Life at Bellerbys College

Snow in April in Oxford

Posted by Sam

Snowmen said a hello to me on the first day after I came back from Hong Kong for the Easter holidays.  It was the seventh of April and very late for snow!

The unusual spring weather in Oxford recently has discouraged me from playing football to a great extent.  Once, I played football with my friends and three strangers in the park.  It was lucky that none of us got injured as the grass was so wet.

As a die hard fan of Manchester United, I watched the Europe Champion League game against Barcelona with my room mate.  Despite the busy time at college I have got to face, I have no choice but to watch!

So far, IELTs has been the one major challenge in my life in England.  I took the exam one Saturday in April.  I knew I was not lucky enough at that time.  I was really desperate for a high mark to fulfill the requirement for my university offers.

‘May’ has numerous meanings including the fifth month of the year and expression of possibility.  All of us will have a bank holiday next week.  The students at Bellerbys Oxford will take the college photo and that will be kind of exciting I think.  I know I have got to work much harder.  At the moment it feels like there are too many uncertain factors, the main one being that I don’t know where I am going to study next academic year.

Finally, I no longer need to get fed up with checking UCAS - I got five offers last night.  One is from the University of Warwick.  Here is a quotation from the university website: ’The University of Warwick receives over 10 applications for each place available, so receiving an offer is quite an achievement.  As one of the top ten universities in the UK, we have very high quality applications and only choose the very best.  This makes you special.’  Although I made it, I'm not sure why but I don’t think it is an achievement at all.

The Art of Waiting

Posted by Sam

May I begin by welcoming those of you who have been waiting for my post for ages!  As a consequence, I would like to write about the art of waiting.

I have been spending a lot of valuable time in England waiting for things.  First of all, of course, I waited for the delayed airplane at Hong Kong International Airport.  That was merely the start.  Next, like many others I queued at Heathrow Airport for a security check. Probably it took at least an hour.

In Oxford, I am glad to say that the bus companies are very reliable and that I do not normally have to wait so long.  However, I'm sad to say I live quite a way from the city centre so I need to spend almost half an hour travelling from my home stay to Bellerbys.

The act of waiting for the end of lesson before lunch is another opportunity for the majority of student to feel the pain.  I suspect I am one of those.

As a Foundation student, the most miserable process is waiting for university offers from UCAS.  Unluckily (or I should say luckily), I am still waiting.  I am afraid I may get a wide range of mental illnesses including obsessive compulsory disorder as I log in to UCAS to check my offers at least ten times a day. It is really killing me; especially as the majority of other students sent their applications later than me and got the offers much more quickly than me.  Hopefully I will not have to wait much longer.

Finally, all of us are likely to be waiting to go back home and enjoy the summer holiday, even though you may have a summer course in a university.  I love this term more than you can imagine - it is such a short term!

An Unusual Day

Posted by Sam

Life is boring, I would say.  In order to make it much more interesting, you can do something to discover the hidden and abnormal things in usual days.  Here are some examples.

While you are waiting for the bus in the morning, close your eyes, listen to different car engines and try to recognise the modes.  If you are interested in cars, that is.  You can try others like birds and that sort of things.

Then, you can read a novel on the way to the college.  Currently, I am reading ‘Atonement’ and falling in love in Cecelia, played by Kiera Knightley in the film.  It is not good for your eyes though.

During the lesson, you can anticipate the gestures and tunes made by your teachers and classmates, provided your brain can handle them simultaneously.  On the other hand, it can be found the abnormal things through different time period, especially in some particular days.  Apparently, the students are happy to meet the holidays when they having the last lesson at Friday.

It is inevitable that we must respect others in the library.  Fun can still be found though.  Through the observation and making eye contacts, hidden things are shown.  How to manage a library I think may require a variety of skills.  For me, it seems that the library is a laboratory where I can apply the theories I learn in my mind.  (I forgot to write it in my personal statement…ha ha)  You may think using different motivation theories to manage different people so as to keep the environment quiet and harmonious.

After school, you can listen to the BBC radio.  This is beneficial to foreign students beyond doubt.  Afterwards, why not turn on the television and watch a Euro football game with your roommate.  Football is so famous in United Kingdom that it is always a topic between the guys.  I haven’t had the chance to watch a match in a stadium yet though I hope to one day.

Half-Term Holiday

Posted by Sam

Hello everybody.

I am Sam from Oxford, currently studying Business Foundation.  Let me introduce myself, I am from Hong Kong, finished my HKCEE half year ago and 18 years old.  I have been in England since September 2007.  Recently, I am awaiting offers of a place from universities in UK.

As mentioned, I am a Foundation student.  I am going to study at one of the top universities in United Kingdom.  I don’t think I will study in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland though.  I am going to study a pure Economics course (L100) next academic year.  I sent my application to UCAS (if you don’t know what it is, use Wikipedia!) on 15th January.  I'm hoping to get three offers but haven't received anything for nearly three weeks.  I am becoming obsessive about checking UCAS. 

I have just finished my half-term holiday.  I changed my accommodation because I really want to have a quality sleep.  My previous roommate made the unwanted sound which is snoring during the night.  It is a drawback of having a shared room.  Nevertheless, it is a really good excuse when you are late in the morning.  Normally, no one would accept it though.

I had my IELTs test during my half term.  It is not a piece of cake and a bit unfair as there was echo in the hall when the candidates having the listening part.  Anyway, I exerted myself.

Apart from that, I was invited by Department of Economics and International Development of Bath University to go its open day.  I cannot say the campus is very modern.  However, the lecture theatre and the sports centre are the best in UK I have ever seen.  The sports centre can reach the national quality I suppose.

The lecturer gave a presentation about the department and the university.  Boring as it seems, the information is valuable.  As usual, some representatives guided us on a tour in the campus.  All in all, the trip was worth it.  There are scholarships available for Bellerbys Foundation students at Bath University I heard.  I am still thinking about it.

So, the mid-term results have been released. They weren't great but what I really want are just the marks for the English subject and IELTs.  There's no point worrying about the others too much. Whatever, prepare for the worst situation!

Last but not least, a point which is considerable is that the questionnaires for the teachers must be written truthfully and with the best hand-writing if you can.

One thing I want to share is the slogan hung on the wall in sport centre in Bath:

Vision without action is just a dream
Action without vision just passes the time
Vision with action can change the world

- Team Bath, University of Bath