Edinburgh BNOC of the Year 2019: Round Three

Were you so impressed and inspired by the BNOC nominees of the first two rounds that you found yourself thinking, gosh, surely these guys can’t be topped? Well, think again. The Round Three BNOCs are here and, goodness me, are they fresher than a tinny on a hot, sunny day in The Meadows. Scroll on to meet the nominees.

Gab Benitez, 3rd year, Biomedical Sciences

Gab is known as the face of men’s lacrosse and the soul of Big Cheese. A bold statement that, in itself, surely makes him a worthy winner of BNOC of the year. A five-minute walk with Gab ends up taking an hour due to the sheer amount of people he bumps into. In fact, Gab once went a whole week wearing a different fake moustache to a different party each day. The questionable abundance of fake moustaches aside, though, who on earth is popular enough to be invited to a party every day of the week?

Gab is also infamous for going halfway up Arthur’s Seat wearing a playboy bunny costume. Following his descent, he wasn’t allowed into Big Cheese afterwards. Rumour has it that with Gab turned away, the venue experienced its lowest turnout of the semester.

Bella Neergaard Peterson, 2nd year, Scandinavian Studies with Classics

When walking around campus with Bella, expect to stop every two minutes for her to say hi to someone she knows. This girl knows, and is known by, everyone. Bella contributes much positivity to the university community in her role as BME Officer in the Liberation Campaign, and also through her visual project Celestial Bodies (@celestial_bodies), which she founded with the aim to celebrate “marginalised bodies that are rarely represented in the fashion industry”. If you don’t know, then get to know – it’s pretty sick.

On top of her academic achievements and impressive work as an activist, Bella is also described as a comedy queen and your go-to gal when in need of a laugh. She once completely decked it in front of everyone outside Hive when trying to skip the queue. Subtle.

David Hegarty, 3rd year, Global Hospitality and Tourism

David is most well-known for being everyone’s go-to gossip at QMU. He will often arrange to meet his friends in uni to ‘study’ but ends up managing to work for roughly 10 minutes before wandering around finding anyone and everyone to talk to.

David has allegedly slept with many married lecturers, and has several boyfriends on both the football and Gaelic teams. After all, he is “here to conqueer”. Despite apparently causing a lot of controversy at QMU, David is also described as everyone’s favourite loud and proud Irishman, and the nicest guy on campus.

Kirsty Campbell-Birkett, 1st year, Medical Sciences

Kirsty’s best accolade is that she “isn’t afraid to ask for the manager”, according to her friends. It is also said that she happens to know a thing or two about law enforcement. We won’t ask.

Hugely popular around campus and an incredibly valued member of Rec Hockey, the fresher, who is also part of the Milngavie aristocracy, seems to have a lot going for her. Not one to mess with, she once didn’t speak to one of her mates for a week after he ate the top layer off of the lasagne Kirsty had just spent hours lovingly creating. She hasn’t forgiven him since.

Euan Robb, 2nd year, Photography

Whenever any of Euan’s friends go out with him they end up getting free entry and having the best night, all thanks to the fact this guy knows everyone. Coined as HBIC of Napier, he is most definitely a BNOC with a plethora of stories to tell.

Euan once infamously got stuck in a lift and needed the fire brigade to come and rescue him. Euan also managed to get all of his friends thrown out an Uber onto the street after fiercly arguing he wasn’t going to be sick, and then proceeding to projectile vomit everywhere. It appears there’s never a dull moment when Euan’s about.