What Glasgow Uni Students have to look forward to after lockdown

Most importantly Pints of Fun

3 years ago

With the announcement about Scotland’s easing of lockdown restrictions announced yesterday, it looks like we will be able to start enjoying the things we have all missed so much over the past year.

Student life has been very quiet for Glasgow students for almost a year now, with most freshers never even setting foot in GUU. But as all of this is going to change soon, students can finally start to look forward to some normality returning.

We’ve put together a list of a couple things that Glasgow University students have to look forward to when lockdown ends.

Glasgow University Union

This is the epitome of Glasgow student culture. It opened up briefly in September for table bookings, but this was only for a couple of weeks before Lockdown 2.0 started, and it was definitely not the same experience that GU students deserve. Now some of us may have tried recreating GUU at home with a Hive playlist and even homemade Pints of Fun but we all know it’s not the same. Which is why we won’t mind waiting in the queue for hours just to get in, we all know that as soon as Super Trooper starts playing in Beer Bar the roof won’t know what’s hit it.

Gyms

Gyms have been opening and closing one and off over the last year, and a lot of students miss going regularly. Some people have taken up running as a replacement but this has been quite difficult in Glasgow’s very cold temperature. Gyms opening will mean access to treadmills, weights and in person group classes which we have all been missing over the past year.

Shopping

Aside from trips to the big Tesco in Maryhill students haven’t had much of a chance to experience shopping in Glasgow. A lot of students will be missing the vintage and charity shops in the West End, and being able to go on a shopping spree will be an ideal way to spend all that saved up SAAS from a year of lockdowns.

Sanctuary Sports Socials

It is hard to believe that it’s been almost a year now since that last Sanc Wednesday (the best day to go if your sports team is sponsored by them). We haven’t missed the Thursday morning lectures but we have missed a messy Sanc Wednesday and the team bonding that comes with it. With a roadmap out of lockdown recently released it won’t be long until your team has a booth rented out for another great Sanc Wednesday.

Credit – Sanctuary on Facebook

Flat parties

Everyone is longing for the blaring tunes, crowded halls and the ‘when are we heading to Hive’ chat. Whether it is just as pres, a 4am afters or just a quiet few, we all love a flat party and hopefully when we are finally allowed to have one it will be absolutely massive.

Clubbing

Most students have missed this part of uni. Pre drinks with your mates, leave at 11pm and go and have a night out in a sweaty club with cheesy tunes playing and trying to avoid bumping into students. Unfortunately a lot of freshers haven’t had the experience of going to their first club at uni yet, which is a shame, as there are so many great clubs Glasgow has to offer.

Face-to-face lectures

This might not sound very exciting compared to the others, but we are all sick of Zoom lectures and breakout rooms, and I’m sure a lot of us will be glad to have a reason to leave our flats and actually see our lecturers in real life.

Gigs/Festivals

A year without live music in Glasgow has meant many students have not had a chance to experience some of the city’s most iconic live music venues such as the Barrowlands, King Tuts or the Hydro. Another Covid casualty was TRNSMT, Glasgow’s own outdoor music festival, meaning students who stayed in town during the summer months never got the chance to see the massive selection of acts on display at Glasgow Green. Most of the gigs that got cancelled last year have been rescheduled so most students with tickets shouldn’t miss out, in addition lots more acts have said that they can’t wait to play Glasgow as soon as they can.

Restaurants

Some restaurants were open briefly last term until 6pm and served no alcohol, so students will be very excited to be able to go into a real restaurants and eat dinner at a normal time, and not have to keep getting takeaways or attempting to cook for yourselves. There’s some great restaurants in the west end; Paesanos (pizza), BRGR (Burgers), Bar Soba (Asian).

Seeing relatives

We have all been missing seeing elderly relatives in person. Everyone is also missing the unlimited amount of food that is supplied by grandparents everywhere. Not seeing loved ones over the past year has been one of the worst aspects of Covid but now with most of the elderly vaccinated there is a light at the end of the tunnel so it shouldn’t be too long until we able to visit them again.

Pubs

We all miss pubs deeply. Takeaway beers just aren’t the same, no-one likes the plastic cups or the way the beer is never quite cold enough. Pubs opened for a bit over summer which meant a daily visit to a beer garden, with local favourites including Old School House, Bank Street and Jinty McGuinty’s. Restrictions on pubs got stricter as the year progressed leading them to close entirely again but with the new roadmap out of lockdown there are hints that they may open by summer, which means a return to warm beer gardens and cold beers.

Hairdressers

The initial lockdown last year caused hundreds of students to shave off their hair due to the closing of hairdressers/barbers, we have come a long way since those dark days and some have even taken to cutting their own hair or getting their flatmate to have a go resulting in a few dodgy looking bowl cuts. When lockdown eases the bowl cuts will thankfully stop and we will all be sporting fresh trims from a qualified professional, not just our flatmate who thinks they are handy with clippers.