Couple of (possibly naive) questions

[CallumA]

Right okay, not sure if this is he right area but lets dive in.

What happens on the first day of college fo deckies (if its any different from engine boys that is) and what sort of hours do the colleges keep? i.e, 9 until 5, 9 until 3, etc.

I will also be commuting from home every day instead of staying at the halls of residence, so exclude parts about moving in, etc.

[MJD]

At Fleetwood our first day (arrival day) was made up of the whole phase arriving and meeting each other in the refectory, tours for new cadets and parents/ guardians, moving in to accommodation etc. The first day normally ends at about 20:30 after an introductory lecture with your tutor.

The first full day was made up of an early breakfast (everybody turns up the first morning - by the end of the phase only about three arrive early!) followed by a day of signing documents as well as more introductions to senior lecturers, library talk etc. If I remember we spent a couple of days doing that.

As for hours, we do 0900 - 1600.

Hope this helps,

Mike

[Lewis]

Expect to be in Monday to Friday 9 to 5
The first day will be spent doing various bits of admin. Lots of forms and death by PowerPoint.

[CallumA]

Ah thanks, difference being, I'll be commuting from home every day.

[Martyboy]

Ah yea, Well I guess you'll just turn up at reception of the college and ask where to go. The first day at South Shields is spent enrolling and getting handed out a million different books, getting your picture taken and your ID card issued etc and then you'll have classes, most of which are introductions to things and the handing out of more books............ Enough to bring down a small forest Bring a bag! What college are you starting at?

Classes at STC run from:

0900-1030
1045-1215
1315-1445
1500-1630

Although it's not garuntee'd you will be in ever class, especially in your later phases.

[CallumA]

I will be going to Glasgow.

[EH75]

Mostly 9 to 5, especially in phase one but you might get some afternoons off.

First day, I can't really remember but probably there will be a lot of form filling in, PowerPoint about stuff you will letter realise is nonsense and a great deal of standing about wondering why lecturers haven't turned up and general poor organisation.

[Pilot Chris]

Just as a side CallumA you probably will have to put a bit more time into integrating into your class if you are going to commute from home as a lot of bonding occurs outside of hours.

I'm surprised as it used to be the case regardless of circumstances you had to stay in halls on the first phase (for obvious reasons in our industry)

[CallumA]

Well I was told that as I live close enough to the college I could commute every day. I think the fact that the old halls are away now could have something to do with it.

[thebrookster]

Just depends on how far away you live. We had a few guys in my class who commuted, two guys who came up from Irvine & Prestwick, two guys lived in Glasgow, and I commuted in from Shotts. Oh, and another lad came from Dumbarton.

Was never an issue really, OK you had to keep a weather eye on public transport timing if you decided to have a few in the pub, but if need be floor space could be found without much difficulty! If you live in Glasgow, then there should be little problems on that front however!!

[CallumA]

Thanks for the replies, I'm actually commuting from a wee (well, fairly sized) town a few miles south of Glasgow. I'm surprised at people commuting frm Irvine and Dumbarton though.

[thebrookster]

The lad from Irvine I never quite understood, I think he had decided it was financially better to continue living with parents etc.

The lad from Dumbarton pretty much had his own house (owned by father who lived with gf), and a part time job initially.

The "lad" from Prestwick was 30 when he started the course, and was married with 3 children (had another two during the cadetship as well!!).

I hope you are Hamilton/Motherwell direction, cause then the train is nice and easy for you, you can use Argyle St Station which is far handier than Central, particularly in the rain!!! (Lost count of the number of times I fell flat on my back and face by cutting through St Enoch's on a wet day, and forgetting my shoes were crap on that floor!! )

[Lewis]

I'm from Hamilton and I stayed in st lukes definetly worth it for first phase.

[thebrookster]

If you are in the close next to the wardens office in St Lukes, do let me know if there is still a blood trail leading to Flat 3/2! (We had quite an exciting year there in my first phase).

[Martyboy]

I have heard from people that Maersk usually send cadets away from home, IE I'm from Glasgow and the No.1 bus takes 14 min's from my front door to central bridge, but i was sent to Shields, People form Edinburgh sent to Warsash and People from Newcastle sent to Fleetwood....... This may just be by chance, but as Chris said, it makes sense to live away from home at college instead of flying to Australia or Brazil and THEN finding out you get homesick!