Leaving Trinity!!!!!

Scruff101

Yesterday evening for the first time I got the feeling of lonliness or sadness or something..I can't put my finger on it!!! I've started packing my stuff cos I move out of New Square in 2 weeks and it'll be exams constantly between now and then so thought I'd get a head start!! Just realised how much I'm going to miss the place...living on campus obviously didn't help as it has made me even more attached to the place!!!
Any one else in final year feel like this or am I just a bit odd!!!?

snorlax

you'll be fine! youll be an alumini and get the official trinity credit card if you join the trinity association, i think they organise stuff for grads but im not sure.

and i always see older people/ possible grads in the pav (possible reunions?!)

Time Magazine

Scruff101 wrote:

Yesterday evening for the first time I got the feeling of lonliness or sadness or something..I can't put my finger on it!!! I've started packing my stuff cos I move out of New Square in 2 weeks and it'll be exams constantly between now and then so thought I'd get a head start!! Just realised how much I'm going to miss the place...living on campus obviously didn't help as it has made me even more attached to the place!!!
Any one else in final year feel like this or am I just a bit odd!!!?

I can imagine me having that feeling in three years . Me expects it to be sad and the time to just fly in. There's only one thing to do.....
































































Group hug.

Yup, as me in two. Well that's presuming I don't go insane next year and start shooting the tourists.

Sarsfield

It's 15 years since I left Trinity. I still walk through college regularly and I still feel a part of it.

I have the TCD credit card too 'cos I'm proud of my roots.

Haven't had a pint in the pav in years though

Kevin_rc_ie

i was just thinking, if you leave trinity, you're kinda screwded in some ways. like to you have any other right to the campus more than a regular joe bloggs? are you entitled to use the pav? buttery?

Sarsfield

As a graduate you will still have access to the library. You can still join DUCAC (is it still called that?) to have use of the sports facilities. You can certainly drink in the pav.

Or at least that's how it was a few years ago.

Kevin_rc_ie

access to library? how?

Sarsfield

Kevin_rc_ie wrote:

access to library? how?

IIRC, I just filled in a short slip with name, student number and stuff and got a pass for a day. Lending facilities weren't generally available though.

But things may have changed since I last did it.

cuckoo

I think graduates can get a year long readers pass, no borrowing rights though.

We're doing wonders for Trinity money bags steretypes here - mentioning the TCD credit card many times!

TCD alumni also get loads of discounts:

http://www.tcd.ie/Alumni/services/discount.html

There's no mention of what id you have to provide to claim them though...maybe a trinners scarf casually draped around your neck?

Grads also seem to give loadsa money back to the college - supporting stuff like niteline

http://www.tcd.ie/Alumni/aboutus/giving.html

Andrew 83

Yeah it hasn't really sunk in yet that I've had my last Trinity lecture. I don't really feel much finality though because I'm going to be editing Trinity News next year which will mean I'm still around a lot of the time! I'll miss having all my friends from my year around though so I'm sure it won't be the same.

As far as I know you technically have to be a member of DUCAC to use the Pav which is 150 euro a year for graduates, though I was under the impression a while ago that you get one year's free membership upon graduation though I ahven't seen that written anywhere. In practice you probably need it to stay in the sports clubs (which I intend for next year at least) but for the Pav who's going to know? ;-)

Kevin_rc_ie

i've been asked for my trinity card a few times. the older lady with the blond hair doesnt like me.

ApeXaviour

Ann-Marie!? She loves meee..
Gives me free chips. And if I'm really drunk free coffee



Never-ever been asked for my card in the pav.. they know me too well. God I haven't been there in ages. Oh bender week I await thee!

Kevin_rc_ie

oh.
she obviously hates me.

John

ApeXaviour wrote:

Oh bender week I await thee!

Every week is bender week here on TCD boards

Agent Smith

ehhh ok


how can one get the trinity card? that looks cool

Nietzschean

ApeXaviour wrote:

Never-ever been asked for my card in the pav..

Can't say i have either, nor in the buttery, look too much like a student?

Scruff101

It's good to know others feel the same as me...how do you get this credit card!? do they send you info once you graduate!? Does your account have to be with bank of ireland!?

Kevin_rc_ie

yeah free credit cards for grads

Nietzschean

well students can get normal credit cards for free anyway(not tcd alumni ones mind), no big w00p, ye just pay the gov duty per year...

Kevin_rc_ie

afaik

it's a normal bank of ireland credit card. when you graduate, the college send you out a form and you fill it out. and you get the benefit of a customised card. i think about some percentage of what you spend makes it's way back to the college alumni fund. the apr of the cc isn't very competitive.

Ron DMC

Kevin_rc_ie wrote:

the apr of the cc isn't very competitive.

Who cares, when it looks so cool.

cuckoo

Anyone see that Eddie guy from 'show me the money' on the Ryan Tubridy show? He got everyone in the audience that had a credit card to put their hands up, and then he asked everyone who paid the bill in full every month to put their hands down. Over 90% of the audience kept their hands up.

Money is soooo cheap at the moment, a credit card is a bad way to be borrowing. (slaps self on wrist for the outstanding balance on my own cc)

However, the Trinity card is very pretty and the coll gets an upfront bit of money when the card is sent out at first and then a percentage of what is spent on the card. As most of the banks seem to have stopped doing those 'paying you back a percentage' deals, and ppl are going to have a credit card anyways they might as well have one that benefits students of the 'ol alma mater. If i ever manage to graduate i'll apply for one - and i don't even bank with B o I.

ApeXaviour

Cuckoo (resident guru) I'm utterly financially naive. I pay my credit card off in full every month. Do I get charged anything? An interest rate? A minimum percentage?

Kevin_rc_ie

if you pay your credit card off every month a lot of the above doesn't apply.

Andrew 83

Kevin_rc_ie wrote:

if you pay your credit card off every month a lot of the above doesn't apply.

That's a big if

cuckoo

ApeXaviour wrote:

Cuckoo (resident guru) I'm utterly financially naive. I pay my credit card off in full every month. Do I get charged anything? An interest rate? A minimum percentage?

You shouldn't. The banks won't really like you - they're not making as much as they could off you, but they do charge retailers a percent for providing the credit card service (which is why cash discounts are available in some places). I'm betting your bank keeps putting up your credit limit to 'encourage' you to spend more.

But, it depends on how you use it. I get charged a 'currency commission percentage' if i use my card outside the euro zone, so if i were shopping in the states, for instance, it'd be cheaper for me to pay cash - not by much. One of my projects for this summer is to shop around and compare the deals on all the cards, last time i did it was a couple of years ago.

Ape, you do pay the government stamp duty for having the card, think it's 40 euro at the moment and would've been charged to your account around the 1st April.

However, you're building up a very good credit record by paying off the balance in full, if the card is with your bank that should help if you're ever looking for a student/graduate loan (although the banks seem to throw these around like confetti - as long as there's a parent or someone to gurantee it).

I wish i was a financial guru, these are just my general ramblings about stuff that i've picked up due to an addiction to those 'fix my financial life' tv shows. Some of the people they have one them are scary - the presenter points out to them that they're making x amount of money a month, but they're spending 3x on their lifestyle and the hapless eejits go "oh, we never really thought about that and really wanted that new car/holiday/kitchen". If the banks continue handing out credit cards to 1st years sooner or later they'll be able to do a series just on student debt. And, not the student loan to pay my rent type debt, but the 'i had the credit card, and i just spent it having fun' debt.

rant mode on: i think one of the reasons Dublin is such an expensive city to eat and drink in is that there's a large group of people who're in the first few years of their careers, and who are still living at home and paying a pittance (if anything) to their parents for rent. they're spending, not saving, and with a good Dublin salary if you're not paying rent or a mortgage you've got a lot of 'fun money', which is pushing up prices. then when it does come time for them to buy a place their parents free up some equity on the family home to help their offspring with the down payment, again, pushing up prices.

sure, i see it all the time in college. people overspend and their parents bail them out - it's almost obscene to overhear people talking about how 'doddy's gonna have a mare when he gets the bill, can't believe i was getting the rounds in at 92 and those clothes from BT2, but, yah, he'll pay it off for me', when there's people who are working crazy hours and struggling financially to get through college.

John

I've a credit card and it's dangerous. Impulse buying has never been so easy. I do however pay everything as soon as possible. And I do have a lovely lovely CD collection now (just lovely before)

memeryd

Well I finished in TCD in 2001, but worked in the SU until 2002 and I really miss TCD at times. Sometimes I really wish I had continued on to do a postgrad there, oh well. I think that Trinity becomes such a formative experience for so many of us that when it comes time to leave we really have to break a strong attachment. You get used to it though, after a time. Have wandered into the Butery over the years to meet frineds still there but the Pav was never a frequent haunt of mine at the best of times anyway.

As for the CC, I got it when I graduated, plus it had my old office on it, I think AIB do an Alumini CC as well. BOI gives 1% of your annual spend on it back to TCD and then a flat fee of €5 I think.

DrIndy

Yeah, leaving is sad, but getting into the real world is fun too. I will miss TCD, but you never really leave.

We are entitled to reader rights in the library - all the law students use it to study for the kings inn and blackhall place entrance exams for a year. You have some pretty significant entitlements too. You are free to use the pav for life as well as it is an open bar (full license as opposed to a club license which the buttery holds). The pav is like cheers, where the bartenders all know you by name!

Kev - its the red hair and the leacherous grin you have that causes that response....

xeduCat

You also get to get hit up for money by the Trinity Foundation. They gave us pamphlets within minutes of graduating to start buttering us up for future fundraising efforts. If you're really lucky, you'll start receiving mail from them soon. With information on your local 'TCD Dining Club of New York' or whatever. And maybe a coupon for a Trinity tie (one of the most awful things I've ever seen - if you need to wear a special tie, you're pretty pathetic to begin with).

Kevin_rc_ie

DrIndy wrote:

Kev - its the red hair and the leacherous grin you have that causes that response....

i do not have red hair, what are you talking about?

DrIndy

do you deny the leacherous grin?

Kevin_rc_ie

hmm. no comment.

hEireann

i used to work for the trinity annual fund (part of trinity foundation)... i called grads (after they were out for 5 years) tapping them for cash to fund things like niteline, student space, academic scholarships, etc. it wasn't bad, but the irish market is so new to this kinda thing, and you get all the irish mammys asking "What do you want with my johnny?!!!" you'd think we were asking for a sperm sample.

anyway, i graduated in feb but i may very well come back to do a phd. am i crazy? anyone do multiple degrees at trinity? i've always been told that going to the same college twice is never a good idea.. but i was thinking about going into a different department for a phd than i had for my masters.

and when i finished my BA, i was so happy to be out of that place i didn't have time for sentimentality!

hEireann

and credit cards are evil... i think they are satan's way of luring you to the dark side... this is my opinion after getting burned, naturally.. before that they rawked.

punka

hEireann wrote:

anyway, i graduated in feb but i may very well come back to do a phd. am i crazy? anyone do multiple degrees at trinity? i've always been told that going to the same college twice is never a good idea.. but i was thinking about going into a different department for a phd than i had for my masters.

It depends. If you're thinking of going into academia, it's true that a lot of prospective employers see staying in the same place as taking the easy option. I'm not quite clear on the details - did you do a master's somewhere else? If so, and if Trinity's good for whatever it is you want to do, go for it.
You'd probably get better advice if you spoke to someone within your discipline - a lecturer or someone you feel comfortable asking about that stuff. It's very subject-specific. It seems to me that it's more common for people in the sciences to stay in the same institution throughout, whereas people in the humanities tend to move around more - but that's something of a sweeping generalisation.
I emphathise, because I'm going to be in the same boat next year - I'd love to stay and do postgrad work in Trinity, but career-wise it might not be the best move (I'm a classicist).

cuckoo

EduCat wrote:

You also get to get hit up for money by the Trinity Foundation. They gave us pamphlets within minutes of graduating to start buttering us up for future fundraising efforts. If you're really lucky, you'll start receiving mail from them soon. With information on your local 'TCD Dining Club of New York' or whatever. And maybe a coupon for a Trinity tie (one of the most awful things I've ever seen - if you need to wear a special tie, you're pretty pathetic to begin with).

Is there a female equivalent of the tie? A garter belt, perhaps?

I was having a browse of the trinity foundation website, and their fundraising seems to be very focuses on high net worth individuals, there's a Front Gate Club that's a cool 1,000 euros a year. I'd like to support Trinity (i've benefited a lot from student services during my time in tcd) a bit after i've left, but not that much, at least not for a good few years anyway.

Crash

Heh - would you really wear a trinity branded garter belt? :P

Kevin_rc_ie

how about a chastity one?

cuckoo

crash_000 wrote:

Heh - would you really wear a trinity branded garter belt? :P

it would be a bit classier than the branded thongs that DIT SU were`selling a few years ago.

i just think the whole selling graduate ties is really 'old boys club' nonsense, and perhaps a bit reflective of an old fashioned view of targeting male graduates more so than female graduates for donations.

Kevin_rc_ie

we have female graduates? i just thought chicks did 1st and 2nd year then got married and dropped out...

cuckoo

Kevin_rc_ie wrote:

we have female graduates? i just thought chicks did 1st and 2nd year then got married and dropped out...

no, Kevin, you just haven't been seeing the women around Trinity because they see you first and avoid you. At your graduation they'll have no way of getting away from you, so you'll see them then.

Kevin_rc_ie

oh.
*sniffle sniffle*

Crash

cuckoo wrote:

no, Kevin, you just haven't been seeing the women around Trinity because they see you first and avoid you. At your graduation they'll have no way of getting away from you, so you'll see them then.

They're all attracted to me - like magnetism. thats why you dont see em kev.

Pet

no, Kevin, you just haven't been seeing the women around Trinity because they see you first and avoid you.

Oooh, zing!

I am never getting a credit card, because if I did I'd go crazy on ebay and land myself in ridiculous debt.

Kevin_rc_ie

yeah she's a meanie. last exam tomorrow, i'll let her away with it as exam stress etc.

John

Pet wrote:

I am never getting a credit card, because if I did I'd go crazy on ebay and land myself in ridiculous debt.

Don't you do that already?

county

you going to stop listening to the levellers and stop sponging of society then

John

county wrote:

you going to stop listening to the levellers and stop sponging of society then

eh?

Pet

John2 wrote:

Don't you do that already?

Touché