The last 6 months of my life have been largely focused on applying to University; from travelling around the country to choose where I wanted to study to writing my personal statement, submitting my application, being interviewed and receiving offers. Last (academic) year, I finished my first year of Sixth Form gaining AS Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Computing and Religious Studies (of which I took the Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics modules). Having achieved fairly good results (if I do say so myself), I applied to study Computer Science at Durham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Nottingham and York.

Nottingham were the first to get back to me with a conditional offer, followed by Durham. York invited me to an interview after which they also gave me an offer. The most exciting of my five choices, however, is clearly my application to the University of Cambridge. I applied to Queens’ College, Cambridge (no particular reason why, it just has a nice ring to it), and was thrilled to be given an interview. Two interviews, in fact, and an entrance exam (the Thinking Skills Assessment). These all took place on the same day last month (December 2011), after spending the night in the college. Needless to say it was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life.

I thought the interviews had gone terrible, I still do. The pressure of two Doctors of Computer Science at Cambridge sitting opposite you makes thinking logically much harder! Nevertheless, the letter from them arrived in the post right on time, on the 6th January, beginning “I am delighted”. Of course, it was good news; I have a conditional offer from Cambridge! So, the conditions? I can only take up their offer if I achieve A*AA, in any order, in the subjects Further Maths, Physics and Computing and A2. Notice how (normal) Maths is missing from the conditions, which is a shame, because, being the subject I find easiest, I was counting on gaining the A* there. Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for the next 5 months or so.

As the owner of the channel, I feel it’s my responsibility to address all of this “drama”. Basically, there is none. #jake is an IRC channel, where people join and talk, make friends, share knowledge, etc. Something so simple with such a great set of users is not “falling apart.” Some people turn small, trivial issues into something unnecessarily big. And, to quote Tim, “these are overly dramatic people who blow everything out of proportions to gain attention.” [Tim]

There is no “good time to leave” the channel. If someone decides they no longer wish to be a part of our community, that’s up to them, there is no contract forcing people to stay. People come here to chat, and that is what they do. Users will come and go over time, but the channel will remain open, welcoming anyone into the community.

It won’t be long before #jake is 4 years old and we’ve had constant and consistent development since the beginning and that isn’t about to stop anytime soon. People may disagree with the way in which the channel is managed, but it’s impossible to please everyone. We always do what we think is the best for the whole community. If you have any concerns regarding the management of the channel, we’re all happy to listen and consider your views. We’d love to hear your opinions.

Our goal is to maintain a happy, friendly environment in which people of all ages, from around the world can get together to enjoy talking about the things they love. That’s what IRC is for and that’s what #jake has done since day 1. So again, all of this talk regarding “drama” is nonsense.

Comments welcome.

Jake, on behalf of the #jake moderators.