This week, we interviewed another of our contributors – Amy Price. She’s a Second-Year student who will be studying abroad in Australia next year. Read on to find out more about her course, what she hopes to achieve next year, some people and projects she thinks need more recognition and some great things she’s learnt this year!
1) What course are you doing? Why did you decide to take that course, and why Cornwall?
Iām taking English and History with a year study abroad, partly due to strategy ā universities ask for lower A-Levels if you combine subjects ā but mostly because I loved doing both and didnāt want to give either of them up.
When I first looked through the course, I hadnāt realised that it was in Cornwall until much later, when I was trying to work out what the big āCā on the information page meant; when I finally looked it up, however, it made me want to come down here even more. Iāve always loved the sea, so the idea of studying right next to it made the course sound even more appealing.
2) Whatās the thing you find most exciting about going on study abroad next year? Any goals for whilst youāre away?
Pretty much all of it! Iām heading out to Canberra, Australia, and Iām really looking forward to experiencing a new sort of culture to our own, as well as meeting loads of new people. It feels weird talking about different cultures when Australia seems very similar to England, but itāll be cool to see how far thatās true!
To be honest, Iām not really sure what my goals are for while Iām over there. Obviously Iām looking forward to learning new, different modules, but I suppose Iād quite like to improve on my writing and just make the most out of the whole experience.
I want to be able to come home and look back over the year and think: āYeah, I made the most out of my time, I did everything I wanted to do and more, and Iām so glad I had the opportunity to do this.ā
3) Tell us about 2 people you think need more appreciation (fictional, famous, just someone you know – anybody!)
Iām not sure about anyone else, but I sometimes feel that Mark Ruffalo doesnāt get the same level of recognition as the other actors within the āMarvelā universe. Not only is he a great actor, heās wonderfully outspoken on political issues which pose major problems for todayās society, probably more so than his co-stars. Heās an all-round awesome human being, and he deserves so much more credit than people give him.
On that political note, I guess Jeremy Corbyn also should get a mention: not because heās not in the public eye, but because I feel the media gives such a biased, negative account of him that he needs all the appreciation he can get. He stands by his personal values ā I mean, he rebelled against his own party for 25% of all votes whilst he was MP ā and, contrary to what the Conservatives may think, is a strong leader.
Whilst all the other Labour leadership candidates complained about the extent of welfare cuts, and then feebly abstained from the vote, Corbyn stood by his word and voted against it. With his stand on ethics and emphasis on politics, not smear campaigns or performativity, I think he deserves more of a chance than heās getting because of the systematic, indoctrinating campaign against him.
4) Any projects youāre working on at the moment or causes / projects you think need more attention?
*TRIGGER WARNING: Abuse, rape*
Iām basically a middle-aged woman in a twenty-year-oldās body, so I listen to āThe Archersā persistently, to the despair of my long-suffering housemates! For anyone who isnāt a fan (heathens, the lot of you!), recently a long-running story-line has started coming to its ā rather traumatic ā climax; or, at least, appears to be. The domestic abuse inflicted on Helen Archer by her manipulative, controlling husband has ramped up over the past year: first it was the subtle comments about her appearance; then it was slowly convincing her that she couldnāt cope with work; then it was the marital rape; then it was distancing her from her friends and family, and driving a wedge between her and her son Henry; then it was the gaslighting; and now, just a few days ago, it was hitting her and making her think that it was all her fault, before raping her yet again.
Itās been a well-handled, chilling story-line which has divided the opinion of listeners, and raised awareness on what domestic abuse entails beyond hurting a partner physically. āThe Helen Titchener Rescue Fundā on JustGiving has so far raised over Ā£70,000 for āRefugeā as a result of this, and even if you donāt listen to the show, this campaign is such a positive response to a harrowing storyline, and it deserves more coverage than it has at present.Ā
Also, I think that even though the Refugee Crisis is so much in the news, charities that are trying to alleviate the situation arenāt getting enough air-time ā or support ā in order to achieve their aims. This is more than outrageous, given that we have elected not to open our borders to people desperately trying to escape such terrible violence, and yet we still refuse to give them the support they need. More needs to be done here, so the more attention paid to this issue, the better.
5) As exam season approaches weāre going to need to revise everything we’ve studied over the past year (the horror!). Whatās the most interesting thing youāve learnt this year?
Educationally, I think exploring the making of the Middle East has been the most interesting subject this year. Understanding the events which has formed the region today has made current issues, and the problems around them, clearer in my mind, which I think is important if we are to ever find a way to calm the tensions both within the Middle East and between the region and the West.
Socially, Iāve been taking Pole Fit classes and learnt some really cool new tricks, which has improved my self-confidence and ability to tackle new challenges, and worked at McDonaldās, which has enabled me to stand up more for myself and take charge of situations more often.
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