10 things all Notts students should definitely be giving up for Lent

For the love of God, give up throwing VK bottles off the balcony

2 years ago

Lent is a time for renewal, this lent let’s repent and forgive ourselves for our semester one sins: the money, the memories and the nights we don’t remember.

It’s also the perfect time of year to make new promises to ourselves and instil some healthy habits in our lives. But let’s be honest, we will attempt to make these promises that we won’t end up keep to and we’ll inevitably learn nothing new.

Thats why we’ve made it easy for you and come up with ten things every Notts student absolutely should be giving up for Lent this year. Here’s to an attempted fresh start!

1. Give up skipping your 9am lectures

Perhaps that New Year’s resolution you promised to yourself to actually go to uni and catch up on work may finally come to fruition, after all we are paying £9,250 for that precious 9am.

Let’s do the maths, if each semester is 12 weeks, there are three semesters totalling 36 weeks per university year. Taking into account most university courses provide 21 hours of study and contact time per week for a full time course, you on average should be spending 756 hours in university per year.

With tuition fees at £9,250, divided by total hours expected study you on average are paying £12.24 per one hour session, so either go to your 9am or literally throw money away.

2. Give up midweek clubbing

A a generation of Covid students it was like the gates of heaven opened in September 2021 when freedom hit, those sweet drops of Pryzm’s “quids in” shots had never tasted so delicious on lips as parched as ours. The music seemed louder and the club was literally alive to the sound of music.

It was as if life had been breathed back into our lungs as we marched to the clubs, whether Pryzm, Rock City, Unit 13 or Ocean. Suddenly we were shocked back to reality, it’s February 2022 and the smell of gin or own-brand vodka makes you gag at pres and you can’t hack the mid-week nights out anymore.

Perhaps it’s time to tone it down. It’s time to lay off the hangover dread and the dance of death with your overdraft. Speaking of hangovers, they’re not getting any better.

3. Give up only exclusively wearing North Faces

Perhaps this one is because I simply cannot afford one but, come on can we please have some originality. Nottingham has a generation of students that have copied and pasted the same style. Ditch those North Face puffers and Zara jeans please I’m so bored of seeing them.

Nottingham has COW, White Rose and a plethora of shops where you can buy literally ANYTHING else. Just because you’ve got a brown north face doesn’t make you Kendall Jenner babe.

4. Give up ordering a take away when you have food at home

With crime rates rife in cities, there is something we’ve all been a victim of – the Uber Eats prices. The sweet taste of a chicken shop and the effortlessness of a double click makes spending money feel like a game. In Portland Building they seem to have provided the most expensive shops in the country, Starbucks and SPAR. They might as well have installed a Waitrose.

On a night out there is nothing wrong with a feature on the infamous Trent kebabs TikTok page, lord knows it’s a dream of mine, but those drunken spends will add up to more than anything you can make on the creator fund.

5. Give up throwing VK bottles off club balconies

There is nothing worse than having designated clubbing shoes just to endure going clubbing. The culprit? VKs.

A quick throwing of the VK bottle here, a chuck of a bottle over the crowd there, I think all students are guilty of these but ultimately not only are we causing the crime scene of a dance floor but also destroying those clubbing fits.

6. Give up wearing your green Player Layer everywhere

We get it, you play a sport. The specific breed of sportsman or woman I’m talking about is a rare one, they live and breathe for the adrenaline kick of praise from a coach; they diet not for the summer body but for the beloved game and they actually use David Ross to train rather than to do a TikTok workout and look pretty in Gym shark leggings.

7. Give up going on dating apps, Notts is too small

Swiping right has always been the love story you’ve wanted to tell the kids right? I think you’re all forgetting that Nottingham is small and you will inevitably bump into your Tinder matches on campus or, as a friend of mine did – sent some steamy texts to a boy in her seminar group.

There’s nothing wrong with a cheeky dabble but a cleanse of toxic rugby boys you met on Tinder is needed. Perhaps if Tinder had a degree section you’d all stop shagging people from your course. Take the L and swipe left for once.

8. Give up risking not paying for the tram

NetGo trams are the gift that keeps on giving, there is a certain illusion certain people live under that the trams are free, they most definitely are not.

Being stuck with no 4G and a ticket officer means trouble, and a £70 fine. The choice is yours, either buy that ticket or risk being financially crippled when you can’t even afford a Crisis ticket this month.

9. Give up not doing a weekly big shop

The euphoria of a big Tesco shop is something so inherently drilled into British culture there comes a time that for your own sanity you need to go. Beeston big Tesco is a Tesco of dreams, whether its the extensive reduced section for those last scraps of money before you hit the overdraft or the huge drinks section there is always something for the student. The upper floor is extensively stocked with uni use essentials and a cafe to cure the hangover, what more could you want?

10. Give up convincing yourself that Hallwood library is better than George Green

There is nothing wrong with Hallwood library but the brutalist concrete structure isn’t as appealing as the modern glass beauty that George green has to offer. Yes its filled with the STEM students but overlooking that, you can’t deny that those open and bright floors really make you feel like a Tumblr “studyblr” account.

Hallwood just doesn’t hit as hard, it’s too warm, it’s too difficult to negotiate and everyone is always in those study booths. After pulling a few all nighters there I can also confirm the chairs are not comfy enough to sleep in.