Choosing a University Course and Job 

This is what I remember about how I chose a University and indirectly, my first job, The action would have taken place in 1974 and 1975. I was 17 or 18. Looking back, some of this thinking may have happened a little earlier. Things can get squeezed together by my memory.

The decision making process

Like most teenagers I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I had formed the view that I wanted to go to university, but I didn’t know what course and I didn’t have a clear idea of what career I wanted to follow. I had filled in all the careers advice forms. What I remember of the careers process sounds rather negative, but it wasn’t unhelpful at the time.

The limited careers counselling I had convinced me that there were lots of things I didn’t want to do. There seemed to be a bias in the system to direct me towards what you might call “office work”, and that wasn’t what I wanted. Maybe I was simply being contrary, but I felt I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk (although that is what happened in the end) and I didn’t want to be commuting into London (though that happened too).

Choosing a Subject

I remember that I had some kind of hankering to be involved in “engineering”. That is almost certainly because of my Father’s background. The subject I was best at and the one I enjoyed most (at least partly because of the influence of Dr Medinger) was Chemistry. From there it was a short step to “Chemical Engineering”.

To be honest, I didn’t really know what Chemical Engineering was. I saw it as a subject in the prospective for several Universities, read the blurb, and thought “that sounds ok”.

There was probably some interaction between my choice of Subject, my choice of University and my Sponsorship. I don’t really remember which came first. In don’t think I would have chosen “Fuel Technology” without some idea of British Steel and I know that Fuel Technology (which is just a special case of Chemical Engineering) was definitely in my choice of courses.

Choosing a University

Having at least roughly identified the subject I wanted to study, the next step was to choose a university. I remember deliberately “hedging my bets”. The topic I had identified was “Chemical Engineering” but the subjects I applied for where “Chemical Engineering”, “Applied Chemistry” and “Fuel Technology”. On the advice of the careers guidance teacher, I aimed high, middle and low. That is to say, I chose courses and Universities which covered a range of exam outcomes. As far as I remember, the list went something like this (The order is uncertain, but I remember UCL was at the top and Aston Applied Chemistry was at the bottom):

• ·         University College London – Chemical Engineering (no, I don’t know why I didn’t choose Imperial College)
• ·         Manchester UMIST – Chemical Engineering
• ·         Aston – Chemical Engineering
• ·         Sheffield  - Fuel Technology
• ·         Aston – Applied Chemistry

That makes 5. As I said, the sequence is uncertain and I think UCCA may have allowed a 6th. It could be that I applied for 2 courses at either UMIST or Sheffield.

I know I had an idea that I wanted to get away from London. UCL was a deliberate choice. I think I was attracted to the ethos and particularly Jeremy Bentham!

I also remember that I took the opportunity to travel to all the prospective Universities. I remember seeing quite a lot of Euston Station and being excited by travelling. I have the idea that I had the brown chalk-stripe suit by this stage! I must have looked like a gangster!

Sponsorship

My earlier brush with the Royal Navy had persuaded me that “sponsorship” was a good idea. I knew that my parents did not have a lot of money and that I was the first from either of their families to think seriously about third-level education.

The idea of sponsorship appealed in several ways. It provided an additional income during term-time. The amount before it impacted my grant probably sounds trivial (I remember about 5 pounds a month), but was equal to what I finished up paying for a room each week in my final year. It provided guaranteed, relevant employment for the long vacations (also good for the finances, as well as for the course). Finally, it provided a firm prospect of a job at the end of my course. It was almost a guaranteed job. It all seemed like a good idea at the time and even with the passage of time and hindsight I still think I made some pretty good decisions.

I remember going through directories in the Careers room and looking for every company which would sponsor courses in Chemical Engineering. I know there was interaction between my choice of courses and my choice of potential sponsors. I remember applying to lots of companies including British Steel in several different guises (definitely Stewarts and Lloyds in Corby and Teesside (where I finished up)).

I have the impression that I applied to pretty much everything. In the end British Steel Teesside (what had been Dorman Long) sponsored my university course.

There are more stories to follow.

 (14th December 2016 – 876 words)

Daily “Memoirs” exercise for when I’m not doing anything which I regard as “creative”. This is written almost stream-of-consciousness and is not edited very much afterwards.