Things all UEA students do that are actually really, really odd

Life at UEA seems pretty normal to you. Day in, day out, you have your normal routine of going to the LCR, getting some food in Campus Kitchen and dreaming of Cloud Dog. But have you ever thought that actually, decorating a wheelbarrow and getting pissed it actually really quite weird to anyone outside of UEA?

Here’s a list of things we all love doing, which are genuinely really fucking odd.

PRETEND YOU LOVE SPORT ON DERBY DAY 

If you play a sport, Derby Day is the most important day of the year where all your hard work and hungover training sessions will be put to the test. But if you don’t, it’s the only acceptable day where you are allowed to suddenly become really interested. Seeing the rugby team play, you’ve realised that you actually really care and become mega rowdy, helping out the only way you can by ruining Essex with insulting chants.

SMASH THE LCR TWICE A WEEK, EVERY WEEK

Listening to the same music every Tuesday and Saturday might get boring to some people, but not at UEA.

It’s a staple of any UEA student’s experience and its appeal is never questioned. That is until your mate from Leeds comes to visit and asks you “why are they playing Will Griggs on Fire… again?”

No one’s mind will be changed. LCR is love, LCR is life.  

EAT CAMPUS KITCHEN FOOD 

This is especially true if you’re in your first year. When you’re missing your mum’s home cooked food and you’ve only been eating super noodles for the past two weeks, the natural place to be drawn to on a killer hangover is Campus Kitchen. However, a few breakfasts later and you realise that it’s actually not even that good food. The mushrooms are runny, the bacon is dry and the eggs are hard. It’s all a bit grim, but you keep going back there anyway.

CHASE THE BUNNIES 

As soon as the new semester starts, social media will once again be flooded with pictures of the little rabbits running in front of Nelson Court. WHY? It’s not like you’ve never seen them before, they’re rabbits, not rhinos. But, for some reason when coming to UEA it seems like a right of passage to take as many pics of them as possible and try to touch one after a massive LCR as if they’re some sort of mythical creature.

BEING COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY IN LOVE WITH A DOG, SO MUCH SO THAT IT WON BNOC OF THE YEAR AND HAD A STATUE MADE IN THE STUDENTS’ UNION 

How can you resist this face??

Cloud Dog stole the hearts of everyone on campus when we were graced with her presence. The cutest little floof Beau was loved by all, so much so that she won BNOC of the year in 2016. Unfortunately, last year Cloud Dog passed away, but this was not the end of her reign.

In order to get student’s out to vote in the Union elections, the Students’ Union promised to erect a statue of Cloud Dog if over 2,000 people voted. Obviously, this was something that the people wanted and so we came out in the masses. After a record turnout of almost 4,000 votes, the SU couldn’t break their promise and so they build a statue.

It stayed up for months…

JUDGING PEOPLE’S CHARACTER BY THE HALLS THEY LIVE IN 

If you live in the Ziggs you’re a stoner and if you’re in the Village you’re a melt.

GETTING DRESSED UP, DECORATING A WHEELBARROW THEN DRINKING YOUR BODY WEIGHT IN ALCOHOL AND GOING ON A MASSIVE PUB CRAWL THROUGH THE CITY 

Pimp My Barrow is by far the best day in the uni calendar but trying to explain it to someone who hasn’t experienced it never ends well. How are you meant to justify dressing up, decorating a wheelbarrow to match your group’s outfit, and then just getting really smashed in the square before trying to navigate a pub crawl?! Let’s be honest, your wheelbarrow won’t leave the square and you’ll probably only make it to the first pub anyway.

Madness

FORMING TRUE AND LONG LASTING FRIENDSHIPS WITH KEBAB SHOP WORKERS ON PRINCE OF WALES 

The true heroes of the night. By week four of the semester, you know some of them better than you know your flatmates.

FEELING LIKE AN ABSOLUTE BAD MAN WHEN YOU WEAR A SOMBRERO 

In no other uni will you get a rush of excitement wearing a sombrero. Following sombrero gate, where sombreros were banned from the Freshers’ Fair for cultural appropriation, wearing one now feels like you’re sticking it to the man.

TRYING TO HAVE SEX IN THE LAUNDRETTE, LIBRARY, LECTURE THEATRE, LCR AND LAKE

Guaranteed, more people at UEA want to complete the five Ls than their actual degree. The sheer pride that comes with being able to say that you’ve shagged in five of the weirdest places possible is priceless.

People at UEA do some pretty weird shit, but it is just so wonderful.