Checking UCAS has become an obsession. Once you've decided that your personal statement will never be any more impressive no matter how many times you move that comma; once you've meticulously checked every detail of the 'qualifications' section; once you've taken the plunge and submitted the UCAS application, the only thing left to do is wait. It is now temporarily out of your hands whether you get into the university of our dreams. At least until it comes to revision.
So we check the "choices" section of the UCAS website to see if any universities have granted you a "conditional offer" or the lesser-seen "unconditional offer" so elusive I have yet to believe it exists. For me, the UCAS obsession comes in waves, big ones, really close together. Some days I have the restraint to log on just once, others I have found myself checking every ten minutes if there is a computer within reach. Even sneaking onto UCAS at silly o'clock in the morning after a petrifying dream, let's not forget that the lovely administrators at UCAS will not be working at this time and so there is no point in checking. However, obsession is by definition irrational and a little unhealthy.
For those of you reading this who aren't in the process of waiting impatiently to receive university offers, I'm sure you have obsessions too. A favourite TV show? Finding the perfect jeans? Endless to-do lists (certainly one of my obsessions that I share with What-Katie-Did) Whether its an all-consuming passion, or merely a preoccupation, there are advantages to obsession.
For one thing it focuses the mind, makes you put all your energy into something. Don't underestimate the power of a slightly unhealthy obsession. If you can use your compulsion in the right ways it can become your biggest accomplishment, attribute or party trick. Mathematicians must be obsessed enough to focus on discovering a theorem. Concert Pianists obsess over the tone, dynamics and rhythm of a piece of music. Users of sporcle.com, such as myself, find they can magically locate and name all 50 states of the USA and all 195 countries of the world.
I admit I have an addictive personality, I love a song, listen to it far too much and ruin it for myself, bummer. But I think there is a spark of obsession in everyone, waiting to do its damage, whether its finishing a video game or making the perfect cake. We all have something that we think about more than perhaps we should. My completely unqualified and unnecessary advice is this, embrace the obsession to a degree that you achieve something from it - but don't let it consume your every thought!
P.s I really recommend the Geography section of Sporcle, when my sister recommended it I called her a massive nerd... now I'm obsessed too and implore you not to become addicted to learning the names of all the countries beginning with the letter 'A'. And knowing all the countries in the world is a cool party trick.
Thursday 18 November 2010
Wednesday 10 November 2010
Is this the end of the Gap Year?
Sleeping in hostels, 8 hour train journeys, traipsing around Thailand with all your possessions on your back, sound exciting?
As we are sprung free from the comfortable nest of school and home-life, many eighteen year-olds are chomping at the bit for adventure. It seems the best way to approach this is to work in Tesco's just long enough that you've saved money to travel the world on a shoe string, but not too long that you've completely lost the will to live. Then you leap head-first into a country of your choice, the first stop on a rickety duct-taped bus to independence.
The Gap Year is dreaded by many parents, feeling unable to express concern about safety without an indignant, know-it-all retort. As my mother would say "why don't you leave home now whilst you still know everything". However I'm certain the majority of parents are pro-Gap Year as a way for young people to see the world without a care or worry. Everyone I've spoken to who has taken a Gap Year has persuaded me to do the same and enthused me about the brilliant unforgettable things they saw, tasted and smelled.
I toyed with the idea until recently. My mind was made up for me. As the rise in University Fees was announced, plans for 'The Gap Year' were dropped countrywide with a defeated thud. As the increase in fees will take effect from september 2012, current year 13 students will be able to slip under the wire and get to University paying the current fees. Anyone considering a Gap Year must now also consider doubled tuition fees. Suddenly a month spent on a beach in Fiji doesn't seem such a great idea.
I have decided to spend my summers travelling (it seems the more you pay for tuition, the less you get, as you spend 2 months of the summer back at home getting under your parents feet). Whilst I am perfectly happy with my adventurous summers in the pipe-line, many others my age are feeling dejected that this great opportunity has been effectively whipped out from underneath their feet. The majority will throw themselves into university lifestyle in september 2011, putting off plans for later. I find it disappointing that so many young people already have to start postponing the things they were most looking forward to. At least they are not in the awful position of the current lower-sixth students, many of whom will be re-thinking applying to university at all, let alone a jolly in japan.
Yes it has been made more difficult for current sixth-formers to plan out their not-too-distant future, but I wouldn't put the final nail in the coffin of young exploration yet. I am sure that young people will continue to travel, explore and take gap-years in future. The rickety buses will continue for many years yet to transfer teenagers through three countries in as many weeks.
As we are sprung free from the comfortable nest of school and home-life, many eighteen year-olds are chomping at the bit for adventure. It seems the best way to approach this is to work in Tesco's just long enough that you've saved money to travel the world on a shoe string, but not too long that you've completely lost the will to live. Then you leap head-first into a country of your choice, the first stop on a rickety duct-taped bus to independence.
The Gap Year is dreaded by many parents, feeling unable to express concern about safety without an indignant, know-it-all retort. As my mother would say "why don't you leave home now whilst you still know everything". However I'm certain the majority of parents are pro-Gap Year as a way for young people to see the world without a care or worry. Everyone I've spoken to who has taken a Gap Year has persuaded me to do the same and enthused me about the brilliant unforgettable things they saw, tasted and smelled.
I toyed with the idea until recently. My mind was made up for me. As the rise in University Fees was announced, plans for 'The Gap Year' were dropped countrywide with a defeated thud. As the increase in fees will take effect from september 2012, current year 13 students will be able to slip under the wire and get to University paying the current fees. Anyone considering a Gap Year must now also consider doubled tuition fees. Suddenly a month spent on a beach in Fiji doesn't seem such a great idea.
I have decided to spend my summers travelling (it seems the more you pay for tuition, the less you get, as you spend 2 months of the summer back at home getting under your parents feet). Whilst I am perfectly happy with my adventurous summers in the pipe-line, many others my age are feeling dejected that this great opportunity has been effectively whipped out from underneath their feet. The majority will throw themselves into university lifestyle in september 2011, putting off plans for later. I find it disappointing that so many young people already have to start postponing the things they were most looking forward to. At least they are not in the awful position of the current lower-sixth students, many of whom will be re-thinking applying to university at all, let alone a jolly in japan.
Yes it has been made more difficult for current sixth-formers to plan out their not-too-distant future, but I wouldn't put the final nail in the coffin of young exploration yet. I am sure that young people will continue to travel, explore and take gap-years in future. The rickety buses will continue for many years yet to transfer teenagers through three countries in as many weeks.
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