2017 seems so long ago, now .....

[Xenia]

Continuation of our previous thread.

Well done for getting Cambridge interview and good luck.

As I said above, my children have 3 cousins currently at Oxbridge. A 4th of their cousins (in upper sixth currently) just failed to get a Cambs. interview, but might have another go next year depending on the results in the summer or may be very happy going elsewhere.

We had one friend of my son here last night after work to watch the football (and my other son was watching it in a pub after work in London) and then that friend left very early to catch a London train for work so that actually my son (his friend) out of bed at 7am to drive him to the tube) which I think did for my own other son for work at 7.30am as usual. This is so different from student days when they were all sleeping in as late as they could. Now people have to be up for work.

Thank you, mock interview this afternoon and hopefully we will get the date for the real thing.

🤞 @bettbburg interview practice v important

It can't hurt, but tbh DD had just one mock interview which she knew was well meant but wide of the mark.

I hope they go well.

I hope the interviews go well.

It is hard to know what will be asked. I used to do mock university interviews at my child's school for sixthformers wanting to do law but I am not in a university so did not really know if what I asked was helpful, other than it got 17 year olds used to going into a room and answering questions and dealing with nerves I suppose.
I have one trainee solicitor son doing a 3 day online course in one room with his last exam ever on Friday at the end of it (which should not be too hard and his twin already pass it) , another son who left today after staying nearly a week (kind of holiday for him including my one year old granddaugher's birthday party a the weekend we all made it to and enjoyed) and the other twin at the office in London. Earlier in the week I had a lawyer daughter here for the working from home day too when the London one was at home working too - so 4 of us lawyers working from home and my other adult son here. My house seems to get more and more popular at present.

Da says 'ok' about the interview but he's a man of little words who went to school and did 'nothing' all day until 6th form when they actually decided to teach him something at last 🤣

He spent the entire weekend on prep, reading articles, books his epq and ps etc.

Interview 2 at the same college is tomorrow, I will be ordered to leave the house again.

Interview 2 was apparently 'really enjoyable'

That sounds hopeful. Good luck.
My son said his final exam was fine last week (although he also said he hoped he failed as he doesn't want to end doing exams for life as he likes them but hopefully that was just a silly flippant comment)

@xenia I can't believe your twins are nearly finished exams ! DD is still gagging about doing her Irish law conversion , no training contract yet ...

DD got home on Thursday, so glad she didn't wait till today! Hope all yours are where they should be now.

Wishing you and all yours a very merry Christmas!

We're all under one roof (both ds are home at the same time) for probably the last time too. Unfortunately it's all been a bit of a disaster as my very elderly frail dad was admitted to hospital with intestinal bleeding. He's home but we're having to be very cautious. Ds1's girlfriend was due to fly over last week but she caught norovirus from a patient so we delayed her visit for 4 days. She assured us she was fine to come but 36 hours after she arrived here ds got the bug and began vomiting violently. Consequently ds and gf have been under strict bedroom quarantine for the duration of her stay. I'm silently a bit pissed off with gf who just shouldn't have come and also a bit devastated that the special time I'd looked forward to with both my ds didn't happen.
Ironically last time ds's gf came to stay I got covid so was isolating from her. So I've never really managed to get to know her apart from through a bedroom door!

Hope everyone manages a germ free and travel disruption free Christmas

Oh no, what a shame. Hope the rest of you avoid the bug.

Haff, I am so sorry. I hope everyone is recovered.

We had a panic earlier in the week. Like you it may be our last Christmas together for a while, and indeed the first Christmas at home together for five years. DS got caught up in the great BA computer meltdown, fully aware that a major storm was then coming in. I was so upset that I basically said he should take any flight regardless of cost. So what with sitting on the BA plane before it was cancelled then returning home, then a flight via Atlanta, it was 48 hours.

We are all together and it is nice. Probably worth the cost, as I have no idea when we might have a family Christmas again, though inevitably I am hoping he can recoup at least some of the cost from either BA or his insurance.

We then have two extras. A tenant who is origionally from Russia so can't go home and who has struggled with not seeing them through most of the pandemic, then an acquaintance of DS' who is working at the hospital down the road and who will come over when his shift finishes. Good as it has forced us to up our game in terms of doing it properly. Not least a major tidy up of the dining room which had morphed into a study/spare bedroom. Perhaps we should start giving dinner parties.

Best wishes to everyone.

I am sorry about the Haffdonga bug etc. There are some very difficult decisions people haev to take with ilnesses. We are all fine. One daughter ahd husband and children are abroad skiing and the rest of us are here. It is particularly lovely to have a baby staying here again and she seems to smile all the time at the moment (not a toddler yet).

Happy Christmas to everyone. One trainee solicitor son and I are working next week but everyone else is off.
Some of us including the baby went to a lovely mass at the church where my latest grandchild was baptised. It was for children at 6pm yesterday and there were loads of carols to sing so I was in my element.

I haev only just recovered from my son's dinner for 10 a week ago, though, as there was no sleep, lots of tidying up (about 8 people stayed and one for a week, some for 2 nights so I feel like I have been running a hotel never mind working full time anyway to end of Friday. So after putting on the second dishwasher load after Christmas lunch today I felt at last things will be a bit quieter (even though I have the 4 extra family members staying tonight).

Just to say, we got an offer from Oxford

Fab news @bettbburg

My good news is DD has tow trading contract interviews next week . I've asked SIL to take her shopping ( DD not in UK)
She wants to wear smart trousers, a jacket and loafers , is that smart enough ? I think she should wear a trouser suit

Congratulations on the Oxford place! Nice too that there is a decision, rather than having to wait for the laggards like Durham, LSE etc.

It is really hard with interview clothes post lockdown. I read that Kiwi have given up selling shoe polish in the UK as so few people are polishing shoes.

Bristol, Bristol, Bristol. DD was the first year on a new course and then about a year in the head and architect of the course sadly passed away. Throw in lockdown and they have had a degree in resolving admin issues.

They have now been told that their graduation ceremony will coincide with the first week of F1 training. None of them will be able to apply for the day off, so none of them will be able to invite friends and family celebrate qualifying after five or six years studying.

It is not so bad for us as DD had a graduation ceremony for her intercalation, and though we could not attend we were able to have a celebration breakfast beforehand and watch it on line, she was able to join her friends in the pub afterwards, and grandparents have a photo of her clutching (seemingly for dear life) her degree certificate. Bristol is actually very good at widening access and several of her friends are the first in their families to go to University. They do not get student loans after their fourth year and the NHS bursary is only £1,000 so some of her friends have had to rely on support from the wider family to help them get through to the end. To deny the chance to mark the end of their student lives is very wrong. Apparently the University have confirmed that the date cannot be changed.

Rather ranty, but I hope someone connected with Bristol sees this and thinks about the impact on the students and their families. It is very unfair and I understand that a number are really upset.

Other than that Christmas was fun. It felt like the feeding of the five thousand. Both DC and more for Christmas day, then lots of in-laws the next day. I got to clear out the dining room (aka the spare bedroom) which was the dumping ground for all my mother's stuff, which feels like a burden lifted. It will probably be a long time before we get another family Christmas together so good to have the memories.

When dd graduated they tried telling them it wouldn't be in the Wills building but in a cricket club or somewhere. There was uproar and ut was changed.

I hope something similar is sorted out.

Thanks for the congratulations. We are still waiting for LSE so he's holding off on a decision for now.

Congratulations @bettbburg - an Oxford offer is incredibly exciting and I'm sure great motivation to put the final push into A levels. Great news! And good luck to @Carriemac's dd for the interviews. I'm sure she'll look great in her chosen outfit especially if that's what she feels good in.

@Needmoresleep that is really rubbish of Bristol to plan the graduations in F1 week. I imagine it was some person in an admin department slotting everyone onto a booking diary who had no idea about medic diaries, but really really unfair for your dd's group, especially after the amount this cohort have missed out on along the way. Ds's graduation will apparently be in July but we don't have a date yet. We're just hoping it doesn't clash with the rather nice holiday he and his mates have booked as their final fling. I am absolutely determined to see one of my ds finally graduate from something!

@Needmoresleep, that is terrible. DD hasn’t mentioned it, but it must be affecting her friend who is in the same course. Another example of Bristol not seeing the bigger picture (given their lack of support for MH issues)

@Carriemac, I’m no expert on interview outfits, but that sounds smart enough? And what is a trading contract?

I am sorry about the graduation date issue... mmy twins graduated in 2020 and because of the Government's covid laws they did not have their Bristol graduations until 2022 but at last they got them in the end. You can graduate on a different date by the way eg my oldest daughter who also went to Bristol was working abroad the summer of hers so she graduated in the February season of graduations the year after at Bristol. I would imagine there is nothing to stop those affected by the first week mentioned as a group to agree to have graduations instead in 6 months or in a year when the timing might work better.

Training contract is what the Carrie daughter will be interviewing for - trainee solicitor. Good luck in both of them. (My twins are trainee solicitor) One of my twins is still on his 6 month secondment (as a trainee solicitor) which seems to be going very well (Both twins still live at home). His twin with my help has been looking at potential other secondments for him too but no one has even replied never mind rejected him yet which is a bit rude but probably pretty common in today's world . I reply to everyone always who writes to me asking for work even if they are 15 and incoherent in their email.

All is well here. We had my oldest son to stay last weekend.
I am still interested in following everyone's careers of all their friends although I always seem to forget who is doing what amongst their friends.

@bigTillyMint it's a training contract - she'll be a trainee solicitor , paid while doing her qualification to be a solicitor in Ireland . It's very competitive so fingers crossed

The Bristol graduation situation is pants @Needmoresleep , DS1s med school graduation in Leeds was so significant for his group

@Carriemac aha! That is what my DS is trying for - such a gruelling process, well done to your DD. Did she study Law? My DS didn’t so he needs to do the conversion as well, hence applying for summer vacation schemes.