Help! Get me into the degree program that i want to be in!

[enigma]

Good luck with whatever you chose to do Laura. I nearly changed course but I was 2 years down the line at that point. Do whatever you think interests you the most.

Whatever you do, Im sure you will do in spite of, not because of academics like chip etc.

 

[Chopper West]

Go for it Laura, we're not all cockjugglers at Uni you know.

 

[chip]

Like it or not chip - but i currently pay over a thousand pounds for people like you to help me research, and i get f*** all help, and im not the only student here who if they had realised the attitude problems of the staff, they wouldnt have come here.

I came here because i thought people like you would be helpful teaching me new things, that are interesting, not just fordism and modernisation.

OK, I'll put that in context. When I do research consultancy for external organizations, the university costs my time at £774.08 per 7hour day (2004/5 rate). It costs me £75000 pa to hire a post-doc at the lowest pay rate. £1000 doesn't go too far when viewed like that does it? I have just paid £450 for an ultrasound scan that took half an hour. How many hours contact do you expect each week for what you pay?

More importantly though is that a university education is about learning how to learn for yourself. The first year is about providing a common foundation as there are many A-level syllabi and other entry routes that need to converge. I think that in any decent university you will find people expressing the same sentiments as yourself. Partly, it is because young people are not as prepared for university as they used to be - that is not always their fault. Also, there are unrealistic expectations on the students part. It is easy to blame the academic when you can't understand something or you just assume that we are there to teach you. However, you make it sound like a them and us battle and that is not the case for the vast majority of students at Soton. While I would admit to not being the best lecturer, I don't think any of my project students would have any complaints about me or the value for money I give them.

I have been honest with you in trying to explain some of your experiences from the perspective of an academic, albeit in an entirely different school/faculty. There seem to be a queue who want to villify me for this. I could adopt your position and rant on about the failings of some students but its not very constructive. At the least, I have provided you with an outlet though. Have you honestly kept your side of the bargain in your student handbook?

 

[Bozza]

Strikes me as very strange that people have been so quick to lay into chip on here.

I have to say it strikes me that Laura does not really know what she wants - that is not a criticism - we've all been there - and many of us are still there!

1. Studying a subject that she decides is now not for her.

2. Decides that English is her real passion and wants to move into that field, before only hours later...

3. Considering nursing.


I have to agree with chip - the jump that many take from school/college education into university is a big one and one that many struggle with. Anyone who expects to be spoon-fed or 'taught' is likely to end up feeling a little disenchanted as they come to terms with the independence of thought that is encouraged. Required, even.

Where I'm not sure whether I agree with chip or not, although he is obviously a lot closer to this than me, is how much this has changed over time. I recall, with amusement, a managerial accounts exam at Uni which is more years ago than I'd like to remember! The format and angle of the questions was unlike anything most had prepared for but all it required was a slight, and I mean very slight, degree of lateral thinking. At the end of the exam, some of my peers started up a petition that the exam was 'unfair' and they wanted a new one to take. Like others, I refused to be party to it - it was clear how they wanted/expected their education to be structured and it didn't seem to involve much freedom of thought.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

I have had a shit day at work, but this has got me smiling again!
Thank you Chip, thank you Dave!!

Dave 'The Gaffer' vs Chip 'The Professor' - get it on!!

seconded ... and after your posting it developed further into...

aaaaand in the Red corner we have current academic heavyweight champion of his own lunchbox, senior academic at leading university, unrivalled mathematician and allround genius, Professor, "£700 a day", Chi-iiiips... and the challenger in the blue corner... NSC's very own Ben Andrews' Girlfriend...

this seems like classic NSC reflecting the real world... I guess in the widest sense we do need the likes of Chip and chums to do their oh-so important research, generally be self-important cocks, and to patronise anyone who doesn't reach the same lofty heights - but that doesn't mean we have to agree with it on a personal level...

 

[Albion Rob]

I honestly believe that if people have an aptitude to succeed in life then they generally will.

You could be a physics professor at Oxford but a complete fuckwit, turn to drink and take your own life by the age of 40 or you could not even go to university but work hard and grab opportunities and live a long, happy and prosperous life.

The point is that the race is bloody long, chance are we'll all be working until we're 70 so best to take the chances you get without stressing or burning yourself out.

An amazing array of opportunities present themselves if you keep your eyes and ears open, the thing that distinguishes 'successful' and unsuccessful' people is whether or not the take them.

 

[itszamora]

I'm a student, and I have to say I don't think chip has been condescending or arrogant or anything else, he strikes me from my experience of just telling it like it is.

 

[Man of Harveys]

I'm a student, and I have to say I don't think chip has been condescending or arrogant or anything else, he strikes me from my experience of just telling it like it is.

Totally agree. And best of luck Laura.

 

[El Presidente]

I was told at my recent assessment at Uni that the second worst thing that someone can say about an academic is that they are a good lecturer, and the worst thing is that students think they are a good lecturer.

*walks out of meeting tail between legs*

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Laura, I have a few friends who studied nursing at Oxford Brookes and are now out there working. Drop me a line if you would like their email addresses so that you could ask them some questions, if you think it might help.

 

[Trish]

Hi Laura, As someone whose academic achievement peaked with an English GCE (grade unknown) 50 years ago, I'm unable to offer much advice. You're going though a turbulent time. You're a clever student and I'm sure you'll make the correct decision but don't rush it.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

Keep going BAG. Don't give up on your current course as it'll show real guts if you can keep on going but keep on thinking about what you want to do. Word of warning though, If you decide on nursing I'd take the initiative a tell the NSP boys they won't be getting any pictures of you in a nurses uniform.

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

Chip has summed it up quite well. Academics hate teaching and anyone who believes that teaching and lecturing are the same thing haven’t a clue. As far as most academics are concerned the only reason universities exist is to allow them to perform research. Students are a pain in the arse because they get in the way. I found that if you couldn’t grasp a theory at the first attempt the lecturer classed you as a lost cause, being not very bright I fell into this category. Fortunately for me I was a mature student, had spent time in the forces and so I didn’t take this sort of treatment well. So (metaphorically speaking) I kicked down doors and a plague the hell out of them. Funnily enough once they realised that I wouldn’t piss off they were very helpful. I got a 2:1, a reputation for being stroppy sod and an offer of a PhD .... which thankfully I didn't take.

Chip is just stating the view of most academics, I don't think it's right but that's just my opinion.

Don't rush into it, Easters coming and you can't think about it then when you're away from Uni.

 

[Storer68]

But don't forget that their posts are not valued for the amount of students they teach, or the amount of degrees they achieve, but by the amount of research papers they publish.

So to keep their job, they have to do research.

 

[MikeySmall]

Laura, I have a few friends who studied nursing at Oxford Brookes and are now out there working. Drop me a line if you would like their email addresses so that you could ask them some questions, if you think it might help.

What has Nursing got to do with English?

 

[ATFC Seagull]

On a completely different note, good luck in the College Bowl on Sunday BAG!

 

[El Presidente]

But don't forget that their posts are not valued for the amount of students they teach, or the amount of degrees they achieve, but by the amount of research papers they publish.

So to keep their job, they have to do research.

True, but it does not mean that they have to treat the students like dirt, yet many do so.

My research into the UK adult entertainment industry has been rejected by all the publications I submitted it to, but I am still perservering with the original source material

 

[Uncle C]

My research into the UK adult entertainment industry has been rejected by all the publications I submitted it to, but I am still perservering with the original source material

Why dont you publish it on the Internet. That would get some attention

 

[Race]

True, but it does not mean that they have to treat the students like dirt, yet many do so.

My research into the UK adult entertainment industry has been rejected by all the publications I submitted it to, but I am still perservering with the original source material

Your back then!!

 

[Theatre of Trees]

True, but it does not mean that they have to treat the students like dirt, yet many do so.

My research into the UK adult entertainment industry has been rejected by all the publications I submitted it to, but I am still perservering with the original source material

Perhaps you tried the wrong publishers?