My UCAS Journey - Week Two

As you know, if you've been reading from the beginning, part of the reason for me writing this blog is to develop my writing style and ability. With that in mind I decided to write my second week of UCAS travels in one go, rather than the 'as and when' approach I took for the first week.
Initially I found this quite hard, because I wanted to sit down at certain points and just write a little about the day. Although by the end of the week, I had kind of got used to not recording my thoughts or actions, but this process has made me realise the enjoyment I get from reflecting and recording what I have done and seen. The enjoyment of just writing, maybe just a few lines or a couple of pages, and that time to reflect and appreciate is more valuable than I first though.

So the second week of UCAS travel took me to Bedford, Cambridge and London. This time I travelled by hire car, no trains for me (though I am back on them next week). I had a Vauxhall Corsa in a lovely shade of dark grey and most importantly it was an automatic. I have enjoyed driving driving this car and have to say I'm not looking forward to going back to my Rover.
The first day travelling was Sunday, hoping to beat the traffic and arrive in time to walk around and find somewhere for dinner I set off around lunch time. Unfortunately this did not prevent me from siting in a lot of traffic when passing London. but at least I was moving!
Having completed most of the journey to Bedford I passed a large Morrison's store and thought about stopping for the salad bar, I decided to keep going and get to the hotel. This was a mistake. I adore the Morrison's salad bar and instead I ended up walking around trying to find somewhere to eat later and settling for a Burger King.

The walk from the hotel to the town centre was mainly along the Embankment, which I thought looked like a good place for a morning run. Thus my plan was find food fast and eat early so I would be able to run in the morning. Ever more feeding into the fact I should have gone for that salad bar.
After the Burger King dinner I made my way back to the hotel, where I discovered I could watch the TV from the bath. So I had my first bath for about three years while watching an Addams Family movie. This was the first time Ive 'relaxed' in a hotel since the travelling had started. It was defiantly due, given I had started to lose my voice on Friday and Saturday involved sounds more than words leaving my mouth.

The morning run was great, haven fallen asleep at around 8pm I think it is fair to say I was well rested. As I ran along the embankment you could see all the ducks and birds starting to move and awaken (properly me stomping around that woke them up). I was quite happy with my 3.6miles, having not run for about four weeks. I'm planning on getting back out there once a week, I'm not exactly 'Beach Body Ready' hahaha. The run went well despite having to put my door key in my sock because my shorts didn't have a pocket.

This week I made a change and stopped having the cooked breakfast at every hotel and started having one bowl of cereal and one of fruit. I have enjoyed the cooked food, but returning to cereal and fruit, which is what I would usually have, was defiantly better for my energy levels.
After work I walked into town to grab some snacks for the following day. Which required walking back along the embankment, now filled with rowers and cyclist calling out instructions from the footpaths. I decided to sit and watch a few row along the river while I sat enjoying the evening sun.

On the second day at the Bedford event I took the opportunity to walk around and talk with fellow practitioners and recruiters from other institutions. It is always interesting to gain an insight into someone else's approach and their thoughts on the events we attend. Through discussions I discovered that there where a few of us going to the next event in Cambridge. One of the people I spoke to throughout the day was Issy, who is from another university in the south. She mentioned the 'joy' of eating alone so I said we should meet for dinner in Cambridge.

I arrived in Cambridge, and to the hotel that had been booked, to find my booking had been cancelled. Not a great start. Fortunately it was 4.45pm and I was able to call the office for more information. It appeared that my booking had indeed been cancelled and a new booking made at another hotel, much closer to the venue.
The new hotel was very nice and I did manage to get the last space in the car park, which made me happy. There were a few issues with the booking information that had not been sent to the hotel, but the staff on reception where very friendly and allowed me to go up to the room while they looked into the details. This was also a good chance to charge / sync the iPads and do some ironing while everything was being checked.

Around half an hour later and the booking was confirmed. At this point I started my walk around the city and text Issy to see where was best to meet. After a few texts and a phone call we decided where to meet, unaware of whether it was the best place. Its fair to say it took us a while to find somewhere to eat that could be covered by our expenses claim. Eventually we found revolution (I think the same chain as the place I had dinner with Tom in Lincoln). After our meal we walked through or around (not exactly sure) the city and the surrounding fields, we chatted about work, relationships, pets and life in general. It was good just to talk, its strange what you can say to someone you've met only met two days ago. Especially when some of the things you say you haven't said to friends you've had for years.

The following day, after the event meant moving on to London, Tower Hamlets. The drive there was not too bad, but parking......This caused some confusion and notable issues. After over five minutes going forward and back to get into a roadside parking space, I found out it was a three hour max spot. So I ran into the hotel and asked for the nearest car park information. I then drove and walked around trying to find this place they have described. Unable to find it I return and manage to get one of the front desk team to walk around and show me. Turns out it is someone else's land I'm parking on and it will be £15 for the privilege. This, while being recommended and essentially instructed by the reception team is not something they organise. I was given a name and phone number to confirm that I can stay in the car park. The number I discover does not work, so I then returned to reception (having walked up to my room to drop off the bags). It takes them a few minutes, and several numbers, to get a ringing tone, then finally I am passed the phone to arrange my own parking. I still find this very strange.
During that evening I caught up with a few emails and checked in with a few friends online. One of whom was free the following evening so we made plans for me to drop by on the way home from London.

The following day was one of the busiest events for enquires and questions regarding our university and higher education in general. It was another case of being in a room that got increasingly hot and stuffy. Being busy was a blessing as you didn't have a chance to think too much about the conditions. Alas 2.30pm came round fairly quickly and we made our own ways back, my colleagues for the day journeyed to the train station while I started walking back to the hotel and the car park. After paying my fee and setting the iPad up, to call out directions, I was on my way. But not very far very fast. The iPad, in all its wisdom took me through road works and congestion charge zones. Which lead to leaving London taking two hours! This meant I was a little behind for my evening of socialising, so I decided to drive straight to Rachel's and grab a takeaway there. After the horror show that was driving in London and a busy week, it was really nice to relax, chat, catch up and discuss various topics. I'm already looking forward to our lunch date in a couple of weeks.

So that's it, week two of UCAS travel over. Ive spent my weekend off sorting the garden, its almost presentable out there. The plan is to do something (garden related) in July, well properly August now, July is already looking busy on the weekends.

In terms of writing tools and styles, I have found this week really valuable... In deciding that I don't like writing in this 'recap' style as much. I prefer writing in the moment and recording thoughts when they happen. It feels much more authentic, interesting and passionate....from my point of view anyway.

Additionally I have recently heard that two former colleagues will be moving on to new and exciting challenges soon. I wish them all the best and hope to catch up soon.

UCAS Travels Week One

My next three weeks are filled with UCAS Events. At the time of writing, I'm not sure how I will post this blog entry. Given the length of time I am travelling I may post once a week.

Each post will include short posts written through out the journey.

Event One

Anyhow, today's travels started well with the much loved walk to the train station from home, apart from the having to carry my bag part. The train to London Waterloo was a smooth journey. However there were terrifying scenes at Waterloo, as a container had been broken open and wildlife from Jurassic World had escaped. 

Having survived the carnage and avoided near certain death I boarded the underground and continued my onward journey to Leeds. 

Departing the train at Leeds Train Station, my standard arrival process began;

Locate City Street Map

Locate and walk to Hotel

Request iron

Charge phone

Walk back to city for exploration

At this time I should also mention the view from my rooms window....

I found Leeds city centre and walked passed shops, bars and Town Hall. The city had a nice mixture of old and new buildings and architecture. I soon found another city street map which I used to locate my next stops. First the church, to rest my legs in the small green outside. Then the first direct arena, which I walked around. Its a shame you can't see part of the inside of these stadiums and arenas as you walk past. You can't see anything from outside, so no more information on that one.

I then started to just walk, in no particular direction. I ended up on a high street (Victoria Quarter) where I stopped to listen to a street music performance. Which I really enjoyed, I am a sucker for street performers.

After a while around Victoria Quarter I walked on to the river and found a couple of bridges to cross. At this stage Newcastle's bridges where looking very impressive! I did however take a brief moment to look at the padlocks left on Centenary Bridge. Which reminded me of the Southgate footbridge in Melbourne, where 'lovers locks' where also left on the bridge. However I did read recently that the padlocks are being removed from the Melbourne footbridge because of safety fears, which does seem ridiculous (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11612176/Melbourne-to-remove-20000-love-locks-from-bridge-due-to-safety-concerns.html). 

After taking 10 minutes to write down some thoughts and notes on the day. I made my way back to meet Tom and the Student Ambassadors for dinner. We ended up eating separately as I had walked quite far from the hotel. But did meet up for a chat and discussed our thoughts on Student Ambassadors, Summer Schools and Leeds later that evening. 

Over the next two days we attended the UCAS event to discuss opportunities and provision at our institution.

Outside of this we did walk around the city centre viewing the new and historic buildings, Leeds has a nice mixture of architecture, though having now seen the city no one thing would particularly attract me back to the city.

That being said, I enjoyed watching the street performers near Victoria Quarter, sitting in a church garden and visiting Leeds City Museum (www.leeds.gov.uk/citymuseum).

I had seen there was an exhibition of light on at the museum the evening before, which looked interesting. So the following day I managed to drop in and look around the museum. 

(Yes I arrived before the computers had loaded) 

The exhibition of light was not quite what I had hoped, however I did enjoy looking some of the other areas within the museum. Particularly the development of writing, Egyptian culture and Leeds a brief history.

The hotel (Holiday Inn Express) was ok, but definitely not the best place I've stayed. The room was good, but a twin not a double as booked. The shower was very good, but the tap water was definitely not suitable for drinking, which I discovered. The breakfast again had positives (sausages) and negatives (watered down scrambled eggs and lack of selection). But, and there's already been a few, the bed was pretty uncomfortable. So not somewhere I would rush to stay again.

Anyway it's time to move on to the next event. I'm currently on the Leeds to London train. Hoping to get home before 10pm before setting of for Sheffield tomorrow. I'm definitely looking forward to next week when I will be driving from one event to the next, and not returning home in between. It adds so much time and energy to the travel required. 

  

Event Two

Hello from Sheffield!

Feeling much more relaxed than I did this morning. The trains back from Leeds really took it out of me. Driving today was much nicer. Though that was mainly midday driving, we will see how much I like it after driving from here to home on a Friday evening.

On arrival I quickly looked up the surrounding area and worked out the city centre was a 50 minute walk away. Which is fine, but a little further than you'd like. Before leaving for the long trek ahead, I asked at reception to confirm the direction. Where I received two very bewildered faces when asking for walking directions to the city. After confirming I did know it was an hours walk, I was surprised and interested in the tram alternative that was suggested. In fact that's what I did. The tram cost £3.60 for a return and the journey lasted 6 minutes.

It was a while before I found a city street map. Thus I strolled through the city walking from one potentially interesting thing to another. Some buildings turned out to be much less interesting or entertaining than initially expected. However I did stumble across a few great stops. 

Sheffield Cathedral (I know, it's becoming a habit (I think that maybe a church joke)), was beautiful inside and had most of the cathedral open for visitors to walk around. 

Again I took the opportunity to light a prayer candle between walking through various sections of this grand building. There was an additional station set up at the rear with headphones playing; songs from the choir, the bells being rung and the organ being played.

After the beauty of the cathedral I made my way, in a direction I'm not exactly sure of. Anyhow, I found myself walking through the Sheffield Winter Garden. This is not particularly large, but its inclusion in the city centre is great. This along with the green outside the Town Hall and City Council building, which is next to the Winter Garden, is a great place to sit and take some time out.

However I was getting hungry and remembered seeing a Chinese buffet a while back and tried to work out exactly what point of the journey I needed to return to and which road that may have been. After a couple of wrong turns, initially I was not sure on the direction I needed to travel, I was on my way. The buffet was not that far away, when walking in the correct direction, then in I go (http://u-buffet.co.uk). The variety was not as vast as I had hoped for, however there was still plenty to choose from. The food was good and the staff where very friendly and quick to help you or clear tables. I did the unthinkable and had hot food, cold food (ice cream), cold food, hot food. I must say the last plate did feel a little unnecessary once I was eating it. But yummy all the same.

After that lovely dinner I walked, slightly slower, back to the tram stop. Where I nearly boarded the tram heading in the wrong direction. No worries though, I'm now back in the hotel charging iPads for tomorrow's event and looking forward to that drive! 

Saturday's Friday Recap

I made it home and have 36 hours to rest before getting back on the road. Which is needed because I currently can't talk and feel very tired in the mornings. So today (Saturday) is going to be a relax day.

To catch up yesterday, breakfast felt slightly un-required after the Chinese buffet, but I did manage half a bowl of cereal and a half of fruit. I also received a message about a gig for that evening, which involved meeting up at 7. This sounded like a great way to finish the week, hang with some friends and listen to music. The only trouble was getting back in time. It was possible, but we had travelled through roadworks to get to Sheffield and I was fairly sure we would see them again on the way back, this along with the fact it was a friend night meant that getting back for 7 would be ambitious. 

So when the time came, after another good UCAS event, we started the journey back to the south coast. Unfortunately we did not have access to the work satnavs, and the long journey meant using phones to navigate was out of the question, thanks to not so amazing battery life. Alas we had iPads! So with our Student Ambassador asleep in the back, Simone and I sorted the iPad to navigate our way back. Unfortunately this did mean that Simone had to hold the iPad all the way, though the thought of having the iPad on a window attachment did make me laugh as it would take up half the windscreen. Fortunately we did not end up in as much traffic or road works as I had expected, however it was still enough to prevent me from getting back in time to make the gig.  We stopped off at Oxford services around 6pm and where very grateful for a Harry Ramadans pie and chips. It was a fair drive from Sheffield to home, but I enjoyed discussing various topics Simone; family, work life, projects, our own histories. It was good and definitely made the drive go faster. 

As a side note the driving did remind me of my favourite road sign ever, from Australia of course. I couldn't find my own photo of the sign so I have utilised one from another site (http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/sleepy-drivers-almost-as-dangerous-as-drunks-study-3)

Today (Saturday) is a wash clothes, say hi to the cats, relax day, before going again tomorrow. Then starts week two, of three on my UCAS journeys. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the gig last night, which is a real shame. However I have no voice now, so I have no idea what I would be like if I had made it! 

Lincoln with a capital I

Part One - Trains

As part of my job I travel to and attend UCAS Events, which, on this occasion involves an event being held in LincoIn. This event is a convention to provide those considering university the opportunity to find out more information regarding university facilities, courses, student life and speak to staff and/or Student Ambassadors. Lincoln will be the third UCAS convention I attend for my current institution (with conventions number four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten in the next three weeks).

Currently I am sat on the train making my way to London Waterloo, where I will then travel via underground to Kings Cross and Oxford Circus. Then board two trains, first to Newark North and finally LincoIn. From the station there will be an approximate 30 minute walk to to reach the hotel, which is around 40 minutes from the venue for tomorrows event. I will also be meeting my colleague Tom later in the day, who is working the event with me.
I am hoping to have enough time to walk through the city and sightsee a little this evening. Since attending an event a few years ago in Bristol, where we did not look around the campus or the city we visited, I always try to make the most of being able to attend events that are outside my local region. 

Part Two - Joining the crowd

I am here! Im currently sat in my hotel room taking five (it was actually twenty) minutes before going out for dinner with Tom.
So the journey since Part One went well, there was some confusion over train number three being early and an inaudible announcement that apparently told us this was the train and it was waiting at the platform until the scheduled time to leave. But having not herd, or understood that I, along with about 15 other people stood next to the train with puzzled looks on our faces.

On arrival in Lincoln I found the nearest city street map and worked out the direction I needed to head in for the hotel. Fortunately this took me through the city centre, allowing some sightseeing to happen on route. I did have an approximate idea on the route and time, having looked online before hand. However I had failed to consider the monster hill climb that stood between me and my destination (my view of the hill is definitely affected by the fact Im carrying my travel bag and coat). As I gracefully walked (marched) up the hill I saw part of a cathedral and so diverted slightly to walk past. As I came closer I saw there were a few police and almost a crowd, about 12 people. So without asking who we where looking at or waiting for (because that would spoil the surprise), I found a spot and waited to see who would walk out of the cathedral doors we were all now watching. While I was waiting I took in the beautiful architecture of the building. Building such as this, in truth often religious buildings, always catch my attention, they are so different to most other buildings in our societies, how could they not?
I digress, the doors open, I have only had to wait about four minutes and out walks, to my surprise, someone I recognise (not personally)! HRH Princess Anne.
After a minute or so HRH is in a car and being driven away, and the 12 person crowd starts to disperse. I take a few photos of the building and decide it is time to move on, I would quite like to put this bag down.

I arrive at the hotel, check in and request an iron. Standard entry processes complete, I walk up to my room and happily put my bag down, plug my phone in to charge and find half a NCIS programme to watch.
After half an hour I decide its time to go and have a look around the centre and see if I can get in a bit of sightseeing and check on the venue for tomorrow.
First up I revisit the cathedral, which is now open to the public. I made my way in and am delighted to see the archeteciture and designs on the inside. This was an amazing opportunity. I walked through the different sections, where other visitors where talking and taking photos as they too looked at the floors, walls, windows and ceilings (Im not doing it justice with those descriptions). 

I found a quiet spot at the back where visitors where invited to make a prayer and light a candle. I spent a few moments here contemplating before walking back through the cathedral and outside.
Having left the catherdal I walked down the hill, still a slight challenge, I found myself near to a river with a bridge, so I started to journey towards the bridge in hopes of a good view. Unfortunately the view was not quite what I had hoped for, although I did now find myself near to the venue for tomorrow. Or so I thought. The event is being held at the University of Lincoln, which has more than one location within the city centre. After visiting a subject building, the student village, University Library and the Students Union, I found the building I needed. 

I asked a few questions and found my way to our stand for tomorrow, to my horror though none of our resources had made it to the venue. There were then a few phone conversations, which resulted in discovering that the equipment was not being delivered until the morning. Having confirmed that, I decided it was time to return to the hotel to meet Tom before dinner.


Part Three - Waiting for the train home

I met Tom in the hotel lounge where we discussed our respective journeys and admired the view of the cathedral through the window. We decided to eat away from the hotel, and so started walking to the high street. Having a choice of three places to eat we opted for Revolutions. A very pleasant bar / restaurant. I did have another moment of confusion as three people served us at various stages, despite the bar being pretty small.
After an ok meal and a few hours of chatting about fairly varied topics it was time to head back to the hotel for one more lemonade before bed.

In the morning I nearly managed to flood the bathroom thanks to the worst shower curtain Ive ever seen. Still there where plenty of towels, so it wasn't a problem. At breakfast I was again delighted to sit and look through the window at the cathedral, I really can't think of anywhere else I have had this opportunity (that being said seeing the sea and a beach would still be nicer). The Lincoln Hotel was not the best hotel for facilities, but the staff were very friendly and quick to respond to any question or request.

Then followed a fairly busy UCAS event. In the day I found the staff and Student Ambassadors working for University of Lincoln very helpful and friendly. A special thanks to the ICT Service guys who helped with our IT problems on the day. Myself and Tom enjoyed talking to those considering university and discussing the options available at our institution.

So after this very beneficial day it is now time to journey back home. I am currently sat waiting for that first train in the five hour journey. I should not have written that, it has already made the journey feel longer.

Andover and Sparsholt...reminiscing

Last night I met up with the Sparsholt and Andover College Marketing Teams to say farewell to Laura.
Laura's amazing love story with Tim (which I only heard for the first time last night) has meant she is relocating and so, is changing jobs.
Leaving this team and these amazing people is something I know all too well, having left myself only two months ago. Even though I was only there for four months I made some great friends and enjoyed everyday with the team, and everyone I came to know at Andover. While I love my new job, I miss the Andover and Sparsholt Team everyday, even Student Support and Admissions (insert office humour). But especially the Andover Team of Rachel, Drew and (another) Laura.

I have kept in contact with the team, but when you are used to seeing people most days, its not enough to see them every so often. I suppose that is life though, isn't it? We all move and change, our lives are rarely fixed. While I maybe sad to not see these people as often as I would like, without these changes I would not have had the chance to meet them in the first place. This is the joy and sorrow of moving and changing, I guess.

I suppose it is easy to meet people. The telling point is when it is not easy to see someone each day, are you both still willing to put in the effort to meet when it is less easy or convenient?


Andover itself was a great place to work. The campus was nice and easy to navigate. Although I did arrive early to work to avoid the traffic, so had time to walk around the campus most mornings before starting my day. This was a good opportunity to stretch my legs and see what was going on around the campus. I enjoyed dropping by the Reception, the Learning Resource Centre, Additional Learner Support, Reprographics and the Sixth Form Office.

One of my favourite tasks was to provide personal campus tours to perspective students, parents, community groups and visiting school students. This was a great opportunity to talk to perspective students, as well as their families and friends. Finding out about their hopes and aspirations and showing them how Andover College could support them in achieving that dream.
I enjoyed the regular visits to Childcare, Hair and Beauty, Art and most of all hearing our students talk so positively about their experience at Andover College.

Possibly my best experience of this was seeing an almost full applicant cycle for one perspective student.
I received an email from a parent asking for a tour for herself and her daughter, lets call her Sarah, to be show around the campus. I replied inviting them to Andover College stating I would happy show them around the campus and asked if there was any particular courses or general subjects Sarah was interested in, along with a couple of other questions to support the tour.  From Sarah's mum I found out, Sarah was currently studying at a local secondary school in Year 11 and was concerned she was not sure what to do next year, but had an interest in Childcare and Beauty related courses. With this information I was able to organise a visit to the two subject areas, within the general campus tour I would provide. On the day I introduced Sarah and her mum to the Lecturers, who spoke briefly about the course and the current session. They then handed over to some current students who spoke about the course from a students point of view, their timetable, travel arrangements, part time jobs and time management.
At the end of the visit, and after seeing the rest of the campus, Sarah and her mum said thank you and left the College with a lot of information and discussions were well underway.

Within my role I also send text messages to applicants when their formal application for full time study is received, so around 10 days later I was very pleased to see Sarah had decided to apply to Andover for one of the Hair and Beauty courses she had seen on her tour. Then two weeks later I saw Sarah again at one of our Interview Evenings for perspective students. We spoke briefly as I guided Sarah (and her friend this time) around to the Sixth Form Building where the interviews where being held. She even popped back over after her interview to say goodbye. I am under no illusions, to be involved in each of these stages, especially so close together is, I'm sure extremely rare. That is possibly why it stands out so much for me, to be involved and support someones decisions through that process. That personal approach and being able to discuss and understand someone else's point of view was ugly rewarding for me. To know you have helped to inform someones decision, which they are so pleased about.

One of my other favourite tasks was organising an Open Evening, but I don't have time to tell you all the work that went into that.

Appearing in the Open Evening video