What's their idea of fun?
You can’t work all the time. In fact, having a good time is an essential ingredient in student life. If you don’t, not only have you missed a blinding opportunity, but it’s just like over-revving an engine — by driving yourself too hard, you don’t actually get any further any faster.
You know what they say about ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’? Well, believe us, it’s true. Push met Jack once — he’s better than a pound of Nytol if you’re having trouble sleeping.
You can pretty much take any group of 8,000 people of above average intelligence, mostly between 18 and 25, and leave them to it to have fun. For the most part, they will succeed. However, throw in some facilities, a few appropriate events and entertainments, plus a load of beer — now you’ve got a far more reliable recipe for enjoyment.
But when it comes to the exact ingredients, different people like different things in their cocktail. Different universities offer a whole set of different mixers and shakers. One may be the equivalent of Tequila and overproof rum, while another is more your dry sherry and Pimms.
How you decide to mix what’s available, in what quantity and in what balance, is up to you, but what’s available in the first place depends on your choice of university.
So what entertainment provisions should you look out for?
If you’re into gigs and clubs, you may not want the same uni as a student whose idea of fun is balls and ceilidhs.
Either way, there follows a guide to whatever puts the ents in students — but first, we need to understand that strange beast they call a students’ union.
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Last updated on: 02 December 2008