Welcome to our guest blogger for today: missbliss.
Our regular travel routes...
Whatever happened to home towns? It seems we YPs are destined to live a life in transit. Admittedly, The Little Medic and I brought some of this upon ourselves by being in a long distrance relationship (LDR for those in the know). At best we were 180 miles apart, at worst 280. Still, I’d graduate eventually and then we’d show ‘em.
Last summer, I finally did graduate and in order to be with The Little Medic, I decided to take my PGCE (teacher training) in the same city as him. After 18 months in a LDR we would finally be together. Hurrah! Unfortunately, the medical school had an ace up their sleeve and placed him in a hospital 40 miles away from said city. We had been hoping to have a nice little rented place together and be able to use public transport to get to our respective school and hospital. So much for that cunning plan. We have the (very) little flat, but also monster commutes: both travelling approximately 4 hours a day thanks to school and hospital placements. [God knows what this is doing for our ‘carbon footprint’. At least we don’t jet off to foreign climes on a regular basis. If only.] We joke that he used to travel a 360 mile round trip at the weekend to get to see me, whereas now he travels a 78 mile daily round trip to get away from me. Still, he’ll graduate eventually and then we’ll show ‘em.
But will we ever be able to settle down and makes roots? Not if MMC or MTAS have anything to do with it, it seems. For them, ‘upwardly mobile’ has a different meaning altogether: we will stick you wherever we want. Got a house, family, friends, commitments? Not any more you don’t. Shiny Happy Person is a perfect example of someone in a horrendously regrettable situation.
So when we were counting down the years to having a house near to our workplaces and maybe contemplating a f..f..family (gosh, that’s scary to type out loud) we were sorely mistaken. It seems settling is a thing of the past, or at least it is for today’s YPs.
We’re also pushing to the back of our minds the £50,000+ combined debt we’ll be in to the Student Loans Company come 2008. Shunted backwards and forwards, loaded with debt. That’s the way they like to treat educated, ambitious, public-sector keyworkers in this country. The question: “is it worth it?” is never far from our minds.
4 comments:
You seem to have taken over my blog young lady. Get your own blog you monster.
Nice post though :)
I honestly don't know how the two of you do it, but I am sure that your relationship is stronger for it. Hopefully TLM will get bags of honours points and have his pick of F1 posts
Maybe you should both emigrate to a country which appreciates hard-working, dedicated young people. Personally I am getting surer by the day that once Foundation is out the way i'm outta this hell-hole. Only problem is where to go. Oz/NZ looks tempting, but I fear that in 10 years time all the imported docs will be shafted in a similar way to what Patsy has done to all our excellent immigrant docs.
The US just doesn't appeal, quite apart from the nightmare of transferring qualifications, I don't think I could work in a system which has all but zero provision for social healthcare.
Canada has always been my ideal destination, specifically Quebec, so maybe I should start brushing up the old francais
Hi MissBliss! It's nice to hear from you too and hear your take on things.
You're right, unfortunately. Your boyfriend's future is uncertain and it looks like it's going to be a bit of a long, uphill slog.
Still, though, he might equally end up getting a job in the deanery of his choice.
I sympathise fully with the monster commutes, though. I might be in the same situation, though there's no significant other in my case.
I feel for you both.
Do take care.
And keep blogging!
This is what worries me most about going to HYMS. My girlfriend will be in London, we will both be skint and neither of us can drive. Trains cost a bomb, and it's not like I can just take a week out whenever I want to travel down and see her.
I wish there was a solution...
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