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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

UEA (2019) Surely 2021 (and getting on for halfway through our DC's degrees) things have got to get better????

764 replies

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 26/12/2020 17:35

New thread following on from the previous one.

Lots of Star and Glitterball into 2021.

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icanbewhatiwant · 10/02/2022 19:51

Ds just messaged to say he doesn't understand how to book. But I'm sure they'll get a link or something. But he says no one he knows is going. All his housemates aren't bothering.

sluj · 10/02/2022 20:39

Has he got an invitation email then?

icanbewhatiwant · 10/02/2022 21:32

@sluj no. That's why I said I am sure they'll get a link or something.

icanbewhatiwant · 10/02/2022 21:33

He's messaged to say he isn't going to bother to go. I find that quite sad 😞

Itscoldouthere · 10/02/2022 22:00

👋 @NewModelArmyMayhem18
I hope you all find out about graduation plans soon.
DS1 has been given a date for his graduation at AUB, you can buy 2 tickets at £25 each and there are some extra tickets available, we are hoping we can get one for DS2 to join us so we can make it a full family weekend, my DH has booked the time off to be in the UK, so I hope nothing changes (famous last words).
The boys did make it out to Canada for Christmas, the first time they had been which was so wonderful, unfortunately Canada (Quebec) full on Covid restrictions did stop us from doing lots of things we’d planned (everything was closed, we had curfew and it was -20) but it was so good to all be together and for them to finally get to see Montreal.

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 11/02/2022 10:48

@Itscoldouthere, really pleased to hear you had a whole family Christmas in Canada. Hope you had snow? I'm sure they will have really enjoyed the change of scene and being with you and your DH (not forgetting your dog!).

Fingers crossed for your DS2's graduation going ahead without any glitches (and all of you being able to go to make a lovely family weekend of it).

PS not envying you -20C!!!! Have you managed to get to Prince Edward Island yet? I bet it would be a lovely place to visit at any time other than winter!

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icanbewhatiwant · 11/02/2022 10:52

@Itscoldouthere that's great the ds's made it out to Canada for Christmas. I expect you had snow. It's been fairly mild all winter in east anglia. December was mild and dull. No snow yet. It still could though.

Itscoldouthere · 11/02/2022 11:13

Oh yes lots of snow the boys loved it, my eldest was also shocked how French It is 🤣
We went out of the city to a cabin on a lake, it’s was frozen and everyone walking and skating on it, the neighbours all sat out on the ice on chairs in the sun drinking wine and even brought out a fire pit! It was pretty magical.
My husband is now saying it’s quite warm as it’s been -3 for the past few days, but it’s due to be back down to -22 on Sunday and snow next week, still another 2 months of winter really!
I wish I was younger, I did skate a lot when I was a teenager (on plastic rink in Jersey where I lived) so I would have loved Canadian winter, now I’m too old and creaky, dodgy hips and knees, I hate it when it’s really icy, my DH fell over this week on ice, luckily he’s ok but broken bones are apparently the most common thing in ER in the winter!
Sunny day here in London, it’s lovely, although it’s really cold in Montreal there are lots of really bright sunny days, so I’ve found the grey here quite depressing.
Hope you are all feeling ok about your DC experience at UEA, I’m feeling a bit sad for my DS1 and the experience he’s had at AUB he’s just missed out so much, being a hands on practical course he just couldn’t do it at home, he’s really only had 1.5 years of proper degree work rather than 3, and it really shows, he’s not really got much work to show for it.
Luckily he’s really wanting to get out and work and is prepared to do anything to get into the type of work he wants, but being older (he’s 25) he does wonder if his degree was worth it.

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 25/02/2022 17:25

Class of 2022 UEA graduation ceremony dates/times.

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icanbewhatiwant · 25/02/2022 19:25

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 thanks. Annoyingly I can't get hold of Ds. He got soaked through doing his mouse catching for his dissertation, walked home, then put his clothes in the machine, realising after his phone was in the pocket. It got smashed and wet. So I can only get him by email. He emailed earlier to tell me he's getting so behind with his work it's stressing him out. I did tell him it's not long until he's finished. I hope he catches up.

boys3 · 25/02/2022 20:40

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 thanks for the link! A Friday night in Norwich for me Wine

boys3 · 25/02/2022 20:47

doing his mouse catching for his dissertation

Frantically scrolling back through the thread to see what that is all about. His phone getting smashed is a pain though @icanbewhatiwant. Hope he can sort that and get on top of all his work. Hopefully it just feels a bit overwhelming rather than truly being so.

icanbewhatiwant · 25/02/2022 21:00

@boys3 I might have said on the other thread and not this one, sorry. Ds has to catch mice and voles for his dissertation. Then analyse their droppings for parasites. He sets 40 traps in a designated area near UEA. Then the mice spend the night in the trap eating. Ds weighs them and releases them. He's only catching 4 at time. He needs at least 100. So he's getting fed up now, he's caught about 60 so far. But nearly all males. So his lecturer has said he needs to catch a lot more to get more females. It's very time consuming. He can't start the dissertation until he's caught enough.
A friend from school is lending him a temporary phone tomorrow.

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 26/02/2022 07:42

Wow that sounds time consuming @icanbewhatiwant. I wonder why your DS isn't catching many females? What a cold time of the year to be having to do such research :-(. What a pain about his phone too. I'm sure once he's completed the 'field study' part of his research, writing it up and analysing the data will seem a relative breeze. And hopefully he'll catch up with himself.

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boys3 · 26/02/2022 10:19

@icanbewhatiwant I don’t really know what to say. Your poor DS is effectively being held a hostage to fortune by rodents. As for the male:female split I hope his lecturer gave him a few more insights beyond just catch more to get a better balance. Fingers crossed for him. It does sound that he is having to truly go above and beyond. DS2 opted for an additional module as opposed to a dissertation, which ironically is what DS1 also did (not at UEA).

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 26/02/2022 10:44

I'm wondering whether the female rodents are in 'nesting mode' (or do mice just breed all year round?). Surely that would be an entirely interesting thing to explore in his dissertation, rather than just expecting him to carry on. It's not an easy gig for sure compared with DS writing about Singaporean sustainability for his dissertation, all from the comfort of the UEA library!

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icanbewhatiwant · 26/02/2022 15:38

Dh being a farmer said mice breed all year round. But according to google, urban mice do, but not countryside mice. Ds caught a few more over night. He will start again next week. He was excited at the prospect of catching mice at first, but he's fed up with now.

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 27/02/2022 11:44

I'd imagine he may not want to see another mouse, ever, @icanbewhatiwant! It will be an amusing tale for the next generation though!

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icanbewhatiwant · 27/02/2022 11:55

He did message to say he enjoyed checking the traps yesterday as it was warm and the sun was shining. But doing it in rain and strong winds hasn't been fun.

sluj · 28/02/2022 10:02

@IcanbewhatIwant
The mouse situation sounds fun, when is the dissertation deadline?
I'm wondering how many of you will be at the graduation at 9.30am on the 22nd?

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 28/02/2022 11:11

More than likely @sluj :-)

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icanbewhatiwant · 28/02/2022 13:21

@slug dissertation due April. Ds's graduation would be 20th. But he's confirmed he won't be going

icanbewhatiwant · 28/02/2022 17:16

@sluj no idea why the tag says slug.

NotSorry · 01/03/2022 07:44

thanks @NewModelArmyMayhem18

I've been asking DS2 for weeks and he says he doesn't know Confused

NotSorry · 01/03/2022 07:49

[quote sluj]@IcanbewhatIwant
The mouse situation sounds fun, when is the dissertation deadline?
I'm wondering how many of you will be at the graduation at 9.30am on the 22nd?[/quote]
we will!

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