This has been another eventful week.

Jerome Frendo:  Losing one of yours is always very difficult to fathom and more so at such a tender age.  Jerome, this kind, sympathetic and generous young man was reading a BA (Hons.) in Social Wellbeing Studies with the Faculty for Social Wellbeing.  Jerome was an exemplary student and as a Faculty and University we tried our utmost to support him in his specific needs as he was undergoing treatment.  His dream, well one of them, was that of reading a BA that would help him open so many avenues in his life.  Unfortunately, life circumstances meant he was not to achieve this target. I am reassured that as a Faculty and University we did our very best to adapt and modify procedures to look at the individual needs of the student.  I hope that the support and mentoring we provided at least served to ensure Jerome enjoyed his studies.  He will be missed.

Susan Mulvaney:  Another big loss. Susan was not only a great broadcaster but her humanity was second to none.  She was sensitive to social issues and was a passionate mum, wife and grandmother who upheld strong values.  My concern is that we are running short of such broadcasters.  We are hardly replenishing the people we are losing in this sector.  The state of our media anchors, presenters and journalists needs restocking.

Adrian Delia:  The Leader of the Opposition has to come clean and provided us with an unblemished declaration of his finances.  Whether they are unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations or not, transparency is of the essence and he owes it to the People. 

Teaching course:  I come from the teaching profession.  Teaching has always been a passion and probably one of the most satisfying phases in my career. The challenge of teaching students’ day-in-day-out comes with so much responsibility.  It is undoubtedly a tremendously tough but nevertheless a fulfilling profession. The methodical degrading and belittling of this profession we saw unravelling these last years is wicked.

Budget:  A good one.  Some very interesting measures seem to be in place especially those attempting to address poverty and social exclusion.  There is also an effort to try to ensure the trickling of wealth to those who sit at the bottom of the heap. 

Traffic:  Everyone seems to spend the first half an hour of their work day speaking about how traffic has ruined their schedule and how frustrated and upset they are.  I am hearing of people who are taking one and a half hours to go to work, some even more.  This seems to have become the nemesis of this Government.  I really don’t know what the solution is to this bedlam, pandemonium, unruliness and anarchy but these piece-meal solutions of having smaller roundabouts and riveting a couple of nice orange plastic bollards is side-splitting.  Solutions need to be found, that is why we have politicians and experts.  I cannot imagine how much this mayhem is costing our coffers. 

Freshers’:  Freshers’ Week is now over and this is what I shared with my students when I met them; ‘If you want to know if you were successful, 3, 4 years down the line, there is a yardstick I invite you to embrace because your success is not ONLY measured by how high your grades were, or how neat your writing is, how insightful your dissertation was, how snazzy your placement reports look but - how you allowed this experience to change you, to transform you. 

One might ask, but in practical terms, what do I mean?

First measure: Simple, you are able to listen more than you talk...keep tabs on the inputs and the outputs...the more inputs you are gauging the smarter you are;

Second measure: Even simpler, you are able to run an argument without feeling this inept fear of annoyance, irritation or resentment - if you are proficient in engaging with someone’s argument, even if you might not agree, and still feel serene, composed and unruffled, then you are good.

Third measure: Hardly possible you might think, but yes even simpler, Uni would be a success story, if people start telling you, ‘how you’ve changed’ – because inconsistency - is a virtue.  Holding on to what you think today at all costs is not necessarily good. On the other hand retaining composure in what you believe in is paradise, perfection, sunshine…’