Our union may suck but the new bar is actually pretty good

When we think of student union, we think of disappointment. After all, it’s the 120th best student union in the country. Some would label it useless, unreliable, and other harsh adjectives. Usually, it’s as disappointing as getting a text message from EE.

However, this has all changed for me. Before I continue I should make clear, I’m not a member of the student union, I haven’t been bribed, and they aren’t holding my family against their will to make me say this. Instead, my opinion has been altered by a visit to the new union bar, and the appropriately-named UBU pub quiz night.

Originally, the plan for the evening had been the usual trip to ‘Spoons, but my friends and I took a drastic risk and changed our destination at the last minute, because we’d heard a rumour you could actually go to the student union for “fun”.

The bar is buzzing

When we got there the atmosphere was surprisingly good. The drinks were cheap, the staff were friendly, and the lightshow was pleasingly reminiscent of an awkward school disco. It seemed for a split second to mimic the other “dope” student unions my friends from home have described to me.

People were enjoying themselves, casually drinking while focusing on the pub quiz. Apart from the collective groan upon announcement of the self-promotional “UBU” round, the aura of expected disappointment actually wavered for a while.

As we edged our way to the back we saw the holy grail of entertainment for wavey students: a hipster cushion and bean bag section.

We felt liberated, free from the shackles of conformity. We thought we could achieve anything, and pushed on in the quiz to rise from last place to a mighty third. We were even robbed from best team name, yes I’m looking at you “Quizteama Aguilera”.

As we argued over the quiz we made a second discovery. The union has taken a page out of the life sciences building and decided to grow moss on its wall. We can only speculate this is some kind of expression of art or opinion from the union, and the deeper meaning will come to light soon.

Or you know, it’s just pretty.

Despite our worst fears, the new bar is actually pretty great (to be fair anything’s better than the old one), with a good atmosphere and enough space to move around unlike some other places. The queues can be a bit long but apart from that I’d recommend it.

It’s a shame it’s just fucking miles from everyone.