The one where university is a lot like ‘Friends’

In many ways university life is a lot like the world of “Friends”.

You’re living with your friends rather than your family, there are several messy romantic situations and there’s a new found over reliance on caffeine.

However, if you’ve ever felt like there was something familiar about the strangers in your tutorials and lectures, this may be due to those “Friends” repeats you spent your whole life watching, over and over and over again.

The Rachel: The Spoiled One

The Rachel is the type of student who has had everything handed to them their entire life.

They’ve never had a part time job and be damned if they know how to manage their money.

Hopefully these students will rise above it during their time at university, just like Rachel did when she went from small time coffee house waitress to sleek fashion career girl.

How to spot them:

• Attempts at cooking result in a meat filled dessert
• Despite student poverty, still has an impeccable wardrobe.
• Gets her tooth cracked by “some bitch” in an argument over a taxi
• Has to ask you what the book you were meant to study for class was about, because she was too busy reading something else – Vogue

The Monica: The Perfectionist

We have all met a Monica in tutorials. They have a fully coordinated, multi-coloured folder with the module outlines, secondary readings on set texts, and possible exam questions with them to the first week of class.

If the day comes that you end up in a group project with a Monica, you can be rest assured they’ll be taking control over everything.

How to spot them:

• Extreme organisation skills, e.g. categorises their towels into “Everyday Use, Fancy, Guest, Fancy Guest etc”
• Has OCD about cleaning their student flat, thinks that the “Dry cleaner is like Disney Land”
• Must have control over every house party they’ll ever have, because she is the hostess. If you’re lucky she might let you be in charge of cups and ice
• Highly competitive and focused with studies, likely to get your tutor to give the class extra tests because “tests make us all better learners”

The Phoebe: The Kook

The easiest way to spot a Phoebe is through their rather alternative fashion sense, full of clashing colours and bold prints.

They will contribute to tutorials by offering strange new perspectives on things, and always have a creative way of tackling course material.

You should also hope that the Phoebe you meet in class doesn’t have television Phoebe’s fiery temper.

How to spot them:

• A vegetarian, except for when they are pregnant or meeting their boyfriend’s parents for the first time – when they can indulge in some lovely veal with a “nice vein of fat running through it”
• Performing their self penned folk songs at open mic nights, songs which may or may not involve smelly cats
• Using a fake alias, such as Regina Phalange, when filling out those all important course evaluations
• Driving biology students crazy with their arguments about Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, calling it a “nice story” but thinks that the whole idea is “a little too easy”

The Joey: The Slob

A Joey loves their food, their television and their women – making him a likely candidate for most lads at university.

Nobody is quite sure how they ever got into their course, as academic study was never exactly their strong point.

While the academic side of university isn’t all for them, the social side definitely is.

Endless hours of eating, drinking and playing Playstation? Surely everything other than that is a moo point!

How to spot them:

• Never off the phone delivering takeout. The local dominos are well aware that his special is “two pizzas”
• Trying to (and succeeding) to pick up girls wherever he goes, usually with a fool proof chat up line. Does it even need to be said? Alright, “How you doin’?”
• Joining the gym but failing almost immediately, thanks to those damn fifteens. But that doesn’t matter, The Joey is curvy and he likes it
• Asking his tutors some of life’s most pressing questions, such as “If the Homo sapiens were in fact homo sapiens, is that why they’re extinct?”

The Chandler: The Class Clown

The Chandler had some reservations about coming to University and the thought of meeting new people scares them a little, so they’ve put up a cold, sarcastic wall around themselves.

Dry and witty observations on just about everything happening around them can be expected.

They’re the type who comes to class never planning to take it too seriously, and they may well be the only thing to keep you sane during long library sessions with their hilarious one liners.

How to spot them:

• Struggling to keep a straight face when their lecturer says the word “duty” like “doodie”
• Attempts to pick up fellow students are awkward and usually unsuccessful. When their charm does manage to work every once in a while, expect this to be celebrated with dancing.
• While they can poke fun at their friends all they want, they will struggle to resist with new class or flatmates. They mightn’t be saying it aloud, but inside their heads they will be screaming “Someone comment on the pants!” if you decide to sport tight, leather trousers
• So socially awkward that if someone mistakenly calls him Toby at the start of the semester, he will remain as Toby to that person for the next three years

The Ross:  The Geek

A Ross fully throws himself into whatever he’s studying even if it has consequences on how “cool” he seems to his peers.

They love their subject so much they’ll most likely end up doing a P.h.D, and will spend the rest of their life priding themselves on their new found title of “Doctor”.

Just like he is with his studies, the Ross is very dedicated in romance as well, and will most likely meet a girl in first year that he’ll end up marrying…thought it might end with divorce, who knows.

How to spot them:

• Their bedroom at University is covered in nerdy memorabilia, for example, dinosaur fossils
• Attempts to flirt with you by explaining to you that gas is actually odourless and talks about how much they like eight year old boys
• Has an equally nerdy sense of fashion, and will argue to the death that the colour of their shirt is Salmon, not pink
• Spends  their spare time creating and drawing pictures for their imaginary comic book superheroes, such as Science Boy