SIMPLES! All you need to do is become a student and sign up to social networking site Studyvox.co.uk.

As the lovely lady is the site patron you too could wind up having a cheque or a music award passed into your sweaty grasp – it happened to me; it could happen to you.

This time around there were 3 things each of the winners of the inaugural bursary awards had in common:

1. we were all students
2. we were all female
3. we all thought this was some kind of a hoax or scam.

I kid you not, I mean; C’mon! Kylie Minogue handing out cash for nothing more than signing up to a social networking site?

It sounded insane! So much so that Stef and I even organised a house sitter ‘just in case’ while we travelled down to the event..  *blushes* paranoid much?

It’s taken me a while to recover from the exertion of travelling and being sociable which is why the date of the cheque is 25th of February but this blog post is happening in March – the joys of living with ME/CFS I’m afraid ( but this was an event that was definitely worth the health fall-out!)

Both Stef and I have been converted to the view of the studyvoxfoundation crew, we really want them to make of the studyvox.co.uk site everything they dream of. The people behind the charity are wonderful, caring passionate people not lacking in intelligence and their ideas are ambitious; they want to take on every big social networking site out there and as Kev the CEO put it “we want to take everything they’ve got horribly wrong and do it RIGHT!”

They want to create an online home for students, a place where;

• their profiles will not be held up out of context during a job interview as evidence of lying and debauchery
• they have representation and help with social needs (things supposedly catered for by the NUS)
• where they can talk freely about their courses and the towns in which they live
• a marketplace for them to sell anything from textbooks to clothes and furniture
• a one-stop shop for all their financial needs and concerns
• somewhere safe to upload their music, imagery and video footage

In short they are taking on Facebook, myspace, MP3unsigned, Youtube, directgov and any other site you can think of that can hold some kind of benefit to students.

It’s audacious, it’s ambitious, it’s totally nuts – but they are so passionate about their vision that you cannot help but be swept along by it.

The bursary awards are to be a regular thing, any student who signs up to StudyVox is in with a chance of winning – it’s definitely on the up and up, it’s legit and I have the pictures to prove it. If you don’t believe me then just look at some of the news coverage of the event on the BBC and in the Telegraph and obviously the foundations own news site the StudyVox echo (I have several times just to remind myself that I didn’t dream the whole thing)

They want to ‘put their money where their mouths are’ and show in a real way that they are there to help support the student community.

At present I will admit to a lot of teething problems with the social networking website – but that is less down to the vision of the group and more to do with the company paid to do the coding and design; I think, given time and a lot of tweaking this site could well be a force to contend with, the NUS would be well advised to take note and learn a few things.

Now I have far less income yet I and my family manage to survive quite happily on it – we don’t own a great deal but what we do own adds value to our lives and centres those lives around the home.

I think that’s the problem with most folk today, they want to own things for the sake of owning them; designer labels, the latest toy, flashy car.. Where they live tends to be more storage space than home; there’s no need for all this.

Even cigarettes and alcohol are unnecessary expenses; they add little to your life but ill health in certain cases, I know many would disagree with that but I ask you – what do they truly do for you? Do they make you happy or is it just an expensive addiction, an escape from a life you don’t really like very much?

I say: don’t pay to escape your life; save to change it.

The only thing I want to own is my own home – not for financial reasons; I don’t see it as an investment, I see it as somewhere to put down roots and raise my daughter, somewhere I can change and decorate and do to as I please.

..But most importantly I want my own home because it is somewhere that I won’t be forced to leave at the whim of the owner.

If people put more importance on the things filling the home than the home itself then in my opinion they have very skewed priorities, a home is not a base of operations, it isn’t somewhere you eat and sleep before going away to live your life – that’s a hotel or a bed and breakfast.

A home, to me at least, is the place you wish you were when you’re somewhere else, a place you want to get back to, that you want to invite others to.

More than anything in this world I want a home for me and my family. That’s why I’m pushing myself to do this degree and why I’m trying as hard as I can to make myself employable despite my health issues – I don’t want to live in storage for the rest of my life and I refuse to subject my daughter to that; even if we can’t move on, she will be able to – I’ll make sure of it.

I still owe nearly £7000 for that year and have nothing to show for it, that amount has been added (with interest) to the student support loans and tuition fees for my current foundation degree. Joy.

I guess I wouldn’t mind so much if it had been my own fault that I was forced to leave the music course but financially I had no choice; I had a  mortgage and a joint account with a no good boyfriend who lived purely off me and the £60 per week his folks put into his account (yes; his. After the first 3 months he stopped putting ANY money into the joint one, he just spent it – even after we split up; getting that account closed was a nightmare!)
He was a ‘serious musician’ who claimed to be a sound engineer but had aspirations to be a producer – despite every client coming back to the studio he freelanced at for a re-do because they didn’t like what he’d done..

But I’m not bitter.. much.
I received nothing for the house but debt, my student loans had all been spent on the mortgage and he got the lot; lock stock and barrel, because his folks paid off the mortgage when I left after talking me into ‘absolving myself of the debt’ (ie mortgage) it seemed the only way to stop him sponging off me.

Yes I do still occasionally kick myself now for not being stronger and fighting for what was really mine, but on the whole it was such a bad relationship that the house would have been tainted anyway so I am glad that I washed my hands and walked away to start afresh.

Mainly I’m kicking myself for what could be a lost opportunity, in the current work climate I feel that I NEED that degree in order to secure a decent salary that will afford Isabella the start in life I never had. I don’t want her to have to work 2 jobs just to pay the rent and keep food on the table like I did, I definitely don’t want her to work herself into the ground like I did – I fully blame all those hours and the stress of 2 jobs for my subsequent ill health.

If I can’t get the necessary funding then I definitely need the basic skills those lessons would teach me *sigh* if only I could audit the course even if I can’t recive the qualification, at least I could gain work experience doing projects of my own for friends! Sadly I don’t think that’s a possibility over here as I’ve only ever heard of it being an American thing – though I shall definitely raise the possibility with the career guy on friday when we discuss our options for progression (ie Bsc computer science or a more specialised computing degree)

Fingers crossed guys, next to living in a house this is what I want most in the world – to be able to get back into work and provide a decent standard of living (not to mention a good example) for my child.

*grin*

Thankyou to the three lovely people who offered me alternatives via text and email *sniff* it was quite touching to find that even with my recent feeble blogging efforts I’d be missed! I was even more amazed at the (minor) outcry over the loss of my CFS site, overly wordy and outdated though I deem it myself; it seems others are less critical and find it as helpful as I’d hoped it would be back when I created it.

Which means I now feel obligated to keep the damned thing up and running *sigh* guess this means I’ll have to give myself 2 more years hosting for my birthday and use the summer holidays to bring the whole thing up to scratch. I guess £3.50pm is affordable and it’s not like I drink or smoke so..

Heh pitiful eh?! I was all growed up for.. What? A fortnight..? What can I say..? The internet is to me what shoes and handbags seem to be for every other girl I know – but at least my habit is cheap and takes up far less wardrobe space

The reason I have been so pants of late is illness related I’m afraid, but I’m finally going to see an Otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) specialist on Tuesday about this possible menieres disease the GP thinks I have so fingers crossed they’ll tell me it’s something else and give me meds to clear it up – I’m getting more than a little sick of this nausea and spinning nonsense! After 4 months of it enough is enough already!

I’m also going to see my first neurologist on the 31st about my ME/CFS crashes because when the GP saw my description of them he decided they share some similarities with a type of epilepsy and he wants me tested for that – added to which it seems I’ve caught a bug which exacerbates a lot of the ME symptoms so I’m spending even more time in bed than usual.

What time I’m not using to rest is taken up with coursework – I’m quite proud of the fact that I’ve managed over a 94% attendance for this course despite everything and all my modules are looking at being a minimum of a low B grade – I think my dad is probably still chuckling over the incredulous text he recieved when I found out the database assignment I (literally) cried over netted me a mark of 70% (that’s an A by the way)

And there you have it; that’s why I’m only ever online in 5-20 minute bursts for anything none course related at the moment. As my health improves (because it WILL) I may once again prove to be a prolific blogger  (can’t help that, after 4 years it’s in the blood) but the socnet stuff will likely take a beating as I immerse myself in ‘real’ life – even facebook has become just another email address as 9 times out of 10 I only nip on there for messages and to change my status (it’s twitter without twitter)

Now I’m off to bug my beloved to make sure he uses sesame seeds in this new batch of flapjacks, quite fancy some of that..

In 2007 I made the online acquaintance of several interesting people, many of whom I’d love to meet in person, so I’ve decided that at least 2 of ‘em will be getting a visit in 2008 – I’d attempt to visit more but a visit to the states doesn’t fit in with my main resolution..

My main resolution this year is to be sensible with money. I used to be but I’ve slipped a lot in the last couple of years – I blame it on a lack of purpose; aimless drifting scrambles your mind.

On the back of that, having sat down and really thought about wants and needs I’ve come to the conclusion that this is probably my last blogpost on rosevibe.me.uk

In a week or so my host period is done and I’m due to pay up again, much as I’d love to keep the CFS site running I can’t justify the expense while we’re saving for somewhere to live. I’ll miss this blog, I know it’s been a little dusty of late but as you all know from personal experience, life has a way of interrupting a decent blogging schedule sometimes.
Those of you who’ve emailed me I’ll let you know if I start up elsewhere, but as part of my new outlook I’m going to be busy for the next few months making jewelery for a craft fair I’ve signed up for in July (I know, about time eh?!)
I also plan on working my arse off at Uni, I’ve found that doing so cuts into net time a LOT so I’ve pared my online activities down to Facebook and email with occasional sojourns onto Twitter (and the only reason Facebook gets a look in is because I still need SOME form of social life *grin* all work and no play..)

I’ll miss the comment chats but those of you who like to talk, well – I’m sure you have my email if not, just come on over to my place