James

Will be back soon.

I spent my yesteryear planting seeds.
A small patch on my Father's allotment. Coming off my bike taking a corner too quickly. Dozens of mates. Even more acquaintances. Whoever's-playing-out-divide-by-two a side football matches, carrying on until it's too dark to see the ball. Receiving a second hand Commodore 64, complete with a shopping-bag full of games. This was the early 90's. Way before it was cool. Way before you had to spend a small fortune in Gamestation to re-enact the era with desire to be 'retro'. Incessantly listening to the radio in the hope one of your favourites would come on such that you could hit record. Creating priceless mix-tapes for the long Sunday drive. Travelling the length and breadth of the UK. Never abroad. Childhood was humble. Happy in ignorance. The sum of your own experiences.
As time went on, I started to dream of escaping. With age, the world beyond the periphery of the small backwater town became evermore noticeable. Accessible. Inviting.
The summer of 2001 I escaped. To college, in the next town. The best decision I ever made. For a host of reasons. The summer of 2002 I was diagnosed with Leukaemia. In one moment - ignorant to the very word; the next - the expert. Read here for some more information on cancer of the blood.
As such, I missed the second year of college. With 0 UCAS points, it wasn't looking rosy whence the time came for my friends to go off to University. They had the chance to really escape. I couldn't miss the boat.
After sending numerous grovelling letters explaining my situation to establishments up and down the country, I received a positive response from Millennium Point, a subsidiary of UCE. Granted, a far cry from the Oxbridge reverie instilled by the teachers of secondary school, but in my position, I was a beggar. That meant I could not be a chooser.
What followed, were three years at University in Birmingham. Accelerating with each year that passed.
Which leads, by and large, to the present day. At the moment I'm working for a company called Substrakt. We create & code web sites, and design print work, for anyone who's willing to pay a decent sum. So far it's going really well.