Career choice at an early age.

So as I finish my time at school, I have been forced to prepare myself for the big scary wide world of independence and money. Well either that or go to college and save that for a few more years... tough choice (sarcasm). Now I had no idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was just having fun being a teenager; playing computer games, football, messing around to get by at school everyday.
So how did I decide what I wanted to do?

Firstly I looked as far back as when I was a child to see what I wanted to be, the result was a footballer ( *facepalm* to little Shane). As good as a defender that I am, football is not a realistic career and therefore I had to look further and considered what subjects I have enjoyed/ been good at over the past few years..

When I think about what I want to do when I'm older just one thing pops into my head "A life isn't worth living if it's not remembered" and thus why people want so desperately to be famous...

Now, I enjoy History a great deal, and for some unknown reason brushed this career path aside, still not sure why.. but may take it at university or college at a later stage.

English was another subject in which I have always enjoyed since a young age and therefore am taking the subject further when I go to college. I have always wanted to write my own novel (even if it is just one and sells a hundred copies) But being an author is also not a steady career path unless your extremely good at writing and your books hit off from the ground running.

<--My favourite book series and in the genre I wish to write for.

People always say that computers are the future and due to this being the 'Age of Technology' as I like to call it, I believe they are. But only for another 50 odd years or so in my opinion, due to the ever changing and expanding things us humans seem to find on this planet.

Therefore I have applied to do I.T software development at college and if I enjoy the subject a great deal then I shall maybe continue it as a part time job or aim for a degree.
The third subject I have always been alright at is Art, and my love for comics lead me to wanting to either write or draw a comic in the near future. However, I have found that graphics is alot easier than drawing and am also looking into that prospect of a career.

Now my love for gaming means that I would rather enjoy a career in some part of that industry whether it be designer the characters or creating the various plots for new games etc. But here in England I don't think there is a company that is anywhere near like thous in the USA and therefore have ruled out that career prospect entirely..shame but I'm still having fun just playing them.

Now looking at all these subjects I enjoy/am good at, I decided that I would combine them and become a teacher. The idea of becoming a teacher appealed to me greatly because of the one thing I was looking for, "A life isn't worth living if it's not remembered" Now there is not one person who is reading this that doesn't remember their teachers from school, whether it be a bad or good reason, teachers are always remembered!

I am still unsure what subject speciality my teaching will be, but, I have chosen to be a primary school teacher of students from the age of 8-11. This allows me to teach English, Maths, Science, I.T and even History and Art included within the minor subjects.

Now when I look back at my primary school teachers there are three that stand out for me.

One, was my favourite teacher to this day; Mr.Wescombe. He was a firm yet fun teacher who always taught his lessons so that students could stay engaged and not drift off into day dream paradise, and was incharge of the school football team as well as the deputy head teacher. He is the real inspiration of the teacher I want to become.

Two, an Australian teacher called Miss.Mowatt. She was pretty ( to an nine year old) and always wore a smile, she however was not strict and based her lessons on having fun. Even when we would have to do written work it was done in a way that was not tedious for us students.

Third, My final teacher from primary school Mrs.White. A rather large lady that used to bounce around the front of the classroom teaching us all we need to know about passing our SAT's. She was a women who was seen as very strict and one to not mess around with until you spent time in her class and realised how jolly her lessons really where, if you did as you was told that is.

If I can somehow combine these three teachers characteristics in their teaching styles with my own, then that would be great for me personally

Now I know that I have a lot of work to do to get to where I want to be and over the next six years or so. It's not going to be a walk in the park that is for sure. However, when I finally become a teacher I honestly don't think there could be many better feelings and so I look forward to the day.

I cant help but feel that if you are reading this and want to choose a career for yourself then follow these few steps that I used and see if they help you?

Step one) Find subjects that you are good at/ interested in

Step two) look at the practicalities of your chosen subjects  careers

Step three) check out the college's around you and the courses in which they have for that subject

Step four) select the one in which you can fiddle with for career opportunities

I wish you all the best in your own career decisions and maybe this blog post was helpful to you. If not, then it's just more ramblings from the Awkward Teenager...



"Hello there class."

The Dragon Age comparison: Part 1; The Characters

So in this new rather nerdy section of my blog, I will be comparing the games of Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. This post today will be my personal comparison of both sets of characters that can be used as party members. Firstly; My personal "key" Origins party members:

The first companion I will be writing about about that stood out to me is Alistair; The "new" Grey Warden as he is first introduced and soon to be King of Ferelden if the option arose and you took it. Alistair to me was the first character in Dragon Age to really make me laugh with lines such as "swooping is bad" and "That's what I'm here for. To deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners." Which in all fairness to the character is EXACTLY why I had him in my party throughout the entire game. Alistair also was the fan-girls "hunk" as it were mainly due to him being the only heterosexual male within the first game that you could romance besides Loghain late on? The banter between Alistair and Morrigan was also bloody superb! The one quote I remember him saying that has me in stitches for ages was  "Well aside from the fact that she's a complete and utter bitch, no...I don't like her at all. Why? Do you?"

Now this would be a perfect time to move onto my first choice female romance of.. Morrigan; A witch of the wilds.--->
Morrigan came across to me as a powerful, mysterious, stubborn, cocky and rather attractive (compared to the rest of the characters) shapeshifting mage.

Not only was her banter between Alistair extremely amusing but with all party members, however her infamous line of  "And now we have a dog. And Alistair is still the stupidest member of the party." to Alistair can not go amiss in this post!

Morrigan was my first romance option in Origins, nearly every decision I made was in her favour (typical me really)
However, I am rather disturbed still, a year after the event of my first sex cut scene...purely because I was talking to Zevren the rogue elf at the party camp and he invited me back to his tent. I gladly excepted not knowing what was actually going to happen ( innocently I thought "yay! I can finally see inside these tents") but oh no.. THE ELF TOUCHED ME IN PLACES I HAVE PREVIOUSLY NEVER BEEN TOUCHED! D=
Thankfully however after coping with  the traumatising event I had just witnessed I now knew how to romance and continued with Morrigan ( keeping well clear from Zevren).

The final party member that I used was Oghren; The banished drunken dwarf.
This guy was personally the funniest guy and possibly my favourite character from Origins and I was over the moon when he came walking down that corridor in Awakening and offered to be in my party.
I cant actaully describe the hilarity of this little guy any more than showing you a few of my fave quotes:

-One of the first things he says to you is "If you've ever heard of me before, it's probably all been about how I piss ale and murder little boys who look at me wrong. And that's mostly true..."

-At the party camp Oghren (drunk as an Irishman) says "Hey, Warden! You gotta hear this one! This human walks into a tavern! Eh heh. And there's an elf there. Ah ha ha ha! And she says, Ha ha ah ah ha! She says." (Snorts) "Ah ha!" (Falls down)

-By far the best thing about Oghren was his crudeness;

• (Snorts and laughs) "Ass Chaps!"  
• (At Lake Calenhad Docks) "Ooh, that's huge. (Giggles) I wonder how long it took to erect it. (Giggles) Get it, erect it!"
• "Aye. I've tried twenty-seven different types of ale and learned I'm just the right height to give a human girl a good time. That doesn't make me a good man."

Now I move onto my chosen three characters from Dragon Age 2:

Firstly lets talk about Aveline; The least attractive female warrior in the entire two games and an expansion. Before I began Dragon Age 2 and before I played the demo I said to myself that I wasnt going to use this women because in the concept art for her character she looked like a manly barbarian..
However, Out of all the playable characters in Dragon Age 2, Aveline was the only one in which I actually felt drawn to in the sense of the raw emotion she displayed to me which made me like her as a character a million times more than what I expected. To me the game seems to have made this so by making Hawke and Aveline both lose someone they love in the escape from Ferelden which gives the duo a common ground in which to form a long and lasting friendship on.

Now I know that EVERYONE who has played Dragon Age 2 is "in love" with either Merrill or Fenris who are both the only elves available as playable characters. On the Dragon Age Podcast which I have listened to since episode 13 they mention how believable and in awe they are towards the character of Merrill due to her huge eyes and facial expressions.. So near the end of the game I decided to see if this was true and decided to add her to my party and complete her personal side quests.. and you know what?...they were right! Merrill is a really special character and in my next playthrough I shall try to romance her however I didn't like how she was so against her blood magic and yet still used it like all the time.
Fenris on the other hand if you read my previous post, I instantly took a dislike to after he open that damned mouth of his. Fenris does seem to however be the new Alistair in the way of being the fan-girl's number one in this game with his suave voice and mysteriousness about him..

I have already stated how I really enjoyed the character of Sebastian and how although I think his character is rather brilliant I do not however think he is anywhere near the quality of Shale the Origins downloadable party member..

Overall, Even though I did enjoy the new characters of Dragon Age 2 and learned the back-story of each character alot easier, I fell in love with the characters of Origins whether they be the same characters as who ever is reading this and has understood everything I've said I do not know but I cant help but feel disappointed with Dragon Age 2 and would have maybe accepted the game more if it was entitled something like Dragon Age: Rise of Hawk or was promoted more along the lines as more of an expansion like Awakening rather than the sequel to what is still THE SINGLE MOST enjoyable RPG experience I have ever had..

On that note I wish anyone who would like to comment with their views or own opinions to do so and I shall leave you with this..

Dragon Age 2...NERD RAGE!!!

Im currently near the end of Act two through Dragon Age 2 and am beginning to start to see why everyone is complaining about this game.

I am on my first play through as a female Hawk of the mage class and am playing every single quest that i can possibly do. Thus the 19 hours or so gameplay in just under a week..

Negative points:-

The fight scenes are so repetitive its highly frustrating, even though the combat speed has increased hugely since Origins; and the constant wave after wave of shitty enemies just takes the piss.

I also didnt understand why everyone on the Dragon Age Podcast hated Anders soooooo much? He was a great companion in Awkening and soo cute with his cat Ser Pounce Alot..until now! He is a whiney basterd that wants nothing more than to dig at my other party members and kill everyone in the chantry for no apparent reason but for shear boredom. However, due to him being the only healer I'm forced to bring him along with me, like "oh yep thats great, lets bring the prick along"

Now being a mage there are two characters who really grind my gears to the point where i wish i could slit their throats. These two characters being Fenris and Hawke's brother Carver. Carver is a spoilt brat who in the game you automatically have a rivalry with, but even after many attempts to become friends he is still a stubborn ass and therefore he has joined the Templars (kinda wish id killed him in the cave right now.. Oh sibling love!)

Fenris on the other hand when i first met him seemed pretty epic with his lyrium like vains and his great voice..then he actully joined my party and became a complete and utter douche bag with his negative comments ALL THE TIME even after helping him in his quests. I can see how people fall in love with Fenris if they dont play a mage but so far i hate his guts!

I also really hate the cheap copy and pasting of all the maps in the game, it makes nearly every quest identicle beside the odd imaginary wall blocking off parts of the level.

Now before I go onto the good points id like to complain that the downloadable content was pretty awful.. However, the bonus content you can get from the game on Facebook is pretty good and Sebastian Vael one of the downloadable party members is also one of my favourite all time characters. However, I would have prefered him to have been in the game already and maybe the character of Isabella as a downloadable content due to the hilarious and powerful Shale of the previous game. Isabella for me would have been an equally funny downloable content, where as Sebastion is not.

Good Points:-
The General gameplay for Dragon Age 2 is alot better than Origins with faster combat.
The combat has been improved massivly with the moves looking more advanced and 'realistic' and the shuffle has been replaced with a leap or a sidestep which allows the player to move around quicker.
Each and every party member has their own unique attack tree branch, leading to more interesting fights and makes you choose carefully who would be best suited for the quest you  are currently on.
The party members are also, I find, more easy to like or dislike in this game, you get a sense of real life personal opinions of a higher depth than you did with origins. You tend to role play alot more with this game.

As you can tell the cons outweigh the pro's quite a bit for this game but I cant help but play and enjoy this new experience of the Dragon Age franchise and the world in which it contains.

Overall as a huge fan of the Dragon Age franchise I like this game and would like to see maybe another two books from David Gaider, as I enjoyed the background to origins through The Stolen Throne and The Calling. Maybe the books can lead up to the third game which i really really hope BIOWARE take their time on and regain their fans respect!

I believe that they should maybe bring out ONE expansion like Awakening but for alot cheaper to make up for the poor game on BioWare's and EA's behalf...

Who knows? maybe the effect Dragon Age 2 has left us all feeling may decrease our expectation of the 3rd game so we can be blown away?

Aww im currently playing the game now whlst writing this and iv just witnessed Sandel and my Mubari Warhound having a good old barking competition... It's soooo cute to see him actually saying something other than "enchantment"