Roses and the reading room: Moments that alter a Lancaster Uni student’s brain chemistry

Uni is one of the strangest experiences of a person’s life. You end up in places you don’t expect, with people you have maybe only met once or twice before doing activities that if you were anyone else, probably wouldn’t acceptable. You see and do weird and wacky things, and you don’t end the year the same person you started it. It’s an ever moving cycle of growth – for better or for worse. Here’s a list of the Lancaster Uni moments that collectively changed all of our brain chemistries.

Roses 2022

Collectively, I think this altered the entire university’s brain chemistry. For the first Roses tournament since Covid, it certainly was one hell of a weekend, with events solidly from Friday to Sunday, York students everywhere, red roses painted on every body part possible and the knowledge that the Ultimate Frisbee players are actually really cool to watch.

Discovering the hot water tap in the library

The sheer knowledge that I can take a teabag to uni with me and make my own drink rather than braving the queue at Costa has changed my entire existence.

Completing the Woodland Walk for the first time

We’re not a city campus: in fact, Lancaster is, to all intents and purposes, fairly rural. But to know this fact, and to complete the Woodland Walk and be reminded of the nature that we are surrounded in, are two completely different things.

Entering Cartmel accommodation for the first time

I’m convinced that to the majority of Lancaster students, Cartmel college only exists as a sort of myth. I mean, we’ve all met students form Cartmel. We’ve all been to Barker House Farm. But does the accommodation really exist? Is it really real? No one truly knows until you enter for the first time and it becomes a real, solid fact for you.

The knowledge that the society space in Slaidburn House exists

Did you know that most societies have storage space under Slaidburn House? No, nor me.

That *one time* there was no Greggs queue

Because let’s be real, it’s probably only happened once this year, and the whole of campus was trying to work out of they were closed, if something had gone drastically wrong, or if the entire population of the university have simultaneously decided to go on a health kick. Just the knowledge that it is possible changes things so dramatically. It’s unreal.

Eating crisps in the reading room

To finish – and this is an experience, if you haven’t tried it and want to do something new this week, this altered my brain chemistry, and not in a good way – eating crisps in the reading room. A moment of silence please for the dignity of everyone who has ever done this, the patience of everyone in the room, and the taste of the crisps as they essentially have to be sucked until they are soft enough to lose the crunch. It’s not pretty and not fun.

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