Three cheers for Faculty!

Victorian critic John Ruskin once famously said: “To banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality.”

Okay, John was probably more concerned with artists of the era rather than Liverpool-based bars, but the importance of embracing imperfections is what makes Faculty an underrated oasis for all fun-seeking students.

Faculty is a hidden gem. A diamond in the rough.  It is an addiction. An experience that must be lived and relived time and time again. This is why…

 Quad Vods.

Okay, so quad vods are not unique to Faculty. Head down the road and you’ll be able to get your hands on this sought-after beverage at neighbouring bars and clubs. But Faculty’s own quad vod is not merely a drink, it is an experience.

To purchase a quad vod from Faculty can be equated to sipping on a Guinness in the heart of Dublin, or savouring an Estrella under the Catalonian sun. It is authentic, beautiful, unreplicable.

Do not be off put by the seemingly never-ending queues; what waits at the bar is a liquid prize far more precious (and intoxicating) than your standard choice of drink.

A feeble recreation of the quad vod.

 Dancefloor speed dating.

Faculty is not spoilt for floor space. But who needs floor space?

Floor space = personal space. This is not something you need if you are to optimize the night out experience.

When having your face dampened by the sweat of a fellow Faculty-goer’s back, or your brand new trainers destroyed by those who just happen to stand on your feet, make the most of this intimacy.

Start conversation, compare ruined footwear, politely apologise for spilling half of your quad vod on their chest (although they should be thanking you; they are being bathed in royal liquid, after all).

With Valentine’s day approaching and love in the air, why not use the Faculty environment to your advantage?

 Dancefloor cool down.

On the subject of drink spillage, this can also be a fantastic source of relief as well as a classic conversation starter.

Faculty is yet to be touched by the out-reaching hands of modernisation, meaning the air conditioning services on offer are far from impressive.

Don’t let this dampen your spirits or yourself in general. A pint in the face or a quad vod to the back can be incredibly refreshing when incarcerated in that tropical prison.

Don’t avoid the inevitability of spillage, welcome it.

Refreshed after a dance floor cool down.

 The toilets.

Admittedly, this one is going to take some arguing, but hear me out.

What the Faculty toilets lack is not important. It is the absence of qualities such as cleanliness that makes them so appealing.

Why? Because most Faculty visitors will make an active effort to avoid them, meaning more toilets and less time spent waiting the informed few.

Unlike Garlands, Medication & Heebie Jeebies where a toilet trip can become a drawn-out affair, a visit to the Faculty lavatories need not take any more than a couple of minutes.

Ruskin would have been in this place most nights.

Faculty is not perfect and that is the source of its genius. The accumulation of minor faults and blemishes only reinforces the bar’s status as an iconic student hotspot.

Let us take a page out of Ruskin’s book and find the beauty in ugliness.

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