My day began at one, as it usually does on Fridays. I woke up late and quickly donned the nearest tee-shirt that lay beside my bed, picked up my books and ran. I was late for class again! Whoever thanks God that its Friday, thanks God a day too early. Fridays are usually my most stressful days -when I have classes lined up, back to back. Nearing the exams, my schedule was no less forgiving. I ran towards class, knowing that I wouldn't reach on time. Running past John Rylands, I looked at my watch, realizing it was only noon! Oh! The beauty of that one hour sleep that I had missed!
I decided to hang around at the library and take its blessings for once. I noticed a group of students dressed up smartly, handing out freebies! The joys of being a student and collecting freebies! I walked towards them and nodded my head as they explained what their campaign was about, taking the pen they offered me. I've realized that the best way to go about it is collecting the freebies and just nodding in agreement, acting interested. However, to be completely honest, this time I actually did digest some of what they said. Or maybe I was biased because I really liked the pen. The students were apparently part of a website- MyJunk.co.uk . They claimed that it was meant to be UK's first ever student exchange website. Or something along those lines. Their campaign had just kicked off that day and they had campaigned around Union and John Rylands all day.

Two of our Manchester's own third years- Bhuvan Ahuja and Kunal Motwani, are part of this project. This project aims to create the much needed linkages on an intra and inter-university level. If truth be told, it's only after I heard their one minute shpeel that I realized that currently websites that serve students are focused heavily on the intra university aspects. There is definitely a lack of communication across university campuses. My friend at LSE took part in their cultural dance event –Timeless, last year. I had constantly been hearing about the event and even got to see informal pictures and videos posted on facebook, but never actually got to be a part of the official hype that surrounded the event in terms of media coverage or on-campus writings. Another friend of mine at Oxford told me about the heated recent debate on campus about the role of strong lobbies in the United States, skewing public opinion on the Middle East conflict. I would never have known about it, had I not read his forwarded article on it. The point is clear. We are too focused within our own university walls and have failed to fully become part of the larger community that we belong to- the community of students and intellectuals.

That being said, MyJunk seems to me like a brilliant concept. It tries to create a formal exchange forum where students from all over the UK can communicate and exchange ideas, news, events and even articles on its blogs and forums! I just recently registered on the website and was impressed by its appealing "student image". It also featured a product exchange section, where students can list products that they would like to see bought or sold. Unlike other websites it's friendly to the student pockets and it's completely free!

As a University of Manchester student, I am sure that the MyJunk campaign with its posters and flyers- must have hit you somewhere or the other. It definitely followed me for the rest of the week. I would bump into MyJunk's stall or come across students wearing cheesy MyJunk tee-shirts! On Tuesday I went to visit a friend over at Grosvenor Hall and was surprised to see a photo-shoot going on! Yes, a live MyJunk photo-shoot! Honestly, no venues of creativity have they left unexplored! Anyway in conclusion, hats of to Kunal and Bhuvan who are definitely doing a great service to Manchester and the broader UK student community by creating such an important and needed website! Do check MyJunk.co.uk out if you get the time- I promise I'm not being paid to advertise , but I think there was something about an ipod that you could win by signing up. Or something alone those lines.