Goldsmiths Uni Open Day: LONDON CALLING.

Matthew Crawford
Jul 24, 2017 · 6 min read

Over the past year I have had the amazing opportunity to travel to two of the world’s major cities- Rome. London; three times. For all these trips I have made travel videos on my YouTube channel. I’ve made a video about my most recent trip to London, which is what i am going to be writing about in this post. You can watch this video below.

From previous trips to the U.K’s capital, London’s fast-paced, never ceasing, multicultural way of living has got me captivated. Coming from a small village in N. Ireland it was a big culture shock, even though it’s only an hour away by plane! Most recently I visited London (16–17th June 2017) for an Open Day at ‘Goldsmiths University’. After researching different universities, Goldsmiths immediately stood out from the crowd; prouding themselves as ‘one of the top creative universities in the UK’. Anyone who knows me knows that I love music, in any form. Apart from rap music, i don’t like rap. I love singing, playing, acting and writing songs. I can’t dance. I know what I like, and sport isn’t one of them. Give me a piano instead of a football anytime! So straight away Goldsmiths appealed to me. Their ‘Popular Music’ Course particularly interested me. So off I went to London.

the journey.

I love travelling. Usually my favourite part of a trip is the journey to and from the destination. But this trip was different. My mum, dad and I (good grammar, go matthew!) we’re all very stressed, running a bit late, with the airport packed and buzzing with people, it wasn’t a good time.

I took charge of directions from Gatwick to our hotel (Clarendon Hotel, Blackheath). I was very impressed with myself, that I managed to direct us without getting lost (with the help of Google Maps, of course!). The funny thing was that we weren’t stressed at all going through London, trying to find were we were going, but a 40 minute journey from my home to the airport was the the complete opposite, ironic juxtaposition (good vocab, go matthew!)

BELFAST→LONDON GATWICK→ LONDON VICTORIA→ Blackheath.

We stayed the night at our hotel, tired, but excited for the next day.


the open day.

Up an at ‘em, rise and shine. I’ve never really been a morning person, but that morning I was, excited for the day ahead. We left our hotel at 9.30am to Goldsmiths using an Uber for the first ever time (I was very excited but slightly disappointed).

My first impressions of the University were good- classic but modern. We were too early (anyone who knows my family knows that we are rarely early!) All of the welcoming staff were very welcoming (obvs) and extremely helpful. Straight off I felt the community feeling around campus, similar to my own school.

We started off the day at the uni’s cafe (insert name here); here they had live music from music students, this was a great way to showcase the students' talent. After this we went to the 'Introduction to Goldsmiths' talk in the main Lecture Theatre. Where the lecturer explained that Goldsmiths was a relatively small uni (with 9000 pupils) This doesn’t seem 'relatively small' to me, but I’ll take their word for it! Goldsmiths is a creative university-

‘where reputation meets ambition’.

Goldsmiths University; ‘where reputation meets ambition’
Introduction to Goldsmiths Talk

One of the reasons why I was drawn this uni was because of their branding, website, social media and department videos.(That’s probably not the best strategy, liking a university because of their logo!)

After the Introduction we went to the Music Department. Before this talk, we got to watch some of the students work on IMacs which were very fancy. Goldsmiths has it’s own record label called NX records; they also have a music festival called PUREGOLD (very #clever name!)

Room full of IMacs showcasing students’ work.

Music Department talk- Here I learned more about the Popular Music course and about the application process for this subject. Spaces available for these courses are very low

“350 people applied, 50 people were guaranteed places”//

After this we caught the end of the 'living in London' talk, we missed the start of it as we were given the opportunity to ask questions and one of the parents of another pupil loved to hear himself speak!🙄🙄

After this, we went to the 'Student finance’ talk, where reality set in! It is expensive to live in London! To cover this the maintance loan is more in London, as it is more expensive than any other city in the UK!

Photo of me, mum and dad.
A very artsy corridor.

After this we went on a tour of the music department- where we seen the 'great hall' which is where the annual Opera is held. We also seen the electronic music studio and practice rooms which had loads of pianos! Then we went to Goldsmiths Music Studios which is a professional recording studio and is used for student projects.

Deptford Hall, where the Goldsmiths’ Choir Practices.

It was very sunny whilst we were in London- we got a voucher for free ice cream and drinks, which was very welcome!

After we got a tour of the campus and accomodation, the building that we were shown is £155 per week lol.

And that was the open day over; leaving me feeling excited about the future, unsure about my chances, but a willingness to try.


the journey. home.

This journey wasn’t stressful- just long. We decided to stay at the airport overnight as it wasn’t worth booking accomodation (our flight home was very early) Staying at the airport is NOT a good idea: I went 24 hours without sleep, the chairs at the airport aren’t comfy. Security doesn’t open till 4am. One good thing was that I went shopping at 4.10 in the morning, although the novelty soon wore off! Nevertheless I got home, thanks to trusty easyjet.


the conclusion.

what i have learned:

  • Goldsmiths is amazing
  • London is expensive
  • I will hopefully apply for Goldsmiths
  • Don’t stay at the airport overnight

Thank you so much for reading to the end! I hope you enjoyed it, hopefully it was helpful if you are thinking about applying for Goldsmiths!

Matthew :)

[Goldmiths left me] feeling excited about the future, unsure about my chances, but a willingness to try.

Matthew Crawford

Written by

instagram.com/matthewc.jpg https://youtu.be/TrTkac9MeUk

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade