Has the Hallam/Uni Of Rivalry Gone Too Far?

A pleasant bit of University rivalry is all part and parcel of Sheffield life, but as the end of Varsity draws near and tensions increase even further, can insulting one another’s intelligence and social class still be considered an acceptable norm?

Common varsity chants range from the typically derogatory ‘‘Give us a D, Give us a D, Give us an E, what do you get? Into Hallam!” to the uninspiring and vulgar “‘If I had the wings of a sparrow, if I had the arse of a crow, I’d fly over Hallam tomorrow, and shit on the poly below’ Catchy. And don’t get me wrong, Hallam students are just as bad.

Not now Doge.

“Your Dad works for my Dad” Is one I particularly struggle to grasp the concept of though. Since when did success or intelligence become entirely genetic?

Look at Paris Hilton. Her Great Grandad founded the huge Hilton Hotel empire and her Dad’s a highly successful chairman of a real estate firm. Yet her mental capacity has stretched only to a sex tape and some unforgivable plastic surgery.

I was quietly mulling this over in the hairdressers last week when my thought process was interrupted with the standard compulsory small talk; “So do you go Hallam then?.”

I politely explained that actually I’m a first year Uni Of student and was met with blatant astonishment from my hairdresser. Upon asking her why she replied “Oh you’re just sort of all blonde and….”

…Wench? Really?

“Blonde and…?!” Did I miss the section of UCAS identifying hair colour as a University entry requirement? Or are people still buying into the old brunette/blonde stereotypes circa 2008?

Even if the “blondes are more fun/stupid” notion carried any weight to it whatsoever, which even as a pretend blonde I absolutely believe it doesn’t, then why would I automatically be destined for Hallam?

Granted, some Hallam courses do accept much lower grades than Uni Of, but I believe we’re sometimes all a bit too quick to play the intellectual snobbery card.

Sometimes, competition can go a bit far…

One of my closest friends achieved virtually identical GCSE and A level grades to me and with much harder subjects such as Chemistry and Maths; yet she chose to go to Northumbria, Newcastle’s polytechnic, to study nutrition.

Northumbria, Hallam, and other polytechnics alike offer similarly respected, vocational courses that have the same entry requirements as a Russell Group and in many cases, even better job prospects.

I asked her some more about polytechnic life, is it really the sub climate of under achievement Uni Of believe it to be? She said it’s anything but; people are friendly, fun and approachable and put just as much work into their studies as she does.