Well done Christie!

Have I mentioned my niece Christie before? I'm not sure if I have! Well, I suppose I might have mentioned her and her brother Daniel once or twice.

Anyway I do recall writing about how she more or less had to take responsibility for her own education and how I thought it would pay off.

Here's an extract from another blog piece.

"the news from my amazing niece Christie is that she got her Higher results and she got A for French, A for Spanish, B for English and B for psychology. It's all the more amazing if I tell you that just over a year ago, she was only planning to sit 2 Highers because she didn't know you needed more than that to get into Uni. She had a vague plan of what she wanted to do (languages degree) but her school had no idea at all and were quite happily letting her just do 2 Highers.

"Anyway fast forward, she left school, went to the James Watt college in Greenock, TAUGHT HERSELF the basics of Spanish (because her school refused to let her do Standard Grade), focussed herself completely on the task in hand, and now it's paid off. She has impressed me so much with her determination and I am so happy for her. Her aim is to live and work in Spain or France for the next year in order to become fluent in one of those languages and then study Mandarin at Edinburgh University the following year. It's a tough course to get into but I have a funny feeling she'll get there. "

So .... she did! She's been in Spain since April last year and last night when I spoke to her she was reading Twilight in Spanish. And also last night ... she received an UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE to study Chinese and Linguistics at Edinburgh University. That wee smiley face you can do just doesn't cover it right now.

I asked if she was excited and in her usual manner she informed me that it was "one of the things" she was feeling right then! She did admit to feeling a wee bit proud of herself because she doesn't actually know anybody else who's been to or is planning to go to uni apart from me and my sister. That is a subject for another day. So, right now I'm in a good mood and will banish all negative thoughts from my mind.

Me and her mum are considering taking out a billboard advert right outside her school announcing it to the world and her former teachers. Then again, her brother Daniel still has to attend that school so might run it by him first. I think Christie thought I was joking about the billboard. Silly girl doesn't know me at all really!

PS I must be excited if I'm prepared to show that photo of me! And PPS the denim thing is a handbag not my clothing.