Following on from the Ryder Cup...

...only joking!

Today I fulfilled my first task as a PASS mentor and helped to organise a teambuilding session for the first year Law students at the University of Southampton. It was really good to see how the group gelled, this being the first time that they had all met each other. What really struck me was the fact that none of them seemed judgmental of each other in the slightest; this was really refreshing as stereotypes are often hard to avoid during the initial weeks of university.

Last year, when I was in the exact same position as these freshers, I can't say that I was particularly enthusiastic about any of the tasks set and the general consensus among my group was that we would much rather have had a lie-in the morning after the Freshers' Ball. Impressively, the group's enthusiasm wasn't dampened by the challenges set and they succeeded in them, if not through completing the tasks but by emerging from the experience as a stronger and better-acquainted team.

Their ability to work together in a coherent manner, listening and valuing each other's opinions and  trusting in each other's ideas highlighted the importance of having confidence in one another. Other key points that were raised during the reviews of each challenge were the significance of formulating a plan and executing it; maintaining an effective balance within the group when appointing a leader for it; and showing good communication.

A representative from the sponsoring law firm who spoke to us after the event encouraged us to apply the skills learnt to everyday situations, whether it be in academic life, the workplace or social situations.

A successful day all round.

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Faces

Looking at photographs of the trapped Chilean miners makes the whole ordeal significantly more personal. It reminded me of walking through Auschwitz and the shots of all the prisoners on the walls of a corridor in one of the prison blocks. Every one of them has a story and every one of them is somebody’s something.

‘People are just people. People are just people. People are just people like you.’  - Regina Spektor

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9/11

The day the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, I was in Year 6 and I remember coming out of school and my Mum looking at me and saying 'You have no idea what is going on in the world at the moment'. Seconds after we got into the car, it was announced on the radio that another plane had just hit the Pentagon. The images that the world was bombarded with for the next few weeks were horrific and the stories that we heard were tragic and heroic. It was an event that propelled a state of global crisis, tension and politics. For the past 9 years, the issue of terrorism has been at the forefront of the concerns of governments all over the world, the media and the individual's mind in circumstances. The attack on Islam that followed has affected many and the new stigma attached to being a Muslim has unfortunately become terror-related although it is quite obvious that to associate Islam with terrorism is a connection with no merit whatsoever. To me it seems a real shame that today, a day when differences should be put aside and the lives of nearly 3000 people should be remembered, there are new issues such as where to position an Islamic centre and the importance of stopping Terry Jones' proposed Koran burning.

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Caught in the Middle

New York's Fashion Week will now feature a plus-size models catwalk. All other catwalks seem to be for the super skinny. What about those who are not (a UK) size 4 and who are also not size 16? When will glamorous fashion shows address and celebrate the bodies of the inbetweeners?

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