Once upon a time (or so I’ve heard), education was about teaching, evolving, and genuinely caring about students. You know helping us grow as actual human beings rather than squeezing every penny out of us. Fast forward to today and what’s education become? A business. A money-making machine where the motto seems to be: Pay first, learn later. Or better yet, don’t learn at all if you’re a few hours late.

Now, I’m saying all this because (brace yourself) I am furious at my university. Why? Because they decided to delay my semester over a payment that wasn’t even late yet.

The deadline was the end of the day, but apparently by 11 a.m. UK time, Mr. Finance Bloke (let’s call him Alex, since that’s his name) sent me an email essentially saying:

“Unfortunately, you can’t join your next module because you haven’t paid yet, and it’s already 11 a.m.”

Excuse me, sir? It’s only 11 a.m. The day has twelve more hours to go. Calm the F down. I’m not about to vanish from the surface of the planet in the next few hours. I will pay. You don’t need to act like I’ve fled to some offshore island with my tuition fees stuffed in a suitcase.

So, naturally, I wrote back so politely (as any English person would). I didn’t exactly call him “Mister Thick Head,” but trust me, it was implied. My actual words were more like: Please don’t delay my semester, I will make the payment. Rest assured, I’m just stuck in the middle of nowhere at the moment. Let me get home first.

But seriously when did universities stop being about education and start being about money, policies, and robotic emails? What happened to institutions that actually cared about students instead of treating them like overdue bills?

PS. On a happier note here’s the mountain we hiked. It was a three-hour trek up, and the view was absolutely worth every step.

Load of luv

Hannah