Alumni

RECONNECT WITH BHAVIK SOLANKITHE OXBRIDGE EXPERIENCEGREED- BOOK REVIEW

NEWSLETTERTHE SUMMER EXPERIENCE + INSPIRATION +RECONNECT + CULTURE + THINK

SEPTEMBER2010

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2 Messages Director’s Message 2 President’s Message 2 Sachin’s Thoughts 2

3 Cogito Ergo Sum Summer Volunteering 3 The Duke of Edinburgh experience 4 The Oxbridge experience 5

6 Inspiration

9 Reconnect With Bhavik Solanki 9

11 Culture Film- Redundant actors 11 Travel- The Cuban experience 12 Book review- Greed by Phyllis A. Tickle 13

13 Think Think Riddle 14 Bear Adventures 14 Discussions and Announcements 14

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DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Yet another year has passed, with young budding ‘geeks’ making their way through the Institute. Furthermore, I have seen students grow rapidly and some who have taken the time to reflect on the past year. I can confidently say that for all our students a ‘new paradigm’ as opened up.

This edition marks the journey of our students hav-ing travelled into this new paradigm. This edition also marks the start of the journey for new bud-ding students aka new Level One & Two students who are just about to start this coming September. For our Level One Grads, my personal con-gratulation goes out to Shyrie Patel, Devi Dave and Charlie Patel Sweeney for achieving the top marks for the Level One Programme. I wish you well on the journey you take.

And finally, I am proud and impressed with the Alumni Committee (Kamal, Srikant, Rajan, Sumeet and Nikita) for giving the newsletter a facelift and having done such a brilliant job. They have set the standard for all future committees. Now, I’m looking forward to the year the commit-tee has planned for all our students and alumni.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Five summer holidays ago I along with two of my friends went to Barcelona for ten days – It was an experience I’ll never forget. From relaxing on the beach watching the sun set and accidently skimming my mobile into the Mediterranean sea to running after the Catalonian mafia down the Las Ramblas with swords in hand to venturing into what seemed to be the gay capital of Spain – Sitges, (besides the latter)we experienced it all!

Since then I made a pledge to myself that I’d take a couple of days out every summer to explore a place that I hadn’t been to be-fore. Last summer I travelled around Europe with a friend. We went as east as Krakow (Po-land) as south as Rome and as west as Paris.

The summer is the time you get to do all the crazy wild things you want to do! This edi-tion is all about what Star Plus students did to create a memorable experience of their summer. I want to thank Chandni, Amit & Akshay for sharing their experiences!

Hope you've had a happy and productive sum-mer.

SACHIN’S THOUGHTS

‘Truth is often seen to be apparent. Truth is also a fact. A re-cent incident reminded that Truth can be ambiguous.’

To read Sachins thoughts please click on the tree

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SUMMER VOlUNTEERING

Akshay graduated earlier this year from the Star Plus Level One Programme. He’s currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Drama for his A levels at Queen Elizabeth College. Akshay aspires to go into a career of medicine. He shares his summer experience below:

During my summer holidays, although it was tempting to simply sit back and relax, I wanted to stay active and make these days off col-lege as productive as possible. This was an essential requirement

for my future plan of pursuing a medical degree. In order to meet these requirements, I in-dependently organised some voluntary work; firstly in a local youth group and secondly at an old people’s home. All I did was ring up the organisations and speak a few of the workers and the next thing I knew they were willing to offer me the post. It helps to know someone on the inside to give you an insight of it’s like working for the organisation and what kind of people they look for. Lucky for me, I knew some friends and family within the organisation.

Having friends who share the same ambition (to go to medical school) can make it easier to find opportunities for voluntary work. To help each other out we often recommend organisations that offer work experience. Consequently, I was able to get in touch with Connexions and the Diversity Hub.

Working with Connexions has been fun to saythe least, I’ve had the privilege to at-tend events such as the Glastonbudget festival and the Leicester Mela. They even let me show off my skills in the performing arts by presenting a film for the organisation.

Through the Diversity Hub I have been able to become a member of the young people’s council. Here I can get involved in all the current debates about the important issues that affect the com-munity and it allows me to get my voice heard by the senior members of parliament. I’ve even had a chance to involve my creativity in the workshops that are delivered to secondary school students and youth clubs.

The experiences I’ve gained this summer have helped me to develop the essential transfer-able and softer skills I’ll need when I’m on the medical course. Overall, I think I’ve had quite a productive and enjoyable summer. It’s amazing what happens when you muster up the cour-age and make the first move- you’ll find that a simple phone call can go a long way. Try it!

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THE DUkE Of EDINbURGH ExPERIENCE

Amit Visana graduated from the Star Plus Level One Programme in the class of 2009. He graduated from the Level two Programme earlier this year and he is currently taking the Level three Pro-gramme. Amit is studying the IB course at Queen Elizabeth Col-lege and has achieved distinguished academic grades. Amit hopes to study Physics at Harvard University in the United States. Amit is involved in the Duke of Edinburgh awards. He explores wheth-er the Duke of Edinburgh awards can increase one’s prospects of getting into a top university. He shares his summer experiences:

In April, I was one of many who attended a conference at the Walkers Stadium held by Oxford and Cam-bridge. I can recall one particular seminar (promisingly entitled “Applying to Oxbridge”) where a hopeful student had asked whether the Duke of Edinburgh Award increased the chances of being admitted into one of their colleges. Being a good way into my own Silver Award, I remember thinking it to be an excellent question and was keen on hearing what the professor had to say.

His reply came loaded with sarcasm: “Yes, of course! It thoroughly pre-pares students for the secret entry test where we drop them into the middle of nowhere and see how well they navigate themselves out.” A few months on, I went on my expedition in the Peak District along with twenty or so others in the group. On the coach jour-ney back, it was easy to see that everyone had enjoyed it. From the stories being told, it seemed that we had all in some way been attacked by cows, jumped through electric fences, gotten “re-ally lost” and, in some cases, even had near death experiences.

What was forgotten was how groups had managed to solve the problem of an incoming bovine at-tack, how it had been decided that it was necessary to climb through a charged fence, how teams had kept morale up when the finish was nowhere in sight. And how had groups convinced strug-

gling members that they were not “dying” and were able to go on?

These are some of the “softer skills” that I saw being developed. I then be-gan to realize what the professor had meant, at least this is what I like to think. Merely putting Duke of Edinburgh Award down on an application does not signify anything. But if you can effectively show that through this experience you are, for example, an effective decision-maker or a strong motivational speaker, then this may be a valuable investment of your time.

I also have a feeling that if he’d answered otherwise, the number of students applying to Oxbridge claiming to have done the Duke of Edinburgh Award would have seen a substantial increase. I guess in the end it’s what you make of the experience that determines how useful it is. My advice is to make the most of every situation!

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THE OxbRIDGE ExPERIENCE

Chandni graduated from the Star Plus Level Two Programme in the class of 2008. She reads Economics at Cambridge Univer-sity, Robinson College. She has currently finished her first year with a first class honours. The year before going to university, Chandni enrolled onto the Oxbridge summer placement. She shares the experience of one of her most memorable summers:

Going to university is a daunting but exciting experience for any student, and the thought of go-ing to Oxbridge is especially so – on both counts. As a state-educated ‘kid’ from Leicester, the image of Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’ or Cambridge’s Senate House was very distant. However, the Access Sum-mer School offered by Cambridge allowed students from typically deprived backgrounds to have ‘off the cuff’ chats with “Cambridge-ites”. This experience broke down many barriers for me personal-ly, especially about the image of the stereotypical ‘Cambridge student’ that classically comes to mind.

I was accepted by Robinson College, Cambridge to read Economics last year after 5 exhausting interviews. I was placed in the ‘Winter Pool’; (the group of students not accepted by their first choice of college). The most obvious difference between Oxbridge and other universities (with the exception of Durham) is the collegiate system; the colleges are where students live, eat, socialise and are taught in small groups.The Oxbridge experience starts well before October; just after finishing my A-levels in June I was greeted with a sizeable (2 page-long) reading list from the Faculty of Economics at Cambridge. However, everyone should be well aware that admitting to have read anything from a ‘summer reading list’ is not respected by fellow students!

A word of warning: Cambridge, only gives students a four-day freshers’ week! I found this out on the fifth day when I started receiving a stream of emails in quick succession from various supervisors sending the work for the week; typically 3 or 4 essays or problem sheets a week. It is fair to say that the type of work set will be dramatically different to what you’ve been used to at school; furthermore, often the questions asked may not yet have been covered in lectures – but this is deliberate. This system creates indepen-dent learners where you are encouraged to grapple with the fundamental concepts before being formally taught about them through lectures.

A critical part of the educational experience at Oxbridge is the ‘supervision’ (Cambridge) or ‘tutorial’ (Oxford), where you learn in groups of 2-3 with a Supervisor or Tutor, who’s often a world class expert in your chosen field. Generally, a Supervision involves a critical discussion and typically leads onto fur-ther, deeper discussions about the topics in question. Supervisions are engineered to make you think so don’t worry if your first piece of work is covered with copious amounts of red ink – although the style of teaching may be daunting at first, you soon begin to tackle concepts from a variety of angles and depth.

The social scenes at Oxbridge are diverse. Being the watering hole for famous individuals from all over the globe, it is easily possible to rub shoulders with the high flyers and academically elite, and listen to many heated debates at the Unions. Certainly the post-exam time is the most exciting part of the year; the College May Balls bring a spectacular finish to the summer term. This year has been full of some amazing experiences. The Ox-bridge experience might not be as distant as you think- but you’ll never know unless you proactively make a move to find out for yourself!

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Sgwd-yr-Eira falls, Ystradfellte in the brecon beacons, Wales 2010.

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Trummelbach falls, Interlaken in Switzerland 2009.

bHAVIk SOlANkI graduated from the Star Plus course in 2007. He is currently a first-class student studying Economics and Accounting at the University of Sheffield. He is in his second year of study but he is no ordi-nary economist- he is a geek with a kick (or more appropriately a punch). Bhavik, in his spare time is a boxer. He has won all of his fights so far. Yeah, I bet you

weren’t expecting that! Not only this, he is quite cultured as well – he is a great Art lover and you can tell by his dress sense that he’s a bit trendy. He’s an undisputed boxing champion but he comes across with a humble demeanour. I can only define Bhavik as a person who breaks stereotypes. I recently interviewed him and it’s clear that he lives a very interesting life. What do you say to the majority of people who view boxing as just a blood sport? Boxing to the normal person is thought to be a blood sport, a sport taken up by big, violent, angry individuals because they haven’t been exposed to the true mechanics of boxing. The mentality instilled by my trainer is that boxing is in fact a science where every punch and every block is calculated. So, ‘boxing is less about how hard or fast one can hit and more about how smartly one can hit’. My trainer believed it is the spirit and character of the fight-er that makes the fighter, not how big or strong he is and he drilled this mentality into me.

‘University is a lifestyle choice, so make it worth something!’

How has boxing helped build your character? Has it changed the way you deal with people? Well, before I took up boxing, I wasn’t great at sports or very athletic in particular; so after some success in boxing, it is safe to say, it has given me a lot of confidence and self belief. Without running the risk of sounding clichéd, it’s having the courage to dream that is the biggest step one can take to touching their dream. It’s also given me the confidence to com-municate my ideas and opinions more clearly. Because of boxing, I had to lead a very re-sponsible and disciplined lifestyle, for example, boxers have to be tip-top physical condi-tion for any fight so this means no drugs or substances such as alcohol so I had to avoid these vices especially as a first year student where the temptation to drink is overwhelming.

How have you generally handled University social life? First of all, I would like to say that the social life at university is all very overwhelming especially as a fresher and it’s normal to feel like a small fish in a big ocean; there are so many forces pulling and pushing you in different directions, throwing you about in this big ocean. So it’s normal to feel lost and unsure where you quite belong, but rest assure that this barrage does stop and you’re left to decide what circles you want get involved in. One thought that helped me weather this storm was; ‘you are the people who surround you’. So anything I got involved in, I made circles with those who were the best at whatever it was and those would have a positive impact on me.

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I know from my own experience that University life challenges your emotional stability by throw-ing you from extreme highs to extreme lows, how have you emotionally coped with this? There’s no one ‘set in stone’ method of coping with the emotional rollercoaster of university life. Firstly, you have to accept that you will get thrown around emotionally; you might hit cloud nine and hit rock bottom all within a week! The biggest and most helpful advice I can give is visit home. Home is where most people feel secure, it’s safe. For me, personally all the emotional rides of university life eased when I came home; things just made more sense at home!

What has been your most memorable experience at University? My first amateur boxing fight as you might have guessed. What makes it so memorable was the change in emotion I felt within half an hour... So I was alone in my changing room psyching myself for the first fight of my life and I can still remember even after all the hard training I had put in I was petrified, scared to death...I wanted to go home and forget all about boxing. I was alone in Sheffield 60 miles away from home and getting ready to fight a total stranger. Before I knew it I was already in motion and with each step I took closer to the ring I knew there was no room for turning back. I had no choice but to become more confident with each step so by the time I had stepped into the ring and locked eyes with my opponent, I was a god in my mind...no-one could beat me! Finally the bell for the first round rang and it was a first round k.o. with a two punch combo to the body and head countering his left hook. When I saw my opponent wasn’t going to make the ten counts and my arm was raised as the winner. I was elated. I was on top of the world. I felt all the pain and suffering I had to endure in not just training but in all my life was all worth it for that one moment. It was just an outpour of emotion. It’s a day I will not forget and a memory I shall treasure for life.

How has Star Plus helped with your time at University? Well I feel I have been able to juice the university ex-perience for all its worth and make the most out of it as I got involved in as many things as I could to set me apart from the crowd. If there’s one thing I learnt

from Star Plus it’s that ‘you have to set yourself apart from the crowd’. Furthermore the study skills; in particular the Cornell note-taking method, I picked up from my time at Star Plus has enabled me to succeed in my studies and perform well in exams. This technique has meant the challenge of balancing my commitments to boxing and my studies has been made easier which has allowed me to do well in both arenas.

What three pieces of advice would you give to current Star Plus students that will be starting University soon? Don’t be afraid of change. Get involved in as many societies as possible. Choose positive social circles. ‘University is a lifestyle choice, so make it worth something!’

If any Star Plus student wants to be in touch then they can contact Bhavik at bhavik_31@hotmail.com.

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REDUNDANT ACTORS?Rajan Kaushal graduated from the Star Plus Programme 2008. He holds a place on the Alumni committee as the Events co-ordinator. He’s currently studying Drama and hopes for a career in acting but he explains how his future along with other aspiring actors/actresses could potentially be at risk because of visual effects technology and the CGI (Computer Generated Images) used in movies every year.

In 1999 Oliver Reed was in Malta Island, shooting for his new movie ‘Gladiator’. Oliver Reed was a renowned actor, who performed with passion and dedication but he was a very heavy drink-er and one day after his shooting he died from a heart attack. Having filmed a lot of his scenes, there were still some outstanding shots left. Director Ridley Scott used a body double and then, using digital technology, placed Reed’s face on the stand-in’s body (fight scenes). It cost about $3 million to recreate Oliver Reed but the film still won the Academy Awards for Best Picture.

A company called ‘Image Metrics’ who provide “superior facial animation solutions to the en-tertainment industry” Their aim is to “create believable facial” acts which will get the audience involved with the actor/actress, who portrayed in the digital films. ‘Image Metrics’ are really different from other visual effects companies. When they record, the actor/actress requires no makeup, markers or special equipment. When the actor/actress is being recorded, they can be either sitting or walking as they are taking direction from the director. What really mat-ters is that they portray there emotion and express their feelings as the character on camera. Once the all the footage has been recorded, ‘Image Metrics’ then use their visual technology to finish the job. According to ‘Image Metrics’ they say ‘We analyze the performance pixel-by-pixel, teaching the computer to “see” how an individual’s face moves’. Which then, they converted into 3D and applications such as ‘Maya’, ‘Houdini’ or ‘XSI’ are used. When the video is being modified, special notice is given to the eyes and lip movement as they should go hand in hand, other features such as wrinkles are given importance as they are human features.

Knowing that the competition is really tough to make it as an actor/actress, and have a pos-sibility of being replaced by visual effects and computers, I’m faced with a disheartening ques-tion - is there any point of young aspiring actors trying to reach their goals and dreams?

What are your thoughts? Share them on the Unlocking Potential: Fast Tracking Success face-book discussion.

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THE CUbAN ExPERIENCE

Dipak and Charmi both graduated from the Star Plus Level Two Programme in the class of 2008. Charmi is currently studying physiotherapy at the University of Nottingham. Dipak aspires for a career in medicine. Last year they both went to Cuba, they share their travel experience:

Cuba is a place where one battles between the idea of whether communism is truly an effec-tive way in which society should operate. Our travels took us deep into the Cuban lifestyle: from La Habana - where Jineteros and corruption fuels the city, Viñales - where the tranquil coun-tryside seduces you, Cienfuegos - where we stumbled across a writer (Jorge Clark), Trinidad - the city dominated by artists each expressing their culture in different lights, Santa Clara - where beloved Ernesto Che rests and finally to Varadero - where tourists flood the ten mile sandy beaches.

The country spends half of its life waiting, whilst the other half is spent on rocking chairs. Cuba is won-derful for eighty percent of the population where there is free health care, free education, no homeless people or beggars and no starvation. Considering we are talking about a third world country, this sound great; however Cuban people have no motive to excel. The government has a well controlled regime which suppresses its people by propaganda.

Travelling, using the internet (ten CUC an hour) and making international phone calls (four CUC per minute) are in fact legal yet; when the average wage is twelve CUC (£10) per month, it makes these luxuries virtu-

ally IMPOSSIBLE. Saying this, the highlight of our expedition was beyond any politic debate, it was the heart beat of the country; the people. They welcomed us with open arms into their homes and went out of their way to facilitate for our needs. A talented artist in Trinidad explained that 2+2=5 in Cuba, I hope one day you will learn to understand him as we did.

Travelling isn’t about accumulating interesting sto-ries to tell at cocktail parties. It really is an amazing experience because it broadens one’s view of the world. Since there’s a whole world out there for you to explore, why not making something of this summer?!

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GREEDbY PHYllIS A. TICklE

Khilesh Radia graduated from the Star Plus Level Two Programme earlier this year. Khilesh aspires to study medicine at university. He is currently undertaking the Level Three Programme. He sharers his thoughts on GREED, a book by Phyllis A. Tickle.

This book explores the complexities of what it describes as “The Deadliest Sin”, trying to show its evolution from “a spiritual enemy to a physiological deficiency”. Tickle’s approaches this by venturing through GREED’s various portrayals in art work and literature lead-ing to its place in society during those times. She describes GREED’s journey from a predominantly religious issue into a moral issue, ultimately leading to how GREED governs much of the world today.

Despite the book’s very relevant warning and intriguing ideas it has failed to penetrate beyond its mainly academic audience into the wider world. This is mainly due to the complicated terminology coupled with the badly chosen examples giving a sense of intellectual snobbery which stops many people from appreci-ating the significance of the book. This not helped by the continuous deviation that occurs in the book with Tickle often seen to be ‘waffling on’ about irrelevant ideas, even to the extent that the admirable thoughts are masked in the ‘waffle’.

Tickle’s deeply religious views are clearly apparent in the book. Although the book is largely based on Christian beliefs she does consider other religious views however the non-religious view is never explored. But per-haps the most significant flaw in the book is its inability to answer the fundamental question, what is GREED?

Overall GREED is a very fascinating read with some powerful ideas and messages however it is severely let down the extravagant but poor style of the author that seems to disconnect the reader too frequently.

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ANNOUNCMENTSUpcoming talks:

How to get involved with the Windsor Fel-lowship Programme by an Alumni student.

The essentail tips and advice for studying at Oxford by an Oxford University student.

Keep an eye out on the Unlocking Potential Facebook Group for further information.

If you go to the movies and you’re paying is it cheaper to take one friend to the movies twice, or two friends to the movies at the same time?

Share your answer on the Unlocking Potential discussion group on FaceBook.

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CREDITS

Cogito Ergo Sum- Akshay Sharma, Amit Visanai, Chandani Ganatra. Inspi-ration- Danny Gohil. Reconnect- Bhavik Solanki. Culture- Rajan Kaushal, Dipak Makanji, Charmi Lathia, Khilesh Radia. Think- Srikant Varadaraj.

Alumni Committee- Kamal Nandha, Srikant Varadaraj, Sumeet Sonigra, Rajan Kaushal, Nikita Thakrar, Shaheena Rajabali.

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