Wow. 20 years ago, I set off on the bus from home with a suitcase and a borrowed bag, and headed off to halls at TASC.
First night… in the bar. Second night… in the bar. Third night… look, they were making it easy for us to socialise, okay?
I’m still a student there (on the PG Dip in Public Communications), at least until next April, and it’s amazing how little has changed. Yes, there are twice as many students around – it was about 1,500 in my day, spread across four years becuase all the degree courses were four years until 1986 – and there’s an extra two halls of residence since my first day, and a whole new library building, lecture theatre. But it’s still got that pastoral feel about it, from its years as wholly a Catholic teacher-training college, odd quirks in the building layouts. And quite a few members of staff from my day are still there, too!
I’ve said before that my years at TASC were the best of my life, and certainly set me up for everything else that followed, directly or indirectly. So for me, this is a very happy anniversary, and I hope I have many more chances to go there in the future.