Life at Bellerbys College

The New Spring

Posted by Ksenia

The first day of the spring met me in London (is anyone still surprised?).  As usual we were having a marvellous weekend with my friend who is lucky enough to live there.  This time I discovered a new to me part of the city – on the Saturday morning we went to the Notting Hill heading to the Portobello Road – home to the largest and world famous antiques market Portobello Road Market.

At first it was quite hard to appreciate how big it is - even though the road itself is definitely not the short one.  Once you walk in one of the shops which seem to take just a tiny amount of space from the outside, you find yourself in an infinitely long gallery full of little shops or just sellers with a table of various staff in front of them.  Here you can find absolutely everything from jewellery, cutlery to sculpture, paintings and furniture.  Every single corner is full of beautiful and very often bizarre things that once were a part of someone else’s life.  You never know what you might see in the next moment so everybody tries to look very carefully in hope not to miss something special.

The market and the nearby streets are extremely crowded and of course not everyone is there to buy – there are lots of tourists or people who definitely enjoy just hanging around in this peculiar place, looking at objects and having a chat with the owners.  Personally I found the market fascinating and was very tempted to buy a map of one of the regions of France.  I‘ve never seen such a beautiful piece before – it was more then 200 old, hand-painted with images representing the agriculture and the crafts of the region and even with some geographical and historical data written on it.  But I really had to listen to my reason telling me that I had absolutely nowhere to put it. Well, hopefully in the near future…

Surprisingly I felt the arrival of the spring in Brighton much more then I did in London.  When I went to college on Monday the weather was just great - warm and sunny - and a very pleasant surprise was waiting for me in the St. Ann's Well Gardens – even before the land was fully covered by grass the first flowers started to appear forming an amazing multicoloured carpet.  This was so beautiful so I even decided to take some pictures.  From one of them you can actually see the house where I live.

 

The following days were as busy as they usually are for A2 students – lots of revision, tests and homework during the week and then partying with friends on the weekend.  We had two great reasons to do it.  Firstly on Saturday it was 18th birthday party of a very good friend of mine.  We met each other on my first day in Bellerbys when I came to do a language course.  Even though our courses have been very different since then we are still very close so the majority of his friends are my friends as well and we had very nice time all together.

The Sunday, the 8th of March is the Women’s Day in Russia and several other countries.  This is a great day when girls can do whatever they want and boys are always nice to them (that’s a pity that such a day is only once a year!) 

Even though we had so many thing to do one date on the calendar was just impossible to forget about – the 12th of March – the day of the announcement of January exams’ results.  I was doing my best trying not to think about it but about a week before the big day everyone including our teachers was constantly reminding us about it.  So when I walk in the exam office on Thursday after my last lesson (the exam results were available after 2 o’clock so some people already knew theirs) I was feeling pretty nervous (however I have to admit that it was nothing compared to how nervous I felt in August when I was trying to contact Paula Pocock for my results from Russia).

Everything was on the same piece of paper and when I saw that my results are absolutely fine I was so fulfilled with happiness and excitement that I was nearly jumping outside the exam office for a few minutes.  It was really a great pleasure and a huge relief as well – of course the main exams will be in June (which will eventually decide everything) but at least I won’t need to retake anything!  Some of my friends got absolutely fantastic results getting full marks in several modules.  Congratulations everybody!!!  We did it!)

On Saturday I was in London again (no comments!) seeing my friends, walking around the city and expanding my knowledge of art.  There is a very interesting exhibition in National Gallery called “Picasso. Challenging the Past”. It's on till the 7th of June so if you interested in this unusual artist this is the one you cannot miss.  Personally I am not a fan of the modern art, I much more prefer more classical paintings and, as I've already writing in this blog, I am particularly passionate about impressionism.  However it was fascinating for me to have a look at something very different for a change, see how the Picasso’s style of painting was changing dramatically during his long career.

I was especially impressed by his variation on the Velazquez masterpiece “Las Meninas” which I had a chance to see in Prado museum in Madrid.  In his variation Picasso presents all the figures in the same arrangement but the feeling from the painting is completely different.  The image is monochrome but seems much brighter and sharper then the original creating the atmosphere of artificiality and hidden danger – which is probably the best way to describe the Spanish court at the time.  However it was almost impossible for me to understand the way Picasso has painted his wives and lovers – to me they do not even resemble to human being not even mentioning women. 

The other thing was that they all looked very similar (and equally scary – I won’t like to have one of those images in my bedroom even if I had the fortune to buy it!) independently of how they looked in the real life.  Anyway, I hope that this spring will be enjoyable for all of us and it will definitely one to remember!

Unexpected Half-Term

Posted by Ksenia

Usually just before every holiday or half-term I write a post to wish everyone to have a nice time and wondering how quickly the time goes. As I am writing this blog for quite a while it has become some sort of routine. But this time the half-term arrived so unexpectedly so even did not realised that it was time to write the post. And when I see that there are only five weeks left before the Easter holidays I feel that there is definitely something wrong with the calendar.

I guess the feeling is so strange because of the January exams – at first everyone was too busy with revision and taking the actual exams, then everyone was getting back to the usual studying regime (which was quite a difficult task as nobody could stop celebrating the end of this horrible period), then we were very busy again because our teachers gave us plenty of tests and homework to enable them to write the reports.

Even though I was too busy to notice that the half-term is coming I was still able to take part in some of the fascinating things that usually go on in Bellerbys Brighton. For example, we found out that one of the College's economics teachers plays guitar in a band called "No Sweat" and we even had a chance to watch and listen to him live (and take pictures of course). 

     

We were taken to one of the Worthing pubs by a coach where we had a very nice dinner (home-made food is delicious - even though it is English) in a great company before coming downstairs to a small concert hall where the band was ready to perform. As soon as they started playing it was no longer possible to imagine that we are on a school trip. The musicians and the singer in particular were full of drive and energy that instantly passed to the audience. Everyone was just having so much fun!

At first I felt a bit strange to see my teachers (there were a lot of them in the audience) in such an informal atmosphere - it was like becoming a part of their private life - but it was definitely a pleasant feeling. But as the evening progressed the difference between the students and their teachers was becoming less and less significant - people were chatting, dancing, singing and shouting and totally enjoying themselves. It was a pity to leave - but we all agreed that it was a fantastic evening.

On Tuesday we went to the Booth Natural History Museum during our Biology double class. We have just started classification and as there wasn't any practical work to do so our teacher decided to show us different species of birds, insects and other animals. Not alive though - the birds were stuffed, the butterflies dead and the monkeys were looking quite evil as we could only see the skeletons (which as you may have guessed resemble the human ones a lot).

We also had an insight in British history of the Victorian period as we learned a bit about the style of living at that time. The rich people didn't have to work so to entertain themselves they were collecting things - that's where the birds and butterflies come from. Quite a strange hobby from the modern point of view but very fashionable at the time (what can be better than a cage of coloured stuffed birds at the middle of your drawing room?)

The next week the Biology class was quite entertaining as well – we went to the Preston Park (the one where the college photo is usually taken) to do some ecology studies. We spent quite a while trying to find anything that wasn’t just grass or flowers planted by men to do our quadrats – technique used to find the distribution of plants in the area.

As we didn’t quite succeeded in our search due to the time of year we decided to do the percentage of the area covered by grass. The rest of it was like a real study – using random number tables to generate the coordinates of the place to put the quadrats, tabulating our results, plotting the graph and even taking the soil samples. Later in the laboratory we did lots of tests including heating, burning and trying to dissolve our samples. It was much fun though I do not think that the results obtained were really reliable - which is not a problem as long as we are not going to publish our study.

This half-term I was particularly lucky because my mum came to see me. We met in Brighton, had a very nice meal in Havana – a very beautiful place which surprisingly has no connection with Cuba except for its name. We went to London on the next day and I was really happy to be there again – usually I go to the UK capital every other week but after the exams were finished there was so much to do in Brighton veryone was getting together every Friday and week-end so I just could not leave. So after a break I realised that I really missed the place – something I would never believe two years ago. It took me time to get to know the city, to try to understand and appreciate it but now I am definitely in love with it and as I have already mentioned (so many times!) hope to spend my university years there.

I was not doing any studying at all this half-term – too many other things to do and to see – like waking in St. James and be pleasantly surprised about the great weather (I did not carry my umbrella at all and it was raining once only – there is something wrong with a climate of this country!) or revising the English history in the National Portrait Gallery, enjoying tiramisu in my favourite Italian restaurant which I consider even better then those I’ve been to in Italy (a paradox I really cannot explain!) or even finding out about the origins of the Russian orthodox church in the Byzantium exhibition in the Royal Academy of Art.

People who know me will be surprised to know that I did almost no shopping at all - I was a bit sick of the shops after the last time so I tried to convince myself that I don’t need anything at all. However we still went outside the central part of London to see The Westfield shopping centre which can be considered as one of the biggest malls in Europe. It was quite an interesting experience for me because I have never been to places like it before even though there are several of them in Moscow. I found it to be quite a convenient place to do your shopping especially if you need lots of things (which most women usually do even though their men think that they are totally crazy)

Well, bye-bye for now because I see my posts getting longer exponentially so I am really scared to bore you now)

The Crazy Days

Posted by Ksenia

So much has happened recently so there was completely no time to write about it)

On the Monday morning (the 2nd of February – I guess many people will remember this date for a long time), I was as usual regretting the end of the weekend and realizing that I haven’t done the majority of the stuff I planned to do (getting enough sleep was the first one on my list and obviously the goal that I haven’t achieved).  It was snowing the previous night but I still was really surprised to see a layer of snow lying on the ground. It wasn’t too big compared to the amount of snow we can get in one night in Russia but I’ve never seen anything like it before in the UK (and I wasn’t alone – it has been 18 years since it snowed as heavily in England – the fact I didn’t know at the moment, of course).

My host mother had already woken up and asked me if I had to go to the college.  At first I even didn’t understood her question.  Even the idea that Bellerbys can be closed because of several centimetres of snow seemed ridiculous and totally impossible.  It’s an international college – it’s always open!

Now I feel that after spending two and a half years of my life in the UK I really should not be surprised about anything.  One phone call suddenly changed the whole picture - a friend of mine was also saying that there is no college that day.  As I still was thinking that those people are simply making fun of me I called one of my friends from the residence – her voice was sleepy and told me to forget about the lessons and go back to bed.  I was still too excited to do that so I switched on the TV and realize that the whole country was paralyzed – no train service, planes cancelled, roads blocked, taxis, buses and even London tube (!!!! How can snow prevent underground from working? In that case I guess the cold was to blame) were not operating so a lot of people just decided to stay at home.

The ones to really enjoy this force major were the children – the lessons were cancelled everywhere so there was plenty of time to play snowballs and built snowmen!  Students around the country celebrated the weather conditions and made the most of their extended weekend.  I was very happy as well, both for seeing the snow which reminded me of my home country and to have a day-off. 

But even though the feeling was a bit strange – Monday without college is definitely abnormal!  So thanks to the weather I finally got time to write this post (a bit long for an introduction isn’t?) So now I will start to write everything in order (as far as it possible for a girl who has a complete disorder in her head).

The 18th of January was my birthday.  The temptation to have a great party with all my friends who I absolutely adore was huge – but I had to resist it.  The problem was that it was Sunday and the next week (even on the next day) we all had lots of exams.  And I knew from the start that even if I will try to organize a quiet evening and have an early night I will sill disrupt everybody (including myself) from the revision (can you imagine me going to bed early on my own birthday if I am surrounded by friends? I certainly not)).  So I stayed at home and tried to concentrate on my studies. 

But there wasn’t a moment for me to feel lonely - everybody was constantly calling me and leaving messages and all those kind wishes and lots and lots of attention from my friends and relatives made this day very special and happy for me. The words cannot really express how much I love and appreciate all those people!  And then, on Thursday, the exams were finally over so I went straight to London where my parents have already arrived to celebrate my birthday (finally!).

We had just a few days together – I had to go back to college on Monday and they had plane tickets back to Russia but we had a fantastic time.  Even though my mum was a bit ill we still had the most of our stay – a bit of shopping of course, but also lots of walking, meeting people and we even had a chance to visit Victoria & Albert Museum (but not to explore it all obviously) which I highly recommend to everyone who has never been there before.  There is something for everyone – from temporary exhibitions to collections of objects from different époques and counties.

So on Monday I went back to Brighton, but not for long – on Tuesday straight after lessons several other girls and I were on the train to the London Victoria.  We were really excited as we had a great evening in front of us – The Pussycat Dolls concert.  The fact that Ne-Yo and Lady Gaga were also taking part in it was making us even happier!  When we go out of the tube it was impossible not to choose the right direction – everybody was heading towards the O2 Arena. 

Personally, I’ve never been in such a huge concert hall before so even the look of it was really impressive. The energy and excitement that everybody felt was absolutely amazing – the audience was singing and dancing – we all felt like a part of a big whole in total euphoria.  It was so great to see the people whose songs you are passionate about and listen to those idols singing in front of you.

When the concert was coming to the end the audience still didn’t want to let the singers go asking for more and more.  Nobody wanted this unbelievable evening to finish!  I was singing and shouting with everybody else and when we went out of the Arena I felt almost deaf and my voice has gone – but I was still absolutely happy.

It took us quite a while to get back to Brighton but the next day even though I was really sleepy I was (almost!) on time for my 9 o’clock lesson –very proud of myself!!  My voice didn’t quite come back to me during the week – I guess I somehow caught a cold as well.  But we decided to go out on Friday well in advance – to celebrate the end of the exams (some poor people still had them that week) and the birthdays that have past – I wasn’t the only one to miss mine.  No excuses were allowed so I went out as well and had a great time but went back home quite early and spent the rest of the weekend trying to recover from my cold.  Not completely successful yet – but feeling much better now!

Christmas Holidays in Russia

Posted by Ksenia

Hello!!

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and New Year as well. Mine were great - I had some time to do a bit of everything - even to open my chemistry book. For the rest of the time it was a complete relaxation - just reading some fiction books (I got a bit tired of scientific ones during the term time), listening to music, meeting friends and relatives and watching new movies.

With a friend I’ve also been to a very interesting exhibition called "The Silver Chamber". The exhibition itself had no connection with silver at all - it was like a competition for the best photographs about our dear capital. The photos were really interesting - some of them funny and amusing, others quite sad and thought-provoking, a lot of beautiful ones and several totally disgusting. The photos were about absolutely everything you can see in Moscow and it was almost impossible to decide on the best one, though we voted for the one about Moscow underground.

With my parents we went to see a comedy in one of the Moscow theatres. It was a very unusual play with only three characters and two professional ballet dancers from the Big Theatre (the most famous theatre in Russia). Ballet elements were inserted in the story itself and were helping to understand better and more fully the characters' feelings. I really like this play as the actor’s game was very emotional and one of the characters was extremely funny. The plot itself was a very touching love story about the relationships between two people from different generations. The story obviously had a happy ending- that's one more reason why I love comedies!

At first it was really warm in Moscow, even warmer then it was in Brighton at the moment. But then, towards the New Year Eve the cold weather arrived and temperatures dropped to -15 (not too cold for a Russian winter but impossible to imagine for English people).

In Russia we do not celebrate Christmas very much (definitely not as in the UK- Russian Christmas is on the 7th of January and is mainly a religious thing). But the real celebration is on the 31st of December - the New Year - there are lots of parties, fireworks and everybody is eating (there is even a special salad in Russian cuisine which is cooked in almost every family for the New Year Eve) and drinking too much and staying up till very late.

We exchange presents at 12 o'clock and they are lying under the richly decorated Christmas tree (even though in Russia it's obviously not called Christmas tree). I got lots of nice presents including biology books ( my relatives know my interests really well), some computer stuff, jewellery and lots of chocolates of course! (remember, I am a chocoholic!). My relatives seemed to be quite pleased with the presents I gave them as well – lots of English tea, of course, some sweets and some others usual kind of presents.

On the 6th January I had a ticket back to the UK. Now I am back to Brighton and the new term has just started. And as I am doing my A2, the time to study really hard for the January exams has begun. Unfortunately, I still can't get the revision started very seriously because I spend almost all of my time chatting with my friends, telling and listening to stories about the holidays. I am so happy to see everybody so it prevents me from concentrating my entire attention on studding. But I will do my best (at least I will try to!). I wish everyone who has exams (including myself) lots of luck and let’s hope for the best!

Meet Our Student Bloggers!

Thinking about studying in England? Find out more about the lives of some of our current students here in their blogs.  Each month, they'll share their thoughts and experiences as they progress through their courses.

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Our bloggers are:

Ksenia Rostislavleva from Moscow, Russia

Ksenia is 18 years old and in the second year of an A Level course. Ksenia previously studied English Language Preparation and GCSE courses at Bellerbys Brighton.

In her spare time, she enjoys shopping, reading, socialising with her friends and she is a member of the college United Nations Association and Debating Society.

Ksenia is hoping to attend Imperial College, London ("If I'm very lucky!") to study Biochemistry.

Maggie Tan from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

17 year old Maggie is studying A Levels at Bellerbys London.

Maggie hasn't quite decided what she'd like to study at university yet. At the moment she considering Journalism, Fashion Merchandising, Events Management, Economics, PR, Media, Business or Marketing!

Like Ksenia, Maggie is very active outside the classroom. She lists shopping, dining out, reading, travelling, playing pool, dancing, partying, meeting new people and watching movies as her hobbies.

Theresa Belonwu from Lagos, Nigeria

Say hello to Theresa from Lagos, studying Law Foundation at Bellerbys Oxford.

Theresa, 18, would like to study Law at either Bath or Bristol University and go on to become a Lawyer, Playwright or Event Planner.

In her spare time she enjoys writing, planning events, acting, reading and day dreaming!

Nguyen Dieu Linh from Hanoi, Vietnam

Our newest blogger, Linh, is studying Business Foundation at Bellerbys College Oxford.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, basketball, jogging, swimming, playing with pets and playing computer games and sudoku.

Linh is hoping to study International Business Management or Marketing at university in England.

Update: We're delighted that our 2007-8 blogger, Shiny, achieved AAAb grades at A Level at Bellerbys Brighton and secured his place to study Civil Engineering at Imperial College London.

He's now going to write about his first year at university on our Bellerbys Graduate Blog.

The Last Week of the Winter Term

Posted by Ksenia

On Monday and Tuesday (15th & 16th December), the Foundation students finished their exams (these lucky people can feel totally relaxed now – I am even a bit jealous). Less and less students have been attending the college and everyone has suddenly started packing and having 'goodbye’ parties.  Being in an almost empty college is quite a strange feeling – however student life was still going on and some places were still very crowded – like the IT suites in the library where I could see lots of my friends printing tons of paper for their holiday revision.

During some lessons we continued to do past papers (not very enthusiastically, as we have done plenty of them already and I had some to take back home – practice makes perfect!) while during the others we just had a great chat with our teachers and classmates, learning new thing about each other.  On the last chemistry lesson we were taking pictures and watching one part of “Doctor Who” especially selected for us by Mr. Loft (who said that it has no connection with Science? You just have to watch it more carefully!).

On Friday I went out with my Chinese classmates to have a lunch in “Good friends” – probably the best Chinese restaurant in Brighton.  Even though I was the only person who could not speak Chinese everybody was talking in English (which was pretty nice to me and helped everybody to practice their speaking!).  The meal was fantastic – so many delicious dishes whose names I cannot pronounce and won’t even try (my Chinese friends were not sure about the English equivalent, however I was constantly asking them to explain me what is the food that I am eating, which was really tricky for them and absolutely fascinating for me. Sometimes our conversation had to be finished by “just try it!” which was probably the best option).

As I was writing before, on Wednesday the 14th I went to an open-day in Bristol.  It’s quite a long way from Brighton – four hours on train so I had to get up really early if I wanted to be there a t 11 o’clock. I took a bus from the station which took me to the university (I was so scared to miss the right stop – after Brighton Bristol seemed to be a very big city and I had no idea at all were I was).  The university itself is very big as well so I had some troubles finding the right building - at first I tried to follow the map but then I realized that I am getting late (no surprises here!) so I decided to use my favorite method of finding things out – to ask people around me questions.  It was definitely the right thing to do as I was just on time to listen for an introductory talk by the admission tutor and go for a coach tour to the residence halls.

The University itself is perfectly located right in the center of the city but the halls are quite far away – at least 30 minutes on bus. There are lots of them in one area where the majority of the students live. We visited one of the halls, and were shown around. Then we went back to the University to have a lunch (which reminded me of the Bellerbys canteen) and several other talks by students and members of staff.

After four o’clock we were all free to go, however I was afraid that I won’t find the bus stop so I joined one of the boys who I met that day. It wasn’t as easy as we thought though, so at the end it took us about an hour to arrive at the station. Nevertheless we had a very nice walk around the city and I realized that I like it very much. The huge number of shops, cafes, people on the streets and Christmas decorations created a very pleasant and vibrant atmosphere. Due to some unknown reasons there were a lot of delays in the rail service so I was back to Brighton only at around 10 o’clock. Anyway it was a very nice day out even though I don’t think that Bristol University is a perfect place for me.

Saturday the 13th of December was my time to go back to Moscow. Three months in Bellerbys have passed very quickly as usual but I am sure that three weeks of holidays will go by even faster, especially because straight after them I will have my exams (something that I am not really looking forward in the next year, but I am sure that the pleasure to see everyone in the college again will balance that). I will try to study at least a bit and obviously have lots of fun))) You too, have a great time!

First Replies From the Universities

Posted by Ksenia

At the moment the majority of A level students have already finished their UCAS applications.  Congratulations to all these hard-working people and I am sure that the ones that haven’t done it yet will do it shortly (by this time you should have written a real masterpiece which could be nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature as your personal statement!  Try to make it quite compact though, you just have 47 lines)))).

Now it’s time for universities to consider our forms and hopefully make lots of nice offers. So during break–times people tend to gather next to the post, checking it again and again in fear to miss an important letter. And if in someone‘s eyes you see the signs of absolute and totally crazy happiness he is probably just received a reply from his first choice.

At first I didn’t receive anything from the UCAS and even was becoming a bit annoyed (it seems so stupid to be constantly checking your mail and only finding letters for your friends) but suddenly I received something from all the five choices. 

The first one to visit was UCL.  I had a day off college and caught a train at Brighton Station quite early as I was really scared to be 'a bit late' (as I usually am).  So as you can probably guess even though there were some delays I was still much earlier then I needed to be. 

The nice thing was that I was definitely not the only one.  At first people tended to remain silent and read the prospectus but it could not last forever.  So by the start of the open day we realised that we are all Oxbridge applicants and have already known quite a few things about each other. 

Then our admission tutor gave several short talks about UCL mentioning its history, facilities, accommodation, our course and living in London as a whole.  He was a great orator with perfect sense of humour, so he made us feel relaxed and comfortable and everybody was constantly laughing.  We were told in advance that in the afternoon one-to one interviews will be held so at first everyone was feeling a bit nervous (I spent the whole time on the train reading scientific news and preparing to talk about them).  But the admission tutor destroyed our fears at once by telling us that we will all receive offers anyway and that interviews are for our benefit only – as a practise of course and also as a chance to be accepted even if we will not quite meet the grades at the end our exams (hopefully this will not happen but who knows?). 

My interview was quite late but my time was not at all wasted as I could have a nice chat with everyone.  My interviewer was a really friendly professor and the interview itself was just 20 minutes long and was more like an interesting conversation about myself, my studies and Biochemistry.  The only real scientific question I was asked was about transport of gases in blood which made me try to remember the staff I studied in Unit 2 last year – which seems quite a long time ago so I was even surprised I could recall the Bohr effect.  By asking me questions my interviewer not only helped me to structure my answer but even explained me the part of the topic I was not too sure before. So this open day was definitely a very useful and interesting experience for me.

The thing I really liked about UCL is that its specialisation is very wide, so you can find an artist, an economist and a scientist having lunch together sharing their ideas with each other, so it’s easy to develop different sides of your personality there.  The campus itself feels like a really warm and cosy place, a bit messy sometimes but you can definitely see people having a great time.

When I sent off my UCAS form, Imperial College hasn’t even acknowledged my application so I was prepared to wait a long time before I will actually hear anything from them.  So you can imagine how happy and surprised I was when I received a letter informing me that I was made an offer.  I was sitting in one of the IT suites in the library and everyone around me seemed to be quite busy with what they were doing.  But when I suddenly started jumping on my chair and thanking my admission tutor out loud (surprisingly I did it in Russian, so even if he could hear me he won’t understand!) everyone stopped looking at their screens and started looking at me.  At the moment I did not care how silly I looked like – I was just absolutely happy because my dream has started to become true!  I was also invited for an open day, so I was definitely going to use that opportunity as I have never been to Imperial before and I was absolutely sure that I will like it.

Even though UCL and Imperial are both situated in central London I really felt like on the other planet. Almost all the buildings in Imperial are brand new or recently reconstructed so everything looks very modern, solid and expensive.  As the university is specialised in more technical subjects, the whole campus seems to be very technological and functional.  But this serious atmosphere doesn’t make you feel bored or depressed, quite the opposite, it gives you inspiration to work as hard as you can and become the best in your field.

Life in Imperial may be quite tough sometimes (who said it will be easy?) but students there definitely succeed in organising their free time (one of the highest number of clubs and societies in the UK) and seem to be enjoying their life and studies.  We had a look at accommodation as well, and the residence halls for the first year students are really impressive – a whole range of different options to suit everybody’s needs and just a few minutes from the main university buildings.

I found both universities to be an excellent place to spend your time in and which one of them to choose really depends on the person.  On the 10th I am going to visit Bristol so I will tell you some more about that in the next post. Have a great time))))

Facebook - Connecting People!

Posted by Ksenia

The nice thing about the internet is that you can actually communicate with different people all round the world and modern websites like Facebook or Vkontakte (which is very popular with Russian speakers) help us a lot with that communication.

Most of us spent quite a big deal of their time looking through news and other people's statuses, watching videos, chatting about some insignificant topics with their friends or looking at the recent photos made by our fellow student in primary school and then writing 10 comments to it.  But Zuzka, a girl from the Czech Republic actually did better then that.

She decided to use Facebook (as you can probably guess I am one of the thousands of people that cannot make their day without checking their profile in this type of sites) to contact me and sort out the questions she had about studying in Bellerbys.  I am absolutely sure that Zuzka is not the only person who wants to join our college and has some questions about it (just the bravest one!), so I thought that it would be really helpful for other future Bellerbys students to read our conversation and if they need it, ask they own questions as well.  Zuzka was happy to share her experiences with everybody who is thinking about studying in the UK, so here we are!!

Zuzka
Hello...
The fact is that you don't even know me, but I read your blog at Bellerbys page and I thought it might be great to talk to you - I mean, I would like to join Bellerbys at Sept 2009 and I would like to know some experiences....
If you will have some time, I will be really happy to talk to you.
Thanks in advance for your reply!!!

Me.
Hello))))
I am very glad that people are reading the blog and do not hesitate to contact me!  It's a very good idea (both to join Bellerbys and contact me!)  If you have any questions you want to ask - just do it!!
Which program have you chosen?

Zuzka
I have chosen A Level - my aim is to study medicine and education in the UK is the best (or if it isn't, I think so :D).
Well, I am afraid it will be very big change and I am still not sure - I am going to visit Bellerbys (on the 24th and 27th - I am looking forward to it veeeery much!!) Brighton and Oxford...
If I can ask you - why did you choose Bellerbys Brighton?  Me, I consider it as the best option too, but I would like to know someone else's opinion....
Thank you very much for your reply, I didn't even expect it...
P.S. Please, tolerate my not very good English.

Me
Do not worry, your English is very good)))
If you still not sure which Bellerbys to choose - my advice will be to pick Brighton.  Of course, I am a bit subjective as I am studying here and really do enjoy it so I am absolutely sure that people from Bellerbys Cambridge, Oxford and London will disagree with me and give lots of reasons why their Bellerbys is the best one, but anyway:
1. We have a new building which is large, close to train station and city centre.  There is plenty of space for everyone, computers, and good lab facilities.  The residence is brand new as well - so in a perfect condition now!
2. Brighton is a very nice city.  It's not as small as Oxford and Cambridge where there might not be as many things to do and not as large as London which is busy and quite expensive.  There are lots of students in Brighton, so you will have fun.  The atmosphere is really pleasant and very friendly.  So probably it's the best place to start your independent life.
3. The sea was an advantage for me as well, as I just love Brighton seafront!
It's a very good idea to visit Bellerbys - sure you will like it and it will help you to make up your mind.

Zuzka
I think I understand you - that's exactly why I chose to visit Brighton and Oxford centres - I think it will be a great contrast and I will have a lot of space to find out which suits the best to me.  I think that there are about 400 students in Brighton, as it's the biggest center? ... That's not as much as in my school (now there are 700 students and - what's worse - we have lessons in groups of 30 students) so I don't consider it as a very big school, you know.
But still - only 100 students in Oxford (or around that number) - it seems incredible!  Well, I will see...
I think you wrote that you live in a home stay on your blog.. Didn't you?
For me its very difficult to decide between home stay and student residence - but, I think that for people in the first year without their families its better to live in home stay - as you have something like parents and siblings, or like that... Do you agree with this?
Do you have some other students living with you in home stay? And your family, are they friendly - I mean, were there (or, as I don't hope, are) any problems with them or something like that?...

Me
Yes, I do live in a home stay with one more girl)))
Choosing between home stay and residence is quite hard - it depends on the sort of person you are.
In residence you should be prepared that it might be difficult to study and you always will be surrounded by people.  It can be quite noisy as well)))
At the same time there is a quite strict control (under 18's cannot come back after 11 o'clock at night, no alcohol, no smoking in the building).  The rooms are small as well (comparing to my room in the host family).  Anyway you will come and see it by yourself.  But on the other hand there is an internet wireless connection in every room and a bathroom. 
You do not need to travel at all to college (so you can spend some more time in bed which is quite valuable). Your friends are always next to you when you fancy a chat, so most people have a great time in residence and enjoy living there very much.
Home stay has its advantages and disadvantages as well.  Some of them are quite far from the college so you will probably need to take a bus or a train.  My first host family wasn't very good (especially the food), but the house was big and lots of my friends lived there.  A year ago I changed to a new one and absolutely happy about it :)
My host mum is a lively older lady, rooms are very nice and big ( I even have my own fridge!!), 25 minutes walk to college in the morning wakes me up in the morning and helps me to relax at the end of the day.
All the families are friendly and there are almost no problems with them but you should understand that they cannot replace your real family.  Actually, some families are so special that they consider you as a member of their family, you have meals, celebrations and all this stuff with them.


Zuzka
It means that in one host family there can live more than only one student? ...  That's great. Well, I am more thinking about living in home stay - I think it should be quite more comfortable...
It's kind of luck, to "find" a host family which suits to you.  But - was there any problem in changing your family?  I'm afraid that I won't get used to the family and than it should be good to know how to change it, you know...
And what about studying at Bellerbys?  Do you find it more difficult than in your home country?  As I go to a good gymnasium (or they call it good, I have no comparison, u know :D) I am still afraid that A Level course would be difficult for me and I'm not sure if I can manage more difficult school timetable
(And I know, as I would like to study in England, I will have to study harder... Or, wont I ?)

Me
Yes, that's right it can be more than one student.  You can always change your host family but it can take some time as very good families are always snapped up :)
I really enjoy studying in Bellerbys.  Probably the syllables are a bit more challenging than in my home country but here I study fewer subjects and just the ones I am really interested in.  Classes are small and teachers really want to get us through the exams so everyone tries to do his best :)))
Have a nice trip to the UK and have fun :))))

Zuzka
Hi :)))
So I got back from England - full of experiences.
I really loved it in Brighton - although I saw it mainly when I was in car (...we got lost and so we spent about two hours in a queue on the coast... :))
I think that it will be really very difficult to decide where to go - cause I loved both Oxford and Brighton
The fact is that in Brighton Bellerbys looks more like a school - in Oxford it looks more like a not very big house where only a few people sometimes go to study :D - that could be considered as an advantage (like it looks more familiar there) or as an disadvantage (like you wont feel like being at school - that must be strange)...

What degree at university are you applying for?  I thought it was Biochemistry but on your blog I read something about medicine... Maybe I didn't understand right.

Me
Hi))))
That's good that you like being in the UK)))  Now you just need to make your own mind, but you still have got some time for that.  For me Brighton was definitely better because I liked the city much more then Oxford which is too small for me, and there are much more people here with whom you can become friends. But this does really depends on the person))) when you will decide please let me know because I am really interested in it))))
I am applying for Biochemistry))))) just in one of the post I mentioned one of my friends who applied for medicine -that's why you mixed it up)))

So now Zuzka is still thinking which college to pick however she has almost decided to choose Brighton.  I wish her the best of luck and hope to keep in touch with her.  Also I would like to thank Zuzka for her contribution for this post and I will be great if some of you will find this usefull and interesting.  If not, ignore everything, very soon I will come back with some more news from the life in Bellerbys Brighton!

My Student Life As It Is

Posted by Ksenia

Time is a very strange thing and I really can’t understand how it can be incredibly long and so short at the same time.  It has been a month since we all came back to Brighton but it seems that we have never been away.  A lot has happened already but on the other hand days go by so quickly – it is Monday just now and suddenly it is Friday already and people are discussing their plans for the weekend.

The term has just started and everyone in my group wrote a big title “A2” in their notebooks and now we are having tests in all the subjects and talking about half-term break.  Probably all of that is just because we are all young, enjoying ourselves and studying in Bellerbys Brighton does not seem a boring routine for us?  It doesn’t to me anyway))) 

Sometimes I feel that I am having even more fun in college then during the weekend.  Probably you won’t believe it (I certainly can’t) but on Saturday and Sunday I am really studying – reading some clever scientific books and revising my AS stuff which doesn’t sound like me at all.  It means that I am trying to take the preparation for my possible (only if the admission office of one of the universities will consider to invite me for one) interview as serious as I can.  Not sure if it improve my chances dramatically but anyway it won’t do me any harm and won’t last for too long (I am definitely not the type of person who can spend the whole life studying).

Actually I am trying to combine my sudden enthusiasm for learning with enjoyment to spend some time outdoors.  On Saturday I went out to read in the garden but then I saw the sea, sun on a blue sky and realised that my legs were carrying me towards the seafront.  I really can’t resist good weather in Brighton – it just makes it the best place to live.

At the same time my teachers are making classes as enjoyable as they possibly can.  Almost every lesson Dr Cameron entertain us with a little show involving different types of waves (the topic in physics we study now), Mr Loft makes his jokes that I find really funny even though I still can’t understand English humour (Mr Loft is always a bit ironic and sometimes even sarcastic so not everyone appreciates it – sometimes a find myself to be the only one to giggle but it doesn’t spoil the pleasure at all) and during the last biology practical we had such a good time that you can’t even imagine it being a lesson.

We have just started nervous system and brain so we had an experiment on the speed of reaction to do.  At the beginning we started with a classical technique when two people work in pairs, one person drops a ruler and the other one should catch it.  Using the distance the ruler travelled down you can work out how long does it took your brain to react and sent an impulse to your arm.  Then we should include some variable in our experiment so we all went down to the Common Room to buy some Red Bull.  As you almost certainly know this drink contains lots of caffeine that in the long term is not particularly good for you but in theory should improve your reaction and concentration.

While waiting for the effect of the Red Bull to show up, we used some of the modern technology installed in our biology lab to find more ways to test our reaction.  On the internet we found plenty of amusing games involving frogs catching flies and sheep running from one to another side of the field with an incredible speed.  All of that was accompanied with some silly noise and our constant laugh.  Surely, students in a lab next door were extremely jealous!

Then after 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes after drinking Red Bull we repeated our experiment with the ruler and found out that our reaction speed has really increased (with one exception though – but what can we do, its science and unpredictable results are the part of it).  However we are still not sure – was it Red Bull or we just got better in catching rulers (a very useful skill, isn’t?).

Meanwhile my friends continue to complete their UCAS forms and start to feel like a second UCAS adviser of Bellerbys.  Every time I go to the IT room in the library I finally find myself explaining to one of them where to put IELTS or what to write in an additional personal statement to Cambridge.  I am happy to help everyone who needs it and it makes me feel that I spent so much of my own and the college’s staff time not only for my own purpose but for someone else’s benefit as well.  And every time the thought that makes me particularly happy is that I finished it all already!!

UCAS and...UCAS again!

Posted by Ksenia

Now, the first few days of total excitement are over and the real studying has begun.  For those brave ones (including myself, as you can tell I am very “modest”) who decided to apply for medicine or to Oxbridge (or apparently to study medicine at Oxbridge – I know people who are going to make it!!) the deadline set by Mr Corcut to complete their UCAS applications (you need to complete one if you want to study in university in the UK) was Wednesday the 24th of September…  Can you imagine this – some of my friends haven’t even started writing their personal statements yet (or just 4,000 characters about how brilliant you are) as they still have plenty of time to do that, while I’ve just pressed this very special button “SEND” and it’s all gone! Now I just need to hope that everything will go well and ask everyone to wish be the best of luck!

The very important thing about this UCAS application – you really should start it in advance!!  Even though it seems not a very big deal – just some info about yourself and your education, it can go really confusing (believe me, I have being redoing the section on qualification hundred of times and asked so many questions that my personal tutor told me that she feels like SHE is my application!).

Personal statement is a different matter – you never can be completely happy about it (I have shown mine to everybody who agreed to see it and even rewrote almost the whole thing once!) so you just have to go with it.  Anyway, I want to thank everyone who helped and supported me with my application – my personal tutor Dr Andrews, my brilliant chemistry teacher Mr Loft, Paula and of course Mr Corcut himself.  I believe all these people are already sick of me, so it makes me appreciate their patience and understanding even more.  At this point I remember the famous proverb – “the friend in need is the friend indeed”.  One more time I realised how true it is.

Along with this crazy application time rush normal college life is going on.  As usual on Mondays we all get together with Mr Corcut for our Oxbridge meeting, discussing colleges we want to apply to and the importance of reading widely around the subject and practising English.  Debating society is starting next week and I’ve already been on the first Philosophy lesson (however we still could not work out which time suits everyone better, as some extraordinary people in our college have as many as 6 subjects!! That’s interesting, when do they sleep and eat?)

New people in the college seem to have adapted really well so now they are the part of our big family and, as far as I heard, enjoying it very much.  Some of the ex- Bellerbys students also came back to Brighton recently.  It was really nice to see them again and wish them all the best with their future studies.  I can’t actually imagine myself away from Bellerbys – I am sure I am going to miss everyone so much; however it’s a step forward that we all have to do one day.

I believe I have already mentioned that if you have any comments, you are always welcome to write me and I will be happy to reply you.  Even if you do not know me – do not be shy – I am not scary and won’t eat you if you ask too many questions (mainly because I personally ask too many questions all the time).  Ok, that a good point to finish, so just enjoy yourself wherever you are and what ever you are doing!