January Exams 2011

The January exam session is over and the post-exams time is upon us. It is a period of late nights, beer and hanging out with your friends. Realistically, we still don’t really have any academic work to concentrate on so we have all the time of the world. Especially for the people whose exams were in the first half of the exam session, this period must have been long enough to completely wipe the stress and tireless studying off their memories. I haven’t been so lucky because I had a constant reminder of my how horrible mid January was.

After one of my exams, or as I call it the APPALLING one, we decided to complain of the ridiculous condition we had; 2 hours for what seemed like an endless set of problems. Not a single person in exam room managed to actually complete the exam and let me tell you I have some n**ds in my course. In fact, EAM is so competitive everyone can be called a n**d; it’s as if someone said, “let’s gather all the Aston n**ds in one course and see who will survive!”; a little social experiment, if I may. But, seriously, there are some smart people in my course. Thus, the surprise – not a single person finished the exam. So, we started the appealing process. First, there was the matter of getting everyone involved. Then, we submitted an academic appeal form with all our signatures and as of today are all done with the appeal. Nevertheless, it kept me one foot still in the exam session (as we say in Bulgaria). So, I had time to analyze the differences between previous exam periods and this one. To be honest I was surprised how many I found.

First, this year the time we had to complete each exam seemed so little. In previous years I was one of these people who submit their exam half an hour (or more) before the time is up. I was mostly wrong about my answers but at least I didn’t take long writing them down. But this year was hell. Putting aside the exam that I am appealing, all the rest were so tight time-wise, I would start writing immediately, not even think about the answer because I know it already and still I would not have enough time to, say, go back and check my work or maybe write something extra. No, I was like, question, answer, time’s up, home, sleep, library, exam, question, answer, time’s up, no pee-break, home, pee, library, exam, question, answer, home, sleep.

The second difference from previous years was the requirements for the exams. I was surprised how much material we need to absorb to manage to do well in the exam. Actually, scratch that, not well, just good. Unlike previous years, we had to quote, know extra information, or know everything so well you don’t have to think about the answer on the exam. For example, one of the exams we were expected to have read academic literature and successfully quote and comment on it to get a first (or a maybe first). On another, due to the ridiculous amount of open question we had to know all the material in a concise and efficient manner, so that we have time to write all we know down. On a third, we had to know by heart (the longest, ever, and I mean ever) mathematical formulas to apply to the problems in the exam. I still don’t know how I found time for all the information I needed for this exam. Hopefully, I do forget some by the next because there will seriously be no space left.

The third and very personal difference from previous exam sessions is probably something that only I find different. Since the beginning of this, final for me, year, I have felt so much more energized and devoted to uni than before. I think that the placement year off uni really put my goals into perspective. (Plus I would never forget what Ms. J.S. told me back in Intel – “only one of the people we have ever hired back as a graduate after a placement has ever had a first”) So, some sick ambition got a hold of me once I got to Birmingham and did not let me go until the last exam. At some point I actually got a bit worried because I could not sleep. All I could think about is whether I know everything for the next exam - what am I forgetting? What was that formula? What was the third peculiarity of this and that? What does the bottom small lettering of slide two from page three of lecture five say?; In addition the creeping fear - you are gonna fail, you are so gonna fail, fail, fail, fail, fail. Before the last exam, I could not sleep for three days!

Anyway, once the exam session was over things went back to normal; I went back to sleeping like normal people and the uni went back to its normal outlook. Now there are seats in the library, there are people in MB and the guild is open. As a last note to this longest of posts, let me share with you the brilliant statement of one of the freshers on the accounting exam: (before you start reading this imagine you are in the dead silent GEM and mean/bore looking vigilantes are walking around you) “f***, f***, I failed this, I failed this, f*** I failed this!”

The Top 10 (Uni) Things to Look Forward to in 2011 (continued)

01-Graduation

We all knew this would be number one. Come on, I have been waiting for this day my whole life. Becoming a uni graduate, now that is something else! I have my best friends and my whole (extended) family coming to visit. I can already smell the graduation party, it will be legendary. The best strategy would be follow the footsteps of the older and wiser. Ania spent a week celebrating her graduation. I will spend two weeks! Ha!

The Top 10 (Uni) Things to Look Forward to in 2011 (continued)

02-The Day of Destruction

I have already discussed the day of destruction but I will not stop. This is going to be the single coolest thing that I will see in 2011. Seriously, how often do you see two 20-floor buildings being blown up (and having nothing to do with terrorist, and war, and that kind of stuff). This is pure fun (and is totally harmless!)

In addition, apparently, the disruption to student life will be absolutely minimal. The first question that sprang to my mind when I heard this was – would we able to actually stand close and watch? Probably not (health and safety, and all), but still, prepare your cameras folk because this is going to be a memorable one! (I shall be watching from a safe distance with my phone ready to upload ASAP)

And did I mention the perk for everyone who are not graduating this year – new state of the art accommodations. I guess the students following our footsteps in a few years will miss out on the breezy Dalton and “ceiling-less” Lawrence rooms.

(Note to self: I should keep in touch with the freshers I met this year, they could be my link to checking the new dorms out.)

The Top 10 (Uni) Things to Look Forward to in 2011 (continued)

03-Aston Snow

I am a newbe when it comes to Aston Snow. Until recently all I knew was that it is some society in Aston and that they go skiing and stuff. Well, this year I decided to check them out in a bit more detail. I ended up signing up for the Val Thorens trip in April! (8^th -16^th April). Skiing in the French Alps with your mates and partying every night, if this is not EPIC, what is?

The Top 10 (Uni) Things to Look Forward to in 2011 (continued)

04-Astonbury

Astonbury is great (awesome, legendary, you name it)! How many times have I told you that Astonbury is great? I don’t know but it is one of the best facts (yes, facts) of uni life. The first time I went to this giant among festivals, I spent the bets day in the sun, partying with my mates, eating awesome burgers, listening to great bands and going on the rides; then an evening of brilliant music that ended at 6 o’clock in the morning. The second time, I had the best day in the rain ever (and my mate ate the record number -11- burgers in one evening), and I got to be at the front of the stage, and I got a free CD, and everyone got brutally soaking wet (yeeees!)!

The Top 10 (Uni) Things to Look Forward to in 2011

I have decided to start this calendar year with a look at the great events that 2011 holds for us, the Aston students. I have done “extensive research” to mark these in a Top 10 of "things to look forward to in 2011". Here is the beginning of the countdown (number 10 to 5):

10-Any type of academic work

Come on you had that coming; this is definitely the least thing to look forward to in 2011. Then again, think about it, there are so many people who are counting on this year’s grade to find a good job. Also, what purpose would you have if there was not a single assignment in uni? Still, looking forward is not the best verb in a sentence including the word academia.

09-The end of the galablog

With the end of the academic year, the end of the galablog will come. I know that trough the years you have grown to love losing your time reading my very annoyingly dull posts. Then again, would you not look back one day and think, god I wish the galablog was still on. Plus, did you think I would not leave with a blast (yes, the-end-of-the-galablog party!)

08-Easter Break

See, usually a break is a great idea but the Easter break, i don't know; it’s not warm enough to go to the beach, there is no snow to go skiing and stuff… it is just a boring holiday. Then again, it is a holiday and every holiday should be looked forward to (do make travel plans, it makes it better but more on travel plans later in this countdown)

07-Fresher’s Week 2011

I know this is not in the current academic year and, yes, I know I would have graduated by then but come on, I will still be in England and have mates in Aston, do you think I will miss Freshers week 2011. Yes, fake ID saying I am 18 and a fresher (this is a new personal low)

06-Celebrating the end of the May exam session

Now, this is going to be legendary, all the best parties are when you know that there is no reason to not party hard! And why would you not party hard when the year is over, you have no worries and the skies are blue again!

05-Celebrating the end of the January exam session

The January exam session is pure torture. I never sleep during this dreadful period. Mostly, due by the fact that I have not revised during the Christmas break (because I have a life). The end of the January exams is always so sweet and the party is so well deserved. Don’t get me wrong, the May and June parties celebrating a similar occasion are awesome but there is something about January that just makes celebration a must (probably it's the New Year, dunno.)

***the rest of the countdown in 4 days!***

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great party yesterday! My one was a blast!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Countdown to Destruction (warmup)

There are only 148 days left until the day of destruction. To celebrate this event, please see photos of Low-rise being destroyed below:

Winter Flu :(

Usually, there are two flu epidemia in Aston before the winter break. The first one is the Fresher's week epidemia that I have discussed before, or Freshers Flu. The second one, I am suffering from right now - Winter Flu. When I went to the nurse in the main building yesterday she basically told me that everyone has it and there is nothing I can do. And it is so true, in the past month one could barely hear the lecturers from all the coughing going and sneezing, and nose blowing going around in a chain reaction around the lecture theatre. So, the nurse advised me to just wait it out and take better care of myself. The recently submitted Econometrics coursework has not really given me much time to be sick, though. In addition, I have been suffering from mild medicine shortage.

First, one of my flatmates (currently suspecting all) stole my paracetamol-based-Bulgarian-hot-drink. I had innocently left it on the kitchen counter to not forget to take it first thing in the morning. I woke up to see the packet used and ruthlessly left on its previous place! The medicine shortage continued due to the fact that I was more or less locked 12 hrs a day in the computer rooms, thus constantly hitting uni-shop when closed. As my illness continues I can't help but think how does it smell in this computer room ATM?

High Stakes and Coffee Breaks (pt. IV)

Today I am having the last coursework-related power study session. I hoped that by now I would be enjoying my winter break. Well, I should've thought of the extra work when I opted to write a dissertation this year. Now, I have an outline of the aforementioned dissertation to submit by the end of the week (i.e. by tomorrow). It did not help that I failed the Placement Report and Placement Journals and now have to re-write them again and submit them again by tomorrow. So, yes, one last day of "torture" :P

High Stakes and Coffee Breaks (pt. III)

I have just submitted the evilest of courseworks that is the aforementioned Applied Econometrics and Forecasting group project. My group has spent the last four weeks with this project at the highest priority; we have stayed in the computer rooms morning till evening trying to "crack the codes" to the assignment; we have been eating takeaway and drinking vending machine drinks; and all this with deadline 14th Dec 23:55. I have just successfully uploaded my group's work (a total more than 300 pages) and am off to finally continue with my life!

High Stakes and Coffee Breaks (pt. II)

Wow, I thought that at least until January I will not be doing a second study oriented post. Unfortunately, I have been hit by a new type of disease that has spread in the Aston Business School - econometrics'obia. My whole course and I have been stuck in the computer labs of the main building for weeks now. And what is worse, we've been spending crazy hours without food or drinks - 9hrs on Wednesday with one break for tea and pastry, 10 hrs yesterday with two breaks, one for a lecture and one for dinner. This is not how I immagined this year.

My dreams have been narrowed down to finishing this "bl***y" coursework and finally seeing my mates who have by now stopped texting me with going out offers as my replies has been "soz, econometrics" for way too long. To think that on the Aston Open Day on Wednesday one visitor asked us (the panel of current students) if the curriculum would be much different from the A-levels. Yeah it would, and the level of difficulty has been rising year on year in an overwhelming manner. As my boss, P.P. said, once you survive a final year in Aston, you can do anything. So, I am off to Excel and EViews fun.

The Countdown to Graduation

While we're on about countdowns, the date for my graduation has been announced as well - 14th July 2011. Here is The Countdown to Graduation.

MySpace-Countdowns

Paparazzi

Today I had the possibly most enjoyable studyexperience ever. Of course, the afternoon lecture was supposed to be no different than any other, but when has that stopped the ever so amuzing Aston students. So, as our lecturer, let's call him S.T., was rapping up the class and the whole theatre was sitting in complete silence, I saw a flash and heard a "click". The girl sitting next to me, let's call her I., had decided to unexpectedly take a photo of S.T.. The process was somewhat sabotaged by the fact that she left her phone's sound and flash on. Before anyone could react S.T. was asking: "Are you taking this for the paper?", as I. attempted to sink underground or, alretnatively, disappear. I don't even remember her answering the question. To be honest, I don't remember the end of the lecture, either. All I know is that I kept laughing until the end of it (and after). So, a Tip for I. (and future paparazzi wannabes): There are photos of the lectureres on the Aston website :P

High Stakes and Coffee Breaks

Unfortunately, I have spent most of the last two weeks in the library. My life has become a cup of Costa coffee with Pen&Paper on the rocks. With a mid-term class test and three assignments due, I have spent all of my time in isolation. Thus, there is little to blog about. Graphical examples above and below.

Beyond Knowledge: The Story of S, M & The Police

Aston uni has been my new "home" for more than three years now. Throughout this time I have been sharing with you the stories of my adventures, academia and social life but I have never talked about, arguably, the most important part of uni - the friendships. Some people say that the friends you make in uni are the ones that stick forever. I would like to agree with such a statement. The day-to-day challenges are the basis for the ever-flourishing and ever-evolving uni acquaintances. So, let's start with a graphic example, the story of "S, M and The Police".

I met S & M in the beginning of my second year in Aston. (Remember, my "Countdown to Year 4", M likes to think that she is one of the life-changing people I met on the 27 Sep 2008. I will, however, refrain from commenting on such a statement since it is not relevant to the current post. Please erase it from your short-term memory.) Back in 2008 S & M were just two students that were starting uni but they have by now merged in to one (in M's words) milawesome couple. Currently, S is doing his placement in Birmingham and M, hers, in London. This brings us to the events of the 11th November.

As the clock was about to strike 2200 and the icy wind was blowing down the London streets, M was on her way home. She was walking the irregular walk of a person who has enjoyed a colleague's birthday a bit too much, wine-wise. In the mean time, S was sitting in his Birmingham flat, reading the galablog, thinking how awesome Vlad is (I can just assume). M pressed dial.

M: Hey bebe, I am just on my way home.

S: Baby, I can barely hear you!

M: 2@18#%&^^...

S: What?

M: Baby... 29#$%9&*&575 ...it's too windy... 6745%$#%#... ...home in 10 minutes... ...call you from home!

S: OK, I wait.

An hour passed and S had no word from M. She seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. S sent Vlad a text; no reply. Was something wrong with S's phone?

Another hour passed and, as Vlad was waking up from his power nap, S called. He still hadn't managed to find the ever-so-missing M. Vlad tried calling M, nothing; S tried calling M, nothing; Vlad called R, R called M and, still, nothing. They kept calling and calling...nothing.

The clock struck 00:30 and they started considering the possibility that something bad had happened. By 00:40 S was on the phone with the police and Vlad was hurrying towards S's flat. They waited and waited but there was still not a word from M or the police.

At 02:00 S called the police again. They still had not been to M's flat.

At 03:00 Vlad called the police:

V: Hi, my name is Vladimir Galabov and I would like to report a missing person [...] she was on the way home [...] Yes, her boyfriend called you an hour ago [...] I am at his flat in Birmingham [...] No, he was the last person to speak to her [...] I understand [...] She's just not the type of person to disappear [...] I see [...]She's on her placement at the moment [...] I see [...] OK [...] OK, thank you.

As the time passed, they started seriously considering taking the 5 o'clock train to London. If the police were not willing to go to M's place, then S and Vlad would go on their own.

At 04:00 the phone rang:

M: Hey bebe...

I think what I am trying to say with this story is that trough my four years in Aston I have met, and keep meeting, people that I can count on to call the police if I go missing. This is why, uni is not just about the course, not just about the degree, it is about the relationships that you build and the way these relationships change you.

Old Blue Student Card - New Orange Student Card

I have had my uni card for more than three years now and, to be honest, have not been most careful with it. Don't get me wrong I haven't dropped it from the 7th floor of the main building or something but as I began this year I finally noticed that it is in not such a great shape. You could barely see my photo (my horrible, horrible photo) or my last name. To make it worse when swiping it last month I managed to break it in half. A little tape fixed the problem for the time being but I started wondering, could I get a new one? Today, I finally went to the ISA office to ask but a massive sign - £10 for lost or damaged card - hit me like a rock. I did not have £10 and even if I did have £10, I don't want to spend my £10 on a "plastic surgery" for my uni card (note that the cards are made from plastic, I know, hilarious :P). Being in front of the desk already I was asked if I need help (although I was actually thinking of the various uses of a £10 note). There was no turning back so I explained that my card is very old and the time (not me, definetely not me!) has damaged it in a very unpleasant way. Before I knew it I had a new (this time orange) card in my hands FOR FREE! So, if you ever have a uni card problem, it can be resolved surprisingly quickly and painlessly.

Photo shoot (God, no!)

We have all had these weeks when sadly nothing extraordinary happens. The routine seems to be directing our every move making any story on the topic "how was your day?" as boring as a game of chess.

I was having one of these weeks and was struggling with finding anything interesting to blog about. And as I lost all hope I was unexpectedly dragged into something mildly interesting that I am going to now elaborate on until it sound awesome (or at least long) :)

I doubt there is anyone in Aston that has not heard of the new fancy library ground floor; different opening events have been going on all through the past week, including official ribbon cut yesterday. Of course, having a new library meant new photos for the prospectus and various presentations. That is why I was not surprised to see people being photographed (in a relaxed, smart but cool fashion) when I went into the library yesterday.

I wanted in to fill in a missing book form and request a new one to be bought by the library. Finishing this surprisingly short task, as I was leaving I bumped into a girl from my course that had just done the photo shoot. We started the ever so popular discussion on how hard our course is. (for the record Applied Econometrics is the hardest subject anyone has ever created!) Then the photographer from the photo shoot came and asked K. to go back in for an extra round. I said bye and was just about to see myself out when...

The photographer asked me to join K. for the last shots. "No, no, I was just leaving.", "Come on, it's going to take a minute and we might not even use the photos.", "OK."

So there I am, in the middle of the library with K. having a fake chat, not loosing eye-contact for what seems like ages with a massive camera in my face. All I am thinking is "Stay straight!", "Did you even look at your hair today?", "Are your glasses even clean?", "Does this look fake?". Being a pro at this, the calm K. was trying to continue our previous chat. Of course, this is never easy when the person you are chatting to is a sweaty-distracted-constant-eye-contact-some guy.

As the photographer did the last shot, he asked if we would like to have one regular photo as a 'memory'. Before I could even answer, K. had said "Yes.", the photographer was behind the camera again and I felt K.'s hand on what seemed like the sweatiest back ever. Gross, no?

Half listening to the library assistant I put my jacket on. She was explaining about the potential usage of the photos (prospectus, website, TVs in library, presentation). I still have not actually seen the aforementioned photos but I guess I will. Hopefully, the rest of the uni will not.

Bureaucratism

What world do we live with? This is probably one of the most frequently discussed questions in society. Through the years the answers vary - capitalism, communism, nationalism, fascism, neo-anything-ism, anyone's-name-with-an-ism-in-the-end-ism, etc.(and this is a very long etcetera). Here I will define a new ISM, the ISM that has been ever present in our society - Bureaucratism. Can you think of any advantages of bureaucracy? (if you can please do share, especially today, I cannot think of any)

The first time I met bureaucracy is when I was ten years old and my parents had to get me a new international passport (that is how they were called in Bulgaria back in the day). They filled pages and pages of forms just to get a little piece of paper with my name and picture on it. Had I known this is just the beginning of my relationship with bureaucracy, I would have emigrated to a deserted island.

This relationship of mine has been like an unhappy marriage, every time bureaucracy shows her face I get a headache, the headache that men get when they are getting a divorce and have no prenup. When I was applying for high school, university, health insurance, work permit, bank account, travel pass, tesco clubcard, boots clubcard, H&M clubcard (I could continue with the shops for a while), credit card, (god forbid) a loan, accommodation, or any other card or piece of paper in my wallet, I would have an intimate meeting with bureaucracy that would test all my skills and senses.

To get to the point in this most important of post, I would like to give the non-UK students in Aston an advice that could probably spare them my bureaucracy-caused wrinkles. When it is time for you to get a work-permit (or whatever the certificate is called) do NOT open any of the government websites. They have no useful information, whatsoever; call HM Revenue & Customs and ask all your questions on the phone (just prepare for a waiting time of approximately 3-5 minutes).

If you do not have the phone numbers, and you probably don't, just go to the Careers Office in uni. They are supposed to be our point of contact for problems and questions connected with work and placement. Unfortunately, I decided to tackle the problem myself and only three hours later (after spending most of the time in various government websites) did I have the form I needed to fill in. The Careers Office must have answered a thousand questions like mine and most certainly would have effortlessly given me the phone numbers that I ultimately found.

So, to sum up, bureaucracy sucks, government websites are useLESS, careers office is useFUL, calling institutions on the phone is most effective (though pricey).