Another exam!!!

I stayed in the main building until 4am last night. I'm posting for today after midnight so all the dates are out for what I'm writing about, but you will get the drift. After I finished my manifesto, which by the way is pretty cool even if I do say so myself :P (modest much), I got hooked on HolbyCity on the old iPlayer. I had to drag myself out of bed this morning to my lectures, and in between spend some time working in the Aston Times on the article for next week- have to get it finished by tomorrow. Suppose I had better get used to these deadlines! It doesn't help that I need to catch the 2 o'clock train back home tomorrow though, I'm going to be rushed off my feet :(

I did give myself chance to go over to the bullring and do a bit of retail therapy and lunch with a friend. Can't beat squeezing the last few pounds out of your overdraft :P I'm joking, I've done quite a good job of budgeting so I know how much I've got to spend and when to stop- unlike my friend who is wild and fast with his credit card, really isn't worth the airmiles! 

Being in the middle of the city centre is a blessing and curse at the same time. I'm minutes away from what I consider to be a city second to none, not even London in my ranking, with great shops and facilities, you don't ever want for something to do. Unfortunately it can come with a cost, and it doesn't matter how many you ask "do you do student discount?" it never makes it free! I really should think more about what I can do for free in Brum, I know there is loads :?

I also had an exam today, it was at 6.30pm and it started half an hour late! Most inconvenient :O It was a class test worth 30% of my Management Accounting module. I was dreading it as I hadn't been paying much attention in lectures (I want to blame Facebook, but it's not it's fault, it can't help that it is so damn addictive and that we get wireless broadband in the main building!) and from what a friend of mine, Tom, was telling me about it, I needed to know some stuff to do well. As it turned out the 30 question multiple choice exam, which is done on the computer so you don't even have to write anything, was easily completed in the half the allocated time. I nearly laughed when some of the questions in the exam were the same ones as we were working through in the revision session! Too easy really :P We'll see anyway, I should have done enough to get 40% and pass, I hope :S

Now I'm going to check how cheaply I can get home tomorrow with my railcard and start drafting my article for tomorrow. Then I have to pack to go home for the weekend! I should probably mention I'm a night owl, and do everything under the cover of darkness. Not all students are like this, some manage to get up in the mornings :P

Aston Times

I spent a few hours in the Aston Times office today. It turns out with issues being published monthly, I will be very busy if I win the elections in a few weeks- so yea I'm going to be running for the position, and I don't think I've got any competition either (I hope). It's a non-exec position so I won't have to get too heavily involved in the politics of the guild- of which there is a whole lot off! To get me going I'm writing an article for next weeks issue about the history of the paper, as it is it's 60th Anniversary- hope I don't let the paper down :S At the moment, I'm in the main building again, middle of the night, watching the Eastender's omnibus on BBC iPlayer whilst writing my campaign manifesto. I'll post it when I'm finished :D

I also had an LGBT meeting today, the new committee is slowly taking over and making plans for the time we are in charge :D Not that I'm letting the power go to my head! Next year we want to make sure that the society is offering a wider variety of options to it's members, less drinking and more cozy nights in watching movies. Aston isn't all about drinking and going out all the time, there is a strong sense of family and belonging, which everyone can get if they involve themselves and make friends with people who have similar, and sometimes different, interests and opinions to yourself. That's what I have found most satisfying and comforting in my short time here. 

We have also been planning next year's tour, like all other societies we have an annual long weekend/holiday away and have good laugh and a rest from the humdrum of university life. Correction humdrum isn't a word I'd use to describe my time here actually, so I guess tour is just another excuse to have more fun :D

Just got in....

I worked a late shift at Gosta tonight, 8-12. Monday night is Quids night, cheap drinks mixed with penny pinching students = ram backed 4 deep at the bar! Good night though, rather than having to work until close and clean up, I got off early and had a few drinks :P with some mates before time. Then I stayed on for staff drinks- perks of the job eh. Thank god I don't have any lectures on tuesdays in odd weeks-I can have a lie in! :D 

I will be going to have dinner with my grandparents though tomorrow. I have two sets of grandparents and an aunt all within 20 minutes of me on bus or train routes- great for washing clothes and getting my weekly portion of vegetables in :P Not everyone gets that luxury, so I'm kinda cheating with the whole leaving home thing. It wouldn't kill me not to go though, it's just nice to see family.

Finally got a text back from the Aston Times editor, he was working elsewhere today. He asked me to come see him tomorrow- I had already moved seeing my grandparents from Monday to Tuesday, I couldn't put them out again. I will be seeing him Wednesday instead I hope, will be a busy day though :( 

And now....

I think with that I shall draw an end to my introductory posts, and just start blogging normally. If you have any questions on anything I might not have mentioned that you want to know about then feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly :D

I'm thinking about running for editor of the Aston Times, the university's historical newspaper, in the upcoming Guild elections. I've been trying to get hold of the current editor all day to arrange to see him- maybe he is being elusive because he doesn't want me to steal his baby? I'm told the job is a big committment, I don't mind that, I just want to make sure I have enough time fit it in. I'm a real glutton for punishment when it comes to workload :P Still, it beats being in my flat watching my Sex and The City box set, or does it?..............

Lectures- the truth is out!

Does anybody remember my flat auntie from one of my earlier posts? Well one the of the few things that she told me during our brief encounter was that she had only had a 4% (I think she made the exact figure up) attendance rate, and was still achieving a 2:1 in her degree(which is over 60% of marks). I didn't believe what she was telling, she was in the Business School like me, but there was no way, I told myself then, that I would go to so few lectures- god knows I'm getting myself into enough debt here I may as well take full advantage of what I'm paying for!

Here I am almost half way through my second and last teaching period, and my attendance is, shall we say- less than perfect :P The University tell you that all timetabled lectures and tutorials have a mandatory attendance requirement, but there are registration sheets in the first two weeks of each teaching period only, so after it really is left up to your own conscience. Almost all lecture and tutorial materials are available on the ABS virtual learning environment called Blackboard, including powerpoint slides, the answers to set work and past exam papers, so if you can't get to a lecture or choose not to go then there is a way to catch up.

I've found that at university there is a much more of a self-reliance when it comes to learning, unlike my A-levels and GCSEs there is no one to spoon feed me exam responses which I can repeat parrot fashion until I'm blue in the face (I'm not knocking A-Levels and GCSEs I had to work to get my good grades, and some people are lot more demanding than the ones I did!). In some lectures you will only have a lecturer read slides to you, I found if I just read them in my own time I wasn't missing out on much because it was a fairly easy content to learn. In others, like a certain Dr. Patrick Tissington's Organisational Behaviour lectures or the Financial Accounting Module, you really can't afford to miss the lectures. The former because they are an absolute hoot (did I just use the word hoot :P), and the latter because it is riddled with surprise class tests and fill in the blank exercises which you actually need :( With only about 24 hours a fortnight of contact time on the ABS first year timetable (not exactly great value for money some might say :P), a lot of learning takes place outside of the lecture hall, in the middle of the night reading chapters from texts books or reviewing slides and notes online, at least that's how I did it. Important lectures which I always try to attend are the first couple when you are A) being registered and B) getting an introduction and foundation for the module, and also the last revision lectures or tutorials, these are a great time to learn the exam technique for the module and review any bits you might have missed during the term. The rest I will leave to your own judgement.

An important note before I go is on textbooks. I made the mistake of buying all the first teaching periods text books, it cost me £15o and most them I barely looked at and probably wont ever again. I will sell some to recoup costs though :) If you don't want to invest in new copies of set texts then take advantage of second years, like me who will be selling their previous years books at a discounted price. If you can't afford to do either, or just don't want to, then there is a limited supply of text books in the library- don't rely on them being there during exam revision time though, because you have no chance of turning up the night before an exam looking for a text book- some of my friends learnt this the hard way. When I was writing a couple of 2000 word essays less than a week before their due date I remember grabbing the last 4 books in the shelves in that area- and still having to share them with a friend! Talk about close for comfort. Still waiting for those essay marks actually- hope it was all worth it :S

Fresher's Summary part deux

Welcome back.

The next thing that comes to my mind when I think about freshers week, and it is supported by my day planner entries, is all the inductions and orientations, registrations and welcome meetings I had to go to! They are never ending, and because you have to do it all twice once for the central University and then again for the school of study, in my case Aston Business School, it seems to be very repetitive. A piece of advice I wish I had been given before I started enrolling- wear a comfy pair of shoes and take a pillow, because you will be doing a lot of queuing, or sitting down in lecture halls :( On the plus side, I did finish the week feeling as if knew absolutely everything I needed to know about being at Aston, and the people I should speak to if there was something I didn't know. Looking at my diary now, I had lots of times penciled for different demo's being put on by the societies and sports club, I don't remember going to any of them I was that busy with other stuff!

Moving towards the end of fresher's week, most of the partying has already happened, a lot of people have discovered what a real hang over is, and fresher's flu (something I'll dedicate a blog to soon) is rife! However, even after all of that, I was still expected to attend fresher's fair. I had read up about this however, fresher's fair is the opportunity to blag as much free stuff as possible all under the same roof. Pens, lanyards, notebooks, mouse mats (I use a laptop but still thought it would be useful), glass coasters, toilet cistern economisers and wooden spatulas strangely enough. I think I swapped a glow stick from one stand for a pint glass from the girls on the Wetherspoons stand- score! Not forgetting me and my flatmate talking to the Christian Union for ages just so we could get a free doorstop, I felt bad afterwards for conning them, but the doorstop has proved invaluable, every student should have one.

I signed up to a lot of societies and clubs that day- big mistake. I spent a lot of money on membership, some for societies that I didn't even start to attend. Looking back I wish I had taken my time, and worked out what I was really going to be able to commit myself to. I still get all their email bulletins though, I really should speak to someone about that :P

Next time lectures!

Let's try this again

Sorry the first thing you read in my blog was ranting, I don't do it all the time, but sometimes you just need to say something!

Ok, so now I'll take you back to my fresher's week. 

To be honest I had a pretty rubbish fresher's week (this isn't ranting by the way, it's statement of fact :P). I had already arranged a job in Gosta Green, a very popular on campus pub which I suggest you frequent as often as often possible for reasonably priced food and drink (little bit of free advertising for the boss there!). Stupidly I agreed to work 3 evening shifts during my freshers week, all of which were on popular nights when big events were on at the guild, I missed out on a lot! I'm still working there all these months later, and I would recommend a job to anyone at Uni. Having something other than studying and socialising/drinking is great because you make new friends, and I find it keeps me sober a few nights a week as well :D However, do not give up your fresher's week fun for love nor money!

On day one, it was a saturday, I was shipped up in a van with all my belongings (yes that's right a van, it's becoming a running joke in my flat that I came to Uni prepared for anything), and when I had all 10 boxes plus extra bags in my room I made my parents leave ASAP so I could begin what I thought was an amazing new life of freedom and enjoyment. I very quickly turned on the spot and said "Oh Shit what have I done?". First stage of leaving home- your family aren't always there anymore, not even to nag you- those first few weeks I missed even that. 

I don't know how other Uni's do it (I've never thought to ask anyone come to think of it :P), but Aston have current students around during international and home student fresher's week to help you move in and settle down, they are commonly know as Aston Aunties, a strain of super friendly and super helpful (sometimes) students. I think the Aunties saw me coming with all my baggage and neglected to offer me and my fatigued parents a hand- so if you see one looking idle when you are moving in make sure you grab them and tell them to grab a box or a bag! 

When I was all moved in, me and the few other guys in my flat who had arrived by then waited patiently for the Aunty who had been assigned to our flat to come and meet us. She didn't turn up, when she finally did it was to tell us she needed to go get her tan topped up after her summer holiday and that she would come back later to take us to the guild in the evening- we never saw her again. I think she was an exception to the rule of how helpful Aunties are, and things were quickly made better when our flat was adopted by Auntie Tampon. Pretty much everyone at Aston is given a nickname at some point, a term of affection, and it's become second nature to me now to refer to a grown woman as Tampon.

I haven't really picked up a nickname yet, at work I am often referred to as Gunther owing to my apparently strong resemblance to the fat German kid from The Simpsons- I refute this claim outright, but if paid enough I will consider donning the pair of Ledehosen and engaging my bosses twisted fantasies :P Within my flat I'm known as Alex-Mom, mainly to differentiate me from the other two Alex's in the flat, and also because I have a habit of mothering the other guys- I can't help if they don't know how to cook, clean or iron!!!!!!!!! Second stage of leaving home- realising you have little or no basic domestic skill. I didn't get caught out by this one, my mum was hard on me as a kid and I learnt it all then ;) Only joking mum! Other students don't need to either though, read a basic cook book over the summer, watch your parents when they are in the kitchen, ask them how to switch the vacuum cleaner on and how hot is too hot on the iron, all simple measures I feel. 

OK now give your eyes a five minute break, and then read on in the next post about Registration, Fresher's Fair, and first week of lectures........

Are we sitting comfortably........

......then we shall begin.

Well actually I was going to start my blog back at the very beginning and catch you all up on what I have been getting up to in the first half of my year here at Aston. However, Keysurf, the ISP contractor for halls of residence at Aston, had different ideas when it decided to cut me off! I have had to trek over to the main building in the middle of the night so that I can get this done. The internet in my flat may not be on 24/7 like I pay for it to be, but the main building and it's free wireless broadband connection are open 24/7, almost without fail- this one of the many wonderful things you can discover at Aston :D

I want to rant about Keysurf some more first though :P Despite the fact I am now used to it's general rubbishness, I am still happy to say that it is awful, at least in my experience anyway. If you live in Lakeside accommodation then you get hardwired access, and only have to deal with the server being down on a regular basis, the lucky few lakesiders might be able to get the wirless connection from the Life Sciences building though. However if, like me, you live in one of the standard accommodation towers or low rise flats you also have to deal with the wireless network factor. I live in the room furthest away from the transmitter, so when I pay twelve pounds a month to get access to a slow unreliable internet connection, I am also paying to sit by my door with my iBook on my lap because the signal wont reach anywhere else! It has been improving slightly since I first arrived, but not great. It wasn't uncommon in the first few weeks for my flat mates to find me in the middle of the corridor trying to get enough signal strength to check my facebook! Speaking of which feel free to add me and chat, there is a link in the right hand menu :D The University know about the problems, and have been trying to deal with it for years, we will have to wait and see. There is promise however that the new accomodation that will be being built over the next few years will have a wirless connection which the uinversity will manage themselves!

There are other options though, mobile phone networks like 3, Orange and Vodaphone, offer mobile broadband now, so check them all out before you commit to anything.

Now I feel like a right moaner. I'll be back with something a bit less ranty in a while.

Hey, just making a test post. Give me a day and I'll soon have this blog looking fancy :)