Saying there’s nothing to do in Lboro apart from sport is foul play

Over the weekend I read an article on the Tab Lboro that suggested that unless you were good at sport, you would accomplish very little while at Loughborough Uni.

It painted a picture of a very clique-y, Mean Girls-esque environment that assumes people who don’t do a particular sport to a high level end up marginalised and confined to the dork’s table.

This notion is ridiculous.

It’s nonsense to suggest Lboro is just about sport

I drink too much, eat even more and exercise far little. I have the hand eye coordination of a baby deer coated in Vaseline fired out of a cannon. I am shit at sports. I lost a game of bowling to a group of nine-year-old children last year. I am that shit.

But because of the huge array of opportunities at Loughborough, particularly those offered by the Students’ Union, I’ve managed to carve out an incredible three years that have developed me personally and professionally.

I came to uni with a failed Budgens interview and a part time job decorating balloons at a gift shop on my CV. Now I’m leaving with over 500 hours of volunteering both in the community and overseas in Uganda and India (all achieved through the LSU Action volunteering section).

I’ve also helped fundraise over £4000 for loads of charities and even trekked the Great Wall of China with LSU Rag. I’m not even the exception; every year hundreds of people achieve remarkable feats through working with LSU.

Volunteering abroad is one of the many opportunities available to students

There’s Media, Welfare, Societies, FREEC and many more different sections of the Union that are constantly giving students opportunities to get involved and develop themselves further.

Current Bakewell Hall Chair and HeadsUp Campaign Officer Dane Karaman told me about everything the Union offers:

“Aside from the occasional IMS game I’m not really involved in sports at all yet I couldn’t imagine a better student experience. Being involved in Welfare & Diversity is a huge part of that and every single opportunity the Union gives you is one that you can be sure will benefit you greatly.

“People don’t get involved because they choose not to. There’s a society or section out there for everyone and if there isn’t, you can make a new one! The Union doesn’t just give you the capability to be involved with what already exists, it allows you to create and make your own opportunities for yourself and others.”

I’m not trying to write a love letter to the Union or write pro-LSU propaganda here. Some people might not care about all this extra stuff, and that’s completely fine.

But to suggest that there’s nothing out there for the less sporty of us is ridiculous. If someone thinks the Union and the Uni doesn’t offer enough for those that don’t like sports, they aren’t looking hard enough. It’s as simple as that.