Interviews.

After applying for five choices I nly ended up going to two of my choices interviews because I couldn’t afford to g to them all.

Brighton

Manchester Met

Bath

Birmingham

UAL

Ichose these because ive obsessed about brighton since the UCAS fair, Manchester met sounds awesome and is like twenty mins on the motorway. Bath because it is supposed to have amaxing facilities for 3D. And Birmingham because it did the course I was determined to pick five because I played for five anyway. UAL because I wanted to see for myself, and weather I would get in.

I prioritized my interviews for just Brighton and Manchester Met, which were both in the same week one a day before the other and as Brighton was so far away I had to stay over and so moved Manchester’s to the week after.

It was going to cost like £300 on a train down and back and because my mum and dad wanted to visit Brighton anyway we all went and drove down. IT TOOK SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS… that’s mental; it doesn’t even take that long to get to France on the train…

So after so many coffee and butty stop and trying different butt workouts in the car to stop it going numb we got there and I’ve got to admit, it wasn’t what I expected it wasn’t like the Ted Baker seaside house design. It was a little grubby way outdated and everyone was dressed like they were from the nineties, double denim, the Matilda haircut…socks and sandals?! And I got looks for what I was wearing??

We went on the coldest day as well, as soon as you started walking it was that cold that just takes your breath away and thank god it wasn’t windy beside the sea! But we had a wonder, saw where the uni was and planned our route, all that first day I was shocked by the look of everything and the image I had in my head didn’t quite match up but I wanted and needed to love this place! I wasn’t feeling nervous…I didn’t until the night before when my gums just started randomly bleeding from my chewing the inside of my mouth from just thinking too much, crazy...

I really wanted to fall in love with Brighton so I walked everywhere and anywhere I could, we walked the beach, the lanes and ate really great food and shopped and just didn’t all the stuff your supposed to do in a new town. And then night fell and that’s when it started kicking in the obsession I’ve ha for months, the beauty Brighton holds, all the lanes had been lit by tiny lights scattered like firefly’s in the summer. Although it was cold I felt warm with the scenes I saw and how it felt homely for the first time. We found the best tapas bar, brumming with all kinds of people; the busiest restaurants are the best…

The next day I fell quiet, nervous and pegs to keep my eyes open because I was trying to stop my gums bleeding all night, I felt confident, I felt like I had this, tutors telling me for months I will walk this, they will tear my arm off but being sat in that building like I was an outsider in a different time zone I felt nervous. I had definitely over packed and these people can stare at me because it was like being an exhibition and they wanted to make you nervous. I was determined to speak to everyone I had the chance to, I wanted make at least one friend while I was there to make the thousand mile move easier in the summer. The first girl that came and sat down spoke to me asking what I had applied for and then this girl next to her chatted and then I thought maybe this would be that bad? But it got worse after waiting till twelve where I had been allocated an interview time they dragged us upstairs, luckily the girl I has sat with helped carry my things or I would have been screwed! We put out stuff in this room and then got divided and toured the uni; I saw the facilities they had and was getting excited about this uni once more. They took us to a house that was completely made from recycled materials, even the insulation was piled old jeans, I was thinking the whole time, this is so me, I’m the perfect student.

Then we got back and had a lecture on the success stories of Brighton University, and there were loads! I was so excited by this point to have these opportunities and teaching, the guy next to me was beaming as he had been interviewed in the morning and got told had bagged himself a place. He made me feel a little better that they would tell you there and then, great!

After the lecture we got sent away a given half an hour time slots, luckily because I lived the furthest away I was second. They got you to set your work to what you thought was your most successful piece I put mine to the fan chair because the photos were beautiful.

After half an hour it was my time, the woman came to get me and was really nice, until the interview started, the guy that interviewed me was on the phone at first which made me a little nervous, then he got off and they both looked at my work. They didn’t seem to get it, they looked and signed and nodded and were almost silent about it, that really made me nervous, I’d never had such a ‘weatfart’ reaction to my work before, someone always recognised it and had something to say… I was a little shocked and just felt drained. They asked what it was all about. Why I had done the robots? They said they didn’t get it? Why I had done the robots. Then they asked what would I do if they said ‘no more upcycling’? I answered with well I would start in the workshop, maybe with metal as in the past I have found wood very temperamental to use as I don’t feel it’s a flexible, but I want to be the jack of all trades to learns everything they had to teach me. Then they just nodded, stayed silent. I didn’t even know what I was talking about I was just so weirded out by their reaction; I mean id sent a digital portfolio down, they knew what I was bringing to the interview? But they looked at it like I’d just poo’ed on the table and gone ‘tada’. They finished after fifteen minutes with any questions? I asked if they did glass work and the woman perked up and said a firm NO. Not in my kiln… and then they said they had plenty more interviews to do and would get back to me.

After nearly eight hours getting don there they gave my fifteen mins out of the thirty I could have had. I was fuming. I just was speechless…I couldn’t understand, all these questions were whizzing round in my head, what did I say? What did I do? I didn’t even show them that! They could have seen this! I should have asked that!

I got onto the uni website and got the guys email, I felt I need to do something to say something to get my place, that interview cant of been enough. I held my head up high and had to pretend everything went okay waiting in the lobby for my folks to come, I could let of the other people waiting to interview that I didn’t get in. I got to the car, to the restaurant and then my mum finally asked what went wrong and I just burst, I was so shocked and so disappointed, all day I thought about going back to uni asking to see him again just for another five mines, I wasn’t myself in that interview, I’ve blown it.

It’s been three weeks and I have'nt heard a thing. Still gutted, I had Manchester the week after and just didn’t want to go, Manchester met was a group interview and didn’t want that reaction to happen again in front of other people interviewing, it knocked my confidence so much for them to ask that question what if we said no more upcycling? Is what I’m doing not good enough? Is it not seen as serious? I didn’t want that same question to be asked in front of people.

Anyway I got told and told to go and see, so I went to Manchester, and it poured it down on the day of my interview so I drove and then I couldn’t find an car park for life of me and I would have been late if I did park up soon. I parked in a two hour bay near the uni and legged it. Two hours will be enough?? My interview lasted for four whole hours…… £50 I got fined…I’m a student I can’t afford my daily rate of £4.00 never mind fifty! Oh well it was worth it because I loved it!

Start from the initial interview, there was five of us, all really great people who I would have chosen to have my interview with happily, they told us to stand so we could see over everyone’s work and comment if we wanted. The two interview’ees were so lush! Both my future teachers and just so smiley and welcoming. Then I had to go first, I was literally trembling, on a normal day I would have been fine, I’m usually so confident talking about my work but after Brighton and being the first up out of five was pretty nerve racking. They were so great at commenting back, there was constant dialog and got everyone to chat about it, recommending artists and asking who and why I did it. Never asked me to change what I do and were so supportive. You know like when you get so nervous but something works out so well you get that lump in your throat and yours eyes start going but it would be totally inappropriate to cry? Toes happened to me, didn’t let them know that.

I had some great people in my work, all with diverse range of work and someone was from Brighton that had come to Manchester and she was so lovely and said she had heard similar reactions from some people she knows that interviewed there. I asked f this was their first choice because I really wanted them all to pick it because they were a great bunch of people I would deffo keep in touch with in September if they came.

AND THE UNI….humanahumanahumana…. it was so lush, the spaces were vast, big and industrial, and the workshops….there’s like fifty of them! And then the win, you get like£200 on a card from materials….totally bought by all she was selling, they do glass, clay, wood, metal, concrete, what more can a girl want! The no individual studio space was a bit of a turn off but I could deal with that... this uni is awesome.

I got an email an hour after that really lifted my mood and gave me a little more confidence.

I’m torn if I was to get both offers, I love Manchester but Brighton is amazing and has so many success stories and to grow my business, London id literally half an hour on the train away.