A postcard from Reading

The room seems vaguely familiar, if only because it's so featureless. Magnolia walls, strip lighting, worn carpet patched over with functional desks and chairs. Countless other rooms just like this populate universities all over the country, but this room at the University of Reading is linked in my mind with one just like it in Glasgow. Two projector screens at one end remind the crowded room of the names of the people at the front that I can't see from my seat in the corner. Over the course of this debate I've become quite adept at linking those names with the sound of their owners' voices.

When I finally put my finger on why I'm feeling mildly panicked, the mental connection I've made between this makeshift debate chamber and that small exam hall at the University of Strathclyde seems apt. The occupants of the two rooms were chiefly concerned with one thing. Assessment.