The secret reasons Glasgow students are actually excited to be back to university

Coming back to uni after the cosy comfort of the winter holidays can genuinely feel daunting. Being taken away from the world of lie-ins, home-cooked meals and central heating back into deadlines and the eternal hunt for a free library seat, isn’t exactly the most welcoming thought.

But hidden beneath the stress and grey skies, there are things worth coming back for. So to spread some cheer into this gloomy January, we asked Glasgow students on Instagram what they were secretly looking forward to about coming back to uni – and their answers were surprisingly wholesome… well, mostly.

Seeing the Glasgow sights

One student sent in a gorgeous picture of the Glasgow Uni clocktower illuminated at night, and honestly, fair enough. It’s so easy to take the campus for granted when you’re running around stressed out of your mind, sprinting to your next class with deadlines piling up. But when you stop and look around, the university buildings are stunning.

Everyone on TikTok loves to say that Glasgow is basically real-life Hogwarts because of the Gothic architecture – and you know what? They’re not wrong. As the second oldest university in Scotland and fourth oldest in the English-speaking world, we’ve got some serious architectural bragging rights. Next time uni life feels overwhelming, maybe pause for a second and take it all in. Four years goes by alarmingly quickly.

“Being able to make spontaneous plans because everyone’s rlly close by”

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Let’s be honest, living with or near your friends is one of the absolute best parts of university life. The big nights out are great, but it’s the mundane stuff that makes the student days special. Seeing your friends every day, watching things you definitely didn’t pay for, cooking and eating together, or just sitting in someone’s room doing nothing.

 They’re there for you in a crisis, whether that’s a breakdown over coursework or a desperate late-night sweet treat run. And perhaps, most importantly, there are no parents breathing down your neck asking you where you’re going or what time you’ll be home. Freedom never felt so… slightly chaotic.

“Seeing my flatmate I low-key, high-key fancy”

Ah yes. The flatmate crush. A true university rite of passage. Almost everyone knows someone who’s been through it – or it currently pretending they’re not. It’s risky, slightly unhinged, and may or may not end in disaster, but there’s something undeniably exciting about it.

Whether it turns into a rom-com situation or an awkward group chat silence, at least it makes coming back to uni a little more interesting.

“Seeing my op in the library”

This one may have been meant sarcastically, but honestly? Fair. Every campus has its characters – the people you see everywhere without ever speaking it. The ones you love to hate, silently judge, or weirdly look forward to spotting again.

Maybe it’s the person who always gets the good library seat, or the one who never seems to leave. Either way, they’re part of the ecosystem. Uni just wouldn’t be the same without them.

Whether it’s crushing on a flatmate, romanticising the buildings, or simply loving the fact your friends live five minutes away, it turns out coming back to uni isn’t all doom and deadlines. Glasgow might be cold, chaotic and chronically under-heated, but it’s also familiar, comforting and full of the little moments that make student life what it is.

So if you’re dragging yourself back this January, just remember – you’re not alone, and there’s probably a sweet treat run or accidental library sighting waiting for you.

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