Do you feel safe going out clubbing in Kingston?

Before starting university at Kingston two years ago, I spent the majority of my life in a very rural, quiet and idyllic village tucked away in the Cotswolds. I craved the hustle and bustle of a life in a city where I could just be an anonymous face in the crowd. Wander up and down streets in and around London with no one knowing my name and no one knowing anything about me. You see at 'home home', everyone knows my name, details on my family and how I like my tea. Black no sugar thanks very much(!) You physically can't avoid bumping into someone you know whether it be your GP or the milkman, or those neighbours who's floral arrangements displayed proudly in their front gardens, trump those of your parents on an annual basis. Much to their disgust. That's about as much 'drama' or friction that occurs in our village.

Unsurprisingly, my parents were quite worried that I'd decided to go to the largest, busiest and most alien city in the country. Inhabitants of Broadway, Worcestershire will tell you that living there is like being in a protective bubble. In fact, David 'The Hoff' Hasselhoff has just recently purchased a property there, and I can assure you the number of his personal assistants or security guards will outnumber the local police constables by about 1 million to 1. Our police station is only open once a week, and when it is open there is often a sign on the front reading: 'Back in 20 minutes', I suspect it is not crime they are fighting at this time, but a serious operation of tackling a bacon sarnie from the local delicatessen. Om freaking nom. This is quite simply because where I live there is a very low crime rate.

On a very serious note however, the deeply saddening incident that occurred in my local and very popular nightclub 'Oceana' in the early hours of Thursday the 25^th October, involving a young man named as Jamie Sanderson being stabbed in the cloakroom area, has come as a cruel reminder to me that, the city I now live in, is not as safe as it perhaps could be. Perhaps, I am biased as this is just down to the fact that I compare it to the previous environment I was used to?! I would also like to stress, that I am not in any way suggesting that crime does not happen in rural areas, of course it does. Largely, I admit, there are a lot less security measures such as CCTV cameras in these areas, which may in turn lead to members of the area feeling more vulnerable. However, an incident at the UK's busiest nightclub equipped with some 90 CCTV cameras along with metal detectors and a 'recently installed ID capture scanning system' failed to avert the incident before it became fatal.  (Information sourced from Oceana Facebook page).  

Clearly the presence of CCTV cameras are not everything. I am not trying to point the blame towards the members of security staff at the club or their measures, as we can not be sure of all the factors to consider before a serious and extensive inquest has been carried out. Pointing the blame at anyone or anything that is not directly linked to the perpetrator(s) of this shocking crime will not bring Jamie back. My comments and feelings on the matter are not intended to offend or upset anyone who feels affected by this incident or anyone who has been through similar incidents in the past. I am deeply sorry if they do. I just feel this enormous sense of responsibility in light of what has happened to encourage a heightened sense of awareness of how we can all minimise risk to ourselves as students when we go on a night out in Kingston or indeed other areas of London.

We have the right to feel safe wherever we live and need to understand that unfortunately often things happen that are outside of our control. Please stay with your fellow students and friends on a night out and ensure that no one is ever left on their own and so are not at more risk of being more vulnerable. This is true of both men and women, and sadly I am guilty of this and will often wander off on my own to go to the loo or get myself a drink as I have done at 'home home' as I just don't think of the danger I could potentially be putting myself under. Simple precautions like making yourself aware of the whereabouts of exits and security staff, carrying a mobile phone with you and always alerting staff as soon as possible of any suspicious or violent behaviour could help us to minimise the risk of horrible incidents like these happening again.

What do you think? Do you always feel safe going out as a student in Kingston? Do you believe we should be made more aware of the potential dangers of going out clubbing in general?    

Path into the unknown...

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a dancer.  As a child, I would spend hours in my bedroom in the reflection of the windows at night creating movements to popular songs at the time.  Sometimes I would even sing and make up the songs myself and then dance along to my probably inane humming whilst trying not to wake anyone in the house up.  It felt like a secret when I was in there creating things.  I was in my own world and no one could judge or laugh at me, and I felt damn good.  That's why I have always danced.  For that feeling of release, like getting something off your chest.  I guess in the same way as when a toddler throws a tantrum and works themselves up and gets tired afterwards.  It's kind of a cleansing process, getting rid of all of the negative vibes so that you can start again.  Like the feeling you are supposed to get after crying, except I have never got that really, I always feel sick, stupid and weak afterwards.

I have never actually told anyone this, but when I'm annoyed or upset at something, I dance.

I tend to put loud music on and flail my arms about wildly in my room, getting rid of the bad energy.  It has always worked for me until quite recently, when I experienced the realisation that actually I don't think I can be a professional dancer when I grow up anymore. And it sucks.  Really bad.  I wish I didn't have this idea in my head from such a young age, why couldn't I have had a different dream? A more realistic one that wouldn't hurt so much now?  I found out the answer to this one whilst sniffling and being pathetic down the phone to my boyfriend...'Because life isn't always getting what you want, dreams don't always come true.'  WHAT?!  All these years I've been watching Disney movies and fairytales and have always thought that if you truly want something and you work bloody hard, you can get it in the end.  Turns out you can't always.  It's a very lucky few who do.  Well, that's a bit shit.  So what am I meant to do? Do I just give up altogether and choose a different path?!

Apparently not.  Here's the beauty of it, all these years I've just felt so career driven, thinking that ultimately I wouldn't ever really die happy if I didn't achieve all my goals in being the next big thing on the West End.

Me, flailing wildly and being happy.  :-)

Yeah, so what?!  This has maybe been a bit of a late realisation on my part; due to maybe being naive and stuck in this vicious, horrible, self-loathing cycle and refusing to accept that I can't always have things my way, but it turns out you can achieve happiness by being on a path surrounded by family, friends and loved ones.  Cheesy I know, but this is the information I gleaned from an amazing woman I was interviewed by recently.  Just because you might not end up making money off your passion, does NOT mean you can't still pursue it and do it in different contexts and situations.  I'm still ALWAYS going to be the girl who is first on the dance-floor in an inebriated state or not, and dancing will still make me feel good and be happy.  I guess this way I just get to eat a few more pies and not have to worry about the repercussions.  Now I am not saying give up on your dreams or aspirations, because if you did, you'd be a bloody boring person who never stuck up for anything they believed in.  No one wants that.  Where would we be if Martin Luther King stood up to give his speech and said, 'I have a dream...but it's probably not gonna work out so....'  No.  Just no.

We need dreamers in this life.  I guess I'm just saying, don't beat yourself up so bad if they don't go EXACTLY how you planned them.  At least you gave it a shot.  As the saying goes, I would rather live my life knowing I tried for something and maybe didn't get it, than never trying and never knowing.  Don't play the 'What If...?' game with yourself, and losing your mind on a trivial error when everything you could have ever REALLY wanted is maybe curling up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a good book, surrounded by the people you love.  Or, hitting smashville in that club you go to with the mates you wouldn't change for the world.  Here's to the path into the unknown, with the people you'll never forget...