National Citizen Service (NCS)

Hi my lovelies,
Let’s talk about NCS!
NCS stands for National Citizen Service… it’s for 15-17 year olds where you live away from home experiencing new skills new tasks, explore who you really are, boost your CV, make new friends etc.


What is NCS?

NCS is a 4 week program taken place in spring, summer, autumn.

1st week (phrase 1) adventure somewhere away from where you live but still in the UK. There you’ll learn to overcome any fears, live independently, new skills etc. Camp style…

Every Friday of the first two weeks you’ll be leaving to go home so weekends are at home.

2nd week (phrase 2) discovery so you’ll be at a local university leaving home and learning university skills such as budgeting, cooking and living by yourself and experience whether university is for you or not? Of course your team members and a member of staff will be near by at all times! So  rest assured!

3rd and 4th week is social action project weeks where you’ll be home up downing to your team’s chosen project and its location that could be a charity, community service anything you feel passionate about as a team!

AND Finally graduation day where you look back at the beautiful and awesome memories you made and feel proud as to where you came as individuals and as a team! Congratulations for reaching here!

Now I’ll share my NCS story…
Hi, I’m komal (who was 16 years old when I did NCS 2015, just after finishing my GCSEs at school) I asked my parents whether I should do NCS or not and they replied “Of course you should!” So I did!

Nervous, anxious, scared, worried but a little happy that I applied for NCS despite going alone without a friend or anyone. So my parents paid £50 on my behalf for transport, food, accommodation everything included in that £50. With my 1-2 suitcases of important items mentioned on the NCS email, I got on board with the NCS crew and students and headed for camp.
On the way there. We played games, talked to our couch partners to break the ice and had fun!
We finally reached and we all carried our suitcases to the allocated room where we had to rest, eat and start our first activity etc. Then we got allocated tents and tent partners 6 people in one tent so 3 on each side of tent. I had 2 very supportive tent members which I shared my tent area with, who were also my team members too! Lucky me! 

That week we did various activities and skills such as talent show, rock climbing but with a tree, team building exercises, 10k expedition etc. Scared of heights but I did it! And a phone call to my mum who encouraged me as always to carry on and to remember why I started in the first place. So thank you, Mummy, and my team members and staff members for putting up with me as I was ill too! Home on Friday night was blissful.

Thanks for reading, bye!

Adulting 101

Banks in 🇬🇧 

Hi my lovelies, 

How are you all?

Today I'll be talking about banking, driving, budgeting, and more! Basically how to adult 101?!

I don't know about you or how it works in your country/city, but here in the UK, we get our national insurance number by the age of 16 (NI number) which means this number will help you get ; the correct wage amount, applying for provisional or driving license and more! Age 16 you can Blood donate too!

By the age of 17/18 you can apply for provisional driving license, open a bank account under your name, can take theory test and driving lessons, apply for university or apprenticeship, apply for a credit card etc. You can legally drink alcohol too as long as you have a valid ID such as driving license/passport/provisional license/ college ID etc. And you can move out of your parent's house and live independently too! 

So let's talk about banking: 2 types of banking, there's current account and savers account. Current account you can transfer/withdraw/deposit cash under your name via debit card, credit card, PayPal etc. Savers account is where it saves money for you. Check the link below for more information.

https://youtu.be/zB61zs3YM0o

Credit card vs debit card?

Debit card: the money you spend at a grocery store etc comes out from your bank account however credit card is when you use bank's or someone else's money for temporary uses. More information click the link here- https://youtu.be/XbtSftL6dbY

So now that you know the difference between savers account and current account you can open up your bank account in three ways: through the bank's website, through mobile phone or by taking an appointment and physically opening your account however you prefer. 👇🏼https://youtu.be/uGs6CSlkc8Q 

                           ☝🏽️ 

Either way you'll need your proof of identity i.e. Passport, proof of your address i.e.Utilities  bill under your name that is under 3 months old or bring parents with you if physically opening account/ parent's bill if opening via mobile or website, if you want to manage your bank account on the go by mobile banking then download the bank app you want an account with before going in the bank and during your appointment the staff member can set this up for you.  No national insurance number needed anymore! I asked. 

Driving : theory test, provisional license, main driving license and driving lessons.

LPOD Academy on YouTube helps me review and revise for my theory revision and also gives practice tests per topic which I love to do after each revision topic. 56 videos or so in total!  Dvla helps too if you're in the UK. Purchase or download the Highway Code book, the traffic signs book etc mentioned in LPOD Academy videos and revise and then go and give the theory test at the centre near you and hope you pass!

Apply for provisional license by going on the gov website shown below:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-provisional-driving-licence 

After going on this website, it'll tell you to fill the details so make sure you have your passport, NI number etc by hand and enter everything correctly and your provisional license should come within 1-2 weeks approximately. 

Check these videos and YouTube playlists down below out for more on budgeting, sorting stuff out etc.

Vassur👇🏼

Do check these websites, YouTube videos, tips and links out and comment and share your views on them and let us know if they were helpful or not! Me and Prabhpreet will love to know! Hopefully at least one of these will help you out! 

~Komal

Life Updates| Prabhpreet

Hello, everybody!

As Komal did a life updates post last week, I thought I would do a life updates post of my own. Especially because I have some super exciting announcements to make!

First off, let’s begin with the bestest (hush, it’s a word now!) and most exciting change in my life since the past couple of weeks. Ahhh, I never thought I would be saying this… I started a YouTube channel…

Yes! I started a YouTube channel! Here is the link, if you want to go check it out; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wzNeoiZYEJrQQQvMOlxGA

Sub, like, comment all that good stuff!

The second big change is that I will be starting University soon! Yay or nay, I haven’t decided yet. I’m super excited and mildly nervous to be going to university. At least I’m going to a local one, I can’t imagine how nervous those people would be who would be moving away to another city.

This means that for those of you who are going to Uni or will be going next year, my above-mentioned YouTube channel will be your saviour! I will be breaking down all the things you could possibly need to know; from the application process, all the way into your first week at Uni! I will be making videos and vlogs about the whole experience to help those of you out who are going to Uni at some point and are nervous about it. If, like me, you are confused about Fresher’s Week- I will be explaining all that jazz to you as well. I got you! I know what it’s like stepping into something without knowing what to expect.

Recently I have had a job working at MacDonald’s. I have been working for them for a couple of months now and I sure have a lot to say! All of that, however, will be in a future video! I’m so excited to film that so I can rant, LOL! If you want to know what it’s really like working at Maccies, subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss the video when I upload it!

Recently, I have been doing a lot more with my time and using it to do things I like to do and actually want to do which is making me a happier person. This is why I encourage anyone who is reading to also do whatever will make them happy and put their efforts into something that will be worthwhile.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you’re also going Uni this year/next and if there’s things you are unsure about or worried about so I can cover them in my upcoming video!

See you again next week, same place and same time!

Life Updates | Komal

Hi my lovelies,

This week I will be doing a quick little update blog about what I have been up to in my life. If you are interested in the things I have been up to or have similar experiences, leave a comment below and we would love to hear from you!


I have finished my level 2 beauty therapy course. Restarted volunteering at a local radio station called Sabras Radio which I love as it’s flexible, creative and admin related. I did three days at Sabras and the other three days at my mum’s parlour helping observing attending. Best of both worlds for me! Media and beauty!

I enjoy life more than before, which is awesome! My health is okay. Nothing major! Thank goodness.  Just get dizziness etc at times but otherwise, I’m happy and healthy.

 I eat healthy food, but I do indulge in the guilty pleasures of junk food from time to time.

My house is still having work done and  I am settling i to my new house slowly.  Our new parlour (salon) is working great and renovated.

One last thing I can remember as of now, since I finished college, I’m looking for a media apprenticeship or job. Something that interests me and makes me happy. Beauty is my back up, as of now, but that could be my career as well. We shall see. Going to learn driving hopefully soon as well!

Bye for now. See you soon in my next post. Stay happy, healthy, strong &beautiful/handsome. Stay true to yourself!

Ways of the World| A Poem

You can never win.

People and their expectations.

Got their eyes peeled like a hawk,

just waiting for you to make one wrong move

So that they can move their pieces accordingly

and yell “checkmate!” as they knock you down

to watch your despair to make themselves feel better

That’s the thing

People make others feel bad just to hide their own insecurities

Not realising that there is no peace in hurting others

That’s exactly what makes them feel worse.

The constant cycle goes on and on,

These are the ways of the world.

~Prabhpreet

Back to School: Everything You Need to Know!

Hey my lovelies,

 Komal here today, talking all things back 2 school...

  I know, I know no one wants to start school and wake up super early, especially after late nights and having summer break where you either slept a lot, partied all day every day or you were just at a holiday…

…BUT…

 School doesn't always have to be boring because you might be seeing your friends, teachers, classmates after a long time and that's cool. Time to catch up on everything with them.

 New challenges, new you, new attitude and a new school year!

Embrace your school experiences as it all either makes you happy or stronger in the future, even the negatives can sometimes change you and your life for the better.

For example, if you're bullied or you get low grades, that all adds up so make negatives turn into positives. Don't let it break you down instead rise above it and succeed, work your butt off or laugh it off, it kills anyone else that is spreading negative thoughts and vibes to you or around you. I assure you. Been there, done that!

Wake up early morning and be grateful to have an amazing opportunity to learn, to experience life make friends do whatever makes you happy. Join clubs, channel your inner beauty inner peace and follow that.

Buy cute stationary supplies, buy cute clothes for school (if you have no uniform that is otherwise try and custom your uniform somehow), buy that cute water bottle. Basically, anything that will make you feel better about school. Cute planner... okay I’m going to stop now!

 

 Watch back 2 school videos such as morning routine/ night routine etc for more ideas. It helps me and my sister when starting school college or university wherever you're going. (My sister is starting year 8 this week, and by the time this post is uploaded it'll be her 3rd day back) and she’s very happy to see her friends and teachers etc and she loves learning like I do ❤️

After school food and what to do?     

I got you covered, don't you worry! 😉

I don't know about you but when I used to come back from school, I used feel so hungry! 😋 I could eat the whole fridge, which isn't healthy, I know! Even though I'd have had breakfast and lunch, I'd be hungry so I would grab the crap such crisps etc. NOW if I'm hungry after school then I'll either have my dinner early, then just eat cereal or fruits later on if I'm still hungry. Alternatively, I now grab a banana, make a fruit bowl or sandwich and then have dinner with my family later on.

 

 Okay, enough of the food talk. Let's talk after school routine. Come home, chill out for some time. I'd chill for 1 -2 hours depending on if I have homework or not. Otherwise I’d be scrolling through social media, YouTube or watching TV while I eat a snack or my early dinner.  Afterwards, I'd go upstairs, change into PJs or lounge wear. Then I get my planner, my pencil case, my homework out and start doing my homework according to what is due first or according to what is hard for do so I do that first. That way, at least I know that I've done this so now I can carry on with easier or less complicated work then I'm less likely to stress over it.  I would do two more homeworks if I'm feeling productive; that way let's say Monday and Tuesday's work is complete then on next day I'll do the other 1-2 homework etc because I used to leave everything last minute so I'd do it all together then at least I'm not stressing out!

 

Now that chill time, homework time, snack time is done ✅ you can have dinner if you haven't already, do any chores you have to do, then relax, watch TV or a film. Now that you're done with your tasks for that day, goodnight sweet dreams 💤😴 and repeat the next day!

 

~ Komal