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docholligay · 5 years

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Aino’s 8--Chapter 5: The Cast

Please enjoy this EXTREMELY long update to Aino’s 8, sponsored by @yamadara87. I kept trying to end this and there just kept being more to say, so here we are ahaha. I hope you enjoy! 4600 words. All of Aino’s 8 is here.

Minako Aino was never nervous. How could she be? She’d been involved in dozens of heists and tricks, from the time she and Haruka had lifted bags of potato chips from the convenience store as girls (Haruka had gotten beat pretty good for that one), to the copper wiring they’d stolen out of the back of shipping containers at the docks (Haruka’d been in juvi for eight months), to the great supercar heist of 2010 (She was beginning to see why Haruka refused to work with her since then).

She leaned back in the seat, putting her feet on the dash and thoughtfully playing with the edge of her hair.

It wasn’t as if she were any stranger to prison herself. She’d been free for 6 months, in fact, and the one time that she had not managed to slip the leash had been when she had found herself in the crosshairs of Michiru Kaioh, the woman she was meeting with again today. The one Mina knew never to turn her back on, now. The only human being Mina had ever met who just might best her in the avenue of sheer con.

If she hadn’t hated Michiru so much, it might have been a turn-on.

But nervous wasn’t the word for it, because Minako Aino was never nervous, especially not when there were millions to be made on the backs of a bunch of people who had no idea what it was like to split a Cup Noodle with the girl down the hall.

Attentive. She was attentive.

Haruka stretched over to the rear view mirror and studied her tousled blonde hair, fluffing it this way and that with a look of general dissatisfaction, and straightening the collar of the turquoise and pink plaid shirt she had picked, finally, after deciding that out of all the shirts she owned, this one best reflected that she had sides to her that were not simply rough and capable, but was also sensitive and a woman of taste.

Or something like that. Mina hadn’t really been listening.

In her defense, it had been two hours and twenty shirts by that time.

“Do I look dumb?” She glanced over at Mina.

“Buddy, you don’t have to look dumb, you just exude it through your soul.”

Haruka scowled and slammed her hand down on Mina calf, dragging her feet down. “Get your feet off my dash.” She opened the dashboard and took out a wet wipe, rubbing at the dirt Mina had left.

Mina sighed. “You look fine, Haruka. Also, can we talk for a minute? This is the woman who sent me to prison, and while I’m delighted to work with her because she’s an underhanded and terrible cunt,” Haruka winced at the insult, too rough for her sensibilities, “and, admittedly, that makes us a perfect pair, but I sort of have to put my foot down about you trying to romance the sea snake.” Haruka looked at her for a moment. “You know. Beautiful. Poisonous.”

“Mina you’re the reason I’ve been to prison.”

“But in a FRIENDLY WAY, Ruka.” She crossed her arms. “Besides, I never sold you out, I just didn’t get caught and you were too good a friend to snitch on me. Which,” She touched Haruka’s arm, “I truly appreciate, you should know. Anyway, I’m nothing like her, and you should stay away from her because she’ll chew you up and spit you out.”

If Minako Aino had admitted to being nervous about anything, it was the way that Haruka looked at Michiru. It had all seemed funny, standing there in the garage with Haruka making goo-goo eyes at the pretty and exotic thing Mina had brought to her doorstep. Like an edible arrangement made of starfruit and pomelos. Haruka may not have known what she was, but she wanted her, she knew that much.

But it seemed less of a joke when Haruka was neatening herself, scrubbing carefully in the shower to try and get the smell of oil off her body, checking shirts over and over again to pick the exact right one, washing her car before they went to meet up with Michiru and Rei, polishing it until it shone like a skyscraper.

Mina had to admit to herself that she was a little nervous, if she could feel such a thing, that Michiru would hurt Haruka. Would betray her and leave her and get her thrown in jail again. Haruka had been the bruiser of their childhood gang, and she was still given to throw a punch or two when she was frustrated, but Mina had always known about the deep line of sensitivity than ran underneath it all. With a few years of therapy under her belt, she was a bit less given to spark a fight, but unfortunately it hadn’t improved her taste in women or her ability to see danger at all.

Haruka shrugged. “I’ll be fine, Mina.”

‘I’ll be fine’ was generally Haruka’s way of saying, ‘I’m done talking about this right now’ and so Mina tabled the conversation for a later date, looking out the window with a sidelong glance. She wasn’t entirely sure if Rei knew that she was going to be here, and she wasn’t certain she wanted Rei to know that she was going to be here.

The element of surprise was always thrilling. And, to that end, she had planned accordingly, in a deep blue dress that Rei would remember very well, the one she had called ‘the devil dress’ as they had stripped it off her body in that hotel in Singapore. Oh, she’d remember, and before she thought too much about how much she hated Mina she might remember how well Mina had loved her.

Haruka turned off the car and put on a pair of aviator sunglasses that Mina was sure she thought looked to be the epitome of cool.

“We should go in,” she nodded over to Mina, “We don’t want to keep them waiting.”

Mina wanted to roll her eyes and give some comment over Haruka’s need to be the most gallant of all, but she simply nodded, and opened the car door.

---

Michiru Kaioh was not given to impatience, and did not mind waiting. Oh, she knew those society girls in their power games, who made people wait for them, who thought it made them seem special that someone might. Michiru knew better. Making someone wait on you was a false sort of power, for it depended on the largesse of the waiter.

There was so much more power in waiting a perfunctory ten minutes past the appointed time, leaving, and telling your would-be companion that you simply did not have time to wait, your schedule was ever so busy. To feel their faces fall, knowing all their self-imagined importance was false, and some people truly did have better places to be.

And so Michiru had become very good at waiting, and often staked out a space fifteen minutes or better prior to any meeting. This allowed her to purchase a glass of wine a la carte and be quite finished before the late coming debutante had any chance to make a late appearance.

She had no intention of leaving today, however, and it mattered little how late the assembled parties intended to be.

Michiru examined the floral arrangement at the rear of the long, narrow room she had rented in the back of the restaurant. It was acceptable, she supposed, delicate sprays of jasmine and wide magnolias, and it would frame her face in such a way to allow everyone to know that she and Mina may be at opposite ends of the table, but hers was the head and Mina’s was the foot. Both important, but only one true leader.

She walked along the table, checking the pressed white linens and the elegant gilt changers, the polished silverware gleaming in the lights of the crystal chandelier overhead. Everything seemed according to plan, everything arranged as a set piece in the scene she would ultimately come to create and to direct.

Michiru had chosen this restaurant for a number of reasons that did not extend from the menu, however excellent and well-regarded it was. The staff were known for not only their attention to detail but their discretion, and if she told them to erase her name out of the book of reservations, or to simply say Michiru had held one of her society lunches, they would do so without hesitation.

As it turned out, she had told them it was a leadership lunch of underprivileged women she was mentoring, so it would not even need to be a lie, if only they were intelligent enough to believe it.

She smiled as she looked at the name cards set on the table. She knew better than not to seat Rei at her right hand, for fear that Rei might upend the entire assignment if she received a place she saw as beneath her, crowing about equality and round tables all the while. Ami would be somewhat down the table, attempting to stab Michiru using only the power of her own gaze and yet knowing that the two of them were bound together by complimentary skills the other could not hope to acquire.

Oh, and Mina. Sitting at the other end of the table, her back to those great wooden doors, just as she would absolutely hate. Where she would be forced to look down the table at Michiru, know that she Mina’s match and maybe her better in every way. It would throw her off guard immediately, and put her in the position of having to pretend that she was utterly unbothered. How delightful.

Her finger lingered over the card next to Mina’s, her eyes running over the elegant calligraphy. Haruka. She had told Rei dozens of times not to allow the romantic to become bound up in the occupational, and never been tempted to do so herself. But there was something about Haruka...something in her eyes, perhaps, or the way her hair stuck up at the edges like the down of a gosling. The way she smelled of oil and earth and something sweet, just beyond that, in that hazy place she could barely touch.

Michiru laughed at herself, and walked back to the end of the table where her own card sat. She was no stranger to lust, and yet here she was, acting like a teenager for the love of some mechanic. She’d simply have her brought up to the room the night before the job, and leave immediately after. No complications. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Her head turned to the sound of an opening door, and the familiar tones of a woman grumbling that she knew where she was going, and didn’t need anyone to open the door or help her, and the tell-tale ripple of a unionization brochure being shoved into a gloved hand.

“Ah, Rei,” MIchiru smiled at her as she entered the room, Rei shaking off her umbrella as she entered the room, ignoring the flecks of rainwater it threw upon the fine china, “I should have known you would be timely, you rarely disappoint in this regard.”

Rei, satisfied enough with the dryness of her umbrella, looked back to Michiru. They were a study in contrasts, Rei and Michiru. Michiru’s blouse was soft and barely shimmering silk, the trim tweed skirt etching out curves on her body, her hair in rolling curls about her face, rounded high heels pointed elegantly toward Rei. Rei had selected a boxed blazer with a rough cotton button up underneath, high waisted pants with a crisp crease at the front creating a nearly starlike effect for all the points, hair tied up in a tight bun.

It was rather a miracle of the world that they worked together as well as they did, but Michiru was not in the business of questioning any slight miracle she might have the opportunity to receive, and so allowed it to slip from her mind as a bit of lingerie to the floor.

Rei scowled at the setting.

“Did we really have to do, she gestured at the table, “all this?”

Michiru tilted her head with a bit of a smirk. “Ah yes, the indiscretions of some...bar would have been a much finer place to launch our scheme, I daresay the people coming and going, picking up snippets of our conversation here and there, would have been a marvelous choice.”

“Yeah well, people in a dive are less likely to snitch to the police,” Rei walked over to her appointed place, barely having to read the cards to know where she would be seated, “Everyone’s coming?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” Michiru moved to sit at the head of the table, “or rather, not everyone is needed. The low associations at the casino hardly need be privy to our greater plans. You know what they say, Rei,” she sat down at the table, “Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead.”

Rei’s eyebrow flicked, and Michiru felt a rise of pleasure within her. Rei was afraid of her, only the slightest, smallest bit, but afraid of her all the same, which ranked Michiru above most people that graced the planet.

Rei did not respond, but lowered, simmering, into her seat.

___

Usagi pulled at the pink dress, wobbling slightly in the high heels Michiru had purchased. She had loved both of them so well, when she had seen them in the department store, and Michiru had given a smile that seemed to signify charm when she’d done so. The dress was bright and thick and beautiful, the pattern enveloping her, like its little hearts were kissing her whole body. The heels were glossy with patent, the leather inside smooth and shaped like nothing that had ever been on Usagi’s foot.

She had felt so beautiful in the dressing room. But here, she felt foolish.

She wondered, for a moment, if they would even let her walk into a place like the restaurant, where men in jackets held doors and parked cars that Usagi didn’t know the name of, but knew she could never afford.

Usagi watched as a yellow car with a high spoiler rumbled across the lot, the driver waving off the valet and going to park it themselves, the shine from it hurting Usagi’s eyes as they passed.

She gripped her little turquoise clutch all the more tightly, and tried to gather her thoughts.

Michiru wouldn’t have invited her if she didn’t think she belonged here. Michiru was smart, and Rei was smart, and if they didn’t think she could do it they would have said so. Michiru wouldn’t have bought her all those clothes, the ones Usagi had hidden in the back of her closet, if she didn’t think Usagi was smart enough to do this.

Usagi was smart, usagi was classy, and Usagi could do all these things, and she let each beat of her heels on the pavement be an occasion for her to tell herself one more way she was going to be great at this.

The doorman did not give her a staring glance, but simply bowed as he opened the door, a simple ‘good afternoon, ma’am’ the only sign that Usagi had passed through at all, not the interrogation at the gate she had imagined, but a gentle stroll into this thickly laid world she had never imagined.

Everything looked expensive. But expensive in the way Usagi thought only really rich people could be, where you could tell it was expensive because there was so little of it. The floors were just plain marble, and there was no decoration on the deep woods that crept up the side of the walls, reaching toward the ceiling in perfect blocks, as if forests had been trimmed like grass. A woman in a clean crisp white shirt and a spotless black pencil skirt smiled at her.

“How may I help you, Miss?”

“I..” her voice faltered a bit, and then her mind swept back to Michiru, telling her to never take the power out of her voice for other people. Make them tell you that you are not enough, never do it for them.

She cleared her throat. “I’m here for the Kaioh meeting.”

Usagi gave a shift of her shoulders and a raise of her nose in what she thought might be a little too much of a show, but the woman gave her smile that might be patronizing, but at the very least, was conciliatory, and motioned for her to please follow.

Usagi tried to keep her eyes straight as they walked through the restaurant. This was practice. She had to be like Michiru, unimpressed, no matter how beautiful the dessert cart, with little metal shells over the top of each one, waiting to be revealed as the maitre’d explained each, and no matter how the crystal glasses glittered as champagne poured into them, and certainly no matter how the scents of rich women’s perfumes danced around her, each revealing something new, a dance of the seven veils for her very nose.

The woman stopped at a great wooden door and immediately opened it. MIchiru was sitting at the far end of the table, sipping a glass of something and radiating confidence and power from behind the wide expanse of mahogany. Usagi gave a sharp intake of breath, but relaxed to see Rei sitting beside her, who could be counted on to be appropriately grumpy but who could also be counted on not to let Usagi get thrown out without being forcibly ejected herself.

“Rei!” She smiled brightly and went to rush to Rei’s side before remembering herself and slowing, straightening her shoulders, “It’s so pleasant to see you.”

Michiru gave a low chuckle, and Usagi blushed heavily.

“Oh no, darling, it is precisely that sort of unpretentious effort I desire,” Michiru took a sip of the wine in front of her and smiled at Usagi, “You are absolutely perfect, just as you are.”

Michiru indicated with a wave of her hand that she was meant to sit beside Michiru, and not beside Rei. The notion filled Usagi with more than a small sense of anxiety. Michiru had been kind to her, but to be Michiru’s presence felt like being in a royal court, where there were so many rules that you could never know all of them, and messing up any one of them might lead to disaster.

She sat as delicately as she could next to Michiru, tucking her napkin into her lap and folding her hands. The waiter came into the room and swiftly stood behind her chair, handing her a cocktail menu but never making eye contact.

“Oh, she will have the bellini,” Michiru’s voice was clear and cool, “not with the house white, mind you, something with a touch more sophistication.”

Usagi didn’t know what a bellini was, but she knew she didn’t want to question Michiru’s knowledge on the subject of anything that involved this much decorum and money, and besides, Michiru hadn’t been wrong about things she might enjoy so far. No reason to fight about it.

Other than, of course, Rei being Rei.

“Why don’t you ask Usagi what she wants?” Rei said, her voice voice snapping like wire cutters through tin.

Michiru barely paid any mind to her tone, simply arched an eyebrow at Rei and shook her head.

“No I think that’s looks good!” Usagi didn’t know what it would look like to see Rei and Michiru fight, but she’d seen Rei fight with people in the noodle shop, and she felt like Michiru was a very elegant stone wall, and whatever it might look like, she didn’t want to see it.

Rei looked over the table at Usagi. ‘Oh, you didn’t even read--”

THey were all saved by the clicking open of the door, and a tiny girl? Woman? It was hard to tell, built delicate and compact, dressed as a teenager trying to seem adult, her juniors’ jacket slipping off her shoulder.

The three of them stared at her, and she stared back, and for one moment the hostess sense tension, Michiru snapping it up right before she could fully register that none of them knew this girl.

“Why, hello!” Michiru rose to her feet, “Do pardon us, we were so deep in conversation that it hardly registered that you’d entered the room and we were all quite startled for a moment.” She took the girl’s hand in hers and smiled, “Mina told me you would be coming, but I dared not hope.”

The hostess nodded and clicked out of the room on her high heels, Michiru’s eyes following her until she was out of earshot.

“I am Michiru Kaioh. This is my associate Rei, and our good mutual friend Usagi,” Rei bristled, though whether it was at being called Michiru’s associate or at MIchiru climaing to also be Usagi’s friend, Usagi wasn’t sure, “you must be the gymnast.”

The girl’s hair and eyes were so dark Usagi thought the entire room might fall into them, but after a moment of consideration, she simply returned the shake. “Hotaru Tomoe.”

Michiru nodded and indicated to a chair at the end of the table. “I am certain they will be along to collect a drink order shortly.”

Hotaru had barely sat down when a small blonde woman in a low cut velvet dress swanned through the door as if she had been in this establishment dozens of times, though there was something in her demeanor that made Usagi wonder if she wasn’t playing the same game as Usagi.

“Michiru!” She called across the room, “Rei.” She winked, and Usagi realized that she couldn’t be playing the same game (If she was, she’d been doing badly) but was just as much a part of this as Rei or Michiru.

“Mina.” MIchiru nodded toward her end of the table.

Rei glowered, arms crossed and lips tightly pressed together, looking away from Mina as if her drink was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. Usagi did not know much about Rei’s employment, and never had, but she did know when Rei was mad, and she was pretty sure she could get a soft-boiled egg in four minutes or less off the steam coming from Rei’s forehead.

Behind Mina was a man, Usagi thought strangely, and then the hesitation of her movement and the soft way she ran a hand through her hair brought a blush to Usagi’s cheeks as she realized it wasn’t a man at all, but a tall, lean woman in a soft grey sweater, a pink and turquoise collar popping out at the top.

“Haruka,” She did not say this in the matter of fact way she had introduced Mina to the room, but purred richly, her voice falling like gravy around a slice of meat, “That color is terribly flattering on you. Brings out the color of your eyes.”

Haruka laid a hand on her chest and smiled. “Uh, thanks, I had it laying around--”

“Bullshit. You drug me to Dillard’s in a panic last week--”

“Minako!” She hissed, bending down to scowl into her face.

“Oh whatever,” MIna rolled her eyes and began to walk down the line of the table until her eyes fluttered to the handwritten cards at each seat. She flicked her head to look at MIchiru and worked her way back down the table, then looked at the door behind her. “Hmpf. Have it your way, Princess Grace.”

She sat down at the end of the table as Michiru smiled and arched her fingers in front of her, Haruka settling in beside her and paging through the list of cocktails.

The waiter entered quickly, bringing a small lunch menu as Michiru told him there was still one more to be seated before ordering, but drink orders, were, of course, always welcome to be taken.

He set down a glass of some white and pink drink in front of Usagi, and she could smell the peach coming off of it. Trusting Michiru had been a good idea. She looked back down the table at the two blonde women, conspiring over the menu. MIna looked up at the waiter.

“I’ll have a negroni.” She said, without a hint of worry or ceremony.

Haruka turned the page again. “I, uh, what, what do you have on tap?”

“Water, miss.” the waiter said stiffly.

“Don’t get smart, Francois.” Mina’s chipper good nature turned quickly. “Do you have a beer or not?”

He tugged at the edge of his jacket, thoroughly chastened. “No, miss, we do not.”

Usagi could not quite figure out the nature of Mina and Haruka’s relationship, and she wasn’t sure it mattered, but whatever it was, it was serious enough that she was happy to bite a waiter’s head off. Maybe Mina was the Rei, and Haruka was her Usagi. Maybe she and Usagi would be friends, then. Maybe Usagi would just come away from this with a pile of money and a pile of friends.

Ideal, really.

“There is a lovely 18 year scotch on the menu,” Michiru cooed down the table, “As your hostess, I would be happy to treat you, of course.”

Haruka ruffled her hand through her hair and tried to sit up straight. “No thanks, I don’t really drink uh, the hard stuff anymore.” She rolled her shoulders back and looked up at the waiter, jaw straight. “A hot tea with sugar will be fine, thank you.”

A woman with shaggily cut hair in a faded blue walked in behind the waiter and waved him off without so much as a question.

“Miss Mizuno.” Michiru leaned back in her chair, “So nice of you to join us. Worry not,” She laid a lunch menu in front of the last empty spot. “We haven’t been too inconvenienced by your show of self-importance.”

“You’re the one framed by flowers and crystal, Miss Kaioh.”

Everyone in the room held their breath for a moment, looking at each other nervously, but the storm seemed to pass as quickly as it had begun, and she took her seat, the quiet murmuring of people speaking to each other and themselves beginning anew.

Michiru rose to her feet.

“Ladies.” She smiled about the room, her eyes lingering on Haruka a moment, “I am so pleased to have you join me today. My name is Michiru Kaioh, and the reason you may have my full name, is that if you should try to cross me, please rest assured that I will bury you. If you doubt me, please ask Mina how she enjoyed her most recent stay in the government hotel.”

Mina raised her glass. “To the truest scorpion I know.” She slugged back a drink.

“It is irrelevant that any of us like each other. In fact, it may ultimately be helpful if we do not.” Usagi’s face fell a little as Michiru said it, “But it is of utmost important that we realize each other’s worth. You are all here, because you are a tool in the box. A hammer may be blunt, and a saw may be sharp, and a screwdriver bone-thin, but none can do the work of the others. So it is with this room.”

Mina gave a chuckle. “We’re a bunch of tools, is right.”

Michiru ignored her, simply stood behind her chair and smiled.

“This shall be the greatest gamble, with the greatest payoff, Las Vegas has ever seen.”

#Aino's 8

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bgtoukedu · 4 years

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UK/Wales University Application Documents

Disclaimer: I am not a professional and this guide is based on my personal experience. Please double-check any important steps and keep in mind that some things may vary depending on your university of choice. Furthermore, this post assumes that you have picked courses and universities you would like to apply for.

1. Documents

Every application process starts with documents and universities are not an exception. For a standard application in a university based in UK or Wales you will need:

(Most highly dreaded) personal statement

Reference by a teacher or a tutor

Language certificate

Transcript of your predicted grades

Some of these you’ll need to provide straight away and some will be required in the process. We will go over those down below:

1.1 Personal statement

I’m guessing that this bit terrifies a solid amount of applicants, and understandably. This is your personal essay. You’re supposed to talk about yourself, your interests and achievements. This is the part where most people start considering themselves ‘boring’ and ‘quite ordinary’. Chances are, you have a ton of things you could write about. I’ve laid out ground rules and basics below:

You have 4000 symbols allowed. That is approx. 650 words and 47 lines.

You need four paragraphs: Genuine interest, Skill and Knowledge, Language skills + Experience in multicultural environment, Motivation and backing up your choice of university.

You are required to send the same personal statement to all 5 universities so refrain from including their names anywhere in your statement.

You don’t want to go way above the limit, because the admission committees might refuse to read it. I highly doubt this will happen unless someone has had a very awful day and decides to take it out on your essay, but furthermore it indicated that you’re not able to fit your arguments into a provided limit, which may present itself as an obstacle throughout your university life.

Let’s dissect that paragraphs:

Genuine Interest

This is a short introduction of your letter and a chance for you to tell them why you’re interested in the course, how you discovered it, any touching stories related to your interest etc. I opened my personal statement with a story about a very inspiring robotics teacher that I had at the time and how he motivated me to pursue robotics further. I know people like to talk about books, quotes, siblings, family situations and circumstances that pushed them towards the chosen course. My advice for this section is to start putting things on paper. No one’s first draft looks good or tidy. Chances are by the time you have finished your statement it will look nothing like your first draft anyway. Don’t be afraid to start your first sentence with cliche phrases - they will evolve at a later stage anyway. Here, it is important that you put emotion so your passion transcends through the paper.

Skills and knowledge

This section is quite important as experience is always valued - regardless if you’re applying for university or a job opening. Most people choose to talk about their high school years and emphasise on extra curricular activities they were involved in. Any unconventional volunteering experiences and hobbies are welcome. Being a tiny bit different in this case makes you memorable - universities often tend to prefer diverse environment. If you can’t think of anything you would like to put in this section, you should probably go back to the basics and put a twist - for example how the typical, repetitive high school subjects gave you interesting insights and unlocked skills? Whatever you chose to focus on in this section, remember that it’s not about the experience itself but rather the skills and qualities you gained from it. In order words, saying that you have enhanced problem-solving skills due to a particular volunteering activity gives a better impression than simply pointing out that you were involved in volunteering.

Foreign Languages and Multicultural Environments

I wrote my statement 3 years ago and I really don’t remember why this section was highly desired from a personal statement. It is important to indicate in some way that you wouldn’t struggle in an academic setting and you have the ability to navigate university life in multicultural environment. For most people this means talking about languages they know and how they use them or mentioning experiences in foreign countries. You might want to mention any other skills you think will help you to excel at university.

What makes you think that this is the right institution for you

This paragraph is the least personal - here you want to show them that you did your research. As mentioned above you are required to send the same statement to all 5 universities, so you can’t really go into details. Don’t be afraid to mention things that you really liked, even if not all 5 universities have them - if you’re really keen on taking that YI (Year in Industry) mention that. You want to conclude that you’d be an asset to the institution and express your excitement.

A word on plagiarism: Obviously you’re trying to write your own piece, but plagiarism might ban you from the application process. Looking at statements for inspiration is absolutely fine as long as you don’t copy them word for word. The UK/Wales institutions have plagiarism software which has access to hundreds of databases and if you’ve copied some work the copied sentences are painted in (very throw up-y looking) green.

1.2 Ze Reference

If you have the ability to go up to a teacher/tutor and kindly ask for a reference and they are willing to write it for you - good for you! Teachers who write their own references are the best. But some of us don’t have that luck - either because our teachers are busy or because they don’t know how. For those of you:

Your reference is typically one, one a half page at most. Your reference resembles you personal statement just a tiny bit. So you’d want to go in the same direction. A technique that works once you’ve asked a teacher to sign your reference is to track which classes you had/have with them and what skills you acquired through them. Briefly ask them what are the first 3 words they associate with you. Feel free to spice your reference up, after all, you’re the one writing it - as long as it sounds realistic. Keep a basic paragraph structure and focus on different modules or activities led by the teacher. Finish up by saying that ‘You know that this student will be an excellent addition to the aspiring community of young academics in any institution’.

1.3 Language Certificate

Before we begin on this, there are ways in which you can avoid taking the test and paying for a language certificate. You will need to check with your university, but you maybe could:

Take the national state English exam (матура) with an average of 5.50 or above

Take the entrance exams (not all universities have them, Aberystwyth University does). By getting above 50% you might be able to escape the certificate.

They just don’t care. Good universities do care though.

The point of a certificate is to prove that you can speak English just enough to be able to keep up with academic work. There are three types that I know of. The IELTS, The TOEFL, and The Cambridge.

Ultimately, Cambridge is valid for 50 years but it covers more material and it focuses on both academic practices and general grammar. Usually people aim to get their Cambridge certificate a year before applying for universities as it relieves the stress and gives them the opportunity to retake it if failed.

TOEFL is valid for two years and it is computer based, with a duration of 4 hours. It eliminates face to face communication and the score system is 0 to 120. I have no experience with TOEFL or Cambridge examinations.

IELTS Academic is the certificate I went for, due to not being aware of the options to prove my knowledge in a different way as outlined above. The purpose of IELTS Academic isn’t to teach basic grammar but rather to imitate the format of academic assignments. It focuses on crafting complex arguments and tying together a bit of grammar and specific writing style. I’ll link up my post and a list of resources on passing an IELTS examination asap.

1.4 Transcript

This is by far the easiest bit of your application. Going to the administration office of your high school and requesting a transcript is something you can do early on in the process of the application. It usually summarises your achieved grades for the past few years and has some predicted grades based on current averages which, combined, make you overall average.

2. Submitting documents

A lot of universities allow individual submission through their webpages, however, the universal way to apply is through UCAS. This is a platform which conveniently provides the option to submit your documents to 5 different institutions in a secure way, with provided tracking option. Don’t be shy, visit the link and click around to get acquainted. :) I will be breaking down the UCAS pages in a future post, which I will make sure to link below real soon.

#Applications

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