Can you go a week or even a day without listening to music?

About ten years ago when asked: “What would you take with you if you were stranded in an island?” my common answers would be food, clothes and my partner; but now it’s different – an answer to this question is most likely to be “food, clothes and my mp3 player.”

“I can’t live without music!” Have you ever heard or said that statement? The average person can survive three minutes without air, three days without water, and forty days without food. How long can you survive without music?

With music being such a staple in youth culture, it seems that every person has a “soundtrack to their life.” Today, it is very common for us to see people of all ages carrying MP3 players even when travelling short distances.

Has it become an addiction? Have they become musicoholic??

The answer to whether or not music can affect a person’s behaviour is not a simple matter of a yes or no answer.

Nowadays, listening to an MP3 player is extremely easy to do and you can find people listening to music, learning new languages through MP3 recordings, etc. Consequently, teenagers in precise, will be able to come up with thousands of reasons why they absolutely need an MP3 player.

image by FabianReichert

You can listen to music while you study, travel to and from school, when you exercise, as the music for your alarm clock, before you go to sleep to relax, and the list goes on. Personally, after observing a host of people who got an MP3 player recently, I noticed that the majority of them stopped talking to their friends or acquaintances when they are listening to their mp3 players and this seems to lower their level of socializing.

This might also affect their studies, since they might be tempted to play games on their MP3 player or to listen to music while they study. Some researchers say that listening to music while you study helps you remember better, but it depends on the type of music they listen to, of course.

If I were to relate this to myself, I will have to say that I was a music addict myself; I pretty much behaved the way most musicoholics did; it really does cause isolation, affects studies and it may even cause ear damage. Of course, like everything music has its pros and cons. It is crucial for us to avoid letting the cons get to us and affect our lives.

by Betül

Photos from around the ISC

These photos were taken in and around the Lancaster ISC

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All photos (c) Alexandra Bakalova

Hello there! My name is Alexandra!

I am very happy and exited having such a possibility to share with you my own experience in student life. Hopefully, I will answer some of your questions and you find it useful in the future!

Who is she? And why shall I read all this?

Yes, I absolutely agree! Before we to start our friendship you should find the reason to trust me.

Let me introduce myself, so we can become friends.

As I mentioned before, my name is Alexandra and I am Bulgarian. Why am I in Britain? Let me try to explain.

To be honest I am not a kind of perfect child in my family – and my family is not perfect, that they still do not see me as a genius. As a good parents: my father saw me as a successful business-lady working for a well-known company, and mother wanted to create someone outstanding from me. However, their little daughter was a normal child: attending school, playing violin, drawing and playing hockey with boys. At 14 I decided that it is time of changing and I finally started to work on myself for my future career. I started to try myself in different areas : art , music, history , in general I started from what were most interesting for me at that moment . It was successful. When i become 15 my father suggested me to study abroad as a perspective to gain new skills and new experience in order to utilize these skills in my country. But I rejected this proposal, suggesting, it is still my father’s dream, not mine!

Yes, in some ways, I disappointed my family. But I still was waiting for this moment of my own inspiration and a moment of mature actions. Someone famous (and I think very clever) said: “…a true hero is not the one who establishes justice on purpose, in order to be recognised, but the one who can not do otherwise!”

So I did not want to be a fake hero.

May 2008, I told my family that I applied for foundation program in Lancaster University and this is one of my individual decision. Now i am studying in the library of Lancaster University. And the only thing I can say to you that this is one of my first independent and individual decision, and one of the best!

Building Happiness – Architecture to make them smile!

A fundraising activity is always a great idea to help your school raise the money that it needs with the help & participation of the whole community for the happening of a good purpose.

It is also an excellent way for students to understand the value of money and to learn that hard work pays off. Hence, every movement needs money to support whatever the campaign is going to need.

I believe that by now, we should all be aware of the fund raising activity that has been started by LUISC in order to help raise money for the Study Group Charity, Building Futures. In specific, the money will be used to help build a school in the Southwest of China, particularly in the area affected by the earthquake in May last year. Almost a year has passed from this incidence; that’s true.

Yet, within this time interval, don’t you think that those children still carry the scars it bought? Don’t you think that the feeling of desperation has escalated?? Clearly, things have been very tough for them for quite a while now. You know how sometimes you think it can’t get worse but it does? Oh yes does it ever!! Everyday seems to be either an up-hill struggle or has a “hanging on by your eyelashes” kind of a feel to it.

Thus, as you will understand, this is a tremendous task. I take on that we all have to support them in the favor of the work they are doing for those who are in need – as support is our social responsibility.

The amount of charity does not really matter. What matters is our taking part in such a crucial event and planting a smile on the faces of some kids. We can make a vital difference in someone’s life merely by doing the simplest things.

Centre Head... with beard... for now!

And speaking of planting a smile, I believe that if we prosper in collecting 1000 pounds, apart from living the elation of lending a hand to others, seeing Martin shave off his beard especially for the first time in 40 grand years is, worth it. Don’t you think?? =)

For this to become a reality, I anticipate that we all do whatever we can to make this project happen. After all, education is the best tool to unlock the vicious & self-perpetuating cycle of hunger and poverty.

So guys, let’s roll up our sleeves and climb the support mountain together!!

• Help build a school in the Southwest of China

Hello world!

Hello everyone, this is Betül.

I was asked to take part in the online blogging & was more than happy to write to the website every month. Likewise, I hope you’ll be happy to read my writings.
Let me make a start by telling a bit about myself.
I come from Turkey and back then, I was second year Business Management but then I decided that I needed a dramatic change in my life. So I decided to resume my education in England – precisely in Lancaster University. I am currently in the foundation year of Law and Social Studies. I didn’t just “decide” and it happened. Applying this decision was as hard as taking it but then I had a go & here I am.

This is a very new experience for me; it’s the first time I sail for new horizons, alone.

When studying in Turkey, I lived in a house but now I live on campus. Living on campus is pretty enjoyable. It’s a good way to experience college life, teaches you to be more responsible as you are alone, increases social life & accessibility to the school is easier.

Though, it was quiet hard at the beginning – but then, nothing is a piece of cake from the very start.
When one is in an environment he’s never been to before, it’s a good idea to mingle with people and participate in social events. For instance last Friday, a group of us went to Morecambe. Despite the dullness of the weather, I enjoyed the sea and the atmosphere as a whole. Some of us went bowling while the rest of us played a Laser Quest. To sum up, it was a pleasant change.

All in all, it’s a very good environment for studying or living. You’re not isolated from town, which is around ten minutes away.

They say first impressions last, mine surely did.