I’m halfway through first year and I’ve never been clubbing

Everyone knows that going out is a crucial part of uni, but it’s coming up to exam season and I’ve still never graced the floors of the Raz or Shipping Forecast.

Unlike many of my mates, I took a gap year before coming to uni. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and decided to apply having already got my A Level grades, etc. I spent my gap year working full time, something which my previous part time jobs had prepared me for. What I wasn’t prepared for was for all my mates to abandon me, leaving me with almost zero social life for the best part of a year.

No clubbing doesn’t mean I never have a drink

I assumed once I started uni that I’d be so ready to start going out again, but instead I found myself underwhelmed by the thought of losing all my dignity on a messy night out with people that I wasn’t particularly friendly with. Living in a nearby city means that I’d been out in Liverpool long before uni started, so I already had that “been there, done that” mentality.

Coffee over vodka anyday

I hate getting drunk

Call me crazy, but getting shit-faced just doesn’t appeal to me. I hate the taste of alcohol- either neat, burning through the flesh of my throat, or mixed with some horrendously sweet concoction that is equally as abhorrent. I also hate feeling like I’m not in control, and that I can’t take care of myself properly. Call me a control freak, but it just isn’t my thing. Plus, less alcohol means no hangovers. The general consensus throughout the student body seems to be that if you aren’t hammered, there’s not much point going out, and I hate drunk people even more than being drunk.

I do still go out for a pint with mates

I’m not in halls

Like the small minority of other first years, halls wasn’t an option for me. Instead, I ended up in a student house on Smithdown, with seven other students ranging from other freshers to a fifth year Dentist. Although I have no issues with my house mates, I wouldn’t say we gel particularly well. I could never picture us going out on the lash together, we’re more into spontaneous trips to Tesco. That, coupled with the fact that no one really talks to each other much on my course, means that I’m at a shortage of people I could go out with. Sure, I’ve made a couple of great friends, but they all have their own circle of friends in halls, and although I’ve occasionally tagged along to pre-drinks, I’m not one of the lads.

I’d rather be out with my boyfriend than chundering into a toilet

I still have a social life

Don’t get me wrong, I still have fun. I may not like clubbing, but I love going out for a cocktail or two. Living on Smithdown means that the Brookhouse is my second home, and I’ve never witnessed drinks as cheap as in the Font. I still do all the things normal students do- I go out for dinner, go to the cinema, or society nights at uni, but clubbing just really isn’t my thing.

And anyway, do you really enjoy the actual ‘clubbing’ part of a night out that much?