to learn about my passion! Everyday I feel so grateful and blessed. The word blessed here is one of importance.

I believe that this wonderful opportunity has not simply occurred through the work of my hands or that of others' alone, but from the work of God's hands. He has put so many opportunities before me this year which have led to my successful application. Opportunities such as a "chance" meeting with a graduate of Edinburgh University's Film & TV Course who has been able to help me critique and better my work for my application; surrounding me with the right people at the right time in order to produce the films for my application; turning me away from a university I had originally intended as my first choice and showing me why; guiding me to another university (Edinburgh University) which coincides with my career goals better and will offer me greater opportunities relating to my career. There are so many more ways I have seen God shine through this whole process this year. It has been a complete journey of faith, growth and blessings in many different ways.

You may still be wondering about the title of this post. You see, every time I was approaching a new stage of my application, feeling anxious about the future or simply just needed to know God was still there beside me, a rainbow would appear in the sky - on that day or in that week - and always just after I had been praying about the situation. That to me is not a coincidence, it is a God-incidence.

God sent Noah a rainbow as a reminder of a promise he made to him (Genesis 9:12-17) and in the same way, each rainbow I have witnessed in the midst of fear or uncertainty has reminded me of God's promise to us: "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

So as moving day continues to draw near, I will find comfort in knowing that I am not alone in any of this, but that God is with me and He will guide me. So I will simply let go and let God.

Things I'd Tell My Younger Self

Hello everyone.

Inspiration can come from some strange places and this post's inspiration came from the last annual high school awards ceremony I'll be a part of that took place this Thursday. As I sat in formal dress of my choice-not the mandatory shirt and school-tie combo we used to have to wear whilst at school-and watched the younger years collecting their merit and effort awards which I used to be so very proud of receiving, I couldn't help but feel a little sad that it was all over.
I wasn't there as a student, I was there as a highschool leaver, a spectator, a  simple relation of someone (my sister) who was part of this ceremony. In other words, I was no longer there as part of the school and that kind of felt strange. The feeling grew as me and my friends who were the Heads and Deputy Heads last year stood and handed over the badges to those who'd be taking on these roles now that we'd left. C'est fini.

Among all this nostalgia I began to think about my first year of highschool and how much things - and I - have changed since then and so I thought I'd write today about everything I'd tell my younger, first-year self as a now graduated highschool leaver.

1.Don't worry about making friends. You will eventually find people as crazy as you.

I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach, the dry mouth and the shaky hands as a tiny (I was quite small for my age to begin with) almost mute, brown-haired Mollie toddled into high-school for the first induction day. To make things worse for me, whilst everyone was there with friends from primary and their school jumpers, I was stood in a generic shirt and tie and I didn't know anyone because I had been home-taught for two years prior to highschool so I was truly terrified. I remember I ate lunch by myself in the canteen because I hadn't met anyone properly by that time and ended up not finishing it because I felt so sick from nerves until someone I'd met through a friend who moved away came and talked to me and introduced me to her friends. From then on I weaved in and out of various friend circles and made lots of new friends right up to 6th year where i became best friends with three crazy ladies I often mention in my blog - Kirsty, Iona and another Kirsty (chummy).

2. Don't forget to breathe.

 Apparently I was always desperate to go to school when I was little -nerd- and I've always loved learning and so I was all set for achieving my best at highschool but, the thing was, at highschool I began to realise that learning a lot can be quite difficult. And, as well all know, I'm not the most organised pickle in the pantry so as the workload increased at school, so did my stress levels as I desperately tried to get the best grades I possibly could. Luckily for me, the highschool on Arran has some amazing teachers and so help was always at hand and my parents have always been incredibly supportive no matter how I've done at school but I myself was never satisfied until I'd got an A. I can't count how many all-nighters I pulled for something as petty as an informal class test and how many tears fell on mountains of books that covered my bedroom floor around exam times. For me no test was "unimportant" and the idea of disappointing a teacher was unthinkable (could I make myself sound any cooler?) and so, if I could go back and visit first-year Mollie, I'd tell myself to lay off the pressure a little.

3. Don't leave everything to the last minute.

I don't know about you, but another reason I became so stressed around test times was because I had a terrible habit for leaving everything to the last minute. The only thing was though, as I mentioned before, I was not willing to settle for second best with my work which is why no matter how long I put off work, if staying up all night the week before a deadline to get it done was necessary, I'd do it. Not the most practical approach to life.

4. Don't wear flip-flops to school.

Enough said.

5. Don't compare your progress and your work to others'. 

This is something I think we are all guilty of in many aspects of life - work, relationships, appearence etc. - and it's not healthy. There's no point comparing yourself to others because no matter what, you're not them. You are not a clone and so you obviously don't have the same strengths and weaknesses and so any comparison you make to another person/people isn't valid because it isn't a fair judgment. I only did standard grade biology but I know what a fair experiment looks like.
Besides, when you stop focusing on what others are doing you can start focusing on what you're doing which is what will actually get you somewhere. During 5th year English, I used to always compare myself to the "cleverclogs" of the class which meant that no matter how much I progressed, in my eyes it wasn't good enough unless it was up to their standard. Until one day I thought, "right, well this isn't getting me anywhere, let's start focusing on my work and seeing how I can progress from my previous work" and after that, my grades literally got so much better until I managed to get one of the highest grades in the class in an essay. All because I stopped comparing myself to others and focused on my own work.

6. Don't be ashamed to be yourself.

From the first day of highschool I was very aware of what I did, said, wore and took part in because, like every teenager in highschool, I was just trying to fit in. This sometimes resulted in me feeling restricted on how much I could show others who I was for fear of judgment. But the thing is, who cares what somebody thinks? Does the fact that someone doesn't like your laugh make the joke any less funny? Is someone's opinion on your hair going to make it fall out? No. It has no impact whatsoever on you physically in anyway and so we should choose not to let it affect us mentally. Don't let anyone tell you not to be yourself. We're all designed to be unique in our own way and highschool is the perfect opportunity for you to begin to find yourself and your identity so make the most of it!

7. Do enjoy every moment of it.

There have been a lot of "don't"s so far in what I'd like to tell my younger self but at the end of the day, despite doing all of these things that on reflection I should have tried to avoid, I'm still here, I had fun, I got good grades and I have lots of happy memories. The point of highschool is not what you shouldn't do anyway, it's what you should do and what you can do. Highschool is where you can make some life-long friends, discover your likes and dislikes and opinions on the world, learn some amazing things and take some great opportunities. Sure there's pros and cons here and there but you never really appreciate what you have until it's gone. Now that I've left school I can really see what an amazing journey it has been with more wonderful memories than I can count on my fingers and toes. So if I could visit little nervous Mollie in her shirt and tie and blushing cheeks, I'd tell her the most important thing to do at highschool is treasure every moment of it.


Mollie
♥

What would you tell your younger self? Is there anything you would have done differently?

Exciting Things Ahead

Hello everyone.

It's been a while since I last uploaded (a week) because I didn't upload my usual "Mollie'sThoughts" post on Monday. Sorry for deserting you for so long *cuddle*. Well, I say I didn't upload a Mollie'sThoughts post but in truth I did, I just didn't keep it up. It was written very quickly and my heart wasn't in it and so it was only up for a night and a morning before I decided to take it down. I think quality rather than quantity is what I'd prefer to advertise on my blog (though I will of course upload at least once a week for you lovely people) which is why I didn't want to just post it for the sake of it if I wasn't happy with the quality. Anyway, now that I've finished nattering.
I'd like to start off by saying I was so pleased to get some really nice comments on my last post-link. It's so lovely to hear from you guys! There's a massive difference between seeing the number of page views on a blog and seeing the number of comments. Of course I appreciate everyone who reads my posts but seeing that someone has taken the time to leave a comment is really nice. As is putting a face to a reader as it helps me to find your blogs so that I can visit your page too!

Now in my last post, I talked about everything that I wanted to achieve in 5 years times so in this post I thought I write about the steps I'm taking in order to achieve these goals and it's all very exciting. So here's a list of what I've been doing/planning so far.

1. Travelling goal: Rome

That's right, I'm going to Rome! I'm actually going to be doing a little travelling and it's very soon. You see my dad works in IT and so he has to travel a lot to help out with programs and systems all around the world (though I'm convinced he's secretly a spy and that's why he travels so much) and this time he's going to Rome. As a joke I said "Oh, can I come too?" and we kind of chatted about it a bit, and then said nothing of it. A few days later and he says "You're going to Rome.". Yay! So in less than a months time I'll be heading over to Rome for 3 days with my dad. He'll be working some of the time and for safety reasons I'll be staying in the hotel during the hours he's away but we will still have the afternoon of the first day,  late afternoon of the second day and most of the 3rd day to explore Rome! I'm so excited!

2.Travelling/ Volunteering/Growing in Faith Goal: ABBAS Rest

Now this one is a work in progress and may not work out however there are other opportunities that are similar that I will look into if this doesn't work out. ABBAS Rest is a Christian charity that helps orphans in Africa in places that other charities have not yet reached. This charity is owned by people that my parents and the churches on Arran know as it is a Scottish charity and they visit Arran sometimes and so I am going to e-mail them about possibly going with them to Africa to volunteer for a few week some time next year depending on their schedules. It would be an amazing opportunity however it is hanging in the balance as we don't know their plans for next year so all I can do is ask. And if it doesn't work at least I've began to aim for my volunteering goal in a big way!

3. Becoming a film-maker: Camera and Laptop

Despite my inability to walk into a shop and leave without having purchased at least one item, I have somehow over the summer earned enough money to buy myself a decent camcorder (as I've mentioned) and now a laptop of my own! (I use my parents' usually) And so now I have the resources necessary to begin making more videos more easily. Hooray.

4. Becoming a film-maker: University

Of course, in order to become a qualified film-maker I shall have to study it and the place I'd love to study film would be at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. They have an amazing course which doesn't just involve talking about film, it involves making them! It's very exclusive however so I will of course have back-up universities. The reason I'm mentioning this now is because the application process is fast approaching (ahh, slow down!) as are the open days so I have them to work towards.

5. Creating my own business: Bags, cushions, cards

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my goals is to one day have my own successful business where I sell lots of different products with my floral artwork on them. So far my dad has kindly helped me look into it and has found a website which could print my artwork onto canvas bags. Just now we are in the process of sending a photo to this company in order to get a quote for how much the printing will cost.

Also relating to this goal, today was the first day of the exhibition of mine and my two classmates' artwork from our Advanced Higher course. Each year at the cafe/shop where I now work, artwork from the highschool students is exhibited for a few days. Usually there is art shown from different year groups but as the cafe has been re-designed there is now less room and so there is only enough room for the Advanced Higher work. This is good news for me and my friends who took Advanced Higher though as we have at least 7 of our A1 sheets on show each and so we are able to get our artwork promoted for selling! Hopefully this will begin to attract attention for my bags and cards aswell once I get them printed. If you would be interested in purchasing some of my artwork (you can find some examples of my work here) then feel free to contact me at molliesart@hotmail.co.uk.

So there we are. My first baby steps towards reaching my goals. I know some aren't finalised and are only beginnings but I thought I'd share them with you anyway so you can follow their progress. I can't wait to see how/whether things come together. I will of course keep you informed of progress.
Much love,

Mollie

♥

What steps are you taking to achieve your goals? What advice do you have for making your dreams a reality?

In 5 Years Time

Hello everyone.

Sorry for a late blog post this week but it's been a busy one with work so I've been exhausted. This is why I'm not going to do my typical review of my week post today because it's literally been work, work, work and I don't want to bore you with dishes and coffees. Instead, I thought I'd keep on topic from last week and talk about what I hope to achieve in 5 years time.

Now you may not know, whether you know me or not, that I tend to be a very passionate person. If I set a goal for myself then I want to achieve it and I'll put my very all into it. This can obviously be a good thing but it can also be stressful because once I have my heart so set on achieving a goal, I often end up getting very cross with myself and upset if I fall even a baby step short of what I was trying to achieve. The good thing about being passionate though is that I do my very best to achieve my goals. So here is a list of 5 things that I am passionate to achieve in 5 years time.

Travel

I know that this is quite a common longing for most people these days but something I really want to try and do (as soon as possible) is travel! The fact that you can wake up one morning in the UK and go to bed in a completely different country amazes me. The idea that there a millions of people far away living their own lives and doing their own thing but in a different culture and language is incredible. In 5 years time I would love to have traveled  the world at least a little. And if I do, I will not just be sitting by the pool and soaking up the rays, (with sun cream of course) oh no, I want to get to know the culture of wherever I visit and communicate with the people who live there so I can really experience what life is like for people all around the world.

Volunteer 

This photo belongs to the Butterfly Tree charity.

This is a really big one for me. I am so passionate about giving back to others through charity work and since I was little I've had dreams of going to Africa to visit schools and charity organisations. In 5 years time I'd love to have had the opportunity to get involved in lots of volunteer work in the UK and elsewhere and have been able to change lives and raise money for charities all over the world. I think it's so important that we all do our part to help as many people as we can in our lives. The world would be such a better place if we did.


Study

For me, of course this studying would be in film. In 5 years time I'd love to be either finishing university, have finished university or be in a job involving film production. I've loved film all my life; from the age of 5 I was interrupting precious recorded family moments with my "Daddy, can i have a shot of the cameraaaaa?" and ever since I've made sketches with my friends and sisters, filmed and edited videos of family holidays and generally just played around with a camera. In 5 years time rather than just playing around with a camera, I'd love to be able to really use it in a professional environment so that I can have a career based around what I love.

Start up my own business

As well as developing a career in film I'd love to be able to one day own my own business. This business being one where I sell products with my floral artwork on them such as lamps, cushions, cake tins,  mugs, aprons etc. and maybe one day even clothing. This is something I am focusing on beginning in my gap year and right now I'm looking into getting some of my smaller paintings printed onto greetings cards. (If anyone has good connections to places that could print these I'd really appreciate the help). In 5 years time I'd love to have even a little product range of mine own and to be running a successful and enjoyable business.

Growing with God

I know some people won't share the same beliefs as me and this may not interest you and that's fine but God is a massive part of my life so I couldn't possibly leave this goal out. In 5 years time I hope to develop my Christian faith by getting more involved in Scripture Union and church events so that I can learn more about Jesus and become closer to God. I also hope to study the Bible and have a greater understanding of what it contains. I can't wait to see how God intervenes in my life in these 5 years and how He pathes the way for me as I set out to achieve all of these goals and I know that without Him, none of these will be possible.


So there we have it, my five goals to try and achieve in five years time. I know that this time in my life is crucial as it can shape the kind of person I'm going to be and what I'm going to do. That's why I wanted to write this post so that no matter what I get up to I can look back and remember what is I set out to do so that I will always be working towards these goals. Check back in five years time (I'm certain that I'll still be blogging then) and we can see how I've got along! Don't only come back then though, I have plenty of posts to keep you going until then!

Mollie

♥

What do you hope to achieve in 5 years time? Do you have any similar goals?