To the Editor of the Greenhillian.
Just over two years ago we were told that we had been awarded places in London University. After the excitement of this news had died down, the mind began to ask itself questions about what London life would be like. How would it feel to spend your nights in digs when previously you had lived at home? How would it feel studying when there were no teachers to give you homework every night? We were soon to find out.
The journey to London was peaceful, with England unfurling itself as we travelled southwards. And then suddenly we were there. Out we stepped into the noise of taxis, street vendors, the rattle of the underground, the crowds, the buses, all hurrying by and taking no notice of the new arrivals.
Then came the first weeks at college, which to the undergraduate must be the hardest days of his life. As an undergrad he is subject to the ridicule of his fellow-students and is made to perform all sorts of ridiculous antics for their amusement. Those memories of the first few days are bound to stay with us for a lifetime - such things as eating with Africans, Asians, Americans, in fact people from every continent. The man on one side of you might have come from a public school; the one on your other side might have been a government official from Nigeria. Nor will you forget the time when a Hindustani fellow had the cheek to ask if you were English, and how you indignantly replied that you were, cursing your Lancashire accent and his ignorance of dialects.
Now the years have ticked on, and we find ourselves in the third session and on the last leg of our university course. Now we are old hands at the game. We walk about as if we owned the place, and recently submitted the Freshmen to the treatment we once received, and laughed uproariously at it. We shall be sorry to leave when our time comes, but then we can't stay here all our lives. To any of you at school hoping to go to a college we give only this advice. If you get the chance, take it, and find the rest out for yourselves. To the teachers at school we say thank you for coaching us along the academic road; and to the taxpayers of Oldham, for they are very important, we say thank you for making our journey possible. And to the School as a whole we wish the best of luck, for we are very proud to have been pupils of it.
M. BROOK, D. ELWELL,
London School of Economics, Imperial College.
ANSWER TO CROSSWORD.
ACROSS.
1, Revelations. 8, Asa. 9, O.T. 10, Salts. 11, Stoma. 13, East. 14, Even. 15, Rend.
16, Nail. 18, Pear. 19, Lip. 20, Eels. 21, Pail. 24, Esau. 25, Cede. 27, As. 28, Odes. 29, Mere.
DOWN.
1, Rest in peace. 2, Vale. 3, Established. 4, Lass. 5, Inter alia. 6, Nomen.
7, Standardise. 12, Over. 17, Ill. 21, Peas. 22, Ass. 23, Lure. 26, Do.