Those Pesky Kids Again

The college rang me up last week asking me to return to my job as general supervisor until the exams start in May. Since the January exams finished things have got a bit boisterous again and they think it's better to have three of us during the middle part of the day instead of the usual two. Nothing serious has gone on, just horseplay and high spirits. I was delighted to return and relished the challenge. I haven't been able to use any of my experiences in my writing yet but I'm collecting the little incidents and hoping that one day something will come together.

The other day I was walking along the corridor towards the theatre when I saw a youth coming towards me wearing grey trousers and matching jacket. As our paths crossed I did a double take when I noticed his swastika armband. I suddenly remembered there were drama exams going on and soon saw lots of others in costume. For a split second there though, I thought that the extracurricular activities had gone too far.

Back in December the Art Department installed a Wish Tree in the reception area. This is a piece of artwork on the wall with a number of lengths of twine stretched down it from top to bottom. Staff and students are encouraged to write a wish on one of the tags provided and tie them onto the twine. Some have expressed personal desires for family health and wealth and to pass their exams while others have sent out wider prayers for global peace and the end of world poverty. Here are two that made me chuckle:

“I wish I was a size 12.”

“I wish my mum would let my dad out of the cellar.”

On a different subject – have you heard about the uproar concerning the Woman's Own writing competition? It's all explained in Helen Yendall's blog. However, many competitions do treat the writers with respect and I'd like to mention one here. A few months ago estate agents Peter Barry launched a short story competition on the theme Moving Home. This was judged by writer Anne Aylor and the results were promised for January. As often happens, many more submissions were received than had been expected. However, instead of making us wait longer, the shortlist of twelve was revealed bit by bit as the entries were sifted through so that we were given something to look forward to each day. I didn't make the list but I enjoyed reading the winners and still have a story that I might be able to recycle. It was nice to feel that an effort was being made to keep us informed on the progress of the judging.