Here is the latest blog by our student graduates.

 

 

 

               

               

 

                               Ryan Bounagui is a self-confessed news junkie, part-time mentor, part-time pie producer, full-time madman. Never too far from a pub.​

For a lot of graduates out there I bet London’s calling. It’s the land of opportunity you could say. Whether you hope to work in the media, finance or the arts; London holds several opportunities and has a strong graduate gravitational pull.

It’s something like a vortex for many a graduate, sucking up anything it recognises as ability or high-minded ambition. For a media man from the leafy suburb of Dennistoun, however, London’s the land of irritation.

Maybe it was a case of ‘wee guy in the big city’ and it’ll take some adjustment but based on my recent experiences of London it’s not what it’s cracked up to be. By the close of the summer I’ll have spent five working weeks in the self-contained universe where it’s a £10 return on the tube and it’s a crime to stand still on the escalator.

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the work I’m doing and feel very fortunate to be in such a position. But it’s difficult not to be miffed at a place where every single breathing organism runs around as though they’re late for a childbirth; it’s a far cry from Glasgow’s more laid back atmosphere.

The tube is the biggest bit of my beef with London. They couldn’t just keep it simple could they? On my first day at my placement last month I ended up late after being confused by all the different lines. My shiny, fresh-out-the-packet grey suit may have disguised the early onset of sweat patches – a result of travelling on the overcrowded tube – but it didn’t hide the difference between my start time and my arrival.

Luckily for me the good folks I was working for completely understood. They’re probably used to it.

If you’ve never had the misfortune of travelling on the underground let me paint you a picture. It’s a modern day cattle car in which bankers, lawyers, journalists, bricklayers, tourists, secretaries, babies, dogs, hamsters and plant pots are all squeezed into a carriage and hurled at balance-losing speed to various points across London.

At each stop you’ll then witness someone take on the Carriage Challenge, in which they have to say excuse me as many times as they can and find their way through to the freedom of the doors and the occasionally oxygenated platform. On really interesting days, namely Monday, sometimes the beeping will begin and you’ll see a 24/Die Hard style dash for the doors. All the while of course you watch this as you fiercely defend your three millimetres of territory that you’re currently sweating for.

London might well be the land of opportunity. It might well be the most popular city in the world. But it’ll never be Glasgow. I’ll take the subway and George Square over the tube and Trafalgar Square any day; especially Monday.