Life at Bellerbys College

Finally, I am back to my Bellerbys blog ;)

It’s really nice to be back to my Bellerbys blog after such a long time.

I know that it’s my style to start the blog with these words “Time is flying really fast!” To be honest living far away from family I realized that every second we have in this life is valuable.

It’s my second and crazy busy A2 year at Bellerbys Cambridge. It’s my second year here and I still feel that Bellerbys was a reasonable choice for me. I got my offer from University College London which is really good. I think Bellerbys gave me a very good basic preparation for my future which is essential if I want to be successful in the future.

I have to say that I won’t be like I am today without my amazing teachers at Bellerbys. They are Jasmine (our A level manager). She is a great person. Jasmine really cares about students and I never feel down because whatever happens I know that she can help me so solve my problem. My subject teacher James for History, Alex for Politics and Chris for Maths - are absolutely awesome :D They help me a lot with my studies and university application. I remember my crazy busy weeks when I was applying to universities and writing my personal statement. James and Alex helped me a lot. Of course without my tutor Marie I won’t have such an amazing reference. She is an expert who guides us through the whole UCAS process.   

Moreover I feel that at Bellerbys I learn but also play. We can learn hard and play even harder. In my A2 year I try not to do so many things and concentrate more on my studies but it seems that here I can combine both. I am still doing my job as Bellerbys Times chief designer and participating in many school activities. It’s a great thing to do after school because I can spend time with my friends from another campus – Manor. I like being busy as it helps me to keep going! 

I feel that my second year is going even faster. At the moment I am really enjoying my days in Cambridge because it is a great place to live and study! Well, to be honest I just love it :D

 

Blogs from Bellerbys Oxford Business Students

With Bellerbys’ new extra curricular business programme up and running, we’re able to bring you blogs from two students taking part in the Dragons’ Den-style project.

Aishwarya Palaniappan (seen here 4^th from left) is representing the group Tutor Heaven and Denis Chernov (6^th from right) is a member of The Soup Team.

Denis Chernov

"This is my first club, which I have found very interesting. I really like it and I think that this experience will help me when I start studying at university and start working. It has already helped me to improve my presentation skills.

When I heard that we would present our business idea at the Saïd Business School, Oxford University, I was really interested because I really wanted to know more about the school. The MBA mentors there were really friendly people. When I talked with them at the OBX Marketplace event, I saw that they were interested to help us improve our
business idea and they listened to us very carefully.

The MBA mentors, who will now be working with us following this event, are very important. I think that they will help me to understand basic concepts of business, which will help me in the future."

Aishwarya Palaniappan

"On the 3^rd of November, we walked into Said Business School with our hearts in our mouths and full of enthusiasm. We were a ball of nerves, experiencing a cocktail of emotions like excitement, dread and happiness.

The room had an air of sophistication. Upon walking into the Conference room, we were immediately told to pick a table and set it up as we wished. Everyone was moving chairs and tables, fussing with their appearance and rehearsing their
speeches.

Within minutes, the MBA mentors started making their rounds. They seemed attentive, curious and interested in what everyone had to propose. When the first mentor made his way to our side of the room, we jumped at the chance to
impress him; two of us ready with our laptops, the others briefing him on our business idea and answering questions. Overall, he looked very pleased and impressed with our group.

As a group, we worked well together, easily dividing up our roles and executing them. Some of us worked on research for our business proposal, some worked on the PowerPoint presentation and once we finalized and perfected our business plan, we came together to rehearse our oral presentation. It took a few nights of hard work, but it
was definitely worth it in the end.

This opportunity to work on a business idea in a group and present it to professionals has really inspired us. It made us feel like we were doing something of value, which made our teacher Zelga, our school and most importantly ourselves proud.

It was a whole lot of fun, especially coordinating our outfits to look professional on the day of the presentation. Thankfully, all our hard work paid off. Our love for business is at an all time high now!"

Read more about Bellerbys Oxfords business programme here

The Dreaming Spires!

Posted by Autumn @ Bellerbys Oxford

Hello beloved readers!

Guess what? I'm finally BACK!

It has been so long since I last logged on to this blog, to be honest, and I sincerely apologise for my tardiness.

After posting the last post, I comfortably went back to my country and enjoyed my summer whole-heartedly. It was boiling hot in my tropical home country but the scorching sun was not a strong enough deterrent. I did spend days in the sun hanging out with my old classmates.

However, I also spared some time to read the pile of books that I brought back home, in order to prepare for my most important year of A levels. And I am so glad I did that. Not until I returned to the cool and serene Oxford did I realise that there was such a giant leap from AS to A2.

Yes I said it! A2 is much more difficult than AS and I'm no longer able to procrastinate. The course is more demanding and tough, and I have to put more effort into studying.

However, I do believe that there is a positive correlation between the difficulty of the course and its fascinating nature. My subjects are getting more and more interesting every day, especially Economics and Politics. We are currently studying Socialism and Marxism, which is of particular interest to me, as I was born and raised in a socialist country.

The past month was extremely hectic for me and my fellow aspiring Oxford applicants. We had to cope with the seemingly sudden huge amount of work and prepare our UCAS application simultaneously. All we did after school was researching universities, and all we discussed at lunch was about the application process.Personal statements were drafted and torn into strips and redrafted.

We were always in a hurry, which resulted in anxieties surfacing on an hourly basis. Time seemed to fly at a neck-breaking speed, and before we were even aware of it, the deadline was looming on the horizon. Everyone simply freaked out.

The constant pressure we withstood was intense. We held our breath when pasting our personal statement into UCAS Apply, hoping that we hadn't gone over our word limit. We frantically ran down the corridors, looking for our tutors and teachers and asking them to take a look at our most-recently-updated-drafts-of-personal-statement.

I personally had more than 13 drafts saved on my laptop and kept changing the tiniest details every night (I was so sure that my tutors must have been really tired of reading my personal statements, yet they were still so patient with me!).

When I clicked 'send', I heaved a sigh of relief.

In retrospect, the whole application process was unbelievable. We have pushed (and been pushed) ourselves to the extreme to climb one more step up the ladder of success, to take one more step towards our dream of the dreaming spires of Oxford.

We have learned and mastered the skills necessary to effectively deal with academic pressure and tight schedules. The tremendous support we received from our teachers and tutors is invaluable. Applying to Oxford is truly one of many unforgettable experiences I have had and will have at Bellerbys Oxford (although I doubt that anyone would want to relive it!)

Now it's time to cross our fingers!

 Posted by Autumn, studying A Levels at Bellerbys Oxford

Applying to Oxford & Cambridge Uni!

Posted by @ Bellerbys Brighton

Hey guys!

September is finally over, and all Oxbridge applicants including me are really stressed out, which is obvious - we have to submit our UCAS applications by 15 October. So it’s basically only 2 weeks left! The time is running incredibly fast. And it’s so difficult to cope with the nerves, as nobody is actually happy with their personal statements. Neither am I - every evening I either add or delete something. So far I have all my desktop full of different drafts and it’s so hard to make the final decision! That’s why although I am really scared of the day when I have to submit UCAS application, it seems to me now as a moment of a relief.

A2 is in a way more difficult than AS as the homework is much more difficult and requires excellent analytical skills in order to get 80% or higher but at least now I know my teachers’ demands and therefore up to now I have all As in the register. Hopefully it will remain the same*)).

And of course A2 is more interesting: in German and French classes I study some current affairs and problems of these countries; in History class it’s finally Britain!! And moreover it’s modern Britain, so it’s very exciting to get to know the country where I live now more profoundly.

In English Literature it is modern poems, which I personally find quite complicated in terms of finding the actual meaning of the poem as unlike AS the task is not just to describe mood, tone, patterns of sound etc, but also to be able to read poem properly in order to describe what idea an author wanted to convey. However we practice every week so I am positive that by the time of the exam I will improve my understanding of them.

And of course there is Shakespeare! Everyone in our class enjoys “Othello”, which we need to use in our coursework. I am so nervous about it, as I don’t really like the topics of it. The main theme is Shakespearean women, therefore it is more or less connected to feminism. No offends to feminists, but I personally dislike their quotes something like “Shakespeare is a patriarchal bard”, as I think that he’s a genius and all his works are masterpieces. As for Maths it is Statistics now, which is indeed very interesting especially with Dr Cheng. So I can’t complain that my subjects are boring.

I wish the best of luck for all students applying to universities for 2012 entry! Keep going, half term break is not far!

Asel is studying A Levels at Bellerbys College Brighton

Learning French in Nice

Posted by Asel @ Bellerbys Brighton

Hello everyone!

Now I’ll tell you about my trip to Nice which lasted for 3 weeks. It wasn’t just a holiday, as I was improving my French. That is why I had classes every day except for the weekends. Although it was quite exhausting, I am very happy, as the result turned out to be great. The proof for it was the last Harry Potter movie, which I watched in French, and where I understood everything!

In Nice I lived in a host family. Although I wasn’t sure in the beginning whether it was a good thing to do, I am very happy now, as the family was so nice and helpful, and we became very good friends! Another great thing about the accommodation was the location. It was just 7 minutes from the school and only 5 minutes from the main street.

The weather in Nice was very hot. Luckily there is Mediterranean sea and the water in July is quite pleasant. One of the main tourist streets in Nice is along the sea shore and is called Promenade des Anglais. A strange name for a street in France, isn’t it? Later I found an explanation: it was the Englishmen who built the Promenade, as that time Nice was very poor. The architecture of the main square in Nice, Place Massena, is influenced by the Italian Renaissance, so basically Nice appears to be a multi cultural place.

The food in Nice is different from that in the rest of France. The special dish is quiche lorraine, which is something like pizza, but in my opinion much better. And of course there was a great variety of sea food: fish of all kinds, oysters, crab, lobsters, mussels etc. And everything was fresh!

As for museums, the one that I liked the most is Fragonard Museum, with a wide range of paintings of this genuine Rococo master.

All in all, this trip was a great time!

Asel is studying A Levels at Bellerbys College Brighton 

Summer Break Trip to Serris & Disneyland Paris

Posted by Asel @ Bellerbys Brighton 

Hi there!

The holidays continue, and now I’ll tell you about my trip to France. I stayed in Serris, which is just some 30 km from Paris. This place is famous for its La Valé Village, a huge outlet, very similar to Bicester Village near Oxford. Also it is just one station from the famous Disneyland so it’s easy to guess what I visited))

To tell the truth, the weather for a place which is not located by the sea was awful. It was so hot, unbelievable! About 37 degrees above 0! So you can imagine how difficult it was not just to stay outside, but also to do shopping. Nevertheless I am very pleased with the result, as the prices there are much lower than those in Russia, and the tax free makes it even cheaper. Moreover there was a perfect opportunity to try traditional French cuisine, like fois gras, escargots and of course a great variety of cheeses. And if sometimes you are too tired to eat outside, luckily there is Auchan, where you can buy everything you need.

As for the Disneyland Paris, it was my first time there, and it was stunning! The whole town of beautiful fairy tale buildings, shops full of sweets of all kinds and some crazy attractions! I’ve spent the whole day there and it was probably the best day of my trip. I’ve visited the Horror House with the greatest supernatural decorations, where the skeletons and ghosts were dancing around me. But what I wanted most of all was to try the Big Thunder Mountain attraction. Although the queue for it was huge, I just couldn’t miss it. Therefore I had to spend about 3 hours waiting for a 10 minute ride, but it was worth it!!!

So, I advise everyone who hasn’t been in the Disneyland before to visit it! Enjoy your holidays, guys!!

Asel is studying A Levels at Bellerbys College Brighton 

Graduating Class of Year 2011

 

Pleasure is the flower that passes;

remembrance, the lasting perfume.

-Jean de Boufflers

 

Don’t you feel that sometimes time passes so fast and before you realise it, you’ve reached the end of yet another stage of your life?

Indeed, in the blink of an eye, all the exams ended as swiftly as they came by. And right when we have just gotten used to the daily routine: getting morning calls from everyone to wake up early, be one of the first to reach Jubilee Library for a day’s worth of mugging and then finally the long awaited break time over the dinner table - right when we thought that this could continue on forever, we realised that people have started to dump all their files, notes and textbooks into the recycling bins and luggage are packed awaiting for the storage company to come and collect them. The obvious explanation: Exams have ended.

It’s a wonder for a moment how you tried thinking back on when the exams have actually started, but to no avail, it seems too long ago that all lessons have stopped, we went on study break and our papers started just too soon.

Sometimes, you wished you had more time, maybe not entirely to be used for studying but also you wished that you had the time to spend with your friends, say your proper goodbyes and not just leave in a hurry right after your last paper.

Where are you catching the train to? What’s the hurry? The long summer awaits you. The thing you probably have the most right now is: time. You got all the time in the world.

Well, the last fond memory I had before the main exams came by is probably the May Ball. This year’s theme was A NIGHT IN PARIS. It was probably the last formal gathering we had as the graduation class of year 2011. As such, the night was filled with everyone searching for their friends and grabbing each other for photos. Of course, I was no exception too. :)

 

MAY BALL 2011: A NIGHT IN PARIS

From left: Kana Maniwa, Eunice Aw, Me, Wong Yan Chi and Sylvia Liao

 

From left: Sylvia Liao, Wong Yan Chi, Ayda Borjian, Me

 

Livia Chou and Stephanie Alexandra Morphew

 

Abdul and Jonathan Hui

 

Toh Shi Jie, Queena Wong and Wong Wen Kai

 

Marcy Zhao, John Lau, Wong Yan Chi and Murad Khalimov

 

Joanna Zhang, Tina Huan and Artin Jalooli

Jacky Yip and Alan Chan

 

Reshveen Rajendran and Mai Osuga

Taekeun Cho, Wong Yan Chi, Hisham Talib and Weeny Nguyen

 

Yvonne Cheung, Cloud Vu and Jamie Tan

 

Nelson Ten, Eunice Aw, Sarah Gopal and Shriveena Naidu

Wong Yoon Cherng Billy and Chonsen Mok

Eunice Aw and Wong Yan Chi

 

From left: Chonsen Mok, Eunice Aw, Wong Yan Chi, Me and Wong Yoon Cherng Billy

 

This year's May Ball experience was quite different from last year mainly because Eunice and I have moved out to the college residence, into private accommodation aka one of the flats near our college. As such, we decided that all of us (Me, Eunice, Yan Chi and Mok) shall go to Billy's room in the college residence to prepare for the May Ball. Haha it's amusing to see how both the girls and guys rush for time and helping each other to get dressed and prepared for the ball. They say that the time has come when even guys care as much as girls about their appearance too. HAHA

 

So after both the May Ball and exams have ended and everyone all gone, I stayed back for a couple of weeks to tour around the UK with my mom and my friend who have came over. We went to places like Manchester, Oxford, Sevens Sisters, London and etc. We even managed to go for the Harry Potter and the Death Hallows Part 2 London Premiere at Trafalgar Square!

 

Also, I got to meet and catch up with a couple of friends after everyone has gone back home...

Me and Ka Hong Yan Fang Fang

Taekeun Cho and Long Pham

 

I think my two years in Bellerbys is definitely a memorable one. I've made great friends, met lots of great people and learnt many life lessons.

I started out in September 2009 for a 6-term A levels course and throughout the 6 terms I see many people leaving and coming. Especially after the summer term in June 2010 when many of my good friends left for university because they were either in a 3-term A level course or in the Foundation programme.

But then, in the A2 year, I made new good friends and became closer with many people who were once just acquaintances. That's the funny thing about life, things come and go, good things do go, but better things still come in the end. Imagine that all of us were from different intakes, September 2009, January 2010 and April 2010, but in the end, our lives still crossed paths, we strived through the exam period together and eventually ended all at the same time: June 2011.

From left: Chonsen Mok, Wong Yoon Cherng Billy, Me, Eunice Aw and Wong Yan Chi

 

 

Teaching Staff

And of course, not to forget the teaching staff which made everything possible...

To Mr. Corcut, our A level Programme Manager and also the Vice Principal, thank you for your dedication to us students. Whenever I needed help and advice in my studies and academic related things, you are always there for me. I like how you are very approachable towards the students and we can discuss any matters with you easily. You not only dealed with the A level students academic work, you were also involved in the Student Council, Medics Meeting and other matters like our Voluntary Work. For that, I salute you for supporting us in everything we do.

As I move on now to the next stage in my life, I would bring along with me what you have taught me so far. And the most memorable lesson of all (which is also coincidentally what you taught us in the very first Medics Meeting) would be: Sine Qua Non, which translates to "without which there is nothing".

 

To my Chemistry teacher, Dr. Andrews, thank you for your effort in always being so accommodative to our pleas and moans for our tests, mocks and homework. Haha my most memorable moments with you would be the times when you always have to encourage us to use the StudySmart application to get our past papers and additional notes. Thank you also for always being there for us whenever we need help in Chemistry during the exam period when all lessons have stopped.

To my Physics teacher, Dr. Cameron thank you for making Physics so easily digestible for me by keeping me interested with lots of outside knowledge because towards the end, I find myself being fascinated and amused with lots of Physics concepts. And that ultimately fuelled my interest in taking up this subject till the very end.

To my Biology teacher, Ms. Kingham, thank you for always keeping Biology lessons so interactive with all the games, quizzes and activities in class. I really appreciated it because subjects like Biology can be very dry at times but you never fail to keep us interested in it with all the stuff you have prepared for us.

 

And for my two History teachers, Mr. Baker and Mr. Knight... Thank you for making History my second most favourite subject. Haha really. I really enjoyed History lessons because they are so different from the other classes which I take. Thank you Mr. Baker for your notes with the funniest (and maybe weirdest haha) photos in them which always got us laughing real hard. Thank you Mr. Knight for always being so friendly and approachable whenever I needed help in History, even when you are not teaching me anymore.

Also to my Maths teacher, Dr. Fisher whom I have unfortunately not had the chance to take a photo with, thank you for being so patient with us for these 2 years especially with all our jokes in maths class. Thank you for willing to actually take the time to sit down and explain to us the maths questions slowly when we can't solve them. I am really grateful towards you in all the effort you have put in for us because you will always be willing to help us whenever we needed help.

 

Thank you Bellerbys for this 2 years worth of fun, peace, joy and laughter and most importantly, 2 years worth of memories which would last me for a life time.

 

And right when you think that everything has come to the end, in fact, it isn't!

The best is yet to be.

Because...

2 weeks after college have ended, we had our very own gathering in Singapore.

Yes, We got everyone to fly from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam and all meet up in Singapore!

And as for the Singaporeans, we became the tour guides of course!

 

Graduation Trip in Singapore

Guys sitting the MRT train in Singapore (equivalent to London's tube).

From left: Wong Wen Kai, Jacky Yip, Long Pham, Chonsen Mok, Gordon Loo, Alan Chan and John Lau.

 

We also went to the newly opened Universal Studios in Singapore.

From left: Wong Yan Chi, Queena Wong, Kana Maniwa, Eunice Aw and Me

 

 

From left: Alan Chan, Gordon Loo, Jacky Yip and Jason Soong

 

Jacky Yip and John Lau

Wong Yan Chi and Eunice Aw

 

Gordon Loo and John Lau singing K

 

Me and Kana Maniwa

 

Kana Maniwa, Jonathan Hui and Queena Wong

Wong Wen Kai and Alan Chan

 

Alan Chan and Me

 

Wong Yoon Cherng Billy, Chonsen Mok and Jonathan Hui

 

Me and Wong Yan Chi

Wong Yoon Cherng Billy and Chonsen Mok

 

Chonsen Mok, Wong Yan Chi, Eunice Aw and Wong Yoon Cherng Billy

 

Group photo of us!

 

Haha the guys hugging before they depart!

 

Me, Eunice Aw, Wong Yan Chi, Wong Yoon Cherng Billy and Chonsen Mok

From left: Jonathan Hui, Hisham Talib, Eunice Aw, Long Pham, Kana Maniwa, Wong Wen Kai, Reshveen Rajendran, Chonsen Mok, Wong Yan Chi, Me and Wong Yoon Cherng Billy

 

ALL OF US!

1st row from the front: Toh Shi Jie, Wong Wen Kai

Second row: Wong Yoon Cherng Billy, Jonathan Hui, Queena Wong, Kana Maniwa, Me and Wong Yan Chi

Third row: John Lau, Long Pham, Eunice Aw, Gordon Loo, Jacky Yip, Chonsen Mok and Alan Chan

 

AND WITH THAT THE GRADUATING CLASS OF YEAR 2011 HAS OFFICIALLY BECAME HISTORY

 

Signing off for the last time,
Belinda Ong

 

Belinda studied A Levels at Bellerbys Brighton

Weekend Getaway in Cambridge

Posted by Vivonne @ Bellerbys London

Hello again everyone! How has summer been treating you guys? For me and most of the Bellerbys London students, it has been fun and hectic at the same time.

While most of the students from Bellerbys are on holiday back home in their home countries, WE the unlucky few have to bear with classes for about 1 more month :)

WHEE! I am sooo excited to go back to Penang in August! I can't wait to see all my family and friends again after missing out on the action back home for 3 months now.

This week was not much different from every other week, except that we have new substitute teachers as our permanent teachers have gone off for their well-deserved summer break. I miss Mr. Jan, and your chemistry lessons! :D and there are many, MANY (I am stressing on the 'many' because I really mean it :P) new Embassy students here over the summer to learn English. This shows that Embassy is really famous and clearly GOOD! I literally see HUGE buses every week stopping in front of the college building dropping off new students, young and old (well, mostly young). PLUS, I have new neighbours all around me! I was so wrong to have thought that the summer Term 2 would be more quiet and the school would be almost like a ghost town. HAH!

Anyways, my post today is mainly going to be pictures! YAY! Who doesn't like pictures right?

My classmates from the AWESOME A5A course and I decided to check Cambridge out one weekend as one of them were planning to apply to Cambridge University to take his Economics degree (DREAM BIG ALWAYS!) So, it was just Denise, Chanida, Fesa, Chin and I. We got really cheap coach tickets online! :D *sigh-students are always on a budget* I had a feeling it was going to be a REALLY fun weekend, the bus ride there itself was so much fun. Two hours of laughter? Need I say more? ;)

We were all so excited for the trip so once we reached Cambridge, we went to the appartment we were renting, dropped our bags and set off to explore Cambridge. It's a rather quiet town, a nice change from London :) I love the old rustic-looking buildings! They give me chills.

 

 

 

 

                              Chanida and I in front of a really huge church :)

 

We mostly walked as the town was small and it was the easiest way of getting around. You can find maps everywhere and we found them really useful. :D

                                  

We shopped a little... naturally :P

  And we took LOADS of pictures, thank you Kat, Sorry Chettiar!

I shall let the pictures to the talking for now :)    

                                           

 My rockstars :) From left: Fesa, Chin, Chanida and Denise <3

    

Gosh, that must have been tiring scrolling down :P I hope the pictures gave you guys an idea of our fun weekend. So if any of you out there who were thinking of visiting Cambridge, think no more! GO! :D I had so much fun, as you can see, we all did. Ahh, these are the memories that'll be remembered, no doubt about that.

I'll keep all of you updated to what's going on here in London, I promise ;) Hope you enjoyed the post. Toodles all!

XX vivonne

Vivonne is studying five-term A Levels at Bellerbys College London

The Journey

Posted by Jamie @ Bellerbys Brighton

And what a journey it's been. A year and half away from the family really puts the spotlight on one's identity. It's hard to believe that it's all behind me, actually, and that I'm on my way to greater things. Time is such a deceiving concept - we never seem to feel like it's in sync with our lives, or rather, we are in sync with time. When we want it to go slow, it runs faster than lightning but when we need it to go fast, it remains static. But in truth, it's the one constantly changing constant. I'd love to see the day when I finally fall into step with time; everyone has those rare moments when the two points meet and suddenly, there is no place or time more perfect.

Thinking reluctantly back, the past eighteen months of my life has really dragged me through personal growth. Today marks the end of so many things, most of which contain memories that are simly irreplacable and in some way, it saddens me to have to close that chapter. Knowing that the only way I can revisit and relive them again is by reading the very words I've written or viewing photographic fragments makes me that much more poignant. In some cases (if not most), all I have as a souvenir is based in the contraints of my mental capacity. And that's slightly worrying. 

I feel like I've left so many great friends behind. In particular, I can't believe I won't be seeing Mr.Nix for a very long time. The thing about college which I guess I never realised before about school is that you grow very attached to the people you see everyday. They become great comforts to our daily lives because they tell us that everything is at its norm and that we do not have to be afraid of dramatic changes. I still remember when Mr.Nix was gone for two weeks and exactly how I felt each day when I walked into the studio faced with his absence. There was such a black hole in my heart purely because things felt so disorientating and deviant from my daily expectations. And we all have them about everyone and everything. 

When we tried to say goodbye, it was surprisingly humorous. We procrastinated as we rambled on about derelict buildings and leaving traces of our presence behind wherever we are (sometimes in the form of a creepy dollhouse and awkwardly large musical tree). Then after what was meant to be a quick five minutes turned a lengthy half an hour, all I could do was give him the biggest bear hug I could manage with my all-encompassing arms. He has been my support and father figure for the past eighteen months and to be quite honest, he's become my family. When you think about all of the single-serving people that enter and exit your lives (as aptly put in Fight Club), your family are the only people that see you through the adversities. When you pepper time away with your friends, you all become a single entity. That's probably the best and worst thing about Bellerbys. 

Well anyway, to be more concise with my final post, I'd best get to the thank you's and goodbye's. I'd die if I ever forget the amazing teachers that taught me - Dr. Cheng, Dr. Lively, Mrs. Dreiling, Mr.Nix. I have no complaints. Absolutely none. Dr. Cheng and Dr. Lively have been like my pseudo-moms, constantly caring about my general wellbeing both inside and outside the classroom. Mrs. Dreiling... where do I begin?! You are like my big sister, seeing as we seem to share many similar interests and you're always looking out for me. 

I also have to give great thanks to the Art Department - Mr. Fraser, for always being patient with my pathetic computer-challenged ways; Mrs. McDurmot for always conjuring up some fantastical method for building something awesome (and her double bubble dippy doo-dah); Dr. Barr for always checking to see if I'm alright; Mrs. Stewart for being understanding with the havoc that I had wreaked in ALL studios and of course, Mrs. Rudkin for her beautiful Russian accent and inspirational ideas. Everyone has been so supportive of my work and I couldn't have done what I've done without them.

My great Art friends - Asty, Cristina, Chloe, Jia Ling and Weenie. I will surely miss our random talks on teenage pregnancies and romantic endeavours. Plus, not to mention our ice cream adventures at Boho Gelato. 

Mr. Corcut, Mr. Addision, Toby, Fi, Agnes - You are all so willing to help and have also supported me throughout the course.

And of course, how could I ever forget my collection of friends? Too many of you guys to list out (and I'd hate to forget anyone's name) but you know who you are. Thanks for all the parties, the clubbing nights, the mafia games, the laughs and of course, the company. I still remember when I first came to Bellerbys last March and my grandmother had passed away. Dwelling in my room, I heard a shy knock on the door and opened it to a crowd of sympathetic faces. That was one of the sweetest things that has happened to me. 

I'll not go without a grateful thanks to the cleaners who hopelessly attempt to clean my room every Wednesday morning (thanks for vacuuming around the junk) and of course the canteen people who usually sneak a few extra servings for me. Mrs. Peers, ever willing to print my impossibly lengthy documents. 

I've learned a lot about myself and gained a bit, lost a bit. So as I've said before, I'm off to do great things now. Hopefully, everyone I know is out to do the same. 

Jamie is studied A Levels at Bellerbys College Brighton and is heading to California to study Experimental Animation at university in September.

End of Term Trip To Riga, Latvia

Posted by Asel @ Bellerbys Brighton

Hello everyone!

Since I’ve been offered an opportunity to become an official blogger for Bellerbys Brighton, you’re going to hear from me more often!

So, the exams are over (thanks God!) and it’s time to relax. However, I proved to be a masochistic person since I’ve chosen to study almost the whole summer! But now, before the language school in France, my mother and I decided to spend some time doing what all girls love and all boys hate to do - shopping!

My vacation started in Riga, Latvia. I’ve been there only one day though, but I fell in love with that city. Everything was exactly like it was in my dreams. Nobody in the streets! Perhaps it was because we arrived there during the national holiday - Ivan Kupala (I hope the spelling is correct), that lasts more than Christmas and the New Year holidays - 4 days!

The hotel was great in terms of location, and the rooms for that price were excellent - it was 3 times larger than a room in the college residence. The hotel was situated straight in the centre of the ancient and, in my opinion, most beautiful part of Riga. Therefore in the morning we decided to take a tour along the streets and local shops. Most of them offer a great variety of amber accessories, such as different earrings, beautiful bracelets, huge necklaces and sophisticated pendants. However I’ve bought myself pearl earrings! A very strange choice...

As for food, there are lots of lovely restaurants with Latvian cuisine, which is very similar to that of Germany. In the first restaurant my mother and I took one dish for both of us, as it was huge! That was the most delicious Schweinehaxe I’ve ever eaten. It was served with Sauer Kraut - absolutely German!

Another restaurant that we’ve been to is “Ribs & Rock”, that offers its customers a great variety of ribs. After we finished eating there was still a huge part of ribs left. It’s hard to imagine how difficult it was to leave it on the plate, as we were absolutely full and most importantly had a plane to catch.

And that’s it, my short trip to Riga is over, and now i’m going to Serris, which is some 30 km away from Paris. But I’m sure, one day I will definitely come back to Riga for more than one day to explore it more profoundly! Have a nice holiday!

Asel is studying A Levels at Bellerbys College Brighton