...Where is everybody?

As day one of the S.P.A.C.E Odyssey workshops comes to a close, I thought I would also add my thoughts on their initial success. The general consensus amongst tutors and students so far seems to be that the day has been somewhat of a disappointment. Whilst some workshop sign up sheets in the EEC foyer are labelled 'full', others still have rather a lot of free spaces. But the evidence when you take a walk around the studios suggests that many of the students who signed up did not turn up and if they did, they didn't stick around.

There is no doubt that with all the organisation that has gone into this week and considering all the activities available, this is a disappointment to those who worked hard putting the programme together. As for us students, we need to ask ourselves - how often do we really get the chance to work with the special professors, fellow SBE'ers from other year groups, and do something where we can let our imaginations run wild and have a lot of fun without worrying about whether we're getting a good pass mark at the end of it? We really ought to be grabbing this opportunity with both hands and getting stuck in.

So why has the S.P.A.C.E Odyssey thus far gone off with more of a feeble pop than a Big Bang? It's a combination of factors. There is the general laziness that descends after the end of Semester 1, everyone a bit miffed that they spent their Christmas doing coursework and finding it hard to get fired up about anything new ('I've only just finished all the work!!') whilst looking forward to spending an entire week in a comatose state, catching up on sleep. In the cold dark month of January even a fairly keen student may opt for more time hiding under a duvet when the alternative is 'non-compulsory', no matter how interesting it may actually be. But it could also be that there was not a long enough build up to the event - most of the information began arriving less than a week before the launch, by which point many students would have decided, rightly or wrongly, that they had a 'week off' coming up, and already planned visits here there and everywhere. By the time they knew what was going on, it was already too late. So, despite everything that has in fact been organised, is the school's reputation for disorganisation to blame?

I think we have to realise this is a two way thing. Without enthusiasm, few are going to gain anything meaningful from this week. So let's make an effort to come to the studio, brush away the memories of last semester's crit, immerse ourselves in the events taking place, and take this week for what it is - something different - after all, a change is as good as a rest!