Here at HCX we are feeling a bit nostalgic. Exams are coming to a close and for a lot of us it’s our final year at this amazing university. So we thought we would look back on some of the things we have learned since turning up here as wide-eyed Fresh all those years ago…
1. Real friendships aren’t bound by time or distance.
2. True friends don’t judge or question. (Even when you are caught flirting with your unconventional secret seminr crush… best of a bad bunch I hear you say?!)
3. Skype is magical – but infuriating when it freezes and malfunctions.
4. Fancy dress is addictive.
5. There are no limits to how much liquid a carpet can soak up.
6. Arbitrary drinking game rules (i.e. spillage is lickage/drinking from a shoe) aren’t subject to the laws of free will.
7. Downing a pint of wine is never a good idea…
8. Nor is mixing wine with spirits.
9. Lambrini is the devil’s nectar.
10. The majority of students have absolutely no clue about life… but we manage anyway and that is something to be proud of!
11. The majority of lecturers have lost touch with reality, yet they were not, in fact, personally plotting your demise when they set you that deadline.
12. Anything can be a research topic.
13. Getting kicked out of a club is embarrassing yet satisfyingly rebellious – just recognise the power of being nice to the bouncers for next time!
14. People rememeber the bad things you say and do… if you have nothing nice to say, keep your mouth shut.
15. Heartbreak doesn’t lessen with maturity. (Plus Ben and Jerry’s is still a cure-all solution)
16. Sex and love are two different things.
17. Getting up at 8am is hard for some reason, no matter that some of us were walking to school by that time a few years earlier.
18. Bureaucracy, politics and bitchiness exist in every institution, and even more so in an eight-man student house.
19. A student kitchen is the most disgusting place on earth, sometimes it’s just easier to roll with it.
20. Some of the best conversations are started on trains.
21. Knowledge is power, so much so that you can accomplish anything with sufficient time in the library.
22. Maturity doesn’t increase exponentially with age… but wisdom does. The wisdom that all-nighters are not a good idea, for example.
23. Kind words can be the best medicine (followed by a shot of tequila if it is really bad!)
24. It’s hard to make friends in a new place, but it’s not impossible. Once you do it’ll be like you’ve known them for life.
25. Priorities change with time and experience.
26. You don’t need to conform to a stereotype…
27. Or stereotype other people.
28. Being open-minded about other cultures opens up a whole load of new experiences… and some great holidays visiting new friends from all around the world!
29. Feminism isn’t a dirty word. (It’s equality, stupid.)
30. Faith is non-exclusive.
31. Carpe Diem doesn’t mean ‘be reckless’… something that is definitely worth noting when a friend suggests climbing the Clock Tower.
32. Showing your true emotions is scary but…
33. Holding them in is more painful.
35. Singing is happiness, especially when it’s the middle of the Cheesies dancefloor with your girls and S Club 7 (we’re not adults yet!).
36. Pride is redundant, never let your ego get the best of you.
37. Embarrassment and failure are not to be feared, they merely give us a push to do better next time – we are all human after all.
38. Every day is a gift, don’t waste a single one (unless you had a particularly big night the night before, then you are excused).
39. University isn’t the end…
40. It’s just the beginning.