Look Back, Look Forward: Part 2 – Degrees of change

Do you remember how you felt when you started your degree?  Feels like ages ago.  Feels like yesterday.

How much do you think you’ve changed over the years?

My life went all over the place on a regular basis.  Every few weeks, it felt like I wasn’t the same person any more.  Over the course of three years, it was almost not worth looking for a comparison any more.

photo by jessica flavin

photo by jessica flavin

What a difference a degree makes

In the last post, I looked at the end of your time at uni.  Your view of the future then probably looks totally different to how you perceived it at the beginning.

Some of us start a degree with a clear idea of what the future looks like.  Changes take place along the way, but you have a purpose and you’re full of hope, so you try not to stray from that path.

On the other hand, some of us don’t have a clue about next month, let alone several years’ time.

Whatever the case, you won’t feel the same now as you did then.  Looking back helps you to look forward.  Personal changes are easier to spot.  You may have a different life attitude, your likes and dislikes may have changed dramatically, or your career ambitions may have a taken a new direction.  I’m sure you look back at some of your actions and think, “Was that *really* me back then?”

Don’t look back?

Your life is forever being shaped by past experiences.  You learn from the past, you live in the present, and you plan for the future.

Other than your degree, you have a wealth of other considerations and achievements:

  • New friends;
  • New, eye-opening experiences;
  • Extra-curricular achievements;
  • Advanced study skills;
  • A raft of transferable skills;
  • And much more…

You may hear people tell you to never look back, but understanding your past holds great value.  Everything you do transfers to the past the very moment you’ve done it.  When looking back, it’s important not to stick with the past or try to live in the past.  When aspects of your life come to an end, you have to be prepared to take the next steps, even if they are closely related to that previous chapter in your life.

I’m passionate about higher education, but I’m not trying to recreate my previous student experience.  I lived with Freshers in my final year at uni, but that wasn’t to live a lie that I was back in the first year of uni.  Still, it was good fun… 🙂

The point is, I want reasons for what I do.  The reasons don’t have to make sense to anyone else, so long as they make sense to me.

Identify your future from your past

It’s time to put everything together and see the best of your past selves in your current self. Picking all the positive vibes helps you stand strong in your coming decisions.  And as a (soon to be) graduate, these future decisions need to be strong!

  • Think of when you felt you achieved something special.  How did you get to that moment?  What were your strong points?  Can you recreate them now?  What would you do in the future to step the game up a notch?
  • Consider times you wish you’d spent more wisely.  They may not be regrets, but situations that could have been used more productively and actions that could have been handled more reliably.  Armed with what you know now, what would you have done differently and how will you be ready for similar issues in the future?
  • Take into account all the positions you took up while at uni.  Make a list of all the clubs and societies you were a part of, including what you managed within them.  Be proud of every little thing you got to be a part of and don’t be shy to explain how it’s helped shape the life you lead today.
  • Look at the elements in your life that have stayed the same over the years.  What has held strong through the good times and the bad?  Are you happy they are the same?  If not, what are you going to do RIGHT NOW to remedy the situation?  You’ve highlighted the negativity, so now is the time to take positive action and remove it.

The curtain falls, but get ready for the next act…

Your focus, once it’s been on the past, should have its sights set on the future.  You haven’t reached the end of an era, it’s just the interval.

Curtain goes back up any minute…

Look Back, Look Forward: Part 1 – Potential and achievement

When the final deadline has passed and all the tests are finished, how does it feel to no longer be a student?

Duncan Robinson, at Sheffield, knows how it feels.  Robinson has been writing about the ups and downs of student life in his “Diary Of A Third Year” column for The Independent.  After one final exam and a bit of rain to cheer the spirits, it ended.  Just like that.

photo by pulihora

photo by pulihora

Today marks the start of a new series on the future after your degree has finished.

Over the following five posts, I’ll discuss:

  1. Potential and achievement;
  2. The differences between your days as a Fresher and now as a graduate;
  3. How post-degree friendships evolve;
  4. What life is like after graduation;
  5. Planning ahead, ditching the stress and embracing the future;

Should the end of your time at uni be so unassuming, as Duncan Robinson found it?  No uplifting music in the background, no parade, no celebratory dance?

After such anti-climax, Robinson pondered the future…and the past:

“I was 21 and what had I achieved? At 21, Wayne Rooney had played for England nearly 40 times. I’m 21 and haven’t played once; all I’ve done is study history for three years. Zadie Smith wrote her first novel during her final year at Cambridge. All I’ve managed is a foray into student journalism at Sheffield. In many respects that’s the scariest thing about leaving university – it’s the point where potential stops being relevant. It’s no use declaring that this is what you could do, or will do. Now you simply have to get out there and do it.”

If you aren’t already out there and doing it, whatever ‘it’ means for you, I agree that there’s no time like the present.  But there’s a lot more to think about regarding your potential:

  • Potential doesn’t stop being relevant.  However, the pressure to “get out there and do it” grows.  Time ticks away…if you see potential in yourself to do something, the quest won’t disappear until you either change your mind or get it done.
  • Everyone misses out on stuff all the time.  Don’t focus on what you haven’t done by a certain age.  Focus on the possibility in front of you and grab it.  The aim is to not let go this time.
  • Does it matter when you achieve something you strive for? Play for England, write a best-selling novel, do anything ambitious and age is irrelevant.  A success is a success.
  • Potential stays, but available excuses dwindle. Robinson says that potential stops being relevant when you leave uni.  I don’t agree.  It’s the excuses not to build upon potential which become irrelevant.
  • Who cares if you don’t show potential in something yet? When you graduate, half the jobs that’ll be available throughout your working life won’t have even been invented yet.  Who knows what jobs you’ll be doing in 10, 20, or 40 years down the line?
  • An achievement for you can mean nothing to someone else.  Sure, many would agree that Wayne Rooney and Zadie Smith have managed grand things.  But I know people who would shrug their shoulders at playing for England or writing a novel at whatever age.
  • We all need a dream for a rainy day.  As Duncan Robinson stood in the downpour after his final exam, I doubt he was dreaming about getting published in a newspaper, because he’s already achieved that through his column.  Many aspiring student journalists would love to be published in a national newspaper.  But there’s still plenty of time.  Which leads me to the final point…
  • Comparison is dangerous.  You aren’t Wayne Rooney or Zadie Smith.  You aren’t Duncan Robinson.  You aren’t me.  Whoever you compare yourself with, you’ll see both positive and negative traits.  At least one achievement will bug you because you haven’t done it yet.  But you’re living life differently.  Some things you managed long ago will still be on their to-do list…
    Duncan says, “you simply have to get out there and do it”.  Time spent comparing yourself with others is wasted time.  While you compare, you’re not out there.

What are your thoughts about the future?  Is there anything you wish you knew more about?  Would you like to be a student forever or will graduation not come too soon?

Student treatment & 10 tips on how to make a complaint

I was sat listening to a friend about a bad experience.  She wasn’t happy.  “I can’t believe they treated me like that,” she said.  “It’s crazy.  Like they couldn’t care less about my situation.”

“Wow. Sounds awful.  What are you going to do about it?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Nothing.  What’s the point?”

Most of us like to complain, but we hardly ever make our complaints official.  People don’t like to make a fuss, it seems.

Or they’re scared.

Or disenchanted.

Or a mixture of all these things.

photo by Katie Tegtmeyer

photo by Katie Tegtmeyer

However, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) has reported that student complaints are on the up.  There are now over 1,000 complaints a year, compared with 537 in 2005.  Around 80% of those complaints were eligible for review, but the majority of those cases were not considered justified.

Regardless of eligibility and justification, the 1,007 complaints come from just 0.05% of the total number of students (1 complaint for every 2,000 students).  The numbers are tiny.  But, as The Guardian mentions, “The real number of dissatisfied students is likely to be several thousands more”.

For every student that complains, others will keep quiet (at least officially).  Some people will be angry, some surprised, and others thoroughly upset.

Of those students who initially complained to their university and were turned down internally, some do not take the matter beyond that.  As with any type of complaint, the few who do tackle it will trickle away further until only a tiny proportion remain at the end.

The BBC explains that by the time they have gone through internal complaints procedures, “students can be ‘seriously disenchanted’ by the time they contact the adjudicator”.  All this means that the number of complaints to the OIA don’t paint a full picture.  It takes tremendous will and spirit to soldier on until you’ve exhausted all avenues.

Complaining also takes time.  NUS is looking for universities to speed up internal complaints processes, putting a limit on the amount of time taken between the initial complaint and its outcome.

The rising number of complaints needs to be dealt with, regardless of how many end up being justified.  In the minds of those students, including the silent ones, a complaint is a complaint.  The vast majority are not chancers; they entirely believe their case to be worth fighting.  David Willetts, the universities minister, wants to see “universities publishing clearer and more consistent information to students”.  In an age where we expect much from a university experience, we need to be aware of our entitlements, what will be provided, and how best to complain if expectations have not been met.

If you feel you’ve been treated unfairly, don’t suffer in silence.  Here are 10 tips for making a complaint:

  1. Treat any complaint professionally.  It’s easy to fly off the handle, but that won’t help your cause.  Stay calm at all times.
  2. Seek advice and support from staff and your Students’ Union.  You don’t need to suffer alone and you may find out how to present your case on the best terms.
  3. Be clear about the nature of your complaint and make sure you can summarise it quickly and succinctly.
  4. Gather up all information and evidence in a file.  Keep hold of anything you think could be important.  You may not want to use it later, but it’s best to have too much evidence than not enough.
  5. Create a timeline, if applicable.  Log all future developments as you go along.
  6. If formal evidence is required, be sure to obtain it and submit it.  Anything you leave out will slow down the process and, even worse, could jeopardise your complaint.
  7. Always submit copies of evidence, not the original.  In the rare case that original documents are specifically required, make copies for your own files.
  8. Do as much as you can in writing.  Don’t accept verbal statements, especially when it’s an important matter.  Keep a note of any phone calls you make or receive.
  9. Complete all aspects of the university’s internal complaints and appeals procedures.  The OIA cannot accept a complaint if you haven’t exhausted all internal processes.
  10. Stay focused, but don’t obsess over it.  Official complaints are always stressful, so don’t let it take over your life.  You need to be organised and in control, but remember to have some down time to relax and deal with the rest of your life.

EduLinks – a mixed bag of seduction and pleasure

Goodies to read…and some goodies to watch today too.  Good times.

From Time – How Computers Know What We Want — Before We Do:

Recommendation engines introduce a new voice into the cultural conversation, one that speaks to us when we’re at our most vulnerable, which is to say at the point of purchase. What is that voice saying? Recommendation engines aren’t designed to give us what we want. They’re designed to give us what they think we want, based on what we and other people like us have wanted in the past.

Which means they don’t surprise us. They don’t take us out of our comfort zone. A recommendation engine isn’t the spouse who drags you to an art film you wouldn’t have been caught dead at but then unexpectedly love. It won’t force you to read the 18th century canon. It’s no substitute for stumbling onto a great CD just because it has cool cover art. Recommendation engines are the enemy of serendipity and Great Books and the avant-garde. A 19th century recommendation engine would never have said, If you liked Monet, you’ll love Van Gogh! Impressionism would have lasted forever.

The Atlantic – How to Save the News

Great journalism may change, but it won’t go away, according to Google employees.  Google are working on making news work, even if the advertising models have moved.

Loughborough LipDub

Yay!  LipDub in the UK!  @ChrisTuesPeel informed Times Higher Education that Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ has been given the LipDub treatment by Loughborough.  It’s good to see some UK LipDubs after I found nothing last year.

Wolverhampton LipDub

And another UK LipDub uncovered. Do you know of any others? Let me know!

Search Engine Land – Facebook’s New “Simple” Privacy Settings Still Pretty Complex

Are you happy with your Facebook privacy yet?  Don’t leave everything open for all to see.  If you’ve never changed your privacy settings, the world may have its eye on you…

School Gate – Which is the hardest university to get into? Well, that depends…

Cambridge has the highest entry grades, Manchester has the highest number of applications, and LSE gets the most applications per place.  There is no particular university that’s hardest to be accepted at.  An excerpt:

The number of applications per place is obviously a better measure of competitiveness, but even this has its limitations. Oxford and Cambridge, for example, both have fewer than five applications to the place because many potential candidates believe that they stand no chance of getting in. That is not only half the number chasing each place at the most competitive universities, but only just above average for all universities.

Stepcase Lifehack – 11 Practical Ways to Stop Procrastination

I would introduce this link, but I’m a bit busy right now.

Don Sull (FT) – The seduction of routine (and other obstacles to spotting opportunities)

Routine “discourages experimentation and hampers learning”, experts may value their knowledge but they should recognise their limitations too, weak ties are just as important as strong ties, and people in power shouldn’t get too insulated.  Some great lessons here.

Fast Company – Why Change Is So Hard: Self-Control Is Exhaustible

Get ready to tell people, “I’m not lazy, I’m exhausted”.

And be sure to blame it on the radishes…

Stephen Fry: What I Wish I’d Known When I Was 18

A pleasant ramble with some good advice.  Give yourself a 30 minute break over the weekend and enjoy this.