The student coming of age in 10 steps.

As we students at Swansea University near the second week of 'Freshers', I cannot help but look back on my Freshers' week with fond memories that are, although blurred in some places, generally good. Last year, I drank my liver into a state of shock, fell over on some cobbles in shockingly high heels and drank so many shots of sambuca that I succeeded in getting completely hammered in a mere fifteen minutes. Personally, I think that's a world record. 

 I have tried my best this past week to go out whenever possible - I even went out on Thursday after being struck down by Fresher's Flu the very same day - (if you aren't sure what that is, you'll know soon enough.) Recreating the feeling of being a Fresher is pretty much impossible, and while I love going out and getting drunk as much as the next student, it doesn't really have the same glamour to it as when you are a Fresher.

In America, it's called 'Orientation Week', or 'Freshman Week.' Australians call them 'First years', which is straight and simply to the point. New Zealanders call them 'Freshies', which I think I'm going to adopt as my reference to them too. It's much better than my romantically starved friends and I calling them 'Fresh meat'. We are Shakespeare's in the making.

Everywhere you look, 'Freshies' are going to be referred to as something different. Whether they are Freshmen, First years, Freshies or Freshers', there are certain rites of passage, if you will, that remain the same for all first year university students the world over. Things that every student will go through at least once if not in their first year, then the two years following and, if you're anything like the infamous few at Swansea University who have been around since it opened, for the rest of their lives.

1. Freshers Fayre madness

From cheerleading to reading poetry, Skyrim appreciation to football, there are clubs and societies for excited students to join for pretty much anything you could possibly imagine, and a whole load more. This year, a Hogwarts society joined the ranks of Swansea, (much to my delight) and apparently, they've been raking in the freshers'. I mean it when I say that there is a society for everyone. At the fayre, they'll all be after some 'fresh meat'... or refresher meat - putting pens in your pockets, giving you mugs for advertisement, taking your phone numbers and email addresses, begging for you to come to socials and generally bragging that their society is the best thing since sliced bread. This is all done in the vain hope that you'll spend your student loan signing up.

If it's money that they're after, hold out a little bit. I always find that the athletic societies tend to be more at ease with bleeding you dry but, it is worth it to shed all those pounds and get involved in some initiations that will make you cringe in years to come. There's no rush to sign up, but take all the free things that you can! Freshers' fayre is one massive orgy of free things - completely worth going to.

2. All the pub crawls and dressing up like tools.

Pub crawls and dressing up are possibly the most unoriginal ideas that student parents have about the questionable activities that their children are up too whilst living away from home. The reason for all the cliched ideas is that students generally do go on lots and lots of pub crawls and wear lots and lots of fancy dress. For the lolz - naturally. 

Last night, I swear to God that I saw some Freshers' dressed up as Dalmatians. I really want to say that they were celebrating how awesome dogs are or something but, alas, no. It was purely for the lolz - absolute legends already.

Oh and mother, father, Nan and other family relations - look away. NOW.

NOTE: Make sure you have sorted your Facebook security settings so that the photos of your goings on will never ever ever make it back to your parents. For some reason, seeing your child down a shot or five of tequila upsets some parents. Goodness knows why.

Steph and I - I'm the one looking like a complete tool

3. Your details

During Freshers' week and beyond, you will discover that there is a list of sacred facts that students list off to each other. This ensures that you can befriend anyone. Your name, course and hometown usually do the trick, though if you are destined to be more than 'freshers' friends', the conversation may expand to where you are currently living and if you'd like a free drink. They might even ask for your number. Only give your phone number to people you expect to see again after that night. I have learnt this the hard way.

4. Learning that what happens in Freshers' week, stays in Freshers' week

Parents - look away NOW.

Flings and other acts of drunken futility are the stuff of the Freshers' experience. Above getting a degree, moving into a new house and the nights out, there is one thing that most students are looking forward to when they get to university. Everyone hopes that they can meet a nice young lady/man to schmooze in the students' union or local pubs and clubs, of course, with a little alcohol to fuel a testosterone filled system.

All that testosterone in the air fuels the excitement, the dancing, the alcohol and, well, the kissing that usual happens before the name knowing bit. Obviously, people try to do it as discreetly as possible, but all the alcohol often means that everything gets a bit muddled up. Anyways , just try to adopt the tactic of smiling in the face of your embarrassment to your new flatmates and, of course, to the person you kissed. Not that I would know, but apparently, it works.

5. Getting 'carparked' and calling all your friends from home.

You moved into your new 'home' approximately 48 hours ago, and yet, you have the urge to call up all your friends from your previous life and tell them how much you love them, miss them and how much fun you are having being constantly drunk and living off cheese and toast. After you have a drink or ten in you, the urge is impossible to resist.

It'll be the usual spiel - making promises to visit each other, telling them about your new friends, discussing how long ago school seems like and blah blah blah. It doesn't sound particularly interesting, but if you're anything like my friends and I, these conversations can last hours.

Plus, the likelihood is that they've also had a fair few drinks and will be drunkenly screaming the same things back at you, which means double excitement. YAY!

Any Swansea students wanna guess where this is?

6. Drink more alcohol than you have consumed food... in your lifetime.

Once upon a time, when I was in my first year, I decided to mix some alcohol to make a special kind of 'cocktail' which all students will happen upon at one point. This, my friends, is called the 'dirty pint' and is only drunk on your birthday or on a dare.  The rule is to always finish it off with a dash of blackcurrant or cranberry to make it look less menacing.

It tastes vile to be perfectly honest. It destroys your insides completely. It stains your lips and tongue for a good few days. But, it's cheap, it'll get you nice and drunk and well, you only live once right?  

7. Freshers' Flu

Ah Freshers' flu - a name that fills students with fear. Around 90% of students are struck down with the illness in their first week of university, including symptoms of headache, coughing, sore throat, fever and some general discomfort. Unfortunately, there's only so much alcohol abuse that the human body can stand. One week of solid drinking, sleeping and eating kebabs will leave you yearning to be back at home in bed with some soup courtesy of your mum.

It's all about timing really. Time is well and you'll be in full health, all excited and shiny faced for your lectures the next week. And if not... are lectures really that important?

Well... yeah but... you get my drift.

8. Challenge someone more experienced than you to a drinking game

This year, I have noticed that many second years, (like myself), seem horrified at the thought of being seen as a Fresher, which is down to one simple factor - we don't want to participate in drinking games with our already severely damaged livers. Being in your first year means that you discover a whole host of interesting, new and exciting things about yourself. For most, that means finding out that you're an 'expert' in a whole host of drinking games - from blackjack to ring of fire, you are a pro. Well, you are according to yourself anyway.

Courtesy of Student Beans 

Truth is, you aren't. Challenge any masters or third year student to a drinking challenge and well, you'll pretty much get your arse kicked. Losing games is never fun and often, the result is downing a pint of Strongbow or Guinness. So yeah, good luck with that.

9. Stand outside your new halls at 4am after a fire alarm

I lived on campus last year and I am not lying when I say that there were around 3 to 4 fire alarms a month. We only had one legitimate fire in the duration of the year. And even that was just a bit of smoke after someone burned their oven chips. Seriously, who makes oven chips at 5am?

The likelihood of that happening to you is up in the top ten. With drunken students cooking at all hours and student smokers who think that they can get away with having a cigarette hanging out their bedroom window is more often than not the case of the fire alarm going off.

It's a good way to bond with your flatmates though - complaining about how cold it is in your pyjamas, watching drunken students try to get into their room while campus security try to stop them and expressing how pissed off you are at whoever set it off makes for interesting conversation beyond 2am. Honest!

The Guardian have actually made my day with putting this picture online. YAY!

10. Traffic cones and shopping trolleys

It's what most people expect from students these days and with good reason. No word of a lie, I have honestly pushed my boyfriend around the students' union in a shopping trolley before. Which is a feat in itself, given how athletically challenged I am... Personally, I've never accessorised my outfit with a cone, but I have known several people to bring one home with them when finding partner for the evening fails. I suppose it makes a nice change to cwtch up to a plastic cone for comfort. All in all, it's what we're expected to do. Let's not let the masses down...

If that's all, I'm off to find a traffic cone to put on my head. God knows that you need to do something at least once in your lifetime, (especially if it's free),  and hey, lectures don't start until next Monday. I have another 48 hours of freedom before I am plunged back into this thing called 'work'. Urgh. Until then, enjoy the remaining days of Freshers' before I get all serious again with my 'degree'. Who knows - I might just not fail it if I accept that I am no longer a fresher.

The naked truth about Kate

Does anyone read the French Magazine Closer?

I know, I know, stupid question. Of course you bloody well don't. Unless you're plunging head first into the world of fashion as a career (which, according to one of my friends who has made that disastrous mistake, requires learning languages that you will never use, rather than sitting at the sewing machines making sparkly clothes), reading Closer isn't high up on your bucket list. It certainly isn't high on my bucket list - it might just be after listening to Rebecca Black on repeat or gauging out my eyeballs.

Clooooooozuuuurreeee - "The photos that will go around the world."

Honestly, I don't see the attraction of reading tabloid journalism to find out which celebrity has been cheating on their other half, or whose been seen absolutely car parked outside some fancy nightclub. The amount of times I have been lying in gutters on Wind Street, chatting to Hobos about the fine art of haggling have been numerous... More than I care to mention, actually, but you don't see people around Swansea University saying; "Did you see Gemma out on Wind Street the other night?" (Insert bitchy comments about my inability to hold my drink here.) Let's face it, people have better things to talk about than my social outings and err.. adventures. Plus, I love telling my own stories of my drunken ventures on Friday nights... and Saturdays and Sundays and Mondays and.. well, you get the point... So why shouldn't the same thing apply to celebrities?

Well, I hear you cry, they're famous! They should be prepared to be judged and prepare to be involved in massive scandals that revolve around sex tapes and topless photographs. They need to prepare themselves for the onslaught of the media and public attention that is to be brought their way when they become famous. While this may all be true, does it make our constant discussions about celebrities about their lives under the glare of the media and the public any more justified?

No - Not really. The whole issue with Kate Middleton only emphasises that point.

The Duchess of Cambridge and sweetheart of Great Britain, has been left red-faced after a French magazine published photos of her topless in a private chateau in France, with her beloved husband and some long lost relation of his - that family is literally related to everyone. Of course, when I say topless, every innocent soul immediately thinks of a bad Photoshop job, but no my dears. I mean photographs of her modest bosoms, placed on display by the magazine for all to see, leaving Queen Lizzie reaching for a pair of specs and grimacing.

The French version of Closer magazine, which is also called Closer but you have to say it with a funny and stuck up accent,  (it's probably something like Clooooozuuuurrrreee),  published the photos last week, which showed our great nation that the future Queen of England has pixelated breasts. I suppose this is good news for women, like me, who find themselves constantly comparing their bodies to that of good ol' Kate. It's nice to find out that the Duchess has at least one thing about her body that isn't perfect. Personally, the 'Kate Middleton photo scandal', as they are calling it, is not really about the boobs.

For me, the fact that her privacy was so grotesquely invaded is the main issue. The photos were obviously taken without her permission, considering the fact that the paparazzi who snapped the shot was about a kilometre away. Honestly, I don't know which is worse - the fact her tits are out, or the poor photograph quality that makes her chin look as chiseled as Stan Smiths from American Dad.

The magazine that first published the photos based them on Kate's nudity, as if that was the main shock factor of the story. I guess, for some puerile people who have never been to the beach or out of the countryside, that may be the case. But, for me, nudity isn't really the issue here. I am far less appalled by the idea of seeing as much of someone's breasts as you might see flash out any day of the week by a breast feeding mother in a cafe, (the whole, rosy lot of them), than I am by the idea and fact that couples, no matter how famous, has the right to their own privacy and intimacy.

Courtesy of BBC 

I agree that images of breasts may no longer be a taboo, but certain things are still sacred and, for me, a couples right to behave indiscreetly and affectionately in a remote location is one of them; even if they are set to be our future King and Queen.  The flailing editor of France's version of 'Clooooozuuuurrrree' got one solitary thing right in all her protestations of running the spread of Kate's boobs; and that was that there are nipples visible in public all around us. While that may be true, it's not much of a justification. Just because some women enjoy showing the world their breasts, doesn't mean that other women should have to, especially if they don't consent to it.

Frankly, her hollow justifications carry zero weight in my eyes.

Am I the only person on the god damn planet who things we have no right seeing Kate strip off to catch a nice all over even tan? It's either she gets her tits out, or gets a spray tan and becomes a 5ft something walking umpa lumpa (is that how you spell it??)  for at least the next week and I assure you, the press would have a field day with that. Whatever that girl, and other celebrities alike, does, she will constantly be criticised. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the media know no limits. Except if you're in the UK at the moment and you've turned the photographs down. It's good to know our tabloid press have such strong morals in Britain. God bless them.

Now excuse me while I go and read The Sun - just checking if there are any more updates on Prince Harry's naked adventures in Las Vegas. 

Who wants to scrap Freshers' Week?

So, this weekend, I get the opportunity to move into my brand new accommodation, which I am grabbing with both hands. Don't get me wrong, I love being at home, but  I haven't adapted to the introduction of these things called 'rules' since they re entered my life in June.

Frankly, I can't wait to have my own space again, which I can abuse as much as I like.. well, within reason.  I can't wait to come home from a day on campus, fall onto a double bed and throw my clothes around the room, which will be cleaned up when my parents decide to pay an impromptu visit. (My mother is now internally cringing as she reads this - I joke, mother, I joke.) Apart from all the excitement of moving out and renewing my independence, there is one thing on my mind which is on the lips of all students, lecturers and fearful residents in the surrounding area - Fresher's Week.

Our Freshers' Week at Swansea - My flat and I are actually in this picture. :')

Ahh Fresher's Week. Try as you might to cover it up to your parents as socialising, gathering up bundles of independence and getting a head start on your lectures, the first week of university is indisputably defined by alcohol. New students will be moving into halls, getting lost around campus, skipping off to get their student ID cards for the library and generally trying to fit in which is, of course, all done under the shadow of a pint glass. (Well, it is if you're me.)  

But, as the cost of living and student fees rise, (unless, of course, you're Welsh and purely awesome), do university students really need a Fresher's week?

I'm not asking this question myself, which I would have to answer with a resounding YES. It's just that today, as I idly woke up at half past one and turned on my laptop alongside a bowl of coffee and a mug of cornflakes,(I kid you not), I came across an ongoing online debate via the Huffington Post, (don't ask why), entitled 'Does  Fresher's Week do more harm than good?'

Does Freshers week do more harm than good?

Now, I love a good debate, purely because I usually win, what with my persistent habit of not keeping quiet when I'm told to. I also love procrastinating, so reading the arguments wasn't much of a challenge, as I avoided tasks that my mother had entrust me with. They got done eventually, so no harm done.

Studies following the line of questioning above have already been done and show that students, like us, see freshers' week as a significant part of university life. I loved freshers' - it was one gigantic whirlwind of neon paint, alcohol, skeleton costumes, alcohol, silent discos, alcohol, campus parties and... well, alcohol. But it was as terrifying as it was fun. It was the week in which I was bombarded with more questions than I think I had been in my whole 18 years of being alive. Some mundane as "What A-levels did you do?", and some more scary ones like, "How will I feed myself without getting food poisoning?", or "What's the best thing I can pawn when my student loan runs out?"  

My second Freshers' week is starting in ten days and like many other students across the UK, I am thoroughly preparing myself for my second bout of freshers' flu, even though I'm a returning student. I'm saving up money to waste on sambuca shots and allowing my intolerance for alcohol to deteriorate even further by not drinking the stuff excessively. Basically, I can't wait.

From left to right - Me, Becky, Laura, Daisy, Amelia, Sophie, Chloe and Amie.
Freshers Week.  

This certainly wasn't the case this time last year. The thought of throwing myself at complete strangers with the intention of making new friends for life left me weak at the knees. Whenever someone mentioned Freshers' Week, my palms got sweaty and I felt like throwing up. As an incoming fresher, I was pretty crap to be perfectly honest. So I really can't wait to go out and redeem that status by enjoying freshers' week to its fullest.

The fact is that freshers' week is completely different to the rest of university life - it is pretty much the only time that everybody talks to everybody without any social hang ups or pretensions. Those individuals who are painfully shy - the type you are prepared to hit with a hammer to get them talking - blossom under the influence of alcohol which is good, because it means making friends is a hell of a lot easier with everyone so merry and not socially awkward. Something definitely changes when freshers' is over. The athletic types get together to have deep discussions about the pros and cons of protein powder. The middle class, Pippa Middleton alikes have battles about who owns the most horses and surnames. Those venturing in from London set out to find others from London, or keep on being friends with those they previously knew from London. The Welsh students take refuge in discussing nostalgic memories of coal and the sheep back at home. The Scots settle to drink everything is sight and feast on Haggis to feel at home. The Irish find solace in spending their pots of gold on shots and grimacing when someone asks them to say 'potato'. You're differences don't matter, however, when you're all dressed up as Smurfs or Skeletons.  

The presumptions and stigma surrounding freshers' week makes it out to be one gigantic piss up and while that is what most students get up to during their final week of being able to retain sanity before returning to lectures, to be told how unemployable you are and will be for the next three years.  However, that's not always the case. Sure, people end up having a pint... or five, but the reality is that you don't spend every waking second of Freshers' week drunk. You still need time to be hungover enough to throw yourself into a cold shower, watch your Friends boxset and thrust yourself back out into the wilderness of student events in the evenings. There are other events going on in Freshers' week, and while I didn't attend them, (I opted for a Freshers' Flu to last me until December), I hear they're pretty good for the student whose idea of fun doesn't involve lying on the floor in Oceana and asking the room to stop spinning. 

Without a doubt, students shouldn't be pressured into downing a bottle of Tesco Value Vodka, (and I wouldn't recommend it), which is why alternative events are going on every day throughout freshers' week. Ultimately, Fresher' is a vital time for students to settle into new environments, make friends and get to know a whole new city; something lots of incoming students have never experienced.  Let's face it, it's basically a piss up with structure, for the student who wants to be drunk and locked out at 4am, and the student who may not want to be involved with some of the more typical freshers' antics.

I answered the question myself and it turns out the 

72% of us don't think that Freshers' week does more harm than good. For me, whether Freshers' week lasts five days or two weeks, it is a wonderful and exhausting experience, where you are sure to be locked out, so drunk you forget your evening, hungover, have thrown up at least once, fallen over and woken up with mysterious bruises. You will end freshers' with a whole bunch of shiny, new friends, some which will end up taking part in your wedding day, and some you will awkwardly nod at when you see them in Tesco's in the future. When freshers' ends, you will be a tiny bit more independent than you were the week before, (well, you'd have survived your cooking, right?) and all set for the next night out. If having a few too many pints, shots or glasses of cheap wine is what it takes to get you there, is that such a bad thing? Uh.. No.

So give the newbie's a break and let them get themselves so drunk that they're still lying on the campus grounds the next morning, face down in a puddle of Smirnoff ice. Freshers' is one of the best times in your university life and everything is plain sailing from then on, (aside from the degree that has to be done. But no biggie.) Even if you like Justin Beiber, (you may not want to mention that, though), there is something for everyone to do and someone for you to do it with. 

They think it's all over.. But it isn't yet.

As it occurs every four years when the Olympics and preceding Paralympic games find their way onto our TV screens in the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and every establishment we dare to enter, we all have the old, recognizable conversation. It's a sort of tradition that I have with those who are actually interested in what I have to say, (which, I'll admit, are people few and far between.)

It hits us like a speeding train and spreads like a deadly disease. People here, there and everywhere are suddenly grasped with the notion that both events should be run at the same time because it would make Paralympians  and people with disabilities feel equal. It's as if they notice inequality for the first time and they are completely incensed about the issue. They cry out for all people to be treated as equals and point out to us that people with disabilities are just as important. It's funny how these people who become walking advertisements for equality overnight , only take note of equality issues regarding disabilities through the beer goggles of the Paralympics.  It's funny that these people spew out plans to unite the Olympic and Paralympic games as if they are the first people to come up with the ingenious idea. It's downright hilarious when they bang on about equality issues, to only go home and take the piss out of their partners with sandwich jokes and male incompetence.

Don't get me wrong - I love a good sandwich joke and I'm forever banging on about my boyfriends inability to pick his socks up off the floor or iron a t shirt once in a while, but if you're going to attempt the impossible and compel people to treat others as their equal, don't do it half heartedly. The sad truth about the Paralympics is that it works by making disability visible.

Samuel Clench, a VERY good looking Australian sport journalist posed the ultimate question on everybody's lips last week in an article entitled; "Why not run the Olympics and Paralympics together?" There's no more need of explanation on my part - he says it all in the title. Clever man.

First Paralympic Games 1948

So, let's begin with a bit of background, (we historians love all that.) The Paralympics, just like the Olympics, are built on a rich history; from its early development at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Britain in 1948, to London 2012. We have gone from sixteen humble and injured war veterans competing in archery at the same time as the 1948 London Olympic Games, to nearly 4,200 competitors coming in from 165 countries to compete this year. Whether we agree with the Paralympics being its own entity or not, we cannot deny that those figures are impressive and that the games are clearly growing from strength to strength.

Back to Clench's article, which, I can't say I enjoyed reading. I won't go into the whys and hows - if you give it a read yourself you'll see what I mean. Why not run the Olympics and Paralympics together?

To answer his question, which will resurface again in about four years time, I have to be brutally honest. If there even were the possibility of fitting the Paralympic events smoothly into the daily schedules of the Olympics, there would be a lot more people, testing and pressure involved. There would have to be more competitors and officials to be housed in one city at one time, more time used up in drug testing, more spectators to fill up an already crowded city such as London and more tax payers money spent to fund the games. I'm sure that Clench wouldn't be too happy with that.

Personally, I think that merging the Olympic and Paralympic games is just, well, a silly idea. While it's a nice thought that we can change the face of equality, running the Paralympics events during the Olympics, when viewers are most likely to be distracted by the 'main Olympics'  isn't going to make any notable change. Airing them separately gives the Paralympics more time to shine on its own accord.

                  

Anyway, Clench claims that 'our paralympians must be used to being ignored and undervalued,' which, I'm sorry, everyone can shout about and agree with until they are blue in the face, but that is simply not true. Ok, it's a fact that disability hate crime isn't exactly at an all time low, but speaking for myself and on behalf of thousands of British people, not everyone sees disabilities as an excuse to ignore and undervalue fellow human beings. It is so annoying that I am essentially categorised with a group of people who cannot see disabled people as being equal, and I'm sure that most people would agree with that.

Clench goes on to claim that the Paralympics are effectively staged "weeks after the Olympics have ended when public excitement has abated and most of the media pack has left." Ok, he has a point - most of the Olympics media pack has left - to make room for the Paralympics media pack, you silly man. It isn't that there isn't as much coverage of the Paralympic Games as there was for the Olympics - it just isn't being publicised as much.

This is one issue that I can get on board with Clench about. After all the hype that has been leading up to the Olympics for at least the past two years, the Paralympics lead up was very disappointing. The Olympics was shown on one of the major channels for at least 23 hours a day, (I may be exaggerating, but you get my drift) and additional broadcasting repeated events that we had already watched. It was talked about everywhere, by everyone, and with good reason because we did absolutely fantastically in the games.

Meet the Superhumans - Channel 4 

The lead up to the Paralympics was an advert on Channel 4. Though I did like the song they accompanied it with - my boyfriend did me an epic favour and downloaded it for us to listen to when we drive in my car (it makes us feel gansta.) I've had conversations about the Paralympics, but it hadn't really been mentioned until the opening ceremony started, (which, I'll admit, I did not understand and therefore, did not write a blog on.) The lack of hype is the only thing that has disappointed me, considering  Britain essentially founded the Paralympics. The broadcasting of the games, however, is out there - we just need to go and find it. So quit complaining, stop being lazy and get searching the TV channels - it doesn't take too much effort to press some buttons.

Public enemy - Harder than you think  

If what Clench is ultimately suggesting in his article is true, (that people have stopped caring), then I'm sorry to disappoint him, but he'll have to tell that to the 2.4 million ticket holders who have been going to watch the events. Obviously, the 11.2 million people of the British population alone who attended to opening ceremony weren't warned beforehand that their attempts of showing interest in the Paralympics were futile. Channel 4, the main broadcaster for the Paralympics, has been receiving its highest ratings in about the last ten years. The British population, at least, clearly didn't get the memo about not caring.

And if he's pinning the apart lack of interest on his fellow Aussies, he's still sadly mistaken about the whole thing. According to statistics, coverage of the first day of the Paralympics back in Australia reached 1.8 million viewers. The first evening show on the main Australian channel doubled its regular audience and has continued to grow since.

Basically, this whole blog can be summed up in the words of Oscar Pistorius, an Olympic and Paralympic champion : "I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of. I don't think [Olympic and Paralympic integration] will ever happen and I don't think it'll ever need to.

"We get so few opportunities to publicly and raucously celebrate our community and the amazing contributions people with disabilities make. The Paralympics are ours. Hands off."

10 reasons to go to university

Just the other day, I ran into someone I used to go to school with. You know the kind of person I'm talking about - the one you haven't seen since your last toy day in Junior School, not because they moved, but because you've spent the rest of your days avoiding them. The one who you always disliked for no damn good reason, and the one who you hoped would just go to college or Zimbabwe already. Anyways, I hadn't seen this person since starting at university, so we had a nice chat, witty repartee and an awkward silence when I was inevitably asked: "So what are you doing with yourself these days?"

Make no mistake that the awed silence I was hoping for did not follow my response that I am studying a BA in History at Swansea University. She looked at me with a look of disbelief, and began ranting about her own life in college. Not one question about university. Absolutely zilch. I should've at least thought she'd ask me about my life as a student or why I decided to study at university but nothing. And so, I've decided to give her an answer, (despite the fact that she didn't want one), on why I'm at university and why most people probably should be too.

So, why should students go to university? Let's start with the off putting facts.

In the beginning, it will probably be awful, I'm not going to lie. It will seem like you have gone back in time to the very first day of school as you cry for your mother, stop caring what you look like when you go outdoors and begin to wear your backpack on both shoulders all over again. You will start believing that dancing in the rain is a legitimate activity and you will find yourself being greeted all over campus, while you wonder who the hell just said hello to you. Exactly like nursery, you will soon realise how necessary snack time is, start crossing the street without looking for cars, realise how important daily naps are and you will never eat any of the healthy food that you are supposed to eat. I suppose that I'm making it sound slightly of chronic, but there is a plus side to all this 'growing up'. (Oh ignore the irony.)

 This may all sound repulsive to the average incoming fresher but, believe me, you will soon forget your classmates names and pine for letters from your parents. The amount of times I have woken at half eight, pulled on a pair of jeans and a hoodie over my pyjama top, is far too many to count. I find that this applies to the fortunate few who live on campus rather than a house several miles away.

Knowing you have finally settled into university life is marked by certain milestones which are usually achieved throughout the first year; You'll find yourself walking at least two miles for a party, wearing dirty socks three times in a row, (and thinking nothing of it),  going to sleep when it's light and waking up when it's dark and looking out the window as a form of entertainment. You will know the pizza boy by name. You'll rather clean than study (isn't that weird??) and suddenly, rearranging your room becomes a new hobby. Having a phone in your bedroom means prank phone calls, you start scheduling your classes around sleep habits and shows and you realise that the weekend lasts from Thursday to Sunday.

After all that, if you're still determined to go, here are the reasons why being a student is just plain awesome.

1. You can make your A-levels a horrible memory

It seems bizarre, but I found that the best way to move on from A-level results days was realising that I was soon venturing into the big bad world of university. When you're at university, nobody actually cares how you did in your exams. You were smart in Secondary School, so what? There are more interesting things to talk about, like who threw up all over that girl they fancy last night after having 10 shots or the winning strategies of the lottery.

2.You'll actually be interested in what you're learning

At school, you have no say in what you get to learn but at university, you do. Studying History, I choose what eras I want to study. You don't even have to stick to the parameters of your course - I'm taking a module in media studies this year. Just for the lols.

3. Cash

When we consider the long term effects of going to university, you can't deny that there are a few benefits. You're much more likely to be living it large one day. The average graduate this year earns a salary that starts at £26,000. That's 4% more than graduates were earning in 2009. Realistically, there's not really been a better time to study a degree.

4. The wonderful benefits you can bring to your country

The UK is, let's be honest, slightly deprived of skills, and is in desperate need of highly educated people. And university, well, it educates people... highly. So, by studying at university, you can tell all your distant relatives who have taken a sudden interest in their soon-to-be graduate relation, that you're working for Britain.  Of course, don't let it slip that working means sleeping all day, dossing around and bringing severe damage to your liver. Which leads nicely to my next point.

Time to doss around! 

5. It's the one chance you get to doss around.

If you're one of THOSE people who thinks that the benefits of leaving education and launching yourself into full time work is better than the student lifestyle, think again. Admittedly, the average wage that young people and students earn isn't all that, (and that's if you can even find a job), but weigh that against our way of life.  It  is a rare moment in my life when anyone in my flat is awake before 9am. The average boss wouldn't allow you to put your feet up at half past nine every morning to watch Jeremy Kyle, never mind the benefits of 1:25pm and 2:15pm viewings, which is a necessity if you, like me, are not awake until past midday.

6. Tell me what else you're going to do?

No, seriously. Without a degree, finding a good and well-paid job is tough. All your student friends will be calling you at 1am from a far, honouring you with drunken texts declaring their love for you and telling you how much fun they're having. You'll still be living at home. You'll still be living with your parents. You'll still have a curfew. And you'll be constantly nagged by family members to apply to university already. You might as well bite the bullet, and get going.

7. Remember, it's never too late.

You don't necessarily have to be fresh out of school to be able to cash in on a student loan and go to university.  I know people on my course at university who are nearing their thirties, (and doing a much better job than me at passing their degrees.) One of my friends took a gap year last year to doss around and travel. It's never ever too late to get educated.

8. Getting to meet people

The first day of moving into your brand new accommodation is one of the most exciting and scary days that you'll ever experience. Sharing accommodation with dozens of teenagers is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The kitchens will become rat-ridden, the sink will be piled high with moldy plates and cups and there will be arguments about borrowed milk or bread, but, you will make amazing lifelong friends.  You'll learn how to do magical things called cooking, budgeting and being independent. And it's actually fun, especially when you're surrounded by like-minded people to either sympathise with you or to laugh at when things go wrong. 

Plus, you have the most incredible times with these people. I particularly remember having a high speed chase with my friends in our flatmates car during a fire alarm at around four in the morning, where we bought skittles from a petrol station, drove along deserted roads and got followed by a mysterious person in a blue car. It was scary at the time, but we can now look back on it and laugh.

9. You'll have crazy experiences that you can't find anywhere else.

Since being at university, I've joined the student newspaper, History society, photography society, media society, French society... So maybe I haven't been involved with all of them, but that's just because I've been making friends, working and watching Jeremy Kyle. I've made last minute decisions to sign up to societies that I know I wouldn't be able to be a part of in a million years, like Cheerleading or vegetable appreciation groups. I've stayed up chatting until dawn and won an award for writing an article about prostitutes. (Don't ask.) I've stayed in clubs until closing time and even had conversations with hobos at 4am. Student life will offer you opportunities that go way beyond education.

10. There's a very small chance that you'll 'go down in history.'

(Check out this link to prove that! ---> Celebrities that went to college )

By the time that you graduate, it may turn out that your course has inspired you into new found greatness. It's the ultimate reason to go to university: spending three years meeting new people, enjoying yourself and figuring out who you are might push you to work out what it is you want to do with your life.

So, if I were you, I'd go for it. There are another good few reasons not to give it a go but, that's for another discussion. If you're going to university this year, good luck! And if not, well, good luck for when you do decide to go.