What does your between-lecture activity say about you?

You’re feeling proud, you’re feeling smug, you managed to crawl out of bed in time for your 10AM, and now you're leaving Appleton a new student – motivated and put together. Your step seems lighter too… Have you lost weight? Or is it just that sought-after, adult glow that productivity often seems to entail? Either way, there is no excuse to miss your 12PM now, despite the general feeling that you’re wasting your life away in a fundamentally flawed university system, or the unpleasantness of the cold and rain.

The future is unwritten – all you can do now is decide the exact way in which you’ll spend the following hour, that weird George Square-shaped limbo in between classes. Are you taking advantage of every leisurely moment to meet up with friends? Are you avoiding said friends because you’re mindful of the fact that you’re spending thousands to be here and need to make the most of it academically? Or are you still loitering outside your lecture hall, undecided?


Either way, we know the type of person you are based on your choice of lecture-limbo activity. Who knew the depths of one’s soul could be so easily figured out?!

Working in the library

While part of me pities those who find themselves chained to a pod 24/7, the other feels a certain pride that I’m sure mirrors that of your parents. Good job, you! You probably go to most, if not all, of your lectures and make banging notes that then get passed around without your knowledge. My guess would be that you’re also a Virgo. Now if only you had some friends to celebrate that inevitable first degree with!

Going to the gym

Perhaps the only acceptable excuse to wear fitness clothes to lectures, going to the gym in between classes denotes a commendable effort on your part and a lot of ambition. You’re someone who seeks to become the best version of yourself, all the while making your lazy friends look bad in comparison. Gym-goers get stressed out easily; they’ll complain how little time they have to do their assignments, while conveniently forgetting that spending an hour in Pleasance every day is their own choice.

Meeting up with someone for lunch

Bought a slice just for this pic!

You’re a social butterfly and this is all part of your subtle yet carefully-curated BNOC campaign. Odds are you’ll try to go to Ting Thai Caravan but end up in Slice – doesn’t matter since it’s way better anyway – and by the time you’re done queueing and ordering you’ve only got thirty minutes left, and the conversation is mostly superficial. Next time you drunkenly run into that person, however, you’ll pretend to be best friends. Most people call you by your last name.

Working for whatever your 12PM is

The last-minute panic

This applies to tutorials exclusively – given that if you’re working on your next class an hour before it starts, you’re not the type to prepare for lectures. A procrastinator by nature, you’ve expertly tricked yourself into thinking that you’ll benefit more from the pressure of being in a rush than from giving yourself enough time to do the work. This is an effort that is equal parts stupid and admirable! Bonus points if you didn’t know the reading was 52 pages long until you opened it twenty minutes before your class.

“Studying” in Teviot

“Should we grab a bite?” Grace asks as you leave the lecture hall. “Nah.” You reply confidently. “I’m going to Teviot, got work to do.” She looks at you. She knows you’re not going to study. You look at her. You know she knows you’re not going to study. You still find yourself a comfortable armchair and place your laptop on your knees and think of how good you’d look on the Edinburgh brochure right now, and then end up feeling guilty when you inevitably start chatting to someone, neglecting whatever work you weren’t planning on doing in the first place.

Getting a coffee by yourself

It really isn’t about the money. It’s probably not about the coffee, either. You’ve been fucking about on your laptop for the whole lecture and feel guilty about doing the same thing for the next hour. So you walk towards Starbucks instead as if you have a purpose, and stare into the distance as you slowly sip that scalding hot latte. You’re the kind of person who would spent almost six pounds for that experience.

Fucking about in the library

Peak that we couldn't even find a pod for the photo

The intent was there, but something went horribly wrong when it came to the execution. Pod? Found. Macbook? Open. Learn? Checked. Yet somehow, while your friends around you all slowly sink into their own studious worlds, shushing you more and more often, you find yourself scrolling down Clubbers of the Week to try and find your smiling face on the screen, and before you know it another hour of your life had been wasted fruitlessly surfing the web. You’re the friend with all the weird trivia, and most likely wear round glasses without really needing them.

Brunch!

As opposed to chugging an espresso on your way out, you choose to treat yourself to brunch, a decision that, unbeknownst to you, defines you. You're probably more focused on that Checkpoint poached egg + smashed avocado toast than on the subsequent lecture, but I guess that’s fine because if you’re the kind of person who does brunch you’re likely to have your shit together. Either way, you’ll be getting Ubers to uni as soon as it starts snowing.

Going home

Oh, boy. This type of rogue person is the kind of friend that always disappears on nights out and doesn't charge their phone until the next day, leading you to believe they died or somehow ended up on a train to Glasgow. Chances are they already decided not to go to their 12PM and are just looking for a good enough reason to stay at home. Though I guess I can’t really tell you what goes on in the minds of those that successfully go back and forth, since I am yet to get on that elite psychological level.