The Sporadic Diary of a University Fresher
Created | Updated Feb 9, 2006
For those of you who haven't come across me before, I'm a fresher1 at the University of York in the UK, reading history. I thought some of the hootoo community might be interested to hear what life's like here, whether for nostalgia or any other reason. So read on...
A Busy Week
Once again, it's been a busy week. The University has been planning to shut down our college laundry room for some time now, but we were expecting it to be later in the year. The they told us on a Wednesday that they were going to close it on the following Monday, before work on its replacement had even been started. Of course, the JCRC (Junior Common Room committee, a sort of governing body for the undergraduates of the College), of which I am a member, mobilised to organise a protest. We had banners, leaflets, appropriate music - Children of the Revolution, Dirty, Filthy/Gorgeous and so on, as well as about 50 people. We also collected more than 1100 signatures in a couple of days - about a sixth of the total population of the University, which we felt was pretty impressive! The University caved - they're now not going to close it until the end of February. The fight continues though. We want to make sure that the replacement is open before they close it. This was the first protest I've been on, and it was actually a lot of fun!
Another part of my JCRC role involves stewarding at Planet V's, the big club-like event the college puts on a few times a term. Basically, I had to sit by a fire door, so I could open it in the event of an alarm. We got free pizza as compensation. I was expecting it to be quite bad, but the worst bit was sitting at the door next to the bar for about half an hour. People crowd around you, and since you're sitting and they're standing, there's a real sense of your personal space being invaded. Overall, it was better than I thought it would be - my Gameboy saw me through!
On the house-hunting front, there isn't much news, really. We think we have a good chance of getting our first choice house. It's not ideal - one room is pretty tiny, and the attic room, is reached by what is basically a very steep ladder with handrails, but it's the best we've seen and the location is great. We should have heard whether we've got it by the time that you read this. Frankly, I don't know what we'll do if we don't get it. The others we've seen aren't great, and anywhere that is good disappears quickly.
the work front, I have to write two 2000 word essays by Friday. I've got the research out of the way, and I'm actually writing them now, which is much more enjoyable. Who knows, you might see them, suitably altered, in Peer Review soon! One is on an Early Modern history topic (I'm writing about how rulers controlled their nobilities and how successful they were) and the other is a Modern history topic (about which man had the greater influence on European politics from 1815 to 1852, Napoleon or Chancellor of Austria, Metternich?)
That's it for this issue. Come back next time!
The Sporadic Diary of a University Fresher Archive
