Library pre-drinks are the way forward

It’s like a silent disco


It is indubitably that time of year again.

Revision and pre-drinks might seem like unlikely bedfellows, but when we combined the two, the results were actually dope.

Having any sort of fun in the run up to exams can be difficult to arrange, however it can be done. Needless to say, weeks of mind-numbing revision had made us pretty miserable – and what better way to deal with misery than with the curative powers of alcohol and friends.

So, to get ourselves sufficiently smashed for a house party that evening and to get some work done, we decided to mix business with pleasure and do pre-drinks in the Maughan Library.

The plan, if you can call it that, was a simple one: we’d get on with whatever we had to do (which, between the three of us, included trawling through the terrible jokes of a Maths course pack, deciphering a criminal law textbook and writing some English Lit coursework), but we’d be swapping coffee and Red Bull for cider and vodka.
The sun blazed through the windows into the room in which we worked, baking our faces and melting our chocolate. We tentatively started the actual drinking from about five o’clock, sipping from our cans as we went. It was relaxing; the sun and the booze fooled us into thinking it was a nice summer day, alleviating the tedium somewhat. Throw in some choice music selection and you’d be surprised at how efficient we became.

It was like a silent disco – a silent revision disco – made more fun by the sneaking suspicion we had that we probably  weren’t allowed to be doing it. For the first time in my life, revision had become enjoyable.

At about half seven, it was decided that we required nourishment – so it was off to Maccies. While we waited, a couple of tipsy twenty-somethings stumbled in, one of whom expressed his approval of the “phenomenal” arse of one of our number, before politely asking if he could “smack it”. Obviously unacceptable and sexist twattery aside, his behavior did force us to realise that we were behind schedule: we were not turnt enough. Back to the library we went.

We moved into a group study room where “discussion” would be permitted. There, we cracked out the spirits. It was decreed that for every page of notes we completed, we would have to do a shot. This was also surprisingly enjoyable, as our desire to consume more alcohol increased, so too did our obligation to make more notes; Olaudah Equiano’s poetry had never been so enthralling.

We ended up staying until about 10 o’clock, by which point the house party had, in theory, already been going for an hour. Clearly we were having too much fun. The girls ditched me briefly to do their makeup, then we made our way to the fiesta which awaited us.

A hard day’s work complete.

Overall, what can I say we learned from our adventure? Well, it can’t be denied that, towards the end, our concentration skills were slightly blunted by vodka, nor that it would be a wise activity to undertake every night of the week.

However, we did find it a relaxing and enjoyable way of escaping the soul-destroying nature of exam revision without completely ignoring revision entirely.

If you’re going out this week, why not try pre-ing while you revise? You may be surprised at how efficient it is.