Nothing humbles Lancs students more than these nine things

Meeting someone who lives in Bowland Tower changes your perspective


It’s pretty easy to think as soon as you get to university, you’re the cream of the crop. You’ve passed your A-Levels (or equivalent), you’ve moved away from home, you’re living independently for the first time. You think you have everything figured out, and that adulthood will be easy. How wrong you are.

Now, we’re not talking about karma, fate, or even religion, but sometimes something small happens and you are reminded that we are simply small parts of a much larger plan. That, or you just end up feeling really, really sorry for someone else and thus less sorry for yourself. Here are nine things that humble Lancaster students.

Being asked for your age when buying an Under-19 Day rider

It’s not a huge secret that everyone tries to get away with getting the Under-19 ticket, even if they’re way over this age. So it’s always a huge compliment when you get asked for your age, no matter if you’re a baby-faced first year or a postgrad student with a full beard – it’s one of those moments that reminds us that we can still be flattered and complimented. Even if it means we have to produce ID and pay the full fiver.

Your card getting declined when buying a Greggs sausage roll

The queue is halfway across Alex Square. It’s raining. You’re tired. You get to the front of the queue, and your card is declined. Sometimes, we are reminded of our humanity in tiny ways, even if it does make us want to scream at the universe afterwards.

A campus duck coming up to you in Alex Square

Hasn’t every Lancaster student tried to make friends with the ducks at one point or another? It usually goes horribly wrong, and you always swear you’ll never do it again, so it’s a treat when they approach you first (admittedly to steal your food, but if you overlook this it’s worth it).

Being offered free water in Sultans

It’s a tiny little reminder that someone is looking out for you when you stumble in, exceptionally drunk and in dire need of cheesy chips. The people behind the counter in Sultan’s don’t want you to have that hangover in the morning, they want you to only have fond memories, and that is why we love them so much.

Actually meeting someone who lives in Bowland Tower

Everyone (and I mean everyone) has sat in Alex Square at some point and said: “Oh, it would be horrible to live on the top floor of Bowland Tower. Imagine all the stairs!” and then has been gleeful about the fact that they don’t have to. Then you meet someone who does live there and are reminded once again of both your luckiness and your good accommodation choices.

Getting all the way up the Spine stuck behind someone

Occasionally, you have to weave in and out of people like it’s Mario Kart, because racing them is the only way that you can get from Charles Carter to Bowland North without being trapped behind someone who treats the Spine as a social area. The glee of getting all the way up uninterrupted and uninhibited by gossiping slow walkers is second to none and reminds us of the joys of the little things in life, but the pain of being trapped the whole way on a Thursday because of the markets? You’ll never know anything like it.

The view from Bailrigg House

We go to university in one of the prettiest places in the country, and it’s fairly easy to forget this a lot of the time. But take a wander up to Bailrigg House, and it’s hard not to be stunned by the views from the paths up there. It’s enough to remind us how small we are, really, in the grand scheme of things.

Finding the perfect seat in the Library

I’ll admit, it’s rare. But there must be that one seat for everyone, that you just have to have. The desk is the right height, the lighting is perfect, the temperature isn’t too warm or too cold, and the noise levels are just right. It’s enough to remind anyone that, even when you have an essay that you really don’t want to get done due, perfection does exist, and that in itself is humbling in the extreme.

A killer hangover

Come on, we’ve all been there. You’re having a really good night, you stumble home, throw yourself into bed, and then suddenly… you’re blinking into the light and your head is THROBBING. There is nothing that reminds you of your humanity than the need to vomit and the memory of the poor choices you made (or more worryingly, the lack of memory).

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