I'M FUCKING DONE

shakahislop

shakahislop

Well-known member
its a whole ancient place and social environment that no-one ever talks about, with the exception of references to oxford, by which people mean the university in the center of oxford that is nothing to do with most of the people that live there
 
shakahislop

shakahislop

Well-known member
most of the people in oxford speak with complete disdain about any of the other big towns in the country. banbury, kidlington, didcot, provoke a kind of horror, 'how could anyone actually live in a place like this?'. but they don't get that most of the people who serve them in one way or another, who work in the hospitals, work in the shops, work in the pubs, work in tesco, come into the city every day from those places
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Joking aside, I did realise as I sat there contemplating the form on which I had to enter my final decision, wondering where I would place that deciding tick, that it was genuinely one of those moments at which the path of your life forks. And looking back now I think it was possibly more the case then I understood at the time, in some ways at least.

I understand that at that time I was in a good position to get an offer, in that fee-paying schools had the resources to run dedicated classes coaching potential applicants and enough applicants to make such classes worthwhile, whereas at my school I was literally the only person who was applying to do maths that year - and apparently the unis took that into account, giving a bit more slack to those applicants drawn out of the general hoi polloi like me. However, my maths teacher - who was a great teacher, who had a genuine love for his subject which in turn fostered something similar in me and bolstered my confidence and so on - was also happy to give some time to advise on that kind of thing. So I had a best of both worlds type thing going on.

When I turned down the offer I was quite sanguine about pissing off the school as a whole who definitely wanted what was best for them rather than what was best for me and who were annoyed despite having done nothing to help me qualify... but at the same time I did feel bad for my maths teacher who would have had the right to be disappointed I suppose... though of course he never allowed the slightest flicker of disapproval to cross his face at any time.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
i would have chosen cambridge personally, if i had been a maths prodigy, which obviously i wasnt.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
but given that you then went on to get a top traders job in the city, made a million in two years, got out and havent worked a day since i dont really see how things could have gone any better in any case. like, what opportunities did you miss out on?
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
I queued up to have my hardback copy of his Henry Kissinger biography personally signed at the Hay Festival.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
shakahislop said:
most of the people in oxford speak with complete disdain about any of the other big towns in the country. banbury, kidlington, didcot, provoke a kind of horror, 'how could anyone actually live in a place like this?'. but they don't get that most of the people who serve them in one way or another, who work in the hospitals, work in the shops, work in the pubs, work in tesco, come into the city every day from those places
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I can't speak for Kidlington as I've never been there, but my gran lived in Didcot, and I've been to Banbury a couple of times, and they are both hideous unplaces.

But then, we've all got to live somewhere, and Oxford rejoices in being the most unaffordable city in the UK, quantified as the ratio of house prices or rents against median income. (Cambridge apparently isn't far behind, probably second.)
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
Cambridge is a lot prettier than Oxford. Oxford is aggressively ugly, not the college buildings, just the rest of it.
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
luka said:
Cambridge is a lot prettier than Oxford. Oxford is aggressively ugly, not the college buildings, just the rest of it.
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So true. Luke and I spent one beautiful frosty day in Cambridge in 2004, and turned up to his sister’s dinner party with a bottle of brandy, which we drank.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
both places will bring out emotions in you, especially if you think youre a bit clever, but even if you dont, theyre going to stir things up inside you becasue they represent the ultimate in privelege, and you obviously didnt go there (unless you did, in which case they stir up different feelings)
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
luka said:
Cambridge is a lot prettier than Oxford. Oxford is aggressively ugly, not the college buildings, just the rest of it.
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Yeah, you've got Rose Hill, and then Blackbird Leys, which is one of the biggest and roughest council estates in the country.

I've only been to Cambridge a couple of times but I get the impression the whole town is more like the centre, or at least inner bits, of Oxford.

The thing about Oxford is that even the grotty bits are quite expensive to live in, a lot like London.
 
woops

woops

is not like other people
i went for an oxford interview but didn't get in. don't think i would of had the bollocks to knock em back if i'd got offered a place.
 
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