Coming to St Andrews as a fresh-faced first year, there was one thing I knew for certain; that I knew nothing about St Andrews. Having grown up in social circles somewhat removed from the bubble in which St Andrews Alumni tend to circulate, there was no opportunity for St Andrews to stand on the shoulders of the tales of teachings and treasured times. Instead, I was left with the very limited, very outdated YouTube videos as my only source of insight, and consequently had little idea of what to expect coming into our village.
Something had to be done, if not for the university’s benefit, then for all the versions of my younger self sitting their A Level mock exams, reluctantly choosing St Andrews whilst having no understanding of what university looks like here – which as we all know, is another thing entirely. So with my 200 person TikTok following, I got to work.
The niche I decided to draw for myself was the ‘St Andrews day in the life’ of someone with what is our collective version of a social life (a.k.a. clubbing most nights a week). At the time, other big names around campus, such as Bateman (@shark_bateman) and Ramsey (@ramsey.bader) were yet to form their own niches, and the only other apparent TikToker I watched led a quiet life with little mention of social events. Thus, I had space to work with.
My chance to swoop in came at a cost, however. My beloved username ‘d1ckstomper’ (aptly named after a pair of boots I wore everyday to school for 2 years, convincing a good 200 people I was 5’9”, rather than my actual 5’5” stature) was taken down on two separate occasions when my videos started doing consistently well, and soon enough the air of mystery within which I had been able to shroud myself had been popped within a couple months. With 11 parts, two years and 300,000 St Andrews-based views under my belt, I had become somewhat ‘St Andrews famous’.
This has hindered and helped me. To keep it simple, I’ll do a pros and cons list:
Pros:
Tiktok followers (brand deals yay)
Job and role offers
Making content
Cons:
No more mystery :(
Expectations to be funny (very difficult)
Recognised around town
Digital footprint
My mum judging me on my unorthodox sleep habits
Making content
Do I like doing what I do? Yes and no. I like content creation; it’s fun, it’s new and, despite my handle, it makes a good portfolio for future jobs. I know for a fact quite a few collectives and enterprises have hired me in part because of the account – Pulse, BPM, HerCampus and Out ‘N About to name a few. But the pressure of content creation is something I’m trying not to let weigh me down, because with strong contenders in the game now, feeling original is a thing of the past. However, the fact that a good portion are fourth years and thus leaving does help me sleep at night (in addition to rumours of their TikTok following having gone to some of their heads – not me though, I #stayhumble – I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea of being perceived in any way).
If you had told me two years ago that I’d be a poor excuse for a BNOC and be recognised from TikTok on almost every night out (including last night’s 15 person birthday party), I would have laughed in your face. Okay, I would have freaked out a little and locked myself away for a good couple weeks. But I’m here to tell you, and younger me, that it’s still worth it. I get to show people in my exact position what St Andrews actually looks like on a day-to-day basis – when you’re not the clay shooting kind of person – and help them place themselves in my shoes.
I’ve done what I seventeen-year-old me needed to see.
Sincerely,
@d1ck5t0mper