Be inspired, no matter what the situation

Now you’re graduating/finishing the year/on your way to uni after the summer, I thought I’d give you some purposefully broad, positive points for you to think about over the weekend.

Enquire Within Upon Everything (photo by adactio)

From the image above, we can gain inspiration from many things.  Just the title of the book in the photo should be enough to spur you on:

Enquire Within Upon Everything

Adactio on Flickr (who took the photo and who kindly places it under a Creative Commons license) says that the book is a Victorian guide to life.

“When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, he briefly toyed with the idea of calling it Enquire Within Upon Everything”

I can fully understand why.  However, I’m not sure we’d like putting ‘EWUE’ in front of web addresses, as opposed to ‘WWW’…

Anyway, here are 10 more actions to help inspire you, wherever you currently stand:

  1. Enjoy every moment, naturally.
  2. Dare to do it.
  3. Focus on your whole life’s achievements, not just the courses you study.  Your future is based on you, not on a piece of paper.
  4. If you’re not doing it yet, start right now!  Leave your excuses for yesterday and you’ll never see them again.
  5. Think ‘people’, not ‘job’.  Think ‘community’, not ‘task’.
  6. Embrace the here and now.  Look forward to the future, but don’t get bogged down in plans.  The only place you’re ever at is RIGHT NOW.
  7. Develop your skills on a rolling basis…unless you’re plain lucky, you’re not going to hit the top at the start, so enjoy every task you put your mind to and always focus on your personal and professional development.
  8. Network in creative ways.  Even if you’re not from Oxbridge or similar, who’s to say you can’t easily build a powerful set of contacts?
  9. Read.  Properly read.  And that includes books.  We’re evolving to the point of becoming skim-readers and gluttons for potted-histories.  When was the last time you casually sat down and read something totally stimulating?
  10. The sky may be the limit, but why not also focus around the immediate area and realise all the things that you hadn’t even noticed before?  With this attitude you can never get bored.

I hope you find something here to get you thinking and keep you going.  Would you like me to expand on any of the broad points I’ve raised here?  Let me know.  And what experiences have you had in the past that sent you into a positive frenzy?

EduLinks catch-up: 10 Worthwhile reads

Bringing you some links of plenty.  A couple of ‘Generation Y’ related posts in the mix here…should we be referred to as a single entity of ‘Gen Y’?  Are we that different to those who came before us?  Are the descriptions accurate anyway?  Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy the posts:

01. Absolute College Girl – No longer fresh: reflecting on freshman year

[An inspirational post here.  It’s great to read such a positive review of the year.  Here’s to the future!]

02. The Gig: Fortune – Gen Yers Lack Confidence, Behave Like Idiots

[Controversial by the looks of the comments.  Is confidence one of the biggest issues facing us at the moment?]

03. Employee Evolution – 10 ways Generation Y will change the workplace

[We’re shaking the place up.  Out with the old, in with the older.  Oh, go on, with a sprinkling of new too!]

04. Study Hacks – The art of activity innovation: How to be impressive without an impressive amount of work

[Have you designed a technology-based curriculum without realising it?  Have you overlooked your work with the U.N. on youth projects?  Maybe not, but you probably are hiding some impressive information about yourself.  Let Cal guide you to some creative inspiration that will help you stand out from the rest…and still be telling the truth!]

05. Ben Casnocha – Thinking in public is not done

[Think about it (unless you’re in public).  We’re used to watching instant reaction, immediate feedback, split-second soundbytes.  No wonder we want everything RIGHT NOW!]

06. The Guardian – The party’s over

[Why are students still considered hedonistic drunkards?  There will always be a group of heavy drinkers, but the days of casual drunken antics by all students (if they ever existed…) are numbered.  Do you consider alcohol to be a vital aspect of your time in Higher Education?]

07a. FSA’s What About Money – http://www.whataboutmoney.info/

07b. FSA’s What About Money – Going to university

[A new site, set up by the Financial Services Authority.  While it’s not the easiest site for browsing, it is full of helpful (and impartial) information, specifically for 16-24 year olds.  If you are looking for specific information, I suggest using the search function first, otherwise you may never find what you need.]

08. Copyblogger – Add spark to your writing with these 3 simple tweaks

[Using modifiers in your writing to add colour, a colour that will keep readers hooked to the end…]

09. Economist – Under Threat of Change

[Starting to see reform in the universities across Europe.  It may be necessary, given that Oxford and Cambridge are the only universities to feature on the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s global Top 20 ranking.]

10. Publishing 2.0 – What magazines still don’t understand about the web

[Do you still buy physical copies of newspapers and magazines?  I rarely do.  I currently subscribe to 4 magazines, because they do not replicate their content for free over the net, nor do they provide a digital-only version of the publication.  Most of my reading is now on the computer screen (and increasingly on Google Reader).  How do you find yourself reading most?]

NUS Awards 2008 – Winners

The NUS Awards 2008 were held on Monday night, hosted by John Sergeant.

Congratulations to all the winners on the night.  They were, as follows:

Endsleigh Student of the Year

  • Laura Sterling – The University of Birmingham Guild of Students

[Laura is Community Action Officer for Birmingham’s Guild of Students.  She is involved in the activities of students in the local community and reducing any negative feeling associated with students in the area.]

Student Unionist of the Year

  • Tobin Webb – University of Bristol Students’ Union

Tobin Webb

[Tobin (pictured above) is UBU President.  For more information on his role, check this article in Epigram Online, Bristol University’s student paper.]

Course Representative of the Year

  • Thomas Gyr and Timur Jan Pinar – Northumbria Students’ Union

Thomas and Timur win as School Reps for the School of Design at Northumbria.  The Students’ Union explains all the hard work they have done.

Participation Award

As stated on their site:

“The award recognises the fabulous work your Executive Officers and Representatives have done over the past year to increase your participation in the Students’ Union, including: the biggest student elections in the country, reforms to the JCR system, and great plans for a new Student Volunteer Centre to launch in September.”

Campaign of the Year

FE Students’ Union of the Year

One of the judges for this award was Lynne Sedgmore, CEO for the Centre of Excellence in Leadership.  She said of Derby College SU:

“The work of Derby College Student Union is clearly outstanding. In particular, the thoroughness, honesty and scope of their impact assessment is exemplary. Their community engagement, international work and student advice centres alongside their online training for course reps, for me was the deciding factor in picking them as the winners.”

HE Students’ Union of the Year

Mark Willoughby - Sheffield

Mark Willoughby (pictured above) is chuffed about this award.  After all, he is President of Sheffield’s Union.  He gives the lowdown here on his blog.

Equality and Diversity Award

Students’ Union Publication of the Year

Student Journalist of the Year

  • Matthew Holehouse (Oxford University Students’ Union)

Making a drunk person awake

I just read a fantastically simple description of what happens when people mix alcohol and energy drinks:

“Basically what it’s doing is making a drunk person awake.”

That’s from Red Bulls and Risky Behaviour, over at Inside Higher Ed.

Funnily enough, the most adverse reactions I’ve seen from drinking Red Bull and the like have been from people who weren’t drinking alcohol.  Strange, but true.

And as I write this, I’ve just spotted a Mini with a massive Red Bull can on the roof.

I feel like this is all a strange dream.  Luckily, flickr users appear to have spotted these Mini vehicles too…

Red Bull Mini (photo by Mikey G Ottawa)