Inspiring kids into university
**Do you ever stop and think how lucky you are to be at Warwick? We’re at one of the best Universities in the country, able to study a subject that we love and immerse ourselves in a highly interactive and engaging student environment that should make us valuable employees in the future. **
Ok, that sounds like something lifted from an open day talk, but there’s no denying that things are pretty good here. (Minus the highly irritating lack of computers in the library after lunch time, etc)
Indeed, I think when you’re in the ‘campus bubble’ it’s quite easy to forget there’s an outside world sometimes, but reality definitely hit me with a fairly heavy blow from the start of this term. Yours truly was sent into schools on the ‘Warwick Inspire’ programme in a bid to persuade sixth form students that University was an excellent option for them.
On the one hand it was a really great experience. These young people were genuinely curios about finding about higher education, and many wanted to learn what it was like to be a student and how subjects worked after A levels.
{{ quote One student actually asked me what University genuinely meant, whilst others felt terrified about the nine thousand pounds worth of tuition fees }}
Yet it was also undeniably frustrating. Many seemed to feel they had been abandoned by a system that just did not work for them. One student actually asked me what University genuinely meant, whilst others felt terrified about the nine thousand pounds worth of tuition fees. This is deeply unjust when those in society who need higher education and the self-empowerment it offers feel it has been denied them, and only information about the system will change that.
As one teacher at the school explained to me, ‘It’s heart breaking in a sense because so many want to achieve something and yet so few believe they can.’ Well, if you ask me it’s time we changed the status quo. Warwick University now charges nine thousand pounds for its courses after all (as a first year I feel the need to just make retching noises at my keyboard as I type that) so the most it can do is give back to some of the most disadvantaged young people in society.
So fair play to everyone who’s been involved in the ‘Warwick Inspire’ programme which essentially involves going into schools and talking to students about what University is like. I can say from experience that this is not a propaganda initiative but a fair chance for those who know little about the system to get some answers. It’s that key word answers though that you really need to take away from this very brief comment on why universities need to reach out to more young people.
When you’re next eating a lovely meal at Xananas, attending an interesting lecture or having a great time at a society just think how different your life would have been if no one had given you the information that inspired you to be here. Hopefully that answer might encourage you to get involved in schools.
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