These University of Nottingham moments shouldn’t be embarrassing but they really are

Why are the Link scooters such an ick


Freshers’ Week is long over and now you’re in full swing of day to day of life on campus but despite your best effort to make it a full day without getting caught in an incredibly embarrassing situation, you just can’t help but fall into the trap of these iconic UoN moments. We all try to act like we have everything together but as soon as you are on campus, even the most normal experiences that most students go through feel embarrassing.

From falling off the Link scooters to spotting all your Tinder matches at Sheaves, these moments are an inevitable part of your UoN experience. Here are all the embarrassing moments that all students will experience, just try not to let them keep you up at night:

Gasping for breath at the top of Monica Partridge

Once you realise your timetable reads floor D, your fate is set. If the lifts are too packed, the only thing left to do is climb those treacherous steps.

I know many of us have tried to play off that they are not dripping with sweat once you have settled into a seminar room when in reality you feel as if you have just completed a marathon, gasping for air as everyone settles into the room.

Lugging all of your shopping back from Lidl

When you have already used up every last ounce of food left in your cupboard which means one thing; it’s shopping time. The worst thing is the dreaded walk back from Lidl or Aldi, or even Tescos if you’re feeling fancy.

Every student fears it as all it consists of is your fingers gripping onto the poorly made plastic bags and praying that non of your shop falls out. The worst part are the locals watching you struggling to make it back before your bag breaks.

Bumping into all your Tinder matches at the pub

Arguably this is one of the most embarrassing moments of being a uni student, but something everyone goes through at least once, throughout your uni career.

You have already exchanged either a cringey pick up line or the tedious “what course do you do questions”, maybe you even managed to move on to Snapchat stage.

But as soon as you seen them in real life, you always forget how to act and end up whispering to your bestie about your cringe online interaction and spend the night trying to ignore the fact that it even happened in the first place.

Catching Freshers’ Flu

It really is inescapable to catch the dreaded Freshers’ Flu. After two weeks of non-stop clubbing you are bound to feel like death. But for some reason, to admit that you have been defeated by the simple concept of drinking is just too embarrassing.

To make matters worse, once lectures start, you cannot escape the multitude of coughing fits and running noses. It may be embarrassing but every single uni student has gone through it before. At least everyone is struggling with it together.

Going on the Link Scooters

The practicality of renting an electric scooter is unmatched; super cheap and much less effort than walking up the steep hills on campus. But for some reason, they are one of the most embarrassing things to do, there is literally no bigger ick than seeing your campus crush speed past you on a luminous yellow scooter. What’s even worse than that is seeing them fall off after being too confident with a tight turn.

The result of falling off a Link scooter

Getting turned away from the hopper bus

The hopper bus to Jubilee campus and back is both a blessing and a curse. At less busy times of the day, it is a free mode of transport that quickly gets you from A to B. However, once it hits 5pm and all of the campus just wants to get home, it turns into a warzone.

You will catch everyone in the queue slyly eyeing each other up before it becomes evident that the bus is too busy for everyone to fit in. Which only means one thing, having to turn around and find another way home.

Not being able to find your lecture room

As a fresher or not,  it is a perfectly normal experience to be given a room on your timetable and have no idea where it is.

Locating the building is the first challenge, where you try your best not to result to using Apple Maps, but in the end it’s hopeless. That’s only the first part of the challenge though and once you have finally found the building and god forbid it’s the Trent Building, you have to locate the room.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to have wondered round aimlessly, pretending to appear like you know where you’re going when in reality you are completely and utterly lost.

Forgetting your library card

Unfortunately, the library will become your second home during your time at uni, whether that be Hallward or George Green.Just make sure that you don’t forget your library card because there is nothing worse than realising you’ve left it behind and having to plead with the staff to let you in.

It happens more than you think but why does it feel like everyone in the building is death-glaring you as you leave?

Being chased by the geese on campus

Apparently, there are more geese on the campus than students which will already breed a fear of the vicious birds. Walking anywhere with an abundance of greenery will mean having to encounter the horrible geese. They all snap their heads up and stare at you as you attempt to make your way to lectures in peace.

Just try and make sure that they don’t end up chasing you because even though it happens to everyone on a daily basis being chased by the geese is one of those moments you’d rather not have to admit to.

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