#want to study in uk

[faaun]

last night i got home kind of tipsy and very much in tears and my mother told me the force you exert to keep someone in your life is proportional to the force with which they will leave your life. if you have to fight tooth and claw to keep them, their leaving will be just as hard, just as harsh, and just as definite.

[obaewankenope]

Dear Prime Minister, 

I'm going to tell you a story. It is entirely fictitious and not at all inspired by personal experiences or specialised knowledge of disability studies or what it is to be disabled and live today. 

It is just a story.

Once upon a time, there was a person. This person was healthy and as active and energetic as any other person. The world was full of endless possibilities, unfathomable opportunities, and a thousand-and-one chances. This person — let us call them Jane — grew up in an impoverished area but was happy regardless because Jane was loved by her mother. Jane grew up in a single-parent household with two older siblings, one of whom had a diagnosis of an awful disorder: ADHD.

This awful disorder meant that Jane's older sibling — let us call him Jack — was often treated by his teachers as a nuisance, a distraction, and as though he were stupid from the start of his time in academic education. Jane knew this wasn't true, however, because her brother Jack could make things with Lego™ and Meccano™ with ease. He never needed instructions, never needed help, and made the most wonderful, amazing contraptions. Jack and Jane's mum — we shall call her Hannah — worked hard to make sure Jack had access to the same education other children received. Hannah fought with the school to ensure Jack was not ignored in class and had support he was entitled to under government guidelines and law. Hannah succeeded but it was hard. Hannah always had to fight for Jack to receive the same education as everyone else. 

When Jane was old enough to attend school, Hannah expected to have to do the same because she expected the school to believe Jane to be just like her brother, Jack. 

Jane, however, was different to Jack. 

Jane loved to learn. 

Jane enjoyed learning new things and picked up new skills easily and quickly. Jane's teachers loved her. She was the teacher's pet. 

Jane was nothing like her brother Jack. 

Jane was not disabled in any way. 

But Jane often got into fights with other children. Jane would fight with her own best friend. Jane would get bored in class and interrupt or distract the other children at her table. 

Jane was very smart, her teachers all agreed, but she needed to stay focused in the classroom and not disrupt the learning of other children. 

Hannah, Jack and Jane's mum, met a man and fell in love. They got married and Jack and Jane moved to a new school. Jack went to high school, a specialist one designed for children with “learning difficulties” and physical impairments. Jane stayed in mainstream education. 

Jane went to high school and Jack finished his secondary education. While Jane learned and learned and loved every moment of it, Jack became isolated and focused his attention and energy on playing games. He made friends online and played games that rewarded his efforts with little trophies and achievements. No one mocked him for his handwriting. No one belittled him in front of other children. No one ignored him when he played his games with his friends who liked him. 

Jack tried to get employment but he struggled with instructions and routines. He tried to do his best but his best wasn't enough compared to others who could follow instructions and routines with ease. 

Jack had only his video games and his online friends. But Jack could do some physical things. He enjoyed making things. Building things. 

Jack could have become a builder. Jack would have been great at it. 

But one day Jack started feeling pain all over his body. It hurt, hurt, hurt! The pain never stopped and never really went away. Hannah took Jack to the doctor and the doctor ordered tests. 

It took a long time before Jack would get a diagnosis for his pain. Jack had Fibromyalgia. 

No one knows what causes Fibromyalgia. The doctors don't know the reason for it but some research has been done that suggests it might be connected to the immune system. 

Fibromyalgia feels like one big, bad, nasty, never-ending cold. Aches and pains and fatigue. Tiredness and stiff joints. Memory problems and trouble focusing. It never goes away. Never really stops. 

Jack couldn't work at all now. His ADHD made following instructions difficult and his Fibromyalgia made physical tasks painful and exhausting. 

Jack really only had his games and his online friends now. 

Jane, on the other hand, _thrived_ in school. She went to college from high school and was given a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome — a type of Autism  — when someone finally noticed Jane struggled with social skills and understanding social cues. But Jane was smart and it showed regardless of her social skills. 

Jane was gifted.

Jane could achieve amazing things with her mind and education would ensure she would go on to have a brilliant career. 

Jane's disability was a boon to her where Jack's disabilities were a bane to him. 

Jane went to university and decided to study psychology. She was smart. She was brilliant. It would be easy. 

But Jane was smart and this was a problem because Jane had never learnt how to study like other children learnt. Jane's teachers in primary school, in high school, in college, never taught Jane how to learn because she never needed help! 

But university is not primary school, is not high school, is not college. 

University is different. 

Jane had to read research articles, studies, understand complicated methodologies and statistics. Jane had to write essays in structured formats that Jane had never learnt because she'd never needed to before. 

University is a time for young adults to discover themselves. To go out and explore. To have fun while they learn and prepare for a future in the workforce. 

Jane did not have time to discover herself. 

Jane spent almost all her time reading papers that were boring and a struggle. 

Jane would stay in her dorm room or in the library whenever she had free time and try to practice writing essays that followed the rubric. 

Jane only went out with her flatmates a handful of times because Jane had to spend all her time focused on studying and trying to develop studying skills no one had ever thought to teach her. 

Jane's mental health suffered and she had several breakdowns during her time at university. She had some counselling and her tutors were understanding but her attendance was low and it was only her essays that spared her from academic probation. 

Jane spent more time in her room and the library after that. Jane would not fail. Jane could not fail. 

Everyone said Jane was smart. 

Smart people don't fail. 

So Jane could not fail. 

Jane could not ask for help on developing studying skills. She could not ask tutors who expected so much of her for guidance when the rubric didn't make sense to Jane. 

Jane could only rely on researching things herself on the Internet and advice from friends she made online who helped her create a rudimentary set of studying skills and essay structures. 

Because Jane had always been told she was smart and smart people don't ask teachers for help. 

Smart people don't struggle in class. 

Jane's disability meant she was smart. It wasn't a real disability. No one treated her like she was disabled. 

Why would they? 

Jane was smart, after all. 

Eventually, Jane succeeded in completing her undergraduate degree. She succeeded. 

But Jane had never had any time to work because she spent all her time trying to learn things everyone else already knew. Jane had a degree but no work experience. 

And then Jane was encouraged to apply for a masters because the additional support she'd had assigned by the university said she would be great at it. 

Because Jane liked learning and she liked sharing what she learnt, so Jane had been writing a little paper in her spare time about disability in popular media. 

This little paper gained her admittance to the masters course on disability studies at her university. This little paper became her dissertation for that masters course. 

Jane thrived in this course because the material interested her. She travelled from home for the class and enjoyed her time learning. She engaged with the material and understood it. 

The studying skills she'd scrapped together during her undergraduate degree made everything much, much easier. 

But Jane lived at home while doing her masters. With her disabled brother and her mum. Her mum, who worried about her disabled brother and asked Jane to look after him for her. 

Jane's mum worried so much that Jane spent what free time she had helping her mum and taking care of the things her mum struggled with. 

Hannah had divorced her husband because he cheated on her. This meant Hannah — Jack and Jane's mum — was again a single parent. Jack lived with Hannah because he couldn't live alone for long. He needed too much help.

Hannah needed help too. Her health was declining, her divorce making her depressed. Jane's mum needed her. 

So Jane split her time between her masters degree and caring for her family. 

Jane had no time to get a job, to have a career. How could she, when there was so much and Jane had too little time because she had to manage so many responsibilities already? 

Jane's disability was easy to miss because she was smart. 

But a disability is still a disability.

Hannah struggled with depression and Jane had to look after her mum too after she graduated with her masters degree. 

Jane had no time at all to look for a job. Jane had no time to do things that made her happy. 

Jane had a mother and brother to look after and care for. 

Jane's disability wasn't really a disability. It didn't stop her cooking or cleaning. She could follow instructions. She could focus on things that were important. 

Sensory overload. Struggling to understand what she felt in the moment. Difficulties understanding paperwork without additional information and context. 

These weren't real disabilities. 

Not compared to ADHD, Fibromyalgia, and Depression. 

Jane was smart. Smart people don't struggle. 

Smart people aren't disabled. 

Not really.

But then… Then Jane started feeling pain. More pain than she was used to. More pain than she'd been accustomed to for years. 

Jane's pain increased and Jane had to go to the doctor. The doctor who spent a little time asking Jane questions before diagnosing her with Fibromyalgia. 

When Jack had gone to the doctor, they'd sent him for scans and done blood tests and examinations before the doctor had declared Jack had Fibromyalgia. 

When Jane went, the doctor checked her joints, asked if she was hypermobile and handed her a diagnosis. 

Jane had more than one disability now. Jane was just like her brother Jack. 

But Jane couldn't stop doing things. Someone had to clean. Someone had to cook. Someone had to do what needed to be done. So Jane kept on going, even with the pain, even with the exhaustion, even with how it caused her to be bed bound sometimes. Because Jane was needed.

Hannah went to the doctor and had some tests done because Hannah was in pain too. The doctor did blood tests and sent her for a scan. The doctor diagnosed Hannah with Fibromyalgia too. 

Then Hannah was diagnosed with COPD. A breathing problem. Her lungs would fill with fluid. Her health was poor. 

Jane couldn't leave her mum because her mum needed someone to care for her. 

Jack and Jane's older sibling — let us call him Jed — was ten years older than Jane and had moved out when Jack was in high school. Jed could not look after Hannah. Jed had his own life, his own family. 

Jane was alone. 

Jane was smart. 

Jane was in pain. 

But Jane was younger. She was the child with the degrees. Hannah had faith in Jane. Jack was used to Jane. 

Jane never applied for disability benefits. She applied for Universal Credit and struggled to follow the expectations she had to agree to in order to have some income. 

Jane spent most of her time looking after her mum, her brother, and cooking and cleaning. Jane's online friends were worried about her. 

Jane was in pain too. 

Jane was disabled too. 

But Jane was the only one there who could do what needed to be done. Jane had all the expectations of a childhood of being called gifted, of being told she was smart and not really disabled. 

Jane forced herself everyday to keep on going no matter how bad the pain got.

Hannah applied for disability benefits. Jane filled out the paperwork. Jane knew that Hannah would receive it for her COPD, her Fibromyalgia, her Depression. Just like Jack received it for his ADHD and Fibromyalgia.

But Jane would be refused, she knew, because the disability assessment was flawed. 

Jane had learnt about it in her masters course. About the biopsychosocial model. 

How the disability assessment didn't really assess those three things and mostly focused on the biological aspect of disability. How it looked at the psychological and social aspects from the perspective of employment and not quality of life. 

Jane knew that the disability assessment asked how long a person could focus on something like a TV show and applied the answer to everything a person might focus on. Like working in an office. 

The disability assessment, Jane knew, did not account for engagement or context. It did not look at the why a person might be able to focus on a TV show easily but struggle with focusing on a work task. 

Jane knew this. 

This was why Jane did not apply for disability benefits herself even though she was entitled to them. 

Because Jane knew. 

Because Jane was smart.

And smart people aren't disabled.

Society believes disabled people are stupid. The disability assessment assumes intellectual incapacity. Any indication that someone isn't “stupid” is taken to mean they can work but just don't want to. 

The disability assessment is flawed because it asks the person answering to respond with how they feel on their worst days. The disability assessment is flawed because when the in-person assessment occurs, they are asked to do things that they may be able to do that day because it's not one of their worst days. 

The disability assessment is flawed because it is designed with the assumption that anyone applying is lying about their disability. 

The disability assessment is flawed because it demands the person applying to prove their disability over and over and doesn't allow for context or account for how people always try to look their best regardless of how they feel in the moment. 

The disability assessment is flawed because it forces people to perform their disabilities during the in-person assessment and it's known that people have to do this so when someone is assessed who isn't performing but is actually that severely affected by their disabilities, that person is still treated like they're exaggerating. 

Jane has had to argue for Jack's disability benefits before. She has had to argue for Hannah’s disability benefits before. Jane has used the knowledge she gained from her masters degree to ensure her mother and brother have the benefits and support they need and deserve. 

But Jane cannot do the same for herself because Jane is smart and the disability assessment does not account for intelligence and disability except by how it assumes disabled equals stupid. 

Jane has accepted this. She has accepted that her only source of income is Universal Credit. Jane has accepted this and she lives every day worrying that she will be forced to try and work in careers she cannot physically manage in order to have some income while she cares for her mother and brother full-time. 

But then Jane hears about the government and possible changes to welfare and that disability benefits are the focus. 

And Jane is angry, Mister Starmer. 

Jane is so, so angry. 

Because Jane is smart and she knows the changes aren't for helping disabled people live better. Jane is smart so she knows the changes are about forcing people to work longer hours, take jobs they cannot physically endure and still manage a household, try and gain employment in a job market that demands excessive experience and eschews untrained applicants. 

Jane is smart and she knows that the government wants to save money by politely killing disabled people. 

Because disabled people are a drain on the welfare system. 

Because disabled people are stupid. 

Stupid people aren't useful.

But Jane isn't stupid. Jane is smart. 

Jane is disabled and smart. 

Jane knows that the best way to help disabled people try and work is to help them live better lives. 

Jane knows the best way to improve the economy isn't to cut welfare and subtly hide the deaths of thousands of disabled people. 

Jane knows that the best way to help an economy is to encourage growth and investment and Jane knows that the easiest way for a government to do that is to cut taxes for the wealthy and let the poorest, most vulnerable suffer quietly for it. 

Because disabled people are vulnerable. 

Disabled people are poor. 

Disabled people can be ignored because their voices are the voices of the stupid.

What worth does a stupid person have compared to a smart person? 

But Jane is smart and knows something that the government doesn't seem to care to. Jane is smart and knows something you should care to, Mister Starmer. 

Jane knows that disabled people are not stupid. 

Jane knows this because Jane is disabled too and Jane has never been stupid. 

Jane knows this because her brother, Jack, is disabled too and Jack is not stupid. 

Being good in school doesn't make someone smart. Being quick and able to follow instructions doesn't make someone smart. 

Those things make people ideal labourers. Those things make people good at working in structured environments, following orders, not arguing back or challenging things. 

Those things make people compliant. 

Those things make people obedient. 

But Jane is smart and Jane is smart because she asks why when told things. 

Jane is smart because she questions. 

Jane knows that a society is truly great when it values its least economically  capable members because that society understands their human value.

Mister Starmer. 

Is our society great? 

Or is it merely one that chooses the easiest solution that turns a profit fastest instead of one that makes the truly hard choice to value its people first? 

What is a society if not its people, Mister Starmer? 

I believe you to be a good man. I believe you to be a strong man. I believe you to be a committed man. 

But I also believe you to be a man who has never struggled to fight to live in the ways Jane has. I believe you to be a man who believes he has but you are a man who has never faced starvation. 

You are not a man who feared fire poured through your letterbox in the night. 

You are not a man who had to defend yourself, alone, outnumbered, because someone took offence to your brothers impulsive words.

You are a good man, Mister Starmer. But can you say you are a man who knows disability and the disability assessment process when you have not had to battle it like Jane just so her mother and brother can live?

Jane has hopes and dreams, Mister Starmer. She wishes to work in a career that she knows she will excel at. She wishes she had not been called gifted all her life. She wishes she had been able to work just like her friends. She wishes she could work now but knows she cannot because her own body is limited in how much it can manage and a mother, a brother, and a home is already overwhelming. 

Jane is not an exception. Jane is not unique. There are many disabled people in our country. Many who need help to live. Many who suffered from covid while working on the front lines. Many who have had their careers stripped from them by circumstance. 

During the pandemic we clapped for our NHS. 

During the pandemic we thanked front-line workers. 

During the pandemic we relied on retail workers and delivery men and labourers. 

These are some of those who are in receipt of disability benefits that have suffered and continue to suffer for the sake of others who benefitted from their sacrifice. 

Are we a great society if the government would punish them for their sacrifice by taking from them what little money the disability assessment gives them each month? At most they receive less than £800. In a single year they receive, at most, £9,000. A newly certified nurse in the NHS would earn just under £30,000 a year, Mister Starmer. The same for a retail worker. 

Why would you take from them what little they receive from the disability benefit to try and save a bit of money? Why would you not tax the richest members of our society? Why would you not enforce payment of taxes owed by corporations? 

Why must the welfare system be the thing that is targeted when the government talks of saving money? 

Have disabled people not suffered enough already? Must disabled people slowly starve and waste away with less and less income each time the government announces a spending review or change in investment? 

A society is measured not by how much power it has, not by how wealth it possesses, not by how much investment it has, but by how it treats the weakest and poorest amongst it.

I would like to call our society ‘great’, Mister Starmer. I believe you wish to do so too. 

Regards,

“Jane”

[chimeofthecomet]

so this poll has most certainly been done already but uhh

[littlecello]

SCREENCAP STUDIES!!!

At the top are studies I did just the other day, to finish a spread which I had started in 2020 while working on my zine, and never posted because I a) wasn't totally happy with how the studies turned out and b) I wanted to finish the spread... which I only just did fhdsjkg. It was really fun though and I was so please to realise that I wasn't as out of practice as I feared I would be :')

I also realise that a lot of you newer fans might not know what the file names next to each drawing refer to, so here you go:

All screenshots that I have saved to my computer and use as reference for these studies are from cap-that, which, incredibly, is being kept up to date to this day! A fantastic resource, so make sure you bookmark it~

[the-everqueen]

me [takes your face gently between my hands]: hob gadling would not be a history professor at any number of british universities because of how humanities academia works and even if he were, rose walker would not be his student or advisee.

[archivlibrarianist]

Takeaways from the article:

"Comics were a popular format of reading for children and young people: 2 in 5 (40.3%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 told us they read comics or graphic novels on paper, screen, or both at least once a month...

"Children and young people who read comics were more engaged with reading, regardless of their age:

"Nearly twice as many children and young people who read comics in their free time told us that they enjoy reading compared with those who didn’t read comics in their free time (58.6% vs. 33.1%)...

"Children and young people told us that they read comics because they were accessible and engaging, supported their wellbeing, and provided opportunities to learn about different cultures." (emphasis added)

[catoswound]

might have to start learning latin on my own. ermmm salwe qwuirites....

[sickfreaksirkay]

having university doubts goddd kill me

[cheese-monger]

hi to my beautifully ancient tumblr mutuals 🩵

after 13 years of using this app… it’s finally my turn to post a gofundme!!! (´∀`)ノ～♡

i’ve been invited to study IN LONDON with the communications department at grand valley state university!!!!!!!! i NEVER thought i could do this — i’m going back to school at 25 while working 2 jobs full — but this is my dream come true so i’m taking every loan and grant and scholarship and donation and ANYTHING

PLZ PLZ PLZ share if u r feel so kind and loving, i really could use the help i’m a first gen independent student really relying on scholarships that r dwindling :(!!! 🩵

[studying-space-of-annie]

Woke up at 6:40am and spent the entire morning revising for biology paper 1! I watched this summary video thingy and made a whole lotta notes for every info I got (I love these videos sm I always watch em to cram before an exam)

I did 25 min of studying n then 5min of rest. After each topic (B1 to B4) I did a lil youtube video style of myself explaining/teaching everything to my laptop. I also wrote out 6marker answers like practicals on sticky notes and put it up the wall (they wouldn't actually stick properly so I used blue tack lol). After I finished the video n everything I quickly scanned over a past paper just to see if I understand the concepts n stuff, it went pretty well! Im a tad more confident for biology now lmao, at least for paper 1. It's now 2pm so I'm gonna take an hour break until 3pm cuz I need to eat lunch n stuff, then imma do a drama past paper hw and business hw, and revise the topics quickly. I might also revise more for drama later on since my drama exam is in 3 days and business is in 4 days.

Let's hope I actually do all this and not just scroll away the rest of my day x3

[daily-whistlebreeze]

daily whistlepaw until bu becomes PoV day 1098

Songleap showing off the cool bug she found

[ef-1]

kate! this may be a weird question but how did you decide you wanted to do law and which law school to go to? im so confused with what i want to do and would appreciate any advice ❤️

nice try feds

[spookywriters]

Got let go suddenly from my miserable hell job today, but not TOO surprised that happened since I expected it. I'm not terribly concerned just yet since I have like...four interviews this week and now I'm extra free to attend them, so hopefully one of those leads somewhere soon.

I think for now, I sleep in, catch up on movies and in general do what I can with the severe burnout I'm dealing with rn cause MAN do I want to be able to draw things again haha.

[gingerbreadmonsters]

sleepy and v fed up w this blasted reading for japanese history class tomorrow. give me 45 minutes to finish this article and i will be back to talk about kissing or something

[seaofreverie]

Delivery day!!!!!!!

[trans-uni-students]

I’m looking for trans people who attend a UK university to take part in my research into the feelings of belonging and safety of transgender university students! Please consider taking this brief anonymous questionnaire (5-10 minutes) to discuss what would improve your university experience as a trans person!