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Episode 03 of Campus Conversations
Meet the cast
Ayesha Qamar is a third year BA History, Politics and Economics student. Her topics of interest are the student experience, living in london, global politics, sustainability and sports.
Angelica Davis - Aladren is a first year BSc Psychology student. Her topics of interest are student wellbeing, student budgeting, human rights and social politics.
Guest
Adella Forder-Gore is a Senior Student Success Officer in the Student Success Office. Adella is the Key contact for UCL Care Experienced (undergraduate), Estranged students (undergraduate) and Mature students (undergraduate). Adella's role also includes being the faculty liaison for the faculties of Brain Sciences; Life Sciences; Medical Sciences; Population Health Sciences.
Find out more about the work of the UCL Student Success Office on their webpage.
00:00:15:21 - 00:00:19:11
Ayesha
My name is Ayesha. I'm a final year history, politics and economics student.
00:00:20:00 - 00:00:23:11
Angelica
My name is Angelica. I'm a first year BSc psychology student.
00:00:23:23 - 00:00:28:16
Adella
My name is Adella and I am a senior student success officer in the Student Success Team.
00:00:31:01 - 00:00:35:00
Angelica
What are some things you wish you'd known before moving to London?
00:00:35:00 - 00:00:49:14
Ayesha
I think for me, the first thing I'd want to know is just how expensive everything is. I think especially as someone not being from London and coming to London and adjusting to the prices, it was a real shock to me.
00:00:49:23 - 00:01:33:06
Angelica
I feel like, I mean, I've lived in London my entire life, but I'm in accommodation now, so I guess I can offer a perspective from being in Islington to here.
So being more central. I mean, even that is more expensive, but it's also just being independent and on my own in a big city as well. It is definitely a contrast to home life, sort of London or not, but London is very expensive. But at the same time I love it because there's so much to do. It's a big city, it's a capital, it's super diverse.
So even though I don't have that experience of moving, I do love it here, but it comes with its challenges.
00:01:33:06 - 00:02:10:24
Adella
London's quite big, and there's so much more to it than just the city center, as per se. And I think a lot of people think that London is just like the center and that's it. And I think in terms of like affordable living, there are commuter friendly places that are just external to the edge of London, which can be a bit more friendly on a student budget if you're not in student accommodation.
And just as a general working member of staff here at UCL, I think that's always quite important as well in knowing like how much you're willing to spend and how far you're willing to move at a distance, for comfort levels as well.
00:02:12:00 - 00:03:12:04
Ayesha
What shocked me the most about living in London is probably the hustle culture and not even like hustling “oh everyone should have their own business” hustling as in, everyone's speeding down the by a sidewalk, everyone's constantly running somewhere. I think that's what kind of shocked me as well, because I think I come from somewhere that's quite a slow paced, I want to say an old person town, but it's quite like slow. Everyone kind of enjoys life and when I came to London, like the speed of how everything is, I think no one really talks about how chaotic it is or how I guess tiring it is in general, because when I think when I leave the city and when I go somewhere else, I think then I realise, oh my God, like I've just been on, like it's been constant running up and I need to take a breather.
I think that would have been like adjusting to that was quite a shock to me, but I think I also quite enjoy it to some extent, because I feel like everyone kind of has somewhere to be, everyone's kind of going somewhere and like you said, London so easily commutable, so it's really nice that we can just go in between places.
00:03:12:09 - 00:03:57:09
Angelica
I think for sure some of it is just an aspect of student life, like the difference from where I lived in North London. And here is like everyone's rushing to campus, everyone's rushing to do this, and it definitely is a sort of it's workplace central where we are right now. So I think if you go more slightly on the outskirts or just away from central, central, it feels less so.
But I 100% agree, like everyone's rushing to do something all the time, and sometimes it gives a little bit of an air of unfriendly ness. It's like, wow, people just really don't care about each other. But I don't think that it's that at all. But you do notice where you go other places, like, oh wait, it's so much calmer. Like, oh wait, like this is actually a thing in other cultures it's like completely different. But yeah.
00:03:57:23 - 00:04:55:03
Adella
I do agree also with the sentiment of it's a, we get a reputation in London for being unfriendly, like we've got no time for anyone in my head I'm like, yeah, because I've got a job to get to in the morning.
No, I haven't got time to say hello to everyone, but I do take that moment as well in my head. Maybe because I've grown up around the UK to just if someone you know looks a bit unhappy, will you make eye contact to give a smile? And you know, if they give a scowl back, maybe they're just having a bad day.
Maybe they're just not rude. But you know, sometimes having that smile makes someone's day. But I also do feel that it's the rat race. You know, sometimes it's enjoyable. You know, sometimes you have to soak in being in a big city and embracing that and remembering that you've got the rest of London, London again, isn't just a city center.
You know, Oxford Street is always going to be busy. It's not just commuters, you know, there's lots of people visiting the city, but it also brings like a really nice air to the environment.
00:04:55:04 - 00:05:01:08
Ayesha
Do you think there's like a hustle culture around UCL when you're walking around UCL, or do you think it's calmer compared to the rest of London?
00:05:02:06 - 00:05:19:11
Angelica
I think it's just the getting there. I have a I have a pretty short walk from where my accommodation is to campus, campus. I think once people have that, they're like, okay, I can relax now. I'm where I need to be and then it is a nice environment. But yeah, I definitely think getting there, it's like it can feel intense sometimes.
00:05:19:12 - 00:05:43:04
Ayesha
No. Yeah, definitely. I think for me, I as I feel like coming onto campus is a sense of calm in a way, just because everyone slows down a bit, everyone's going to their classes.
Even if you are running, it's not. It's still not as fast as people are going. Like the street opposite us. So I think, yeah, I think UCL feels a bit more calmer. I think because it's so big, it's really nice to just like walk around and just like chill out for a second before you go to like Tottenham Court road, for example.
00:05:45:22 - 00:06:01:10
Adella
Let’s have a look. Okay. How was your experience of moving to London as a student? What are the biggest misconceptions that you had about London, and what suggestions would you have for others thinking of studying in the capital?
00:06:01:20 - 00:06:53:20
Angelica
I mean, even for me, when I was considering, okay, do I want to do London, or do I want to go to Bath or Bristol somewhere that's not London?
Basically, the things that were most important to me was definitely diversity. I really, really value that. And I just wanted to be somewhere where I always had something to do. I knew I would be occupied, like I knew I could be busy. And it's definitely not for everyone. It is overwhelming. It can be intense, but I think a lot of people should definitely consider it and think about it, because there's just so much that's available to you, so many resources.
But then at the same time, one thing I do regret or wish I did have is that there's something really nice about, like going off to another city, even if it's not as sort of crazy as London and just making that your own. But that's not as particular to London, it's just moving away.
00:06:53:21 - 00:07:31:22
Ayesha
I agree with the sentiment that London definitely is so different and like is so different to the rest of the UK. So I think it really is a city that never really sleeps but also there's constantly something to do and I think it's so student friendly as well. So for me, I think was quite excited to move to Big City and just have something constantly to do because I think it can get quite boring staying in the same place as well. But also, I think even if moving out of your home, place, or wherever you live seems daunting, I think is something that some everyone should try at least once if they can, just because I think it adds so much to your character. It gives you so many different opportunities and you meet so many different people.
00:07:32:18 - 00:07:57:15
Adella
In the previous question, and I think this kind of links we, you mentioned about London being an expensive place to live, in terms of that, maybe some people don't expect it to be as expensive. I'm going to switch it around. Is there anything that you've realized that doesn't have to be expensive in London? Are there options? Is the ways for students to have things at a lower cost?
00:07:58:20 - 00:08:10:22
Ayesha
There's so many options that are student friendly. So for example, I think what I initially thought was like, for example, like traveling or like going to different activities, there's so many student options that are so much friendlier and so much cheaper. For example. And there is, the thing that I love about London is that it's so big that there's, like I said, like there's some, there’s constantly something going on and there's so many free options as well. So for example, like there's constantly like different companies hosting events in like parks or like that you can just pull up to, I know, like there's a coffee shop, Blank Street, If you guys heard, they held like padel sessions somewhere, I think near Wimbledon, that was quite cool. And I think you could just pull up and buy a coffee and then show up, I guess go to the padel sessions, which is quite cool. But yeah, I think there's so many opportunities to do lots of things that aren’t as expensive.
I think I've done so many things for free. For example, I've gone to like different events. There was the Black Panther premiere, for example, two years ago. And basically, if you're a member of the public, you could just go in like stand in the crowd and watch it, which I think is really cool about London, that a lot of it is public access and like a lot of the major things, have some kind of public access to it. So I think that was really cool to find out that I did have to pay for every single thing.
00:09:09:18 - 00:09:29:14
Angelica
So I think that was really cool to find out that I did have to pay for every single thing. Now that I'm an adult, I sort of need to take advantage of it. There are so many moments, so it's like, oh wait, I am independent. I can sort of do what I want, and in ways that I didn't really used to, and I would be like scrolling through Eventbrite and all these events that are going on, and there are so many talks that I signed up to and really interesting things as well.
Like there's one I'm going to even later today to do is, patriarchal economy and stuff like that. And even last week I went to talk, on the science of racism, and it was in UCL, but it's and but all of that is free. And so it's like you can gain so much knowledge and like all of these events are free and and sometimes I'm like, no way.
Like, how is this possible? These things are so interesting. But I definitely think London, it's great in the fact that it offers that. And also, yeah, with student discounts and stuff. Those are really good. Like I have an American friend and she said, ‘oh my God, I can't believe you guys got this. Like, you would never get this in San Francisco or whatever’.
Like, this is so great. And even UCL offers so much for us that is affordable. Like if you go to all the food, place and stuff, you can actually get food which is affordable and a decent price. So there's definitely resources that we can access.
00:10:26:07 - 00:10:29:17
Adella
Did you have any misconceptions about UCL as a university before you came?
00:10:31:07 - 00:10:49:17
Ayesha
It can always be turned into something that you want it to be. Just because there's so many opportunities to make it your own experience, so never has to like, meet your expectations. In that sense,
Angelica
I definitely agree it is what you make of it. Like when it comes to friendships, social life, like basically everything, I feel like there's so much offered to us.
It's just that you have to make that step to sort of be like, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to make myself do this sort of pushing ourselves. So it is quite scary and daunting, but I feel like we do have a lot available to us. It's just if we want to make that decision to enjoy that and make the most of it.
00:11:07:02 - 00:11:09:11
Adella
There is something different about being here at UCL. The community is just completely different. I think part of that is to do with London. There are just such a mix of cultures here at UCL as well, which I find just beautiful. Walking around. It just really makes me feel comfortable. I've never felt unsettled once as a staff member, and I can imagine it would be quite nice for a student.
I don't know, depending on where you come from, I think it would be lovely just to mix with all sorts of people and you'll have to find your people. You don't I guess. But as a staff member, it's open my eyes to what can happen at university and also the opportunities that are available as well that you're speaking of just seeing all of these opportunities.
I'll see them come up in newsletters. I think it's wonderful. And hopefully those opportunities keep on going because I think it's really nice.
Ayesha
I think to mix of cultures is what's really exciting about UCL. I think it's so diverse and there's overlap. What, like 40,000 students here, and there's people from every corner of the earth that comes to UCL. And it feels like even though that we're from everyone's from such different cultures, it feels like we're kind of like this community in itself, even though we have such differences and for example, different cultures, different languages for everyone. The fact that we come from such different places feels like we're kind of one community in a sense as well.
So I quite like that. I really enjoy how diverse it is, and whenever I think someone asks me what I love about UCL, I think my go to is always how diverse it is. There's someone, there's someone for everybody, I think.
00:12:50:16 - 00:13:04:10
Ayesha
I'll go for one. Okay, this kind of goes back to what we said a little bit. So London is renowned for being a very expensive city to live. How have you managed to get the most out of the city or not on a student friendly budget?
Angelica
It's definitely a balance. And it's I mean, some people are better at it than others. I'm not always great at it, but I think it's just about like checking in with yourself and looking, being like, okay, what have I spent? Okay, like for me, if I go out for coffee, I might be like, okay, that's my sort of going out. That's my treat for the week. But at the same time, if there's something nice I want to do for myself every day, okay, then that can be it. If it's not too expensive. So it's sort of just like checking in with myself, being strict with myself, but also like, okay, but what can I do? Little things to make me happy and make my day just that bit better?
Adella
I myself, I love an activity, but they can be so expensive whether you're a student or not. I think prices, especially with social media, it boosts the prices. As soon as one place becomes popular, they put the price up by like another 20 pound. So I try and kind of use like the secret London pages and all these pages to get in there first and then just take the chance and go do it. I don't stop myself from doing these things anymore. And just if I want to do something, do you know what I'm just going to do? Because it's an experience at the end of the day. And then I just decide, you know, okay, I need to be a bit cheaper and frugal somewhere else in my life. Or on the other hand, you know, January is a very, very long month, extraordinary long month. So just budgeting sometimes for these months where I think I might want to get out a bit more, or maybe I decide, you know what? I'm not going to go out this month, but I'm going to do something else for my wellbeing. And like you were saying in the previous question, there are so many free things to do in London, like museums are free, there's so many places external to the center. So Kew Gardens, you know, is my favorite. They do student discount and UCL staff sometimes at UCL staff. If you show your staff card. So that's quite nice, you know, taking advantage of all the places that are around us. But I think it's just about being frugal and sensible and sometimes you've either got it or you don't. But we do have support her ECL, we have finance teams as well, you know, that can help with these things like budgeting tips and tools. So I think as well as a student taking advantage of the services that are available to support you with these things so you can make the most of your experience.
Ayesha
Just kind of budgeting a little bit, maybe setting aside like how much money and being realistic and not really putting yourself against how much other people might be spending, for example, or like what other people are doing with their money because everyone has different circumstances.
And I think just having that, just budgeting to your own, I guess, I guess ends, if that makes sense. Not living above your means is what I'm trying to say, and I think just budgeting realistically, kind of how far you can go each week. But I also think I kind of echo what you said. I don't think you should sacrifice what you enjoy. My mum always says, like I was talking to a mum recently and I said, oh, like I spend so much on coffee every single day, like every day. I want like a little beverage in my hand and mum's like, but like, if it brings you happiness, why would you like, sacrifice it, you know, so like, maybe just budget it in.
And now I do still get an everyday coffee, but I kind of like maybe move other things aside slightly. I'll push things further. Like down the line maybe where I have a bit more money, for example. But yeah, like like you said, UCL also has so much support as well. So say for example, you want to get involved in a society, but it's super expensive.
A lot of sports societies are expensive. If you want to join them like competitively, competitively for example. So but like having the UCL has funds where you can apply to join the societies. And I think that really helped me as well in different circumstances. There were some societies I wanted to join that for example, I had to maybe think about how much I might have budgeted a bit more, a bit more than usual. But then but the fact that UCL had these funds really helped, and meant that I could still join the societies as well. So I think, yeah, it's just like looking at what's there for you and what works for you as well. #
Adella
Depending on your background as well, and your experience and knowledge of education. Not everyone actually knows about societies. There are people from all over the world here, and societies aren't necessarily a thing in all countries. And I think it is quite important to recognize that there are so many societies here at UCL. And I'm scrolling through actually the other day, and I'd had enough scrolling. There were so many. And I think there is something for everyone, and there are a lot of free activities hosted by either departments, either locally, academically or like other teams like student support, that there is always something for someone, and I feel like it's important to try and remember that life doesn't have to be lonely as well, because you don't have the money. It doesn't mean you have to say like, stay indoors, sit alone. There are so many things that happen on campus, but also you have to actively put yourself out of your comfort zone. Sometimes even as a staff member, you know it's important to network. You have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and just say, I'm going to do it. I need to do it. And that's more for your wellbeing than anything else. Also, you can't sometimes you can't force yourself to do things, I understand that, but if you don't open yourself up to these opportunities, then what can you do? You know there's only so far a budget can stretch and there's only so far your willpower can stretch sometimes as well.
00:18:21:23 - 00:18:40:01
Ayesha
I do have a hack doing too good to go. Too good to go is brilliant. It's this app for anyone that doesn't know where you basically can, I guess, collect a bag of any food that a certain restaurant or like, place or cafe for example, hasn't sold at the end of the day and you can usually book it the day before. So I think there's one there's, there's a Lebanese bakery near UCL called Tamini Bakery maybe? That bakery if you like, the day before, if you, book to collect a bakery bag from them and then you go the next day, it's like at 8 p.m.. So if I've like spent all day studying, for example, I'll just wait till around eight to go and get the bag.
They shove so many pastries in there that you can just freeze for the next day, or like a couple weeks, or like even a month. And it's also a great way to save money because you spend like what, max? 5 pounds on like, so many pastries and bread and just like loaves, for example. So doing that I think is a great money saver.
But also lots of restaurants do like sushi places. Wasabi is great for it. But yeah, doing that I think is my hack.
Angelica
Yeah, I've used Too Good To Go a lot. It's great. It really is. And also it's environmentally friendly. So you're doing a really good thing. But there's always so much available that you could scroll for hours and that would be like there's such variety as well in foods and stuff. So yeah, I would definitely recommend that as well. And also just asking places like coffee shops, restaurants, if they have a student discount, it could really be anywhere. Sometimes they don't always ask you and it takes you asking them. And sometimes I almost feel awkward. I'm like, ‘do you have a student discount’? But you know, the worst they can say is no. And if they don't, they don't. But a lot of places, especially around here, knowing that they have students nearby, they will have a student discount. So always ask.
Adella
And I think as well student work as well is a great way to save money as well, like taking part in projects as a student. That is a very big part of the UCL community as well. There's a lot of temporary work, so I feel that's another thing that is available for students. And also a great way to save some money. But obviously there’s the Careers team as well, it can help you find part time work. So I feel sometimes we forget about those kind of like opportunities and students panic staff. We panic as well. We need to work. But there's a lot out there behind the scenes. The UCL does give space for opportunity. Whether it's like free programs, free learning, talks, even just being on BBC, you know, sometimes you'll see some you're like, oh, I go to Seattle and I see that. So I feel there are a lot of opportunities. And I think that's what UCL does do really well. And I feel like that sometimes negates from the peeves and the issues is the opportunities that can come your way.
00:21:14:18 - 00:21:23:07
Ayesha
Okay, so again, we just kind of touched on it a little bit. So what are some of the best things about living in the capital? What are some of the biggest challenges you faced and how how are you overcoming them? So best and best things and biggest challenges
00:21:27:12 - 00:21:44:14
Adella
for me I'm really passionate about nature plants. I'm a plant mum. So I love how much green space there is. I feel a lot of people don't know about a lot of the hidden gems that are right around the corner from us. There's a lot of, like, hidden parks. There's a lot of history in London, and behind that is little kind of niche spaces that hold a pocket for silence and peace amongst such a big city. So that for me is something that, yeah, I'm always amazed by and always grateful for London. And, you know, you've got amazing areas out in West. You've obviously got Richmond, you've got that whole area, you've got deer roaming around. I feel a lot of people from London might feel like they're in the Disney movie or something, because it's not something you see every day, and that's not normal for many people. And in East London you've got Epping so there are green space is at such a short distance. And I feel like that that for me tops it amongst all the busyness.
Angelica
I touched on it before, but just definitely how much is available to us. I mean, I, I text my friends all the time being like, ‘guys, we've got to go to this place’ and then they'll be like, ‘guys, we've got to go to this place’. So you could just have like a note, 20 pages. It's been like, this way we should go to and you probably won't end up going to most of them, but just the fact that there's all that available and it's such a variety of things like food, entertainment, stuff like that, like museums, it's just it's really nice to know that there's always something going on for sure. Yeah.
00:22:57:22 - 00:23:21:09
Ayesha
What excites me the most about London is that, like, every big exciting thing that you can think of is possibly happen, is probably happening in London. And I think that's so cool. Like, for example, like people come around from around the world to see the London fireworks, for example. That's super cool. There's always like premieres, like I said earlier, there's just constantly something like anything major in the world that you see, like on the news, for example, it's probably happening in London. I think that's really cool as well, that you're just in the heart of all of it for me. So like any like big political event probably in London, probably down the road in Westminster, for example. Any like pop culture event, any like new movie that's come out. I know like the new gladiator film they had like the premiere in London, I think it was at Leicester Square, actually.
And they had like celebrities from all around the world come. They had like Formula One drivers. They had all sorts of people attend that one. So you’re is laughing because I love formula one. But yes, it's so cool that like, such big events just happen in London. Yeah, that's my favorite thing, I think.
00:24:02:04 - 00:24:30:19
Ayesha
Is there anything you think is really challenging that you maybe might not get over or like, still struggle to deal with?
Adella
So the housing market is a big challenge in London for anyone. And I feel if you've not lived away from home before and for instance, if you've like, first time lived in student accommodation, obviously you've got your home, you're good for a bit, it's expensive, but you're good, and then you move out. Kind of approaching the housing market and the rental market is quite intimidating, and I feel that can be quite intense, something that I never get over. I've moved out a very, very, very, very long time ago. And one thing I always struggle with is the increase in rent prices, the struggle in trying to find somewhere to live. If you want to move in with your friends, maybe there's like a group of 4 or 5 of you. You all want to live together. That's a struggle is one thing that I've always kind of never got over. Even when I was a student, it was always a struggle. And even now, as an adult, it just seems to like not be getting any better. So I think that's one thing.
Ayesha
So the past summer I went out hunting as well for the first time, to move in with my friends and it was one of the most, like, stressful and traumatic things I've ever done. And that's not to, like, scare anyone. Like it is possible we did find a flat, but just the process of having to go through different agents, having to go through flat viewings. I think the one of the biggest things I faced was that my flatmates were all international students, so they had all gone home for the summer. So it left me, who doesn't even live in London regularly, to like, try and like in my free time because I was working on a summer school to like in my free time whilst I was working to go view these properties to make sure it fitted our budget to make sure there was no mold on the walls, for example.
So I think that like the housing market is definitely scary and it's something that should be addressed that isn't being addressed. Yeah. And also how willing landlords are to like I guess rip students off, because a lot of the times the property is never even worth as much as it is. But because of the demand and because of how many people want it, they like shoot prices through the roof. So I think, yeah, that's a that's a bit of a challenge.
Adella
Yeah. I think they are trying to pass a restriction, factually I don't know all of the ins and outs, but I think they're trying to pass a restriction on rental again to cap. So it's only like one month deposit and then like one month's rent in advance, which is fantastic because paying six months upfront is not ideal. It's not realistic for many people. Most people do not come from that background that can afford six months. So I think, yeah, by having that boundary in place, I hope that’s something that does go forward, because that would make such a big difference for students because again, student loans don't always cover that. So then you either have to work part time, or kind of scramble the money between you. So if something like that could definitely be put in place, that'd be fantastic.
Angelica
Honestly, it's like I'm even trying to avoid it because it gets me stressed. But me and my friends, so it's four of us have sort of agreed that we would like to live together next year. And we're thinking about that, and we've been looking at places, but right now it doesn't feel super serious because I was sort of just browsing around like, oh, this is nice, but I think we all know it's about to get a lot more intense.
And even places that were like, oh, this is nice. Let me save that. It's like gone within the next day. Like the demand is so intense and so crazy. And so right now, I think we're all relaxing a little bit, definitely in conversation about it, because we do need to be ready. But once it actually starts becoming a thing and becoming realistic, I definitely am not looking forward to that because I've heard how intense it can be. So it's just about being wary and like hopefully having input from the adults around us who will know also, what they're doing probably more than us. But yeah, hopefully it'll be fine.
Adella
Yeah, I think just about being aware of scams as well can happen to anyone, not just students, but I think it's good to use the resources that we have. So I know that with the students union, they have a lot of information on housing. You can speak to an advisor, and I feel it's important that pre-university, even if you're going to be living in halls, being aware of what the next stage is, because it is going to come and being aware of the services.
00:28:31:14 - 00:28:43:17
Ayesha
I think one of the biggest challenges for me is, especially as a final year student, is maybe accessing careers. Actually, the job market. So the rental market and the job market. So it just feels like a constant challenge. But I think that's kind of I guess it's universal for all students especially like the economy and how things are going. There's just so much demand for students to get into jobs, but there's just not enough jobs, for example, or there's not enough roles, or they're asking for extra qualifications. I, I was looking at roles that I was interested in recently, but it said, are you on top of your original degree, we want a master's and a further qualification. So I was like, this just restricts me in that sense. Yeah, I'd say that's like Adella says, like using the career services that UCL has. Even just like academics that might be able to get you a reference, for example, and just talking to them about possible routes for you.
But yeah, just like I think just getting into these kind of careers, like I think originally used to be more, so you get your degree and then you can just kind of go into whatever you wanted. But now I think they want so much, so many years of experience on top of what you've already done, and then your degree and then the master's potentially. So I think that's a challenge for me that I'm trying to overcome, especially in my final year. Hopefully I'll be employed at some point.
Angelica
I mean, I would say, I mean, I even had a careers today, so it's sort of on my mind. But there definitely are so many resources that UCL offers for us. I have signed up to get updates about job vacancies. And so it's like really often I just see all this job, you know, temporary or permanent. But there are definitely so many resources, really helpful resources which make it so much easier to do a job search. And I'm not thinking about it very seriously now, but it's really good to know that those things are available to me. It sort of decreases my stress levels a bit now. But when I'm actually seriously thinking about it, it will definitely be probably a bit more stressful. But it's nice to know that those things are available to at least support me somewhat.
00:30:41:22 - 00:30:43:24
Adella
You're in such a big university. You've got so many professionals here. It's so many departments. It's like, reach out to your academics, you know, there might even be a job opportunity in your department or if you kind of build a rapport with I don't know, members of your teaching staff or maybe your personal tutor, you've come a bit closer with them and they understand you as a person, and you have these career discussions with them. They have networks. They've you know, they've been teaching for such a period of time, many of them that they already have these networks. They've already done the hard work. So, Austin, is there anyone in your network that can put me in touch with someone that has something to do with this? Because the amount of people that are actually willing to help you here, but you do have to ask, we don't just give it to you on a plate because we can't do that for everyone. It's just not physically possible. But if you ask, you'll be really, really surprised.
Ayesha
How do you kind of feel, I guess, about unpaid work? Because I think that some people see that as a bit of a challenge as well, especially as students. So like, yeah, most people are willing to take it on to get like the experience, like for example. But do you think it's something that's like feasible?
Angelica
Oh, that's a really good question. I think it's really great for experience, but at the same time it's like, okay. But it also could turn into something which, you know, like someone's taking advantage of your time and your effort. So, it's sort of just about, I suppose, being careful with that. But at the same time, if that's still something that you can put on your CV, it's still building up that representation of you, which is still going to help in the long term.
But it's also about what you need. And if you can afford to do that, and if you're willing to do that, even if your time and effort isn't being paid for.
Adella
I think the majority of circumstances here at UCL anyway, it's paid. Most, most departments. We value our students here, so it's always paid, but you might come across opportunities that are too good to miss maybe. And that sometimes might be unpaid. But not every student can afford, like you say, to do that. You know, some students have to provide. Maybe they've got a family, maybe they're a mature student and they have to work part time, some even full time. They might, they probably shouldn't as an undergraduate student, maybe. But some people do. And I feel it's just within your realm of what's possible or not, and it's not always going to be possible. Depends on the pocket that some people may or may not have.
Ayesha
I think at UCL we're quite good with providing like paid opportunities and they do compensate for your time, for example, even if it's just like attending like meetings, for example, they will come to you in some way, I think, which is quite great. Yeah. I think I've been lucky enough to take on like unpaid work experience, for example, and not be too worried about how it affects me. But I know, like for some people, like you said, it is a really big concern. Like they genuinely just can't afford to take all that time to be unpaid, for example. And I think like recently, I've been looking at opportunities and stuff, especially as I go on to like graduation, for example. And there have been opportunities that I've come across that are, I guess, unpaid and I kind of wonder, like, is it even worth my time at this point? Because especially as I'm ending my university career, like I think during university, I think it was more feasible. But I think now that I'm coming towards graduation, for example, in the summer, hopefully fingers crossed. It's more like, can I even is it even possible for me? Is it even worth my time now? So yeah, I think it's just a bit of a bit of a you have to give and take, see what happens. But, yeah, it is a bit of a. Yeah, it's just a bit of a thing you have to consider in your circumstances. But yeah.
00:34:40:21 - 00:35:17:09
Adella
With many British people feeling that England has lost its sense of identity, to what extent do you feel that London represents England and also to what extent does the city represent who you are as an individual?
Angelica
I think London definitely represents who I am. I mean, I've been here my entire life, so it's pretty easy for me to say that, I feel like with the rest of the question, I mean, London is the capital. It's such a sort of foundation of diversity, and I feel like it always has been, or at least for a really, really long time. And it's such a like basis for international exchange. I mean, it's not not going to be, so I don't know about anyone else's perspective, but I don't think London has to represent the rest of the country. What's special about it is that each city is unique in its own right. And it might have things that others lack, but that's what makes the country unique.
Ayesha
As someone that's not growing up in London like yourself, I think for me, I want London to be representative of who I am just because I think it's so much like it's so exciting, it's so fun. But in that sense, I want it to represent me. And I think it does to some extent. It does represent who I've become, who I've kind of been like. I think when I go back home, I'm a completely different person to who I am here, for example. And I think that the culture and environment I prefer here as well.
But I think London is so diverse and it's so unique in itself that it really can't represent the rest of the UK in the sense that it kind of what you said, like it shouldn't in a way, because I think it represents the UK, I guess, in an international stage, for example. So like we are like the hub for like financial exchange for like all these different international movements, for example, that I think if we looked at the rest of the UK, it's so different to London.
And I feel like every time we step into London it's a completely different world to like just even like 30 minutes outside of London, like it's completely different. And I think, like you said, like each city is so unique that it doesn't have to represent it, but also at the same time that London, given London is so diverse and how like, I guess how eccentric, it is it kind of it does at the same time represent all the like I guess, core British values that people really value at the same time, whilst also being so different. So I think it's a really different. It's a weird balance. I think for me it's something I think about quite often where I fit into all of this
Adella
One final point though, and it's been quite controversial on many of the apps, but the topic of food and like Britain and like London, and is London a representation of British food, and that's been quite a common recently. And actually at this point, I don't even know what British food belongs to Britain apart from like toad in the hole and, you know, immersed in a fish and chips. But then even then, I think like fish and chips or pie or mash is probably the one thing that belongs to London. And it's traditional East End and like eel and mash and but anything else I wouldn't say belongs. And its been a topic of like conversation with friends about this because I'm like, no, I stand my ground that I don't actually think there are many British dishes. I think we've taken a lot from other cultures and made into our own curries, made for our taste in England, because we can't handle certain spices or flavors. We didn't like it, so people change for us. So that's one thing that I would say as well. Like food in Britain, you know, how British is it and is it a good representation of us? I don't know, but I love my fish and chips and a roast dinner, so I'm not going to argue with that. But I feel like they're more they belong to like, places like Yorkshire, the amazing Yorkshire puddings, gravy as well, those kind of things. You know, I feel like they belong to outer parts and not London. And I feel like that's what people get confused that London isn't the place that created all of these dishes. It Britain as a whole. So I feel. Yeah, that can separate us from. Yeah, our bigger title.
Angelica
I completely agree with what you said. It's like what represents like British food is the diversity of it. Like the fact that you can walk down the street and there's going to be an Indian restaurant and a Chinese restaurant and they're this like, that is what London is about. But it also sometimes it feels like such a specific and particular argument that sort of only we care about. And then outside of Britain, it's like Americans wouldn't know the difference between this northern accent and that northern accent. But like to us it's such a thing. So it definitely is a very specific point that I think it's absolutely true.
Ayesha
I completely agree. I think for me it's more of like a how good food in London is compared to the rest of the UK. But that's because, like you said, like so many cuisines are so accessible here and I think it's so authentic because so many people from different cultures come, they make these restaurants, they have these communities. And I think that's what excites me is like whenever I'm back home, like, I can't wait to be in London to try all this good food. Like I have something that I saw on TikTok or something that I saw here, but like back home or like in other parts of the UK, there's not always this like options.
And I think like a lot of big chains from like overseas, like for example, the American chains, they tend to be in London as well or like different things you just want to try it. It will be in London, it won't be like anywhere else. It won't be in like your odd town in Yorkshire, like with with more sheep than people, you know, like so I think. Yeah I think yeah. London. I don't think London represents British food. I also don't know what British food really is, which sorry if that offends anyone who's really passionate, but I mean, I understand the Sunday roast, I get it, I get it, but yeah, and the fish and chips. But actually I think fish and chips are Portuguese, so. So yeah. Fun fact!
Adella
Nothing belongs to us!
Angelica
We're good at taking,
Adella
We’re very good at taking in this country.
Ayesha
We’re good at taking. Possibly adapting sometimes. Possibly not really adapting well.