Just a quick update regarding FRESHERS WEEK 07! Hopefully everyone met the requirements needed to get into Glasgow Uni, if not you will probably be under consideration which usually takes about a week due to the release of English results next week so as far as I’m aware be prepared to wait til the end of next week to find out if you have made the cut or not! Hopefully though everything will be alright and if not there is always clearing is all else fails! Anyway, so much for the Sugababes, look who we now have! I cannot wait, this year could seriously rival Goldie Lookin’ Chain!

       Welcome Weekend (not FW proper, open to all)

• • Friday 14^th September: Move-in day, 70p vodka @ Back to Basics, open until 2am
  • Saturday 15^th September: Welcome Ceilidh and Whisky Tasting in Debates Chamber, Hive open until 2am too
  • Sunday 16^th September: New Extension Official Opening, champagne reception and Boys’/Girls’ Night In, Traffic Light Party in the Hive, open until 2am

  Freshers’ Week Proper (Hive open every night until 2am, 6am on Saturday)

• • Monday 17^th September: Freshers’ Week Main Stage in Debates Chamber, Dizzee Rascal with support from Oscillator and Castro; Boys ‘n’ Girls in Deep 6 after 11pm
  • Tuesday 18^th September: Dave Pearce Dance Anthems Tour in the Hive; B.A.D.G.E. (Big All Day Games Event)
  • Wednesday 19^th September: GUSA Party in Debates Chamber; Drinking Comps.
  • Thursday 20^th September: Lollipop presents… The Cut-Up Boys in the Hive; Dodgeball
  • Friday 21^st September: Back to Basics presents… School Disco with Edith Bowman (TBC) in the Hive; Iron Stomach
  • Saturday 22^nd September: Ten-Hour Hive; Freshers’ Debate with Yakka/Ice-Cream After-Party
  • Sunday 23^rd September: Final Fling Foam Party in the Hive; Recovery Session (afternoon movie, massages, hangover food) in Debates Chamber

  Peace Out

 A suggestion for a blog was to write about what I was doing at this time last year with respect to Uni. If memory serves correct I was just getting in information as to whether I had gained entry into Uni pending my exam results then using the UCAS website to confirm which course I wished enter. After a few weeks I received a confirmation letter from the Uni itself saying it had been made aware of my choice and that letters would follow as to when registration would take place and how tuition fees were paid for. I then set about filling out the SAAS (Students Award Agency Scotland) forms to cover my fees. Before I knew it Freshers Week was upon me and that was me a fully fledged student! I had very few expectations of Uni as none of my mates had bothered talking about it as they were still staying on but I wasn’t concerned as long as I was surrounded with people who very more mature and less annoying than those you expect to find at secondary school, which thankfully Uni provides none of! My biggest shock was how many people are in your lectures and how quick the lecturers teach, but you soon get used to it. In addition to all this I put my name forward for a student mentoring scheme which was mentioned by our student advisor at the start of a lecture which provided me with a fifth year studnet to talk to if I needed any assistance reguarding Uni. We met about once a month during free hours and kept in touch by email as to when we met and if we had any urgent problems. Thankfully I had no problems but it was quite reassuring to have this facility available if I ever needed to call upon. As far as I’m aware the engineering faculty plan to use this scheme again next year so please make use of it and if you hope to join another faculty ask your advisor of studies if anything is in place that is similar. In addition, my student advisor also asked if I wanted to be apart of a PDP scheme to boost my grades as I was in the middle echelon of the year with respect to grades. In truth, I never used this facility as I was confused as to what it was about but feel free to make use of it at this link > http://www.eng.gla.ac.uk/pdp/ I am told that many prospective engineering students will be given a link to this site so please make use of me if you need any question answered about anything really! My email is 0606116m@student.gla.ac.uk if you need me! So far everyone who has been in contact with me has got a reply so don’t assume I will ignore you.

 I will try to fish out my old UCAS/SAAS/UNI documents I received last summer to shed some more light onto what happens running up to starting but I can’t think of much I have missed in all honesty.

 On a brighter note, I have an insider scoop as to who will be attending the GUU Freshers Week lineup! Dave Pearce, Edith Bowman, Preston from Ordinary Boys (assuming he is not lovesick still) and THE SUGABABES none the less are all involved at some point of the week so make sure you pop down as it promises to beat the QMU again after stealing the show last year!

 Anyways, I best be off and tidy my room -  a tidy workplace is a tidy mind as they say!

 Chiao

 The other day I sat down and had a look at my calendar to see when to start revising for the resits, and it occured to me how long we get off for summer! My last exam was at the end of May and we don’t return to Uni til mid-September! That’s like… 3.5 months… which is like over a quarter of the whole year! This made me think, with all this free time I should really use it productively and made me consider getting another job, perhaps in a bar/pub after I had finished my day job at Cotton Traders. The only down sides I can see to this is that I will get taxed more heavily and I may not get to see my mates as often as I would maybe like, but hopefully I can persuade one of my mates to get a job with me at the same bar which would solve alot of problems!

3 weeks till T IN THE PARK! I thought I would just slip that in as my tickets finally arrived and I am now starting to get very excited

 I am aware that many prospective students will be starting to find out if they got into Uni and will probably stumble across the Student Blogs so if you have any queries regarding anything you think me or John or Tatiana can help you with please don’t hesitate to send us an email and we will try our best to help you out!

“You breathe in when I breathe out”  The Dykeenies – Clean Up Your Eyes

Well folks, thats me finally finished my first semester and now 20% Aeronautical Engineer! My first year has completely flown by if you pardon the pun. This set of exams only entailed 3 exams so the workload didn’t put you under too much pressure. I felt the Maths paper went really well but struggled in Applied Mechanics as did many others as the syllabus was new for this year and there wasn’t any past papers to look at to gauge how the paper would be set out. I’m sure though that if you fully understood the Statics aspect of the course you would have done alright as the Dynamics section was very similar to previuos years. Now all I have to do is sit back and wait til the end of June and see what I have to resit and contact the registry to get them organised, though I fear the dates of the resits may clash with my Duke of Edinburgh expedition in mid August so I will need to contact the registry to see what can be done.

Onto brighter news, I was successfully accepted as a GUU Freshers Helper for the Freshers Week in September! I was really happy when I found out I had gained a place as competition is very tough for a spot with over 250 people trying out for only 42 places! I feel this will be a great opportunity to learn alot more about student life whilst also gaining experience as to how a union is run and will stand me in good stead if I choose to apply for a position in the union towards my later years in University.

The other week I received an email from the University asking students if they were interested in abseiling the Bell Tower (the huge big famous tower in the main building) to raise money for various charites. After some slight deliberation I thought what the heck and applied and received a welcome pack which gave me some information about the day. I have chosen to raise money on behalf of the Glasgow University Medical Fund for the diseases against the nervous system as my Dad has been recently diagnosed with MS. This abseil will be taking place on Sunday 7th October so if you want to pop along and come watch the action feel free to pop down!

I shall now depart to pack my suitcase for my holiday on Monday to Magaluf with my mates which I have been looking forward to for ages now! If you are away anywhere soon, make sure you have a good one!

“I won’t regret it cause you can grow flowers from where dirt used to be”  Kate Nash - Merry Happy

On Tuesday, we finally returned after a 3 week holiday (which seemed like an eternity as holidays are few and far between at Uni) which I used to my advantage to restock my funds in advance of my holiday to Magaluf. Hopefully now I don’t have to worry so much about scraping money together to pay for my holiday and my resit examination! Later that week I decided to take the Thursday and Friday off to visit Arran for a camping trip with my mates from school which gave me a chance to catch up with them. I was very hesitant to miss lectures as I have only missed 1 or 2 lectures this year let along 1 or 2 days and also with exams looming round the corner further put me off the idea! Luckily though, I only missed 1 lecture of maths and 2 lectures of dynamics and my friend has allowed me to copy up notes which I missed so thankfully little if no damage was done. In addition, one of my subjects (Engineering Skills 1) has now finished so thats another thing off my mind. On the Friday when I returned I travelled up to the QM union at night to catch my friends band headline the stage that night (The Dykeenies). As expected they were on top form and made a cracking night for the near enough sold out venue. Highlight of the night was meeting the band and hearing that a few folk from the GU knicked some of the merch which amused me being a member of the GU and talking to a rather frustrated band!

With only 3 weeks left now till exams I am now more aware that I need to “get my finger out” and get some work done so that I am well prepared this semester. I have began to understand how to find past papers via the library website but have found it a bit of a pain as not every paper is online and I have found that a few are filed incorrectly. On the whole though, its a very good idea but I would prefer if more attention was paid towards it, and answers would also be appreciated as none are available and as far as I’m aware you have to pester lecturers for solutions. In addition, with only 3 weeks left at Uni i have gone from my £280 - ten week bus pass to a £31.50 - 10 journey pass in order to save money as we do not get any travel expenses. This has proved to be a bit of a pain as I can now no longer get the bus from the station to my house for free anymore as my new ticket only takes me from the station to Uni and back to the station   

My final section of this blog brings me on to next year. I’m still swithering whether to look into getting a flat, but I think I am still going to chicken out for another year and wait until 4th/5th year when you really need to be in Glasgow much of the time to complete projects and so forth. I have also considered putting myself forward to be a freshers helper, in the hope that I’ll meet up with some of my mates and have a cracking week. Last year I missed alot of the action as I was 17 with none of my mates up on campus and found it hard to get in contact with folk a year older than me.

Right I better head and get some work done but this week I have decided to include some Dykeenies lyrics in commemoration of Friday’s gig!

What you dont have is what you dont need, what you cant reach what you cant see! 
The Dykeenies – Clean Up Your Eyes

I am loving the second semester at the moment. The work load is hardly strenuous compared to last semester and I only have 2 subjects which are examinable, one of which I already have banked quite a few marks for in the winter exam diet.  The other subject is more of a challenge and I know I will have to give it more attention if I want to achieve high standards in it. A concern I hear you cry? Well not really, assuming I can get myself motivated it shouldn’t really be a problem as we all go on holiday next week for 23 days until we return on the 10^th of April with only 4 weeks remaining until the exams. I feel that if I put the work in during the holidays I can raise any issues regarding the coursework with the lecturers during the 4 week period running up to my exams so that I am fully prepared and confident when I enter the exam hall.In addition, I have also made more use of the gym facilities at the Stevenson Building which has provided me with an option to fill in the time spent waiting for my 5pm bus (considering some days I finish at 10am!). I have re-found my love for swimming and have become a regular to the sauna and steam room as well which is great. I was stunned though when I first went swimming as I struggled to even manage a single 25m length of front crawl! At primary school I was… a fish lets say, regularly doing circuit training in the pool and participating in many swimathons to raise money for charities. I never realised I had become so unfit since I have started at University, but now that I think about it, I have done little high intensity training for numerous months now so it all much be catching up with me.

At the moment my head is currently focused on what to plan for the next year. Firstly I am going to re-apply for the Glasgow Universities Air Squadron at the start of next semester.  I never found out why I didn’t make the cut last year which was a tad annoying but I was aware that I was younger than the required age which I think had a major role to play due to insurance purposes. During the interview they asked me what I would do if I was rejected admission and I answered, “I will re-apply as soon as I get the chance again next year” which I hope means that they were alluding to the idea that I was just too young this year and to join next year. Ha ha, listen to me! Though in my defence they also mentioned that re-applying showed that you were commited to joining which was beneficial to your case next time on admission. If I am unsuccessful yet again I hope to join the basketball team as I very much miss the game. I know I will have to do a lot of training during the summer to get myself in shape if I want to stand any chance of getting into the team, let alone play for the team! Another ambition for next year is to complete the Duke of Edinburgh award! I have already attained my Bronze and have completed the main elements of both the Silver and Gold with just the expeditions left to complete. I very much look forward to completing them with the University as from what I have heard and seen they look far more fun than the type you complete at school which are much less adventurous! To cap off the year I hope so spend 3 months in Australia in a place called Byron Bay on a working visa and perhaps dabble in a bit of charity work. I feel that this trip will definitely live up to the cliché of being the “trip of a lifetime” and I hope that it will also give me a sense of identity and personality as I feel of late I have struggled to find the person I really am or something along those lines. Let the saving commence!

 ”Shed the scales from my eyes and I see what we used to be, drifted away in the tide that flowed so gently, that I didn’t feel it pull away a part of me” – Watershed by Sanda Street

Last week I received an email from the Student Reps Council asking if I would like to attend a training meeting. Not really knowing what this was I decided to go along as mainly it burned up a 4 hour gap between classes. On arrival I quickly realised that I was in the wrong room, most of the people were in 4th/5th year and seemed knowledgeable about what the meeting was about. As the meeting progressed I settled in and realised it was directed at those who wished to become Student Reps, which, silly for me, doesn’t really apply to engineering as far as I know. In engineering we have a mentor scheme which allows 1st-4th years to report to their 5th year ”buddies” about any problems they are experiencing. On the whole I have found this pilot to be very useful, even though most of the time my group has little to bring up at meetings, but it is still nice to have a resource who has experienced what you are doing. My buddy is called Jodie, so if you read this, thanks alot. The only downside to this meeting is that sometimes people in my group do not respond to our buddies emails which makes it hard for her to arrange meets, butthats just folk being lazy, not a flaw with the scheme.

This week I have chosen to quote a few lines from the film “The Beach” I feel that at Uni it is very important to try new things and venture into the unknown, for example, me last week trying the Student Reps meeting by myself.

“Never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite, never outstay your welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience, and if it hurts, it’s probably worth it.”

On Monday I had lost the ability to speak as I had an extremely sore throat but unfortunately things only slightly improved the next day in the form of me sounding like a heavy smoker, but I could at least force out a few words! I am finding it very hard to shake this cold as I struggle to gain enough shut eye to sleep it off and mainly because of the sub zero temperatures! My friends at secondary school have finished all their prelims and are constantly begging me to go out with them whilst I know I should be fast asleep in my bed as I have to get up at half 6 every morning! Even though I know I should not go out, I feel it is still important to regularly socialize with my friends from home as I am going on holiday with them during the summer and it is vital to stay in touch with the gossip at the school. Next week I have been invited back to the school to give a presentation on my trip to NASA during the summer which is on offer to the current 4th years and I am hoping that a few of my friends will be in the audience so I can meet up with them after. When I started here at Glasgow, I thought I would struggle to get up that early in the morning, but as I have become used to it, I have gradually become accustomed to the lack of sleep, though I wish I could still steal a few more minutes in bed.

The past few weeks starting the second semester have been very hectic for me. I finally got round to completing the IT exam which all students must complete before graduating. I was so relieved when I found out I had passed as it drained all my energy and was another thing niggling in the back of my mind knowing I had to get round to doing it. In addition, I also got round to claiming my travel expenses through the SAAS website. If I’m honest I found the site quite hard to use as it asks you to log every type of ticket and route you use and for me it can change every week! I finally settled for what I thought was most correct but it still proved hard to understand.

Anyway, I have decided to cancel on my friends tonight and have an early night so I shall bid thee all farewell and go and blow my nose!

Take care x

P.S. At the end of every post I plan to quote my favourite song lyric of the week which has made me think or feel better!

Here is the first…

“Give me moments, not hours or days”   Bloc Party – Waiting For The 7.18