Tag Archive: City University London

  1. 2012/13: A very brief retrospective.

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    Some girls like shoes and handbags.  Some girls like diamonds.  I like stationery.  I’m very excited at the moment because I’m about to purchase a new academic year diary.  This does beg the question, however, of what has happened to 2012/13.   I’m pretty sure it’s only been a week or two since I got to City.  On the other hand, Christmas must have been about fifty years ago.

    In a bit to preserve whatever sense of time I have left, here are my top five best and worst bits about the year:

    Worst:
    Money (lack of).  The time I had a cold but couldn’t afford to buy Lemsip – that was a bad day.
    Time (lack of).  Babies have been born, lives have been changed, the average day remains fixed at 24 hours.  To compensate, I’ve been filling myself with coffee and eyedrops at my desk for several months.
    Weather (excess of).  When my grandchildren complain about the cold, I will say “ah, now 2012/13 was a winter.  Not like these winters you get now.”  They will roll their eyes and groan, but we know the truth…
    Public sector cuts.  I’d like to work in a hospital when I qualify, but at this rate there’ll be none left.  The whole thing is really sad and also quite scary.
    The tube.  Self-explanatory.

    Best:
    Geekery.  Now that I’m about thirty, I don’t have to act embarrassed about how I find learning really exciting.  Which is nice.
    People.  I hadn’t expected to make friends while studying, but actually I’ve met some excellent people and I feel very fortunate to know them.  I don’t think I could do this without social support, especially the kind that happens at…
    Happy hour in Saddlers.  I would also like to give a shout out to the microwave there.  It made the winter more bearable.
    London.  It’s got everything.  I do like living in a holiday destination.  And actually you can do quite a lot for cheap or free, if you hunt around a bit.
    Clinical Placement.  This is basically Applied Geekery.  It’s the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life and I love it.

    Just think, all I have to do is do this all again, and then I’ll be qualified!

  2. A decade as Cass Business School

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    Cass turns ten. Do we need another reason to celebrate? I don’t think so. On the evening of March 28th, the Science Museum rolled out the red carpet to welcome the people at and behind Cass Business School to an evening which I’d say we were lucky to be a part of. Everyone was dressed to impress and the turnout was massive. Suits, tuxedos, gowns and cocktail dresses. Sparkle, sparkle, flash, flash. I’m sorry but that was just the lights bouncing off the tuxes and dresses and flashes of cameras as everyone tried to click away all they could. I’m sure everyone felt like the glitterati that night.

    An elegant evening of light bites and drinks later turned into a smooth dance floor with the DJ playing some classic beats. Thankfully, not the usual trance you hear at every club night.

    For only ten years in the making, Cass Business School has already made its mark and here’s to many more decades to come. I’ll drink to that.

  3. Have you been spotted?

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    As if today’s society isn’t social media based enough, the group Spotted: City University London popped up a little over two weeks ago on Facebook – now we can hide behind our computer screens when asking someone out. It was instantly popular and has raked together over 1,600 likes.

    If you’ve just awoken from your Christmas-hibernation and don’t know what I’m talking about, let me fill you in. Basically, if you see anyone at the university you like you can message the group and they’ll post it anonymously on their wall. Thereafter you stalk your post, hoping the person your comment is directed to will respond. And if you’re lucky, he or she will agree to go out with you and you’ll get married and have five kids.

    Already there have been cute, romantic, sexist and degrading posts. For example: one guy probably tried to “go against the stream” by being overly forward and asking the girl to cut the romantic crap and hit the sack straight away. Needless to say, it was followed by a long discussion of how inappropriate the comment was.

    Another guy tried using his poetic pen when flattering a girl he’d seen by the main entrance. It went something like this: “…I just turn around to watch your hips swaying side-to-side, your buttocks warming the frosty London air with their mere presence.” I might have a childish brain, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d caught her farting. The post got over 200 likes, so I guess that was just me.

    Some other boy used coffee as a metaphor to ask two girls for a threesome, and one bloke wrote: “Your heart is breaking the snow outside!” I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard about snow breaking.

    In the end, Spotted has a lot of power. And with great power comes great responsibility. It has the potential to be a tasteful romantic group, but, if not being careful with which posts they let through it could easily turn into a sexist group where people are exposed to ridicule and mockery.

    So play nice, people. Now, what are you waiting for? Go out there and be spotted.

  4. Why I’m looking forward to reading week. Already.

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    I should have known something was wrong when the first week and a half of uni was surprisingly calm. “Wow, this isn’t even half as bad as I suspected,” I thought.

    We’d been told how the second year was way harder than the first. “Pffff, they’re just trying to scare us; this is nothing.”

    We were lured into a false sense of security until a Thursday afternoon, an afternoon just like every other, when we were dragged back to reality.

    BOOM! “Here you go, suckers, three assignments in a week! Oh, you’d planned to relax this weekend? Too bad!”

    Ok, so I might be over exaggerating just a tad, but that’s what it felt like; like an ambush.

    Or maybe it was just the shock after lying around on the couch for three months and then suddenly having to do something productive.

    Anyways, uni is busier than ever, but it’s quite good fun. Don’t get me wrong: I love uni. I just think we need to wake up from our summer slumber.

    At least as a second year I know what to expect and don’t have to worry about getting lost every day on top of everything else. I remember how, when I started uni, I got a minor panic attack every time we got a new assignment. “Omg, how am I going to do this, I don’t know anything. I don’t even know why I’m here – I suck.”

    The funny thing is I recognise that same scared expression on this year’s freshers; they look so confused and lost. Oh, how life flies by.

    Anyways, I better get back to work. Thank god there’s only a few weeks left ‘till reading week.