So the Easter holidays are upon us, and those of us who don’t have exams, or are trying to ignore the fact they have exams, will probably be looking for ways to make some spare cash.

Jobs are few and far between in these tough economic times. A few people I’ve spoken to – mostly boys in fact – are having a really hard time finding anything.I remember when I was doing my A Levels, I worked at Next every weekend as a sales assistant – so I was at school every day, and then working at the weekends to make extra money . No wonder I didn’t do so well as I’d have liked to in my exams!

We were the first year that got the EMA payments too – but £30 a week wasn’t really enough to cover anything but bus fare and my lunch money. I definitely liked the cash to buy cooler clothes – and also going on trips meant I could actually buy things in Alton Towers, for example, rather than pretending I wasn’t interested. And I liked the independence too. Asking my parents for money always brought up more questions than I liked to answer…

But now that I’m passed the age of school (hoorah! Life really is better when it’s all finished!), and frankly have been for a good few years, it was time to get a proper job. But last week I left it (don’t ask me why. I’m having nightmares about it) so it’s the first time in a long time that I’m actually having an Easter break as well. But rather than fill it up with revision, I’ve been bumming around for a bit. I’ve gone to the gym almost everyday (getting rid of the winter hibernation weight) helping my mum (why don’t boys ever do anything?) and I’ve been catching up with YM stuff.

Mostly I’ve been trying to sort out the Muslim Teen Tour events that will be happening in Bradford, Birmingham, and Manchester next week. It’s going to be a great chance for young people to finally get a say in what kinds of things affect you and what kinds of things you really think you need; from drugs and alcohol, to discrimination and citizenship. Check out the website if you’re interested in taking part. I’ve also been trying to sort out a week trip to the South East – to see all the funky people in London, Slough and Oxford. I’ll also be hopping over to Leicester and Brum mid-week to see all the lovely ladies there.

And, I’m tres excited about going to visit some folks in the Wirral next week – they want to set up a branch, so I’m going to have a chat with them, maybe get something rolling soon. So my Easter is getting filled up quite quickly. However, I plan to make time to watch the Apprentice. I’m not so impressed with the bearded dude so far. What do you lot think?

Tamanna Rahman
President YMUK