Catch up!

I have been neglecting my blog for a long time now and I feel guilty! So I thought I would take out some time and write up a catch up of the past few weeks and what has been happening.

The first thing I want to talk about is how exciting it is to be doing my placement at my local primary school! It's been so insightful and has definitely been such an eye opening experience and I have only been there for two weeks. The reason I am doing this is because I have quite a few careers which interest me and I thought the best way to get an idea of where I want to head down is by getting a taste of different jobs. So, first on my list was primary school teacher - now this has been my firm choice of career for the past few years now so I always knew I would want to get experience in a classroom, BUT! Towards the end of first year at university, I started getting other ideas and was thinking about different jobs.

Anyway, more on my placement - I chose a placement module for my second year so it was essential for me to be getting some experience and so I chose a primary school. It was quite a long process; I think it took me a good two months to get everything sorted (who would have thought?) I had an informal meeting talking about what I wanted to do in the future and what I hope to get out of this experience, I had to apply for a DBS - this was what took a while, but after a few weeks of waiting, it was made clear that I was not a convict or a vigilante! - And then I was good to go. I am in a year 3 classroom and I have to say, it has been such a valuable experience. The teacher is amazing; she is understanding and really wants me to get the most out of this placement. It's almost like being behind the scenes of a movie, you see it on screen but when you actually look at the process of the whole thing, it's completely different. I get to (obviously) work with the children, go into the staff room - now that was surreal, when I was at school I always use to think the staff room was a magical place where the teachers went to have fun, now I realise it is a magical place made of caffeine. That morning coffee/tea is a blessing - I get to talk to the teachers about their experiences and it's helpful to understand that there is a lot of hard work involved and that weekends consist of copious amounts of tea and marking. This experience is for me to understand what goes into becoming a primary school teacher - I have come to learn that you have to be extremely passionate about this job, you can't float about and it is trying, when you have 30 children asking 50 questions in the space of 2 minutes, it is exhausting. I think at the end of this placement, I will have a firm idea of whether this is the route I want to go down but for the time being, I am enjoying being behind the scenes.

The Oscars.

What a night! A mixture of thrills, excitement and a sprinkle of magic. The photographer's flash being the starry background which makes it all seem like a dream.

My highlight has definitely got to be Lupita's win. It was expected but that never took away the magic in her voice and her speech, it made it all the more real:

'No matter where you are from, your dreams are valid'

This inspiring, final sentence really blew me away. Not only does it portray her dedication to her work but it also motivates others out there to strive for your dreams, it certainly makes me want to chase my dreams even more.

She made an even bigger place in my heart with her speech on beauty when she accepted the 'Best Breakthrough Performance' Award (i shall attach a link to the video so you can all be inspired). I cannot express how much I love this woman! Talented, humble and passionate.

Overall, the night was exactly what i anticipated and more. The Oscars truly are what dreams are made of.

Lupita on beauty.

BAZAAR

My inspiration:

HARPER'S BAZAAR

If you followed my link then you will be reading this which means i have been successful in gaining your attention. Despite being an English student (we are taught to condense what we are trying to say) i cannot box up my points because i have too much to say and i like jotting my thoughts down without condensing the small, yet relevant parts.

HB is all about delivering a "sophisticated" perspective into the world of fashion, beauty and popular culture on a monthly basis. It in not just a magazine but a home to talent such as Robert Frank and Patrick Demarchelier, who capture the beauty of fashion and couture. Writers such as  Daisy Fellowes whose work continues to inspire many aspiring writers such as myself. If i could become a part of something so great, i know i could excel. I want to write about London Fashion week. I want to research what Cara Delevigne wore on the catwalk.

I have had the 'Harper's Bazaar work experience' bookmark saved on my laptop for many months now, wanting to perfect my answer to your question. I have spent months collecting ideas and ways to ascertain that i could be picked/considered for this role and it's been challenging. yet at the same time, i have enjoyed that challenge. And whilst thinking of ways to answer the question, it made me realise that this is something i really want because i haven't been so passionate and dedicated about something in such a long while. 

I have come to realise, i want this. I see myself out there researching the latest news, staying on top of current events, talking about issues which make me feel buzzed. I don't know if me writing this is going to intrigue you or repel you but even if it gains either response, i am pleased because you are reading this. I am being given a chance to display how much i want this role.
I believe being mad about something means having to show that and i didn't want to show you my passion about this in just simple black and white characters, i wanted to go beyond so you could get an insight into my character.

I hope for you to contact me in the hopes of being chose and i shall eagerly await your response.

Thank you,

Amerjt Kang.

The Oscars await.

It's that time of year when grand dresses decorate the red carpet and men in tuxes accompany the beautiful women. The stars are filled with anticipation and excitement as they await the winning announcements. The Oscars really are what dreams are made of. With the photographers yelling over one another, begging the star to fix their gaze on their lens in hope of capturing an ounce of the anticipation brewing inside them. The air is full of nourished dreams, as each nominee awaits to hold the gold glazed trophy. To be acclaimed for a role each and every one has worked so hard for, to be appreciated by the world of entertainment, by each adoring fan.
Watching these actors walk down the  iconic red carpet is such a monumental moment, their faces are alight with anticipation. Mentally adjusting their prepared speeches in the hopes of their names being read out, it must be such a "blur"moment, when everything around them is paused. The moment when just for a second, everything goes quiet followed by an eruption of applause and screams. How do they even begin to compose themselves?
Just imagine being in that moment, from the very first instant when you discover you have been nominated, alongside other such credible actors. All the way to the night, sitting down and waiting for the name to be read out, your name? The moments leading up to the announcement would be the most thrilling. Heart pumping, adrenaline coursing through your veins, fists clenched, eyes glazed over with the wait. The intensity of the wait alone could tire one out.
Everything is alight with passion and dedication. It's a dream. Just being there, soaking up the night would be such a pleasure.

Wolfish Leo.

The Wolf of Wall Street. What can i say about this movie that will suffice? It is one of those movies which are made for certain actors and fair to say, Leo is one of those actors. The scenes in which he encourages his staff, it was as if the entire cinema was willing to blindly follow this man to hell and back, he was that genuine. His voice was coarse at the end of it but it never faltered but made him all the more determined. How can a man commit to his role so much? Clinging on to it as if it were the last source of oxygen.

This film had it all:

• obscenity (over 18s only)
• comedy
• sexiness (not to be confused with just sex)
• excitement 
• raucousness

I was sat watching Leo and i could not believe how brilliantly he excelled in every shot. He was selling himself to the world of entertainment and we bought every little bit of it. This film is outrageously crazy which adds to the greatness of it. The drugs and the sex put into perspective the wild life Jordan Belfort is addicted to, not taking into account how far from reality he has strayed which adds to the complexity and tension of the movie. The scene which involves the meeting with Agent Denham and Belfort take this film to a different level of intensity. It is a scene full of banter (in want of a better word) yet at the same time a sardonic atmosphere is in place as the audience is unsure whether Denham is being reeled in by Belfort's efforts to bribe him.

The element which makes this movie truly is exceptional is the lack of remorse Belfort displays despite being crushed by the reality of life. He exudes pride and attachment for his reign over Wall Street and it is DiCaprio's wolfish charms which really nail this movie.

Nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Actor in a Leading Role, hopefully this year the world gets to hear his winning speech.

100 most iconic hairstyles

Hair! So many inspirations (or should i say - hairspiratinon! ey? ey? no? okay, moving on). I saw an article on this in a magazine and there really are so many iconic hairstyles! I mean, there are hairstyles named after the celebs who rocked them and i think one of the most notorious would be 'The Rachel'. How many of us will recognise the style Rachel Green graced our screens with and still does. Even though she hated it, there were so many copycat styles and i think you could say that Jennifer Aniston's hair is still one of the most coveted in Hollywood. It's so classic and that is what makes it so achievable. If i could pull off her sleek, golden blonde tresses, i so would.

Fortunately, there are also dark haired styles which look amazing. Audrey Hepburn's hair in 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' has been one of the most iconic looks of all time. Not only does it emit timeless elegance but it also serves as an example of the 1950s hair trend - 'The Pixie Crop'. And we all know, that trend has definitely made a comeback - Emma Watson made front covers with her sleek new haircut which created a wave of copycats.

Amy Winehouse is also an icon when it comes to hair - 'The Beehive' has been imitated by everyone, everywhere. Winehouse's individual hairstyle paired with her signature eyeliner flicks created an incredibly distinctive look. The beehive is so simple to recreate - most people think you need to backcomb your hair large amounts, that is a myth - you really don't. Backcombing is bad for your hair anyway but doing it carelessly and randomly causes further damage. All you need to do it create a section where you want to backcomb your hair so the most common area would be the crown. Grab the hair and then section it into two - so top and bottom. Hold the top section at an angle and backcomb it in strokes - i cannot stress this enough, don't brush it backwards but use your comb/brush to stroke it gently. Repeat with the bottom part of your hair. Spritz it lightly with hairspray - if you spray it all over, the hair will become too heavy to stay which will cause it to collapse. Then use your fingers to put it into place, it doesn't need to be perfect but if you do want a smooth look, just use your comb/brush to just go over the top of your hair to tuck away any strays. Use grips to put hair into place. Done! Now you can enjoy your own iconic hair.

Approx time taken: 10 minutes.

why you should pick me

Describing yourself for jobs is quite daunting, mainly because you don't know where to start and you don't know what to say. This has been a problem for me so many times, I don't want to get stuck between the conventional, standard answer to the questions on screen - I mean, how many people are going to list themselves as 'hardworking, reliable, trustworthy' after a while, the person reading these answers is going to see 'blah blah blah'. Everyone is going to put down these "qualities" and let's say the employer who is going to pick the person most suitable for the job has received 100 applications, if they're all a string of descriptive words with a CV attached, what makes you different? Why should they pick you? What if the other person is more skilled? You're going to receive a rejection email or nothing at all and you will spend the next month looking at your phone screen hoping to receive a call. I don't want that to be the situation when I am applying for a job, I’ve been in that situation countless of times and I always think it's so unfair. Not because I didn't get the job but because of how I am being assessed. 'What makes you suitable for the job?' the conventional answer that would be accepted is to list your skills and back it up with some mundane example. Everyone is going to pick the best adjectives in the English dictionary - it isn't that difficult to describe yourself like you're the queen when you have Google by your side. For example, I want work experience with Vogue, who doesn't? And that is what makes it so difficult - everyone wants that. So when the application question is 'why should we pick you?' what do you do?

Surely being passionate is the best thing, is it not? If you have a strong want to put your all into the job, everything else follows: the hard work, the reliability, the "can do" attitude.
I know I need to put my all into the job I want because I see myself being somewhere, being a someone and for that I need to work hard, I need to put myself into the job and not do it because it gets me by. I don't want to live to work, I want to love the job and if I have a strong idea of what I want to do and where I want to be, only then would I apply for the job. But I get it, 1000s of people have a desire and an ambition, and we can all make ourselves look good on paper, whether you have experience or not. It's just annoying to see these questions across every job board because apparently it's the best way to figure out a person. I disagree - my issue is not with the question but the way it is expected to be answered. Even though employers ask these questions and give you 400 characters to form your answer, they are still looking for certain words to fill out the square box - it's ironic because you're being asked think outside of the box yet you're words are trapped.

The best answer would not be 'I can work hard and within a team because I worked in a group that one time' it should be I see myself being somewhere and I know I have to work hard to get there (a bit rough but you know what I mean). There are so many words you can use so why stick to the odd 100? Be daring, don't say you're creative - show it! Use words to your advantage. And if they don't want you, find something else. And I’m not going to say it's easy or smooth, because it isn't, I know it isn't but you have to keep trying, because no job is going to come up to you and say 'hey, work for me'. You have to look!

Bazaar appreciation

These beautiful shots have graced Harper's Bazaar magazine from all over the world: the UK, India, America - you name it! And they are amazing. Everything about them just leaves me in awe: the make up which ranges from full on to minimalistic. The photographer has really captured some wicked shots.
The first shot with the yellow powder is my favourite because it's so simple but so bright. It's been captured so artfully and the model in the photo is so beautiful - she has the timeless Linda Evangelista look (google her now if you don't know who i mean - i'm sure you will recognise her!) Bazaar magazine has used many celebrities to grace the front cover and some of my favourites include Jennifer Lawrence, Carey Mulligan, Penelope Cruz and of course, Jennifer Aniston. They have become almost iconic. I love seeing magazine covers with actresses on them because it's just so different to seeing them on screen - they're still but so animated!
I recommend anyone to buy these magazines because they're so amazing - if you appreciate art and beauty, you will not be disappointed.

samples of my writing

I thought because i mentioned that i'm very fond of writing and have been unloading my ideas on my laptop, i thought i would share that. I only write in snippits because i don't have the patience to write a whole novel (i would like to but i am always focusing on my degree) and i want to put my 100% when writing something and not end up with 40,000 words of something passionless. So because i write in small amounts, i have random pieces of writing lingering about, and they all cover different styles - my favourite has got to be thriller or writing in a narrative form.

here is one piece i wrote: inspired by 500 days of summer, and specifically the way Tom looks at Summer - like maybe she's magic.

His eyes slid over her silky body, silently praising her every curve. The dip of her waist, and how the hem of her dress danced around her smooth legs, every now and then revealing more of her satin skin. He inched closer and saw how her charcoal coloured hair shadowed her face, really bringing out her marble brown eyes. The kind of eyes which make the galaxies seem depthless, he could imagine himself swimming in those eyes, losing himself within her, wrapping himself around her inner most thoughts, becoming her every memory. The thought of moulding his lips around the supple shape of hers made him thirsty. This was it, this was her. 

needs a title i think, maybe i'll finish it off in the summer (like all the other 5348 pieces i have).

Greetings

Hello all,

Seeing as this is my first post i think introductions are mandatory - my name is Amerjit and i have had a blog in the past but i never had the time to write posts because i made one around the time of my a levels which was a grueling time (and i think i speak for everyone when i say that). But i have decided to come back as i have been writing for the past year and i wanted a space where i could keep a record of my thoughts. I have a tumblr as well on which i write but sometimes i get carried away just reblogging pictures of beautiful gowns and stunning make up - oops.
I'm not very good at describing myself because i find a string of descriptions to be quite mundane sometimes. You don't need to know I'm 19 and my favourite colour is a dark berry shade. I think seeing aspects of a person's life reflect more of what they are. So it's a good thing i uploaded all my pictures from my phone onto my laptop (my phone decided to breakdown so it's gone into repair so i decided to save all my precious memories and upload my pictures onto dropbox). I'm going to share a few of my photos which i consider to be highlights (usually of a good friend falling over or something like that - so be sure to have a look at those)

I think this blog will be a good way to unleash my thoughts - i mean, do you ever have those days where you have ideas pouring out and you don't know what to do with them? Despite your brain being a very handy memory stick sometimes you can forget (probably because of the shed load of data stored away) so i don't have a specific theme for this blog, i think it will just be everything and anything type of thing. I love movies so i will probably write up a response to the latest release (still need to watch wolf of wall street, in awe of Leo). I also love makeup (surprise) so if i have bought a new item or i am on the hunt for one, i will also be sharing that! My list continues to grow pretty much every day because i follow a lot of make up vloggers - such as Pixiwoo, Tanya Burr and Zoella - so i have make up envy whenever i watch them (i am sure most people will have an idea of who they are but if you don't, i will leave a link to their youtube channels so you can have a view).

And also, the biggest thing, i love writing, i always have but it's only been about a year that i have started to form my thoughts and put them on paper (aka laptop screen) so this site will also be a way to share my writing (whether anyone reads it or not is another matter haha). I hope to invest time into this blog and write, a lot.

Farewell (until the next post)!

Amerjit xxx

oh, here are the links:
zoella  http://www.youtube.com/user/zoella280390?hl=en-GB&gl=GB
tanya burr  http://www.youtube.com/user/pixi2woo
pixiwoo  http://www.youtube.com/user/pixiwoo

have fun creating endless lists of these lovely products!