Page 159 of The Examiner

Wonderful news! Thank you. Please be assured the other students will all pull together to support you – and each other. That’s the beauty of the small-group MA. We become one big family, and I expect this to be a positive, productive, collaborative experience for everyone.

Gela

To: Gela Nathaniel

From: Patrick Bright

Date: 9 October 2023

Subject: Re: MA course

Dear Gela,

I feel I have to contact you. I’ve given it a couple of weeks, hoping things would improve, but it’s no better. We’re all so different and I have nothing in common with any of them. Don’t get me wrong, Jonathan seems a pleasant enough fellow and young Jem a delight, but Alyson and Ludya are both nightmares, and don’t get me started on Cameron, I might never stop!

The technicians are surly and seem to resent me being there. I’ve tried to gel with people, but I’m wondering if this course is really for me.

Patrick

To: Patrick Bright

From: Gela Nathaniel

Date: 9 October 2023

Subject: Re: MA course

Patrick,

The course has been running less than two weeks. Everyone feels jittery at the start of anything new, but you’ll bond with the others soon enough, especially when we start working on the assignments and the final project. Think of the people who applied for this course and weren’t accepted. You were given the grant from the discretionary fund, meaning they couldn’t afford the course, so didn’t apply. They’d love to be in your shoes right now. MMAM(FTP) is a fantastic opportunity that will allow you to retire to Ireland as you’ve always wanted. You can’t leave now, you just can’t.

Gela

To: Gela Nathaniel

From: Patrick Bright

Date: 9 October 2023

Subject: Re: MA course

I hear what you’re saying, Gela, and I would love to throw myself into this, as I wanted to back in the summer when we spoke. But the reality is, the people alongside you make or break an experience like this and I’m not feeling the love. Even Jem, who is the only one I’ve really got along with, is so ambitious that if she had to push me under a train to get her MA, I think she would, I genuinely do. Who should I speak to about withdrawing from the course, you or Hannah?

Patrick

To: Patrick Bright

From: Gela Nathaniel

Date: 9 October 2023

Subject: Re: MA course

Patrick, you are withdrawing from this course over my dead body. If you DO, then you can rest assured Modern Art’s long-term commitment to VAT evasion will come under intense scrutiny from HMRC, and there’s no point in escaping to Ireland, you’ll just be extradited. All you have to do is complete this course. It’s over at the end of May. That’s barely six months, it’s not much to ask, is it? Now, you’ve got Assignment One to be getting on with. I look forward to seeing your submission.

Gela

Message group: 2024 Examiners, 30 May 2024