Starting the new year right...

I wish my January had been more eventful than it actually was! I don't think I really had much of a break over Christmas - it was just more of the same. The PC World sale continued (the joy...) and eventually my hours have tailed off there. I was so hungover on New Years' Day, thanks to Neil I found myself at a house party on New Years' Eve, leaving at 3am and waking up at 7am for work the next day. I actively judged those people who went shopping at 9am on New Years' Day. They should have been in bed hungover like the rest of us were!

Yet again, in a second job I am fighting for hours in order to stay in York! I think I should be ok, but it is motivating me to look for another job. Ultimately, the only reason I have this second job is so that I can stay at BBC Radio York, which is the main passion at the moment. I am enjoying the time off, since I feel like I can breathe again and sort my affairs - there is no way that I would be able to sort a house out on full time hours!

Of course, the downside is a lack of money. I did ask (and ask again) for more work, and the reply was "make sure you sell better". Sigh. It is to be expected in such a place I guess. What it does mean is that I can devote more time to my Radio York stuff, I have a lifeline in the form of Neil's afternoon show and a jazz slot to do with what I want. Perhaps if I left PC World I wouldn't be able to do all of this, so I may have to see how things pan out. It's also been great that I can pick up more hours because of this snowy weather, which I wouldn't be able to do if I was at Clifton Moor working.

In better news, I think I may have sorted a house out! It will be great to reclaim my independence again, I don't think I realised how much I missed it after university. Sure, it is great living with my mum again but I am eager to stand on my own two feet. It's been great to have her support for the moment though.

So looking ahead, I will now be able to do things as I want. Take driving lessons, make some more friends here and keep politely pestering to be paid for anything and everything. Onwards and upwards!

A Retrospective Look at 2012

So 2012 is coming to a close for me, and this time I find myself sat in BBC Radio York writing a retrospective look on my year. I think I will break it down in to various sections, so that those who bother to read the whole thing can find it easily digestible!

University

Well the bubble popped and I finally left Lincoln. How can I be negative about my time there? I just cannot. I whinged, complained and moaned no end throughout - but when I look back on the last few months I spent there they really were the best ones. Yes, I was stressed, yes I was overworked but look what came of it. I got a 1st class honours degree and the past three years were somehow validated for me. I had made the right choice, and I had done all the right things.

The award was rather nice too. I didn't expect that at all, but it was very pleasing to think that my work had been recognised by the university. In January I got a taste of the real world, going to RAF Waddington and asking Nick Clegg himself a question. I was shaking like jelly afterwards but the thrill was immense. I knew I wanted more after that.

Looking back on the people I knew there, I do miss a select few of them dearly. The friends I spent many a drunken night with are so far away now and it is difficult to not feel lonely up here sometimes. Of course, it couldn't last forever and we all had to go our separate ways but it doesn't change the way I miss them. James, Sam(s), Jordan, Ellie and the like - they were incredibly supportive to me and I will always be grateful for that. It's sad to say that I don't miss a few of my course mates. I think the stress got to us all in the end and quite a few tempers were frayed.

It was in February that I started my work experience placement at BBC Radio Lincolnshire. I remember being incredibly cynical about it all. I told myself "there is no way that answering a few phones at a radio station will lead me anywhere". I had to get up at stupid hours, to walk a few miles up the hill...and for what? My break came when I heard about the Howard Leader programme, which played jazz and dance on a Sunday afternoon. Well I jumped at the chance to do it! Things went from there, to me having my own slot each week - I was living the dream and I lived for Sundays. Playing my own record transfers on the BBC was a dream come true, it really was. I made sure to send Howard a Christmas card this year to express my thanks for the help he gave to me.

When I think back to my time at University, like I said earlier - it has a golden gloss over it. I had security, more money than I have now I'm a graduate, a decent roof over my head and complete independence. Gosh how I miss it all.

A proud graduate with my lovely sister

Making the transition to the world of work

You know, I still wonder how I actually did that. One minute I was eagerly volunteering at Radio Lincolnshire and the next week I was being marched in to Radio York thanks to Dom McAndrew who had recommended me. I still remember my first time there, still in awe at how new the place was - and feigning the fact that I had some vague knowledge about how it all worked.

In actual fact, it was a horrendously steep learning curve for me. Learning how the breakfast programme works took a few weeks, but thanks to some fortunate timing I was working straight on that and the mid-morning show. It was certainly a fun experience.

Then it all came to a screeching halt. Lawrence returned and all the progress I made was shelved and forgotten. I didn't at that time feel like an outside any more which was great - so I went to work on the evening programming with Sandie Dunleavy.

Fast forward a few months and it was my only job. I was scraping by, just being able to afford the rent to mum and little else. I was getting severely depressed after an amazing month and going to the Job Centre wasn't helping much either.

I decided to apply to PC World in the hope it would lead somewhere, and I was extremely surprised that they interviewed me and later accepted me with them. This is surprising considering I was 30 minutes late to my interview due to an out of date map given to me by the job centre. I was also dripping wet because of the wind!

So here I have been for the past few months now working there. It really is a mixed bag. On one hand I do enjoy meeting new people every day, they all have a different story to tell and I love chatting to them. On the other hand, the sheer pressure to sell is starting to get to me. Being pulled up and told I've not sold enough insurance, cover, antivirus or setup is about as demotivating for me as I can think of. Every transaction is logged and scrutinised and it really irritates me! I wish I could say I cared about the place as much as Radio York, but I am only seeing it as a place to earn some money in the short term, I think it would drive me crazy if I stayed there much longer.

Looking ahead to the new year, the situation with the above is uncertain. My hours have been cut to 0 because of the joys of "Delivering Quality First". I believe my hours at PC World will also shrink due to the Christmas boom being over. I do have some small salvation, and my jazz knowledge has paid off this time! I'm going to be looking at jazz in York on Neil Foster's Sunday culture programme, which will actually be paid. It won't be as much as I am earning now but it is a way to stay in the proverbial loop at least.

I do wish that York was a cheaper place to live. Even though the 39 hours at PC World give me adequate income on the minimum wage, rent in York is so unbelievably expensive that it means I will really have to take the cheapest place I can find.

Jazz

This really is one of the few things which keeps me happy in life. The syncopation and the friends which go with it are great. Obviously the highlight of my jazz year is the Whitley Bay Jazz Festival. Taking an organising hand in this event is a huge honour, but all I care about is that the festival continues in some shape or form. It's evident in the smiles of the guests, the jazz men and women and the wonderful comments I hear.

I wish I had the time to carry on my trumpet playing, as my progress has just stopped. Living in an apartment block and working sometimes up to 10 hours a day is a bad combination, because I get home and I would disturb too many people!

In another sad note, I feel that the amount of time that I have been devoting to my Youtube channel. Although the recent amount of buys at the Birmingham Record Fair has been a massive help to the things I can share, given my current financial state it is impossible for me to buy any more records now. My current plan until finances improve is to stagger my uploads so that I can keep things going. It is a great boost to do this though. People write to me telling me all sorts: how they listen to my work many times over; how they play my videos on their home cinema systems; at parties and more! The more touching ones are from the older people who say that it brings back memories of their childhood for them.

Some resolutions and looking ahead

Did I achieve what I set out to do? This year certainly has been an eventful one. I started it as a student and I ended it in some form of employment. It is hard to know whether I am frustrated at myself for lack of effort at trying to get a good job, the economic situation which I cannot help or a combination of the two.

In the short term, my priorities are clear: find a house, learn to drive and get a job. In that order. I am determined to make it a better year than the messy end of this one!

Looking back at the blog I wrote this time last year, this sentence struck a chord with me:

"The main focus this year will be finding meaningful employment, something that's going to be very difficult. The chief concern will be finding a roof over my head if it doesn't work out."

How things come full circle eh? I guess I'm somewhere in that process now. I did achieve a 1st which really gave me a spring in my step, so that is one resolution fulfilled.

My resolution this year will be to get serious media employment in radio. I don't care what, or how - it is going to happen. Staying in York is the first step towards this! I am also going to try and be a bit less negative than I have been at times this year. I know things are difficult, but I am still a lucky man. Finally - to get back in to my beloved trumpet playing!

So now to find a photo that sums up my year. After 21 years of love and care, my very proud mother got the chance to see me graduate with a 1st class Honours degree. I can see the pride in her face.

Okay 2013, let's see what you've got.

"It's that little extra something that the others haven't got"

The lyrics from one of my Durium records seemed appropriate for this blog post. Today I got to speak as part of the LSJ's graduate panel of people employed in the media after their time at university. Perhaps it's because we do have that little extra something.

I know that in previous blog posts I have expressed an immense amount of frustration at the slow progress that wasn't being made in my recent life, however when I was sitting in front of the projector glare and a sizeable bunch of eager students it made me realise just how lucky I am. 

I guess the first realisation came when we were herded into the SirenFM studios, to be interviewed by a rather eager MA student about what advice we'd give for people wanting to get in to broadcasting. A quick trip to the pub later, and we were sat infront of the lecture hall full of students. 

The questions were quite run of the mill. If I'm honest, I did gloss over that work is incredibly hard, fighting for hours is hard, and I tried to concentrate on the positive side of things. Let's not shatter any bubbles just yet, eh? Seeing all my tutors as a graduate and media employee was also a wonderful experience, I genuinely feel like most of them are proud parents now. It also reminds me that I should keep in the loop with them more often, since they really do have the best knowledge that I need.

The main thing that I've found useful about today is just to get a sense of perspective for how far I've come. This time last year I was one of those students sat in the lecture hall, wondering if I would ever make it on to that stage myself. I was going to the BBC Lincolnshire placement scheme apparently in awe of what the breakfast team were doing there, and now look what I do!

I still have an awful long way to go, but I remember saying to Sam - "I know if I get invited back that I will have made it in life". Perhaps I was correct?