Every small joy that got us through first semester at Glasgow

First semester at Glasgow isn’t glamorous. It’s damp and cold. It’s walking up University Avenue in shoes that were not built for hills. It’s staring at your lecture handouts like they’re written in ancient runes. The winter semester has a funny way of humbling you. One minute you’re romanticising library life and brisk autumn walks, the next you’re crying into a £1.99 Tesco meal deal because your seminar ran long.

And yet somehow, despite the rain, the deadlines, and the sudden realisation that everyone else seems smarter than you, we survived. Not because of resilience or discipline or growth. But because of the little joys.

The tiny, almost embarrassing things that kept us going.

1. The coffee that felt like a personality transplant

Shout out to UniDays for the £2 Starbucks vouchers for making Tuesday’s my favourite day of the week. That first proper coffee of the day does more emotional labour than any wellbeing workshop ever could.

One sip and suddenly you’re convinced you’re a morning person. A scholar. An academic weapon. The essay deadline still exists, but now you believe you could face it. Briefly. Before crashing again by 2pm.

2. Claiming your library seat

Not just any seat. Your seat. The one with a functioning plug socket, tolerable lighting, and a view that allows you to stare meaningfully into space instead of reading. Once you’ve sat there twice, it becomes yours by divine right. If someone else takes it, they’ve committed a moral crime and best believe hands will be thrown.

3. Cancelled lectures

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Few emails inspire such pure joy. “Today’s lecture has been cancelled” hits like a lottery win. Will you use the time productively? No. Will you lie in bed, scroll, and tell yourself you’ll catch up later? Yes. And honestly, that’s self-care bestie, I applaud it.

4. Walking home pretending you’re in a film

Headphones in. Music loud. Rain lightly misting your face for aesthetic reasons. You’re not just walking past Kelvingrove, you’re processing your character arc. You feel reflective. Main-character-ish. Even though the reality is that your gortex jacket is doing nothing against the Glaswegian rain. You actually look incredibly silly, you wee wet rat xx

5. Late-night takeaways that fixed everything (temporarily)

There is no problem a greasy 727 can’t solve. Carrying it home and sneaking a few chips on the way, then scranning it whilst sitting on someone’s bed, shoes still on, recounting the night like it’s future nostalgia. That’s perfection.

Healing happens here. I once knew a bloke who went to bed cuddling his sausage supper. Everything is romantic… and covered in brown sauce.

6. Union nights 

There is simply nothing like a union night. Whether it’s QMU or GUU, Sports Wednesdays or Hive Thursdays, the words “pint of fun?” still make your ears prick up like a dog that’s just heard a treat packet.

The DJ at Hive really does have us falling in love again and again every single time. And if clubbing isn’t your scene, Battle of the Bands at GUU or the music and drama gigs at QMU have been elite this year. Cheap tickets, good vibes, and the unmatched joy of supporting other students who are also just trying their best.

7. Accidentally timing the subway perfectly

You didn’t plan it. You never plan it. But you tap in and the train is there. For 30 seconds you feel chosen. Blessed. Untouchable. Like the universe saw you struggling and threw you a bone. You board with a smug little bounce, briefly convinced that everything else today might also go your way. It won’t, but let’s not ruin the moment.

8. Someone offering you a lighter on campus

Community. Connection. Humanity. You’re standing outside, freezing, stressed, and absolutely avoiding going back inside. You ask around with low expectations. Someone produces a lighter instantly, like they were waiting for this moment. No questions. No judgement. Just immediate, unquestioned generosity.

For one brief, beautiful moment, you are united by nicotine and academic despair. You’ll never learn their name. You’ll never see them again. But they truly came in clutch and restored your faith in humanity. Kindness does still exist.

9. The post-night-out debrief

Arguably the most important event of the week. Sitting on the kitchen floor the next day, half-alive, reconstructing the night like archaeologists working from fragments. Who said what? Who disappeared? Who pulled? Who definitely shouldn’t have texted that person? Timelines are debated. Witnesses are called. Ghastly pictures are exchanged. Everyone remembers it differently.

It’s chaotic, healing, and essential. The night isn’t really over until it’s been discussed to death. Just try make it to your afternoon lectures, cause you for sure missed those 9ams.

10. Realising you actually like it here

It’s not a big moment. Just a quiet one. Uni might not look like the brochures, you’re not sitting on the grass with a perfectly curated friendship group laughing in slow motion, but this… isn’t half bad? You’re walking home from an alright-ish class, the sun comes out for all of 30 seconds, and the tower on main campus sticks out gloriously above everything else. That’s kind of magical. This is your university.

Maybe you haven’t fully bought into the whole “world changers” thing, but you’re showing up, doing your bit, and making a difference in ways that don’t need a slogan. And that has to count for something. Anyway. Enough sentiment. Go put the kettle on and get started on that Monday night pesto pasta.

So no, first semester didn’t turn us into academic weapons or fully formed adults. But it did teach us how to survive on coffee and sheer vibes alone. Whether you’ve been out clubbing every week, throwing yourself into a society, or actually taking your degree seriously and living in the library (what’s that like?), we can all agree on one thing: it’s the little things that get us through.

And with that, let’s bring on second semester. See you in the library…or Hive.

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