Leicester Freshers A-Z 2013, Part 1

Freshers of 2013 welcome to your home for the next three years! We’ve put together this guide to help you feel at home. Having read the words that follow you will feel enlightened, like you know everything about the UK’s tenth largest city. But be warned, this information is not enough to pass and you should study privately if you wish to master the city and the University (don’t worry there isn’t really an exam and even if there was, first year doesn’t count).  You can’t say we didn’t set you on your way though…

One of Britain’s finest institutions and a world famous documentary maker. David Attenborough used to live in College House with his brothers Richard and John. The building is now used by the Maths Department. His father, Frederick, was principal of the University from 1932 to 1951. A building on campus is named after the family, the Attenborough Tower, which is supposed to look like a cheesegrater (we’ll leave for you to decide!).

David and the Tower

Within several days of your arrival in your shiny (almost new) flat in John Foster or your shabby, tattered room in Beaumont you’ll be familiar with Blackboard. It’s the online service where you’ll find all the lectures for your modules once your lecturers have uploaded them. The socialites and alcohol lovers amongst you will realise that this means you don’t actually need to set that 9am alarm leaving more time to recover from those £2 vodka mixers.

A BNOC, or Big Name on Campus, is instantly recognisable. Clad from head to toe in ‘stash’ from their chosen sport, they strut around on campus like gods, their names thrown around by students the campus-over. Their antics are widely discussed always involved in humorous activities. You’ll soon learn who Leicester’s BNOC’s are and all about their lives.

For second and third years it’s ideal, just a few minutes stumble from the University campus. For first years, a house in Clarendon Park is a must. If you can’t secure yourselves a house in Clarendon Park you might as well trade your laptop in for a cheaper model in preparation for second year and life in … Evington and that aint pretty. It’s not actually as bad as everyone makes out, but you’ll soon have a list of the police vehicle numbers that patrol the area.

DMU or De Montfort University are Leicester’s local rivals, the aim is to annihilate them at every sport under the Sun in March and generally be better than them. You’ll get the gist of it fairly quickly and it’s like riding a bike, you never forget.

The Dry Dock is a pub near Homebase on the corner of Victoria Park. It’s pretty popular with students from all years, especially since the bar in the SU closed at the start of the last year and because it’s really close to the large exam hall. It has pretty good drinks deals and half price food on Sundays as well as a pub quiz. If that’s not good enough, it looks like a ship…

We mentioned Evington earlier when we were talking about the other student area, Clarendon Park. I would try and make more comments about why you shouldn’t live there but the people from the crack dens might come after me … just try and avoid it. With that said, it does have one crowning glory … but that begins with M.

A port of call for most students before heading home after a night out at the SU. Food Factory serves up some of the best drunk nosh around, cooking burgers and chips for the hungry and plastered. Don’t be fooled though, the chips might taste incredible but they’re only from the ASDA frozen aisle…

The gym is the home of the BNOC, many of Leicester’s biggest names hit the weights to get huge and show off. However, once you get past the mildly extortionate membership fee, it’s actually pretty good and offers one of the best hangover cures around. If you’re still feeling the booze from last night’s antics, make sure you hit the jacuzzi and steam room as they will save you. Trust us…it’s tried and tested.

Highcross is Leicester’s shopping centre. It features all the standard high street stores as well as some that are slightly less well known. Outside you can find the Showcase Cinema and a number of restaurants which cater for almost every type of cuisine. The latest to find a spot there is Turtle Bay and we went to their launch night a few weeks ago.

The internet is a students best friend. It provides music, video and news as well as everything else, as you are well aware. It also boasts the largest collection of procrastination material anywhere on our planet, invaluable during revision periods. You only need to look around in the library in January or May to realise just how important procrastination actually is to a student’s life…it’s essential. The final thing to remember is that there is no limit to the number of funny animal videos you can watch in one day.