Why this term will be brilliant

Depressed about exams? Don’t worry, there’s plenty to look forward to this term…

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It’s the dreaded January exam period, which means you’ll be sat staring at pages of notes, none of which you’ll have absorbed or probably ever will.

As you reach into your tin of Quality Street, emptied on New Year’s Day, and pick out the final fudge that nobody wants, you feel strangely depressed about your return to Brizzle. I’m going back to University, I shouldn’t be feeling like this?, you think to yourself as you fight back the tears.

Fear not, my friends, for The Tab is here to remind you why this term is worth looking forward to. There’s plenty of reasons to be excited.

Varsity series

Bristol Barracuda and UWE Bullets face off

Even if you’re appalling at sport or couldn’t care less about the results, the Varsity series is always worth following. Make no mistake, there is an intense, tribal hatred between the Bristol and UWE sides. Last year, the big story was the football match, where violence erupted in the stands.

According to reports, coins were thrown and an attempted pitch invasion was launched. This was, of course, absolutely pathetic – rich kids desperately trying to be ‘football lads’ who if confronted by Millwall supporters would soil themselves – but it was all quite entertaining.

Bristol won the Rugby and Football matches comfortably, but UWE gained some impressive victories in the Rowing and American Football fixtures. My favourite event was the Boxing, where there’s always an electric atmosphere. One of the Bristol boxers had a whole section of the audience rooting for him, waving placards and chanting surprisingly witty songs. The roar when he sent the UWE guy flying to the floor was unbelievable.

As you’d expect, however, it can be brutal to watch. One of the Bristol lads had his nose broken and shoulder dislocated. Blood was everywhere.

The event ended in a draw, with Bristol and UWE winning two fights each.

In short, it’s definitely worth getting tickets for, unless you’re queasy.

Check out our ‘Rising Stars’ articles from last term for all the info on Bristol’s star sportsmen and women.

Student elections

Sadly, it will soon be time to say farewell to our beloved President, Rob Griffiths. Who will be elected as his replacement? It’s up to you…(well, if you can really be bothered to vote).

Farewell our Dear Leader!

Be prepared to see almost an identical set of manifesto pledges as last year. No doubt there’ll be something about ‘increasing student study place’  and ‘improving student wellbeing’. What is doubtful is that there’ll be a proposal as inane as Kelvin Chen’s: ‘I want there to be a detailed map of Bristol University so that students will never get lost again’ or another candidate’s ‘there should be guided walks to encourage you to leave your library desk’. Err…

Student elections can also develop into an enormous bitch fest. Last year, Kelvin Chen’s team accused Rob Griffiths of breaching Union rules by overspending on his campaign. He was even accused of ‘rigging’ Facebook, whatever that means. Will there be a similar controversy this year?

Valentine’s Day

It’s the day that you loathe if you’re single and, well, loathe even more if you’re in a relationship because it means you’ll have to choose from a variety of really naff gifts. Matters will be made worse by cringe worthy club nights, promoted by armies of good-looking people on Woodland Road, who’ll bombard you with thousands upon thousands of leaflets. There’ll also be an even more embarrassing UBU speed-dating night.

Stuff going on at the Union

Jon Richardson…live at the Union

There’s a comedy night at the Union on the 27th January featuring another set of comics trying to make it big (to add to the millions of comedians already on television). In fairness, a couple of them are fairly well-known: Jon Richardson is the most famous, having been on 8 Out of 10 Cats, whilst James Acaster has appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

There’ll also be an ‘Explore Festival’ taking place in the third week of February, which celebrates diversity and different cultues.

The Texan rock group, Midlake, are also performing at the Anson Rooms on the 25th February, promoting their new album, which is called ‘Antiphon’.

There’s plenty of stuff to look forward to, even if you’re in your final year and bogged down with work. Like The Tab on Facebook to make sure you don’t miss out on these hugely significant events.