These are the different characters you’ll meet in your seminars at Uni of Birmingham

If you ever do make it to your seminars, which may be a little difficult after an especially heavy sports night or Circo Monday, you will likely find yourself surrounded by some very colourful personalities and just downright characters. At least one of the people described in this list will make an appearance in your seminar, and if they don’t, one of these characters are probably you.  

The debater

Sat usually right at the front of the seminar room, this person has done plenty of preparation and has no shortage of opinions they wish to share with the rest of the group. While you do have to give them some credit for always giving an answer when nobody else will, heavens forbid you offer a contrary idea to the discussion, as this person will always be there to snap back in attempt to spark a hot debate, which no one can really be bothered for. 

The attendance code warrior 

Right on cue, you will see this person pop into the course group chat every week, “does anybody have the attendance code for the X seminar??”. Not sure who they are fooling, but getting the attendance code is not the same thing as actually going to the seminar. Whatever helps them sleep at night. 

The guy in a suit 

It’s hard not to admire someone who takes uni quite as seriously as this character. The guy in a suit loves to pull the lecturer for a chat in lecture breaks and will hold them hostage at the end of a seminar to discuss the material. This is likely because they too, dream of being a lecturer, so this does involve treating uni as *university*. Truly the peak of professionalism. 

The ghost 

The ghost is one of the more mysterious and elusive characters of the seminar. You can distinctly remember talking with this person in week one, yet like some sort of ghost or apparition, they were never to be seen again. It’s almost like they never existed in the first place. 

The typing machine 

You would think lecture notes would be enough to sufficiently pass your degree, but for some, this simply is not enough. At any given moment, during teaching, discussion or complete silence, you can always hear somebody tap tapping away on their laptops at lightning speed. You sometimes just sit there wondering, “what are they possibly writing about?”.  

The latecomer 

With this character, you will most likely be wondering why they even bothered to show up. With most seminars only being an hour long, rocking up half an hour late is a pretty bold move, yet somehow, they still made the effort to come in. They’ve certainly got the spirit, but perhaps the wrong execution.

The sporting obligations girls 

This character is a little more specifically referring to the girls who will bring their hockey or lacrosse stick with them to the seminar, and excuse themselves 10 minutes early because they definitely cannot be late to practice. Everyone knows being part of a sports team at UoB really is that serious. 

The NPCs 

This seminar character describes their lack of any real character. Without ever uttering a single word over the weeks, their presence in the seminars remains solid throughout the semester, yet nobody really knows who they are. It’s like they are there simply just to fill up the seats. A true background character. 

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