Student Life Bites – Volume 2.

So I’ve been a little neglectful of my online ranting as of late, and that’s mainly due to two reasons:
1 – I ran out of money while I was down in Cardiff, which meant my only source of food was jacket potatoes. Which depressed me. And I didn’t want any posts to be whiny and depressing.
2 – I’ve been back home for a couple of weeks, but due to the nature of where I work, I’ve literally been working every day since I’ve been back and all my shifts were about 10 hours long, so I haven’t had the time.

So basically comrades, I am sorry for being neglectful. And I intend to break the silence of the rants with this, volume 2 of Student Life Bites!

Recently my life has been dominated by money. Mostly the lack of it to be perfectly honest, which is nobody’s fault but my own really (as much as I try to blame, well, the world). And I know it’s not just me. Lots of students fall into the abyss of an overdraft at least once during their degree, but not all struggle with it alone.

I consider myself to come from a working class background. This means I couldn’t afford a gap year. I definitely can’t afford to study abroad for a year or an academic term of study. I probably can’t afford any of the random, culturally rich trips many student have the opportunity to go on and it leads me to wonder whether those whom are working class in university are deprived from opportunities in and before university because of their backgrounds. For example I can’t afford to take part in a months long unpaid work placement during summer, as I need to make money to give myself a financial cushion in September. Which puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to being employed next year. And these aren’t isolated instances.

The difference between working class and other more financially secure families in my opinion is pretty evident from day one of term. The working class, myself being one, are money conscious from day one, budgeting the first week to ensure they survive the term because that’s our only source of income. But I’ve noticed other students don’t have to do this. A couple of my friends spend in excess of £40 a week on food which is also payed by their parents, as is their rent. This isn’t a bad thing. Their parents want to look after their children while their away from home, and paying their food and housing expenses is one of, if not the best way to do so, but not every semi adult has this luxury. During my third year, I fell on hard times after my phone broke. As I was contracted and had no insurance, I had to pay to fix it which was quite a bit and it landed me in a tough spot, to which the only remedy was to crawl into my overdraft for the first time. The vast majority of people I told about this were baffled as I hadn’t mentioned this to my parents. As if to say “surely they would pay for it?” – but when you’re working class, you’re so money conscious to the point that it makes you reluctant to ask for money since you know that they probably are just as skint as you. And as much as my parents probably could have just about helped me out, it would have landed them in a shit situation which isn’t fair.

I’m not asking for more money from Student Finance Wales. I’m not asking for people with more money to have less. I’m just raising an important issue. When you’re working class in university you do struggle to get by a bit more than the rest. Financial aid from parents is a rarity at best (again I’m not complaining, I appreciate everything they have done and sacrificed for me) which means I’m not able to enjoy a social life as rich as others. It also means my diet is less varied. I’m unable to buy the books I need. I can’t afford foreign trips. Study leaves abroad. All this which aid a CV and cost tend to be out of my reach.

Are their positives to being a working class lad in uni? Of course!! It has made me much more independent from my parents. When I’m in trouble, I sort if myself. I’ve learnt to budget my money and shop intelligently this year more than any other and I am slowly crawling back out of my overdraft. If I do need or want to buy something or afford a trip, I get a job which in turn broadens my employability range. Cooking is another gain too. Since I can’t afford takeaways, I cook. And I cook marvellous meals on the cheap. If anything, it has prepared me to be completely independent once I am employed and more than likely living hours from my parents down in Cardiff. It toughens you to endure being skint. To put on an extra jumper rather than turn up the heating. To put tomatoes on a potato because, well, that’s all you have and make the most of it. Lots of little things that nobody really realises about being slightly less financially well off than others. It’s the different, boring side to uni life not many will experience. But hopefully more working class students will – it’s the best learning curve you will ever have.

Student Life Bites – Volume 1.

We all hear about the drinking and partying associated with the student lifestyle. I mean The Daily Mail loves a good front page about how awful students are and how we squander our loans on booze and kebabs, but life for a student isn’t that simple. This post isn’t going to be about the injustices we suffer (have a read of my student housing agency post for that kind of material). No, I want to bring to light the little things that I find hilarious and odd within the students sphere. And this week, I’m going to follow on from the student house theme with the house viewing – from the view of the current tenant…me.
I’m not going to rant about how annoying house viewings are, because to be honest, it isn’t annoying, it’s hilarious. Let’s start off with the keen Jeans. The early birds!
Now depending on your land lord or the agency your land lord deals with, how the viewing goes down differs, but let’s go for the classic knock knock approach.
So there’s a knocking at the door, you’re feeling much more groggy than usual (or I do, I rarely need to leave bed before half 9) you check your phone and it’s dead on 9 am. You’re not going to get up to open the door. It’s cold and it could be anyone. Salesmen. People with surveys or the dreaded TV license officer dude! But regardless of your lack of enthusiasm to open the door, they open the door anyway and announce their entrance,
“Hey guys/buddy/fellas (any generic name) it’s student houses R us limited inc with a house viewing okay? Cool.” And they stroll in. Depending on how your house is payed out, the knocking and shouting might wake you up in time to warn you, to maybe put some clothes on or open a window to let out the student stink. But if you’re in the first bedroom, like I am, that rarely happens.
They let themselves in to find me curled up in my bed. A fluff of hair protruding from under my sheets. They all pile into my room and awkwardly look around. Then they realise that yes, I am indeed alive.
“Oh, sorry, hehe, good morning, sorry” they nervously tiptoe back out. I know it’s not their fault, but it is some bodies house is it not? The look of surprise on their faces is my favourite part, they scream “you’re in my future house” and I’m like “you’re in my house” it’s a stranger experience.
Slowly the intruders look round the house and occasionally they’ll say “it’s a bit of a mess” or “what a horrible sofa” which is harsh is it not? That’s my sofa. It’s the way I like it. I like it stained with curry and smelling of lager. It’s my sofa.
The thing is, this kind of situation is probably the most common amongst house viewings. The more extreme examples include when I was caught in the shower. That was interesting. And oddly, the possibly future tenants lingered longer than acceptable.
So to any future students out there who might read this, and to any first year student, you have this kind of intrusion to look forward to. And honestly, enjoy it and prepare for it! Mix things up a little bit. Make jokes. Purposely be weird. It just makes the experience for them and yourself that much more fun.
Peace out y’all!