Countdown to Summer

It's strange to think that it's been a whole year since we all left school. Seeing the photos of the current Year 13s' "last day" brings back many memories of my school times- both the good and the bad. This time last year we were feeling the pressure of IB exams, of university offers and the general pressures of just growing up... but thankfully we managed to survive it all (except maybe the growing up part). One year on and I'm finding myself yet again mid-exam season, however this time it's a little more chilled out with only 3 exams spaced out over 3 weeks, nothing like those 8 hours of Chemistry and Spanish I endured in one day during IB. I'm still perplexed by the fact that I didn't pass out by the time we got to Chem Paper 3. But I suppose it was worth it, in the end.

Exams in general tend to represent things coming to an end, and this year that is most definitely the case, maybe even more so that last year, in some ways. I have so many happy memories from my first year at university that the thought of it all coming to an end so quickly is incredibly bittersweet. Very soon we'll be moving out of our beloved Ramsay Hall, which has been a highly entertaining, eventful and generally homely home for the past 9 months, and although I'm really excited to move into a flat with my friends and potentially own a tortoise (the dream), I'm going to miss Ramsay and the people here so much. 

First year has been a whirlwind of new experiences and challenges, and I've grown and changed as a result of it all- I've learnt so much, from coding to plumbing (oh, the delights of engineering); but perhaps more than anything from the friends I've made and the people around me. I'm also now fully capable of navigating around Central London without a map (or an iPhone, as may be the case)- and also around UCL (which is probably just as difficult); I can survive tube strikes and I can cross roads without getting run over... which is definitely a useful life lesson.

We're not quite done yet, luckily, since we still have these exams to get through and then we have the BASc End-of-year Conference, but it now really is starting to feel like we're counting down the days until summer. I know everyone said Year 1 would fly past, but I never thought I'd be quite so sad to be leaving it behind. This time last year I had no idea what to expect from the future, and although that is still very much the case (some things never change!), I've realised that I'm very happy not knowing, since another thing I've learnt this year is that uncertainty brings with it the most wonderful surprises...

Being a BAScer

There are many things which make up my life here in London; different aspects which are amazing in their own way but which have all contributed in some way to making my first four months here surreal and exciting- and being a BAScer is one of them.

Those of you who don't know about my university choices or who don't study at UCL may be a little perplexed by the term "BAScer" (pronounced "basker")- a natural reaction, which I also experienced on my first day of freshers'. A quick explanation: a BAScer is a student on the BASc programme, or bachelor of Arts and Sciences, which is the degree I am studying at UCL. Think IB, at university level (kind of). 

A photo of UCL, because it looks nice.

It's a tough one to explain, and when that inevitable question of "What do you study?" comes up, I have to judge whether it's worth having the 15 minute conversation that tends to occur as a result ("Hmm, so what is that exactly?"- turning small talk into a deep conversation about the value of studying a breadth of subjects), or whether I should twist the truth ("Oh, I study International Relations and Spanish"). For all intents and purposes, I do actually study International Relations and Spanish, but it seems a little drawn out to add "also, Philosophy, Classics, Engineering, Science Policy and some core modules". I've taken to explaining it as a progression from IB (see above), but that brings all sorts of problems of its own when people stare at me like I'm crazy to want to put myself through all that again (this is especially true of TGS students).

I've long accepted that there will never be an easy answer to that question, and I am sure that the term "BAScer" will remain relatively obscure for the time being , but I can put up with that since it is so heavily outweighed by all the benefits that come with being an Arts and Sciences student. Being a BAScer gives you ultimate power over your degree- meaning I can choose what to study from pretty much the whole range of subjects offered at UCL, which is pretty amazing as it means everything I do is stuff that I'm genuinely interested in. As a BAScer, you also become very good at using the word "interdisciplinarity" in everyday conversation, and more often than not you find yourself (or at least, I do) having a quick 'power-nap' between lectures on the incredibly comfortable bean bags in our common room.

Recovering from a 3 hour Friday morning engineering session...

But more than anything, I think it is the BAScers themselves who make the degree so good. Everyone is interesting and fun, and they all have stories to tell. I've been inspired by so many people I've met, and not just in the clichéd way, but genuinely inspired to try new stuff and do new things- you could almost say this blog is a part of that inspiration. In reality, it's difficult to not feel part of something special when you study Arts and Sciences. 

I do have a tendency to gush about my course once in a while, but the point of this blog post is not to get you all to transfer to BASc (that might be a little problematic). Instead I think it comes back to what Alice wrote about in her last post: what makes you happy? Being a BAScer really does make me happy and I love studying what I'm studying (yes, even engineering, most of the time). So all I can say is, whatever you're doing, be it studying, working, travelling... Just make sure that you're doing what makes you happy. Don't sacrifice your happiness for a long term goal, for other people, or to do what is expected of you- because if you do what makes you happy, you really can't go wrong.

Quick plumbing session with the engineers!