Open Eye Letter: Cool drink for the thirsty

have only been to one Summer School but I second Mary Grosvenor's take on the subject. To me the Summer School was cool drink to a very thirsty person.

I was already doing well in my course but it was so wonderful to go somewhere and exchange ideas and meet people from a very wide range of age, social and cultural groups. As a wife and mother it was also great to be able to be a person in my own right, away from the distractions of "what's for dinner, mum?" and "have you got my shirts ready, dear?" and "would you mind joining us on this or that committee?".

I really hope they don't get rid of the Summer Schools. Although at the same time I think they have to be a tad more flexible because as someone unemployed said recently he was unable to get much out of the summer school when he thought of the financial strain it put on his extremely tight family budget.

Lorraine Schneiter [via the website]