The cost of being a student

Today we had an open meeting on marketing at our university. It is slightly disheartening that all our very labour intensive work with schools, teachers, parents and careers advisors may all be rendered entirely pointless in the face of the removal of the cap on tuition fees in 2010. We know already that several universities are discussing raising fees to £15k, minimum. We know that we can't do this (and wouldn't want to price any potential student out of our courses). But it does make me incredibly uneasy. The picture of UK university education in three years' time is going to be unrecognisable to us Brits.

The end of another week: ahhh.

What a funny week, again. I was at the Hereford & Worcester HE Fair this week, which entailed travelling up the night before. As the event clashed with the Cheltenham races, and I was late booking a hotel, I couldn't stay in Worcester itself, but I had booked a B&B inn place in what turned out to be the middle of nowhere in a possibly idyllic (I don't know, I didn't see any of it) village with the unlikely sounding name of Upton Snodsbury. One of the downsides of this kind of thing is that you have to then sit and have dinner on your own in a hotel or restaurant - I don't know which is worse - and that indeed is what I had to do. Hence Tuesday night found me sitting in a massive pub conservatory, alone, on my wicker/chintz cushion chair, gazing out of the window on to the A422, and feeling very lonely. The chair was so high my feet didn't even reach the ground, so I was perched uncomfortably with my chin in the goat's cheese tart. That was all ok, because I was alone. However, shortly after my tart arrived, so did three London lads, "happy" after a day's racing. Cue racist jokes, lairy behaviour and sidelong looks at the bird.

I had a very, very early night on Tuesday.

Sick of the sound of my own voice

This week I've done nine talks, spent two days at an HE fair, travelled from Luton to Crystal Palace to Camden to Dulwich to Hendon, and back and forth to home of course. I've spent a night with a friend in Finchley, and the morning on her floor with her one year old son playing with building blocks, before going to talk to 18 year olds who are, one assumes, beyond that stage of their lives. I have talked to careers advisors, teachers, students, parents and occasionally the odd man on a bus. I am completely tired of hearing my own voice spouting on and on about student life, finances, medicine and personal statements. I hope no-one else is as bored of my talks as I am! Meanwhile, shout out for Luton VI Form, Alleyns School, Brampton College, La Sainte Union and everyone who came to Crystal Palace. Now I must rest in peace.

Revising my neurology

I've got sinusitis. It feels like this. I'm not happy. It's been a week and it's not getting any better. Today I did a talk at Luton VI Form, and tomorrow I have to do 4 talks at South East London HE Fair. The following three days I have to do a talk a day. Sinusitis is not conducive to any of this. Sad. The only benefit is that I get to try to remember which cranial nerve might be affected, but I can't actually remember.

I'm in Manchester at the UCAS HE Fair; two days, x-thousand visitors, lots of talking and promoting courses. There are about 200 other universities there too, and it's all very jolly. I've been impressed with the young people up here visiting the fair - sometimes you go to a fair and they're all really shy and won't come up to your stall - but here, they are confident, interested and full of questions. It really is a good feeling when you know you're talking to people who actually care about what they are going to do at uni, and have thought of things they want to know about. Today I had a brilliant young lady who had a long conversation with me about medicine (oh, little does she know, the poor thing). It was clear that she had really researched the different schools, the teaching methods, the career and so on. If I was still in admissions I'd have offered her a place on the spot. (Note: of course I wouldn't, that would be practically illegal).

Anyway - Manchester - impressive would-be students. Impressive Arndale Centre. Cool city. But now it's time to rest my aching feet and prepare for another day tomorrow.

TV tears

This evening I watched 'The Strangest Hotel in the World', a programme about Foxes Hotel in Minehead. It's a hotel academy for young people with learning disabilities to learn not just practical skills but also how to live independently, working in the fully functioning hotel whilst gaining qualifications.

I don't know how to articulate how amazing this scheme is, and how much I admire the two 'old bats' (as they called themselves) who set it up. It's just beyond words. I urge everyone to watch this programme if it comes back again, and to leave everything they own to it in their wills. :) It is amazing and if I could achieve even a quarter of what any of the people involved have done, I'd be very proud.

The Spanish wear their colours

We noticed in Spain that there was a considerable quantity of beige wearing. At first it was a joke between us but gradually, the more we travelled around, the more we realised EVERYONE WEARS BEIGE. I'm talking, top and bottom, and shoes and shirts, and scarves and jackets. It's like a little beige army. We even made up a little song, 'browny beigey clothes DING DING', which I think could be a number one by Christmas. But we also noticed a prediliction for orange, green and red, not usually all together, although we did spot a man wearing beige AND lilac together, which, for the more fashion conscious amongst you, is not a combination I recommend.

Then we found this shop and it all became clear!

By the way, if you have a few hours spare and want to look at more beige related pictures you can view them at my flickr