Six things you’ll miss the most about uni in Newcastle when you graduate

The dreaded moment has arrived. You’re probably asking yourself how university has gone by so fast. It seems like it was only yesterday that you were waving goodbye to your family with three suitcases and a pile of boxes around you, oblivious to what was awaiting you the next few years. You had no idea what it would be like to live with strangers in a city you didn’t necessarily know much about, or to deal with your own finances and do your own washing. So whether you’re graduating from Newcastle this summer or not, make the most of these six things, because once uni is over, so are they.

1. Student life

First and foremost, leaving university equals leaving student life behind. As soon as your stride across the stage in King’s Hall is over and you’ve returned your gown – shit is real. No more making your own schedule and doing whatever you want, whenever you want and wherever you want. No more living close to all your mates. No more opportunities to make loads of friends all the time. No more wearing trackies to lectures. No more leaving stuff to the last minute. No more blaming your skintness on being a student. But also, no more student loan.

2. Societies

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One part of university you’ll miss is being in societies – they’re fun for the shits and gigs and the drama they create. Whether they’re related to sports, courses or neither, societies are the perfect way to meet like-minded people and belong to a “community”. More importantly maybe, you get to know others on a different level during socials. Sports nights on Wednesdays are hilare: there’ll be around 30 students from one society dressed as something you wouldn’t expect at 8pm on Osborne Road, trying not to lose each other between venues on a bar crawl. After uni, you won’t be able to get away with a casual “où est le poulet?” social.

3. Student discounts

If there’s one perk of being a student, it’s the discounts you have. They make a considerable difference in the bank account when you’re constantly out. These offers are given by venues to attract more students and encourage them to spend – which is smart, because this marketing strategy definitely works and is a life saver. Loads of clubs for example have reduced entry and drinks for students, and if you’re part of a sports society you can get discounts on drinks and food in various pubs. And even for daytime activities, you won’t get student discounts for clothes, cosmetics, concerts, museums, food and so many other things anymore…

4. Philip Robinson

You’ll even feel nostalgic about (at least) one of the university’s buildings. It might not be fun spending hours staring at your screen, but so much time is spent doing other things. And it’s these things you’re going to miss especially. You’d be lying if you said you’ve never played smash or pass in the library (Philip Robinson is after all, the home of the eye candy), if you’ve never got up at least once to find and distract some mates, or if you’ve never had to ask reception to let you in because you forgot your smartcard.

The Robbo also appears to thrive off awkwardness, as it always attracts those who you want to see the least. Not just that, but you somehow keep having eye contacts with them every time you’re walking around the building – they’re inescapable. No matter what happens in the library, just embrace those moments before they disappear.

5. Bumping into people you know but can’t remember where from

You won’t necessarily miss those who you see, but rather the experience of walking past the people you keep bumping into around uni, town, Jesmond or Sandyford. Because you’re constantly surrounded by coursemates, friends and randomers, you meet different people all the time and your social circle is widened.

Well, say goodbye to all those times when you recognised someone from afar, as both of you were moving closer and closer to each other, but you didn’t (and maybe neither did they) actually remember how you two met. You were probably thinking: Are they a course mate? Friend of a friend? Work colleague? Person from a club?… Do I smile? Avoid eye contact? Try not to laugh?

6. Holidays

Last but certainly not least, the biggest change that’ll hit you like a brick is the lack of days off in the many years to come. Most of the time when you get a graduate job, you’ll only get around 25 days of holiday – that’s less than a month, that’s less than our Easter holidays alone. Also, you won’t be able to get away with missing a random day of the week because you need to recover from a night out as easily as when you’re at uni. You need to make it to work rain or shine because you can’t catch up on it online, or pull a scan and scram with your smartcard to record your attendance.

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