10 frustrating things only Bournemouth students would understand

Legend has it that hundreds of students are still lost in Poole House to this day

2 years ago

Every uni has its flaws and Bournemouth is no exception. Some are tolerable, others can be day ruining. From bewildering buildings to downright infuriating websites, Bournemouth University and everything that comes with it can be a challenge. At the end of the day, you grin and bear it. Here are the most frustrating things a Bournemouth student experiences:

Brightspace two factor authentication

The dreaded two factor authentication. Waiting ten minutes for a texted code, which will inevitably expire by the time it arrives. After all that fuss you don’t even care about data leaks or protecting your identity, you just want to look at the lesson slides. My advice: try and get the Microsoft Authenticator App. It will take a while to set up but save you years of your life in the future.

The irregularity of the Unibus service:

UniBus, we have beef. The U1 doesn’t run on weekends. The U3 comes one to twice an hour, and can range from 10 to 30 minutes late. The whole system is lawless and confusing. It’s enough to make you DM the Witchcraft and Paganism Society, just in case they’ve got a seance ritual that could bring the Yellow Buses back.

Buildings locking in the evening

You’ll have experienced this if you have society meetings, or those loathsome 5-6pm classes. The Fusion building shuts like a prison after 8pm. The Poole house has automatic doors that only open with your keycard, and those 10 seconds you fumble to retrieve it from your bag make all the difference for those late night, once-an-hour- buses.

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Lack of USB ports in the university

For a university that boasts its media courses, you’d think more of the computers would have USB ports. Yet, there is a strange lack of them on both campuses. Bringing a full G plug into uni may be possible, but it isn’t ideal. The lack of plug sockets in lecture halls is especially brutal. You’re faced with a two hour lecture; phone dead, laptop draining, and you haven’t taken handwritten notes since GCSE.

A rare wall USB port on campus- located on the top floor of the SUBU building.

Poole House

Finding any room in Poole House is a challenge worthy of being featured in the Iliad. The building design is ugly, confusing and frankly, nauseating. Why are the bathrooms on separate sides of the building? What is the actual layout? Finding a room on the ground floor? Forget it. Only an Ancient Greek hero could navigate that maze.

One person occupying an entire beach hut

The techno beach huts are perfect for group work. With it’s comfy sofas and cozy cubbies: it’s understandable someone would select them for a nap or some down time. But I implore you to find an empty room in Poole house or a quiet corner in Fusion, there’s a barely-together group presentation that needs practising ASAP.

SUBU shop out being of painkillers only when you need them

Be it sports injury or period cramps, you’ll find yourself limping to the utilities section, desperately searching for the ibuprofen, but no luck. You are faced with an empty section that makes your stomach turn, or worse, only the off-puttingly American looking Advil. The only possible explanation is that the SUBU shop is a sadistic and sentient being, one that can immediately tell when you are in dire need of pain relief and enjoys your suffering.

People milling about in SUBU shop

Omg, move! I am late to my lecture and this meal deal won’t buy itself.

The lecturer struggling with the slides

They’re in pain. You’re in pain. You feel sympathetic but you can’t stop experiencing visions of your tuition fees evaporating. The girl to your right has started browsing ASOS, the boy to your left is playing solitaire. You stare blearily at the Brightspace resources, praying the caffeine kicks in soon. At least it’s not strikes this time.

Those slow doors in Fusion

I am tempted to get an engineering degree just to fix them myself. Every time you approach, you know you’re going to be waiting those extra two seconds, but it doesn’t make the cold temperature or humiliation sting any less.