Is The ‘Walk On Water’ Culture Unhealthy?

University is an interesting phenomenon. It is the first chance many young people get to leave home and be relatively independent. The majority of students love it.

In fact, the majority of students love Loughborough. It’s a win-win situation, isn’t it? Well, yes, but only to a degree.

University should be treated as one of life’s stepping-stones.

All too often I see students become too engrossed in the bubble, become too caught up in the here and now. Dare I say it, some of them become too ‘in love’ with Loughborough.

Now, I expect this to provoke some discussion. Maybe criticism that cites ‘negativity’ or something along the lines of ‘who are you to say that?’ If you wish to make that judgment, feel free. I myself may be guilty of becoming ‘too engrossed’, but only with the intention of trying to redress the balance.

My point is that nobody gets anywhere by engaging in self-gratification. Nor is there anything productive in adopting a naïve assumption that Loughborough is automatically better than every other higher education institution in the country.

Like any top-20 university, Loughborough has many good things going for it; an unrivalled sporting pedigree, a volunteering culture second to none and also some groundbreaking research output.

But then, like other top-20s, there are negatives; a teacher/student ratio that is 47th according to The Guardian, a stigma common among outsiders that sport comes first and education comes second and average graduate prospects that trail the likes of Oxbridge, Imperial College London, Bristol, UCL, Kings College, Bath, Warwick and Durham.

Of course, league tables hardly matter do they? They matter when Loughborough is listed eleventh by The Guardian overall but probably less so for many people when less-flattering statistics are cited like some aforementioned.

I don’t really buy into the league table culture. I could express ten contradictory opinions on any university and probably get a statistic that supported my conclusion.

But there are other factors. I could even cite my own interest: media. Loughborough Students’ Union has a fabulous Media Centre, but it by no means produces the best output in the country. In print, we haven’t picked up an award for years. In television, we win awards regularly, but rarely come top of the bunch across the board. In radio, there was just the one national nominee last year.

Our Media Centre produces some exceptionally high quality content and provides students with some good opportunities, but I’d hope none of us sit back and nonchalantly think we’re the UK’s best. The best is, instead, where we want to be.

Let’s clarify. My argument is not that we should all suddenly feel really disappointed with our university. Far from it. It is a great place and the institution and the people involved with it do some great things.

My argument is that the ‘Walk on Water’ culture is utterly unjustified. Loughborough dominates sport every year but the filtering of the ‘Loughborough arrogance’ into every walk of campus life isn’t healthy.

There is a difference between a quiet self-confidence and a repulsive arrogance. The former is welcomed and indeed is a vital ingredient for any success. The latter is not only abhorrent but also somewhat dangerous. We should never rest on our laurels.

I wish there was a culture in Loughborough that was less about how good we are and more about how we can get even better. I do, however, admit that it is unlikely to appear anytime soon.

There is a whole new wave of freshers ready to descend on campus in a month’s time. I’m sure many of them are ecstatic to have been awarded the grades required and accepted by such a prestigious institution. And so they should be.

However, I do hope that lots of them have one central realization at some point over the next year.

Poster: Shepherd Neame

University is not life. Loughborough is not the be all and end all. This isn’t the end of a journey but instead it is the beginning.

Strive to be the best you can be. Enjoy university, love Loughborough, but be ruthless. This is a mere stepping-stone.

I am by no means worthy enough to be quoting the great Winston, but there is a Kentish brewer that produces posters for its headline beer, Spitfire, on which one of his great quotes after the Allied victory at El Alamein features.

Maybe that encapsulates what I’m trying to say better than the last few hundred words ever could. We should all have it in mind upon graduation.

Featured Image: QSY