Money Talks

During my time at UCL I have noticed that there is a serious divide between the financial fortunes of the students. This is not a problem; I am not a communist and understand that in a capitalist society there will be people with more money than others. However this difference in financial stability does lead people to experience entirely different university lives, which is intriguing.

There is a spectrum of wealth. There are those who are by no means poor, but enjoy a comfortable life with few major financial worries. Then come the two extremes of the spectrum. There are those that cannot afford rent, food and other basic amenities that every person should be entitled to. Then come those who are so exorbitantly rich that a normal person cannot comprehend. This is not a criticism of these people, merely an observation that make coming to a university like UCL afar more interesting experience than most other places.

It is mad that two students can be so close to each other in their daily lives, but so far away from each other in every aspect of life. The amount of money I have seen spent in Mayfair clubs is staggering. At a birthday event I attended at Maddox the birthday boy spent over £1000. I do not spend that in 3 months.

It is evident that when we leave University we will all take different life lessons away from it. I, for one, had never been to Kensington before a fortnight ago as I felt that there would be no point going somewhere populated by affluent people with considerably more money than me.

I never knew how expensive London would be when I decided to come here to study, and there have been times that I have seriously questioned myself as to whether I would have been better staying up north. However, a year or so on, I am slowly learning how to manage money better, and of course sometimes money will be tight. Coming from a shithole like Bradford does wonders for your views on the world. London is my haven, a fresh start. I am besotted with the north, and it will always be my home, but personally I feel there is nothing for me there anymore. You can take the boy out of Bradford, but you can’t take Bradford out of the boy.