What a win! A month of living the life of Riley & you got a get out of jail free card with your weight? Phew!
Yay for properly moving!
All the best for the week-long "interview"
Thank you! The week went well, which I'm super pleased about
hope all's well with you!
Diet and exercise has not been so great (key words: alcohol, BBQs, no exercise). It's made me realise how half the battle is getting over the mental barrier. I'll summarise what's going on for my own sake. It'll feel nice getting it off my chest if nothing else. May help with this journey when I have a chance to reflect on things!
LONG RAMBLING POST AHEAD!!! 
The day after my last blog post was a successful diet day. I went to Liverpool full of motivation. I was mentally up adding up the calories and carbs and I had plans to get up early the next day to hit the gym. Back to diets and accountability - life of Riley truly over! I had reason to feel good about the week as well. Apparently 600 people had applied to the Vacation Scheme. Those who passed impressed on paper had to do a critical thinking test and a video interview. I had passed all of those stages so I was in the top 40 out of 600 people.
Then the law firm that I was working with through in a curve ball. All of us were going to be assessed at the end of the week. One of the most important tasks was a presentation in front of all of the Partners. We had 4 days to come up with something that impressed. Those who did well at their placement and stood out in the assessment centre would be invited back for a final interview.
I took up the challenge. I worked hard on my presentation by getting up early and staying up late to work around my placement. During the week I put all my effort in getting to know everyone at the firm and I put 100% into any work they gave me to do. Exercise went out the window. I was too busy working on the presentation. Diet wasn't much better because I went out for lunches and drank booze with the staff members.
It was worth the sacrifice. I was offered the final interview. I don't find out whether I get the job until the middle of August. There are 14 places in total. I'm feeling hopeful because my gut feeling says I'm in with a good chance.
This should be the point where I pat myself on the back, head back to the gym, and hope for good news!!!
But I've been burned before. Being in the top 14 of 600 people is quite an ask. I've had plenty of rejections at this stage where the feedback has been that I came across well, but others were just that bit better.
After that, it's back to square one.
Then I've got to write out another application form trying to think of ways to stand out to another firm before I even stand a chance with the tests and interviews. It would be silly to put all of my eggs in one basket. After I had my interview last week I've been researching other places. Law firms have this slightly strange system where all of them have the same deadline: 31st July. After that, I've got to wait for the 2018 cycle to start, and this is for a job that wouldn't even start until 2019! I'll practically be 30 by the time I qualify (if I ever do!)
It's a bit demoralising having to go jump through so many hoops. If I'm honest, had I realised that qualifying as a solicitor was so competitive I might have chosen a different career. I originally did an English degree and it was a toss-up between becoming a Lawyer or a Copy Writer. However, I do love the work. It's intellectually stimulating as well as offering me the opportunity to talk (and sometimes argue!) with people all day.
So much of my headspace has been taken up with the above, as well as everything else that it affects. Nearly all of my holiday has been spent either revising for exams or on placements. My boyfriend got time off work this week to paint out house. I'm gutted I can't join in because I can't get the time off. It also effects our long-term plans together. If I got offered a job outside of my city then providing it wasn't in the middle of nowhere with no job prospects for my boyfriend then I would accept it. I have no idea if I'll be moving on 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, or staying where I am! I'm getting pressure from family to stay in the city, which obviously I would much prefer to happen anyway but I've got to be flexible given how competitive it is. It's getting incredibly frustrating thinking 'what if?' all of the time because I just went to get on with living my life now.
All of this, and THEN I should be thinking about diet and exercise. It feels like there physically isn't enough space in my head to really dedicate to this properly. I hope an epiphany happens soon. Or maybe I should just keep posting in here writing until I shame myself into doing it anyway. We'll see!
to your last exam!! YAY!!!!!