Part 1
March 2012 - I had just been accepted into University. Exciting times ahead. My dad, bless him, was thrilled. He told me:- ‘You have it made - you’re going to be headhunted after you graduate!’
His excitement for me was much valued. Unfortunately, this was not wise advice to follow, at all. I now had ideas in my head. All the hard work is done. Unlike school, you now get to dump all the subjects you hated for good. The only subject at university is the one you are studying.
I loved chemistry. My introduction to the subject came from ‘Chemical Chaos’ from the ‘Horrible Science’ series by Nick Arnold. It was a great first introduction of the crazy characters that make the periodic table.
The joy of dumping History after Year 9. Then getting rid of English Literature after suffering the pain until the day I closed my GCSE paper after the invigilator announced the end of the examination. Then dispensing of French A-Level (which for the second year of the A-Level, brought back memories of Literature… but in French!)
It was a dream come true.
I was already used to living independently. My dad expected a clean house. He did not allow me to go to bed on Sunday evenings until all of my school uniform was washed and ironed for the week. I learned to cook at age 11 and having dinner ready was an expectation. My dad had to travel to Sierra Leone for family issues numerous times. By 14 I had the house to myself (believe me, I enjoyed it. But the house had better have been spotless when he returned).
This would be a cake walk. Five years then bounding to a job in the chemical industry. Put my feet up, it’s a subject I’m great at.
Hahahahaha. Things aren’t that simple, are they.
The first year went well! I eased into uni life pretty quickly (though I was afraid of nightclubs and alcohol for the first term). I discovered baseball and softball and made friends easily. The work was challenging but nothing I couldn’t handle.
I was one of the rare people in my course that loved labs. That’s why we want to study chemistry, right? Writing lab reports was no problem. Then came the first round of exams - a little tricky but I overcame. There was a minor blip where I managed to catch chicken pox before my summer term exams (for nineteen years I managed to dodge this damned disease but here it comes at the worst possible time. Don’t worry - it was much more annoying than miserable - I just felt a little tired and of course there were those infernal itchy spots). This was quite inconvenient. For obvious reasons I could not take the exam in the hall with other students - so I had to take them in August (it shortened my summer holidays - though cutting my summer holidays from 9 weeks to 7 isn’t going to garner much sympathy from those reading this). But, come August, after taking all my notes and books on holiday, meaning I couldn’t take any grenadine back without going over the weight limit, I sat the exams. Armed with two extra months of studying, I managed to comfortably pass these exams.
Now, summer holidays are important here. In my opinion, I worked hard all year. I need a break. I had no interest doing internships or summer jobs. I just wanted to go home to my mum’s in Corsica and catch a tan at the beach. Family matters - (my mum moved to Corsica when I was 11) but some may deem that a waste of three months.
My university course was a 5-year course, which included a year in industry. I would be gaining plentiful work experience during that year. But in my immature mind, ‘there would come a time when I’ll be working full-time, and where I want to work, I won’t be able to take these long holidays until my retirement.’ I’ll get my experience then. But for now, let’s take it easy.
Then… came year two.
Labs were getting harder, which suited me well as that was by far the most enjoyable part. I did not like lectures at all - I felt I just couldn’t learn much from someone repeating text from a PowerPoint presentation. There were some fine lecturers though who were very passionate about their fields, of which they conduct their research.
The theory was getting much more difficult too. I was starting to struggle to understand the complex concepts. I was beginning to become indolent - many times I decided to stay home and ‘watch’ the lectures online. I would also not turn up for tutorials, more often than not. I lived further away now - I was no longer in student halls. At times the commute seemed insurmountable.
This would be a very costly mistake. (I wish I could kick 20-year-old me out of bed and demanded him to get to every single one of these lectures and tutorials…)
University life was great, though. I was involved in baseball and was now getting more involved in our Afro-Caribbean society, where I was making more friends, and even took part in their annual Afrogala performance. I also started taking part in dodgeball. I was also going out a lot, with plenty of sports nights on Wednesday nights. 18-year-old me would have been shocked.
However, university was not like school - where there were plenty of exercise books and past papers to sharpen your skills with. You really had to learn and understand all the concepts to have any chance of passing the exams. There were hardly any past papers to work from.
My coursemate and her sister invited me to move in with them for the third year as well. I was very much looking forward to this as we got on very well.
The winter exams came. I struggled somewhat but I didn’t think I fell short. Then February 2014 happened. The shock of it all. I had failed two exams. I would need to take them again in August. There go my summer holidays again. (Do you think I was thinking about an internship or a summer job at this time?!)
I almost felt like giving up, but I vowed to keep my head up. I got my head down and attended some more lectures and turned up to tutorials again. However, the courses seemed to get even harder. There was one called ‘Reaction Stereoelectronics’ which may as well have been in Mandarin Chinese, it made absolutely no sense. Though I did try and study harder, I did not approach any of the professors for help. Whilst my coursemates were lamenting late nights at the library (a place I admittedly didn’t spend a lot of time in), I was writing coloured notes at home, hoping some part of it would seep in.
When summer exams came, I failed another two, sadly. I would have to take four exams in August. No chance of bringing back any French food back home - more heavy books to pack. My plans for a great third year were in jeopardy. If I failed my resits, I would have to take a year out before being allowed back in to continue.
My amazing houseshare was in jeopardy. I would have a year with no plans (though I could get some more work experience during this time). My dad would be very disappointed. I studied extensively during my summer holidays, and thankfully, managed to pass all four resits.
The bombshell had however been dropped. It was too late. Re-sitting the exams meant that if you passed, your score would be capped at 40%, which was the passing threshold. I was now transferred onto a three year course - so my year in industry was cancelled. My plans were thwarted
Thankfully, third year was a little more smoothly. It may well have been my favourite year, when it came to the course itself. This was because I was able to do a research project. I would be working with a professor, planning and conducting an experiment, then writing a lab report in the style of a scientific paper. This was the time when I felt I was really immersed in the subject. This is what I want to do - plan and conduct, and hopefully find something new. It was my dream. Sadly, it lasted only eight weeks.
Something did come out of my 8-weeks. I managed to synthesise and fully characterise a new chemical compound. I also synthesised a few more but was unable to crystallise them or gather enough meaningful information to determine the chemical structure.
But there it was, my one and only contribution to science. If you're interested, what I did is in poster form here. http://saintjacques.co.uk/Poster.pdf
The exams in third year also went better than the previous year… but I wasn’t able to get 60% in any of them. I really needed to do well otherwise I would not be able to get a 2:1 classification - which would limit my prospects in doing a masters, or getting onto a graduate scheme.
Graduate schemes. I looked in bewilderment when my friends were attending open days run by significant companies, looking to employ fresh graduates (not always related to chemistry, but also banking and Big 4 accounting firms). Some of my friends travelled across the country to attend these open days. Something I should have thought about.
But by then, I was completely and utterly defeated. After a mediocre performance with the winter exams, I had consigned myself that I would not get that 2:1 and I would be blocked from many of these schemes. I wanted to work in chemistry, but I didn’t really have an interest in the banking or accounting firms anyway. Had I even made it close to an interview, they would easily tell I would not have the passion required for the scheme anyway. I just… gave up. I was depressed.
It didn’t help too much that I was not picked for the baseball team to represent my university one last time. (I don’t blame him, wherever he is. I wouldn’t have picked myself either). I was just defeated by university life. I had pretty much thrown in the towel. One set of exams and that was it. I managed to pass them, just about - no failures in year three.
I got a 2:2, and I took my degree and just… left. That’s it. I didn’t have very much relevant work experience - not using my summers wisely. I had no job lined up at the end. Having to take maximum loans, I had a great big loan to pay off too.
Lesson learned. You have to work hard to reap the rewards. Do not squander an opportunity. Do not assume your path is paved, ready for you to walk.
~
My friend’s parents looked in shock and horror when I admitted my predicament. ‘If you haven’t got anything lined up, what on Earth have you been doing all this time?’
To be continued…
Part 2
One bright Wednesday afternoon during first year, after baseball practice, I decided on walking to Oxford Street. I was intending to buy yet another pair of sneakers (not a smart use of one’s student loans) and take a trip to Foyles as I have loved doing for all my life.
I thankfully refrained from making any purchases, and my galivanting eventually led me back to Oxford Circus.
A sudden bout of laziness came upon me. I was so lazy that taking the tube back to South Kensington then walking up the Exhibition Road was too gruelling. I’d have to change lines at some point. I love the tube, but I just wasn’t up for that.
A thought came over me – why don’t I take a bus instead? There’s so many buses in Oxford Circus (well, there were a lot more then than they are now due to service cuts in Central London). Surely one could take me closer to my halls. A direct, stress-free journey.
I checked the spider map at the bus stop. I was mesmerised by it. I’ve always loved maps – drawing maps is one of my hobbies.
I had never really paid attention to buses before. My heart was always with trains – especially the London Underground. The bus always was the annoying part of the journey to get to a tube line. I relied on the 84 and 298, which ran every 20 minutes, to get me to High Barnet or Cockfosters, and it was always a massive frustration when I would just miss one.
As it turned out, route 10 would be the one that would take me straight to back to halls. Buses run about every 6-10 minutes. Perfect.
A London United Scania OmniCity soon turned up. The front seats on the top deck were free. Dare I go upstairs? Oh go on, take up those seats.
The ride, the sounds, it all hit me. It was an exhilarating feeling. Something so mundane really clicked with me at that moment in time.
This is great. Seeing all the sights from above. Right past the crowds of Oxford Street, through Park Lane and the luxury hotels and car showrooms, Hyde Park on the other side. Hyde Park Corner and its various monuments. Harrods just in the distance. Next stop, Gabor Hall. The bus made a satisfying ‘beep’ when I pressed the button.
A 20-or-so minute journey. That’s all it was.
From that day on I opened my eyes to red. Every main road, different routes. The 10 was the tip of the iceberg. Other than the 298 (and the odd ride on the 263), I wondered how many routes there were in London. It turns out that there were over 500 of them. I thought of a new project – how many routes could I ride in London? From Uxbridge to Romford, Tolworth to Sidcup, Heathrow to Bexleyheath, Harrow Weald to Coulsdon and Chingford to Belmont. Unlike the tube, the buses permeate every corner of London.
So thus started a new hobby of mine – exploring London by riding buses. Wednesday afternoons, after baseball, and one day on the weekend I’d just go out and ride. I would draw a grid of every route in London and cross of routes that I had ridden, with the intent on crossing it off entirely. 10, 14, 263, 298 already crossed off.
I would start with the routes within the vicinity. 9, 10, 14, 49, 52, 70, 74, 345, 360, 414, 430, 452, C1.
Really? A bus all the way to Peckham (345)? That seems so far away. Where on earth is Roehampton? I had never heard of the area.
The first ride was a 10 all the way to King’s Cross, then the 214 up to Highgate Village to meet my aunt for a Pizza Express. My aunt was very supportive of my little project. ‘I’m surprised you never liked buses before. All the numbers, all the routes, I thought you would have enjoyed all of that as a kid. I love riding buses, you really get to see London from a different perspective’. She recommended the 271, Highgate Village to Moorgate. First stop meant I called front seats. The 271 took me through Archway, Holloway Road and the side streets. I was not too familiar with the Canonbury and that corner of Hoxton. I regained familiar waters back at Old Street. A short-ish but enjoyable bus journey. Then came the 76 all the way to Waterloo, a 211 past Victoria then a short ride on the C1 back to halls.
It just made sense. I had ridden most of the tube this point. You can’t really appreciate London as much, deep in tunnels.
I tried the 430 out; but bailed out just past Putney. I tried out the 337 back to Clapham Junction, then the 49 back home.
Then it was the 345 to Clapham Common, the 88 to Trafalgar Square then the 9 back home.
One particularly long ride around was catching the 25, then the busiest route in London – to Stratford, for a bit of shopping. 276 to Hackney Central (a long ride on a busy single-decker), then a 253 to Camden. A stop by in Camden for yes… another trip to a sneaker shop. Then a 27 all the way to High Street Kensington for a short walk home.
I can recall a lot of bus journeys in my time, one of my favourites ever was riding the 34 from Walthamstow Central to Barnet, meeting my dad for a pizza, then a ride on the 107, then the 113 (a bus from Edgware to Marble Arch? Seems too long for a bus route, surely!)
The grid started to get a lot of crosses. I was an official bus enthusiast. I was now noticing the different types of buses. The different companies operating the routes (which is why buses can have different interiors). Fleetcodes, garages, tenders. I now had books to add to my transport shelf. I had copies of Mike Harris’ amazing bus maps. I joined the bus forum and started meeting other people who shared my interest. One of them became a close friend and my companion for bus rides. We’d plan journeys – he’d been doing this a lot longer than I did so had some recommendations.
It really did seem pointless at the time. Just riding around London, hardly the most beneficial use of my time. People were bemused about my bus journeys. They would test my knowledge out. ‘How do you get from Hammersmith to Clapham Junction?’ ‘The 295, of course!’
I’ve always been into the tube but developing an interest in buses broadened my love for public transport. But not once did it cross my mind to consider a career in the transport industry. I was dead set on working in the chemical industry, as a researcher, lab technician, or I would try and follow in my friends’ footsteps and grab the first graduate scheme in a large company that I could find.
The bus rides continued all throughout university. I was a little more adventurous in where I would end up. I would ride to Bluewater using the 96, then catch a 492 to Bexleyheath. I would ride down to Chessington on the 71. I would take a tour of the borough of Havering with its eclectic range of routes.
I was gaining a very detailed knowledge of the veins and arteries of London. It wasn’t just central London I had mapped in my head; I now knew the entire metropolis on the back of my hand.
Now, skip to third year, at the point where I was defeated to the fact I would not get a 2:1. A couple of days after not getting selected to represent my university in the baseball cup – riding buses was the way to cope. It had been for the past two years. I always felt a lot better – the rides were always a time to reflect. (Mapping was my other way to cope).
Perhaps some of my friends were right – if I had spent more time studying instead of riding buses I might have done better. But it wasn’t the reality.
Only soon after I got my degree classification confirmed did something click in my head.
Why don’t I look for a career with buses or the tube?
I heard that getting into a career at TfL was a very competitive process. I had missed out on all the graduate schemes and would have to wait until next year.
I searched through the bus companies for any possible careers. Admin jobs perhaps?
An opportunity came up with Arriva London for a scheduling role. I had struck gold. I had been rejected from every job I applied for at that point. Unfortunately, a 2:2 can shut doors at this point, and my previous work experience wasn’t plentiful. But it seemed that this job at Arriva was made for me.
I applied, and I managed to get an interview. The only way I got this close to a job offer before was a sales company in Shoreditch. I had passed the first assessment and got to the one-on-one interview stage.
My aunt had advised that I absolutely should wait to see what would happen with the bus industry jobs, and to decline any job offers at the sales company. But come the day of the interview, I was offered a job on the spot. The man interviewing me had his hand out for me to shake.
But I thought about what my aunt said. Is sales really for me? I thought I would be quite good at it, but I really needed to some time to think before deciding. I was desperate for a job at the time, but was this the right choice?
The interviewer was very forceful. I needed to make my decision on the spot.
I declined.
I thought I would still have a good chance with the bus job. I also had another card to play in my bus hand.
During a bus garage open day, where I would meet up with my bus enthusiast friends, I asked if I could get some work experience for a week to get to know the industry.
It so happened to be Westbourne Park at Tower Transit. A young man named Andy Edwards had really excelled in the bus industry. I could sense he saw my passion for buses, and offered me a week to see in greater detail how buses move millions around London.
A day in the control centres, a day with the admins, meetings with TfL at Palestra, and a day scheduling. I did a lot in that week and really enjoyed it. It was an eye-opener. I learned loads.
Scheduling was my favourite part of the week. The schedulers there were very friendly and welcoming. I sat with one of them and did a little timetable of my own. The 230 from Wood Green to Upper Walthamstow.
The original plan was that I could use this week at the interview at Arriva. I could say that I ‘took the initiative to learn even more about the bus industry to really show my zeal I could bring into this role’.
At the end of the week though, I got offered a job. I made it. Time for proper adult life.
I got to know my new colleagues more and they have become good friends. I settled into my new role, with a couple of months of training, then working on bids and schedules for rail replacement bus services. Funny how that works out (I still deal with rail replacement buses to this day).
Then – it was the timetable changes. There are a lot of them. Temporary timetables are often required for long periods of roadworks. Sometimes when a route is not performing well, a survey and a runtime review needs to be done to keep the timetable up to date. Work was always quite busy.
Tendering is one of the most important parts of London’s bus industry. TfL routes are tendered to companies on 5-year-contracts. When a route comes around to be tendered it’s a battle between companies to get it into their garage. Tendering also allowed us to go on route surveys – we would observe the route throughout the day and time how long a bus took from one key bus stop to the next. Some of the routes I remember working on were the 46, 257 and 274.
I wasn’t just doing scheduling – being the young, enthusiastic little bus nerd I had other things to sort out. I had to ensure bus blinds were checked and ordered. If any buses had malfunctioning blindsets, I made sure to report it to the engineers. (The bus forum did help a bit here, they had a thread where users reported ‘blind banditry’… very useful). As other companies’ buses passed by with a blank side blind, I thought to myself – that’s not a Tower Transit bus!
Tower Transit got some good news when it was announced that they won the contract to operate route 13. This was a large route which required 31 buses to operate. This really brought morale up. I helped to make the case to bid for the route by comparing with other companies to see where we stood. We had a shot and it turned out to be worth it, with some tricks up our sleeve.
Tendering unfortunately comes with disappointments along with triumphs. We lost the 31 to another company, one bid I was involved in. (N.B. losses like this can be common as other companies can create cheaper bids to undercut you).
There was some good news to come though – Tower Transit won the contract for route D8, Stratford to Crossharbour. My little timetables helped with the bid to secure the contract.
The timetable is still going strong after three years. The route also got a 2-year extension for good performance, but this is absolutely more down to the drivers and controllers, though a good timetable does help.
~
My colleague told me that there were vacancies available to do the same job – scheduling – but on the London Underground. This job would be for TfL.
This was an opportunity I could not miss. I must have spent hours on that CV and cover letter. I had to get it perfect.
I got to the next stage, the numerical reasoning test – then the interview. One of my other colleagues suggested I bring a portfolio along with me to show what I had done.
The hard work paid off and I was offered the role.
I was a little sad to leave the buses and a very enjoyable role at Tower Transit, but I could not turn down an opportunity like this. I still loved the tube as much as I did buses, and the tube was the original, life-long interest.
Never did I think as a child I would be working for Transport for London. The thought never did cross my mind. But here I was, with a job offer.
The job is going well and I can’t really imagine doing anything else. It is always challenging and the network is always upgrading and developing. We’ve just opened the Northern Line extension to Battersea this week.
Upgrades mean constant needs for timetables – for engineering work, new signalling, and in rare cases, new extension works. Timetables change all the time. Our team does around 500 timetables in a year. Things are set to get even more complicated in the future. The 4LM upgrade for the sub-surface lines (Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines) mean that junctions have more complicated rules, and timetables are done to a quarter-minute precision instead of a half-minutes. The tube will always be around, and there will always be a need for engineering works to maintain and upgrade the service, so hopefully I’ll be busy for a while longer.
I've done about 100 timetables already. Goodness me time flies.
Though I work for London Underground, there is just no escape from buses. If, for engineering work, we close part of the line outside of central London, rail replacement buses must be scheduled as well. That remains part of our job. We need to make sure that good connections can still be made, from bus to train and even bus to bus; especially early morning and late night. Being the bus fanatic, I always got jobs with the most complicated rail replacement services. I still get to do bus surveys, my favourite part of my role in Tower Transit, from time to time.
~
I look back on those years now. If I could drop in at that moment I sat, horrified and dismayed, just being asked that question: ‘If you haven’t got anything lined up, what on Earth have you been doing all this time?’
I’d tell the young man with his mouth ajar and his eyes wide open:-
‘It’s going to turn out alright. You’re going to have to work a little harder and talk to the right people. Yes… you should have been more dedicated to your studies. But we can learn from this. Know your passions and go in that direction. Something will come if you work for it’.
I could have been working in the chemical industry. I would have loved to have become a researcher. I perhaps could have made it in banking. I could’ve made it to the Big 4 firms. I could have made it into consulting or audit. But that was not to be my fate. I’m very happy where I ended up instead.
~JDS