7 Weird Things That Can Happen At Uni, But Are Totally Worth It

University is a life changing experience for many. For those that joined leaving college or 6th form (or shortly after a gap year of working/travelling), it’s a life changing experience of growing up, making friends, forming and changing relationships and working out what you want to do with your life and maybe changing your mind a couple of times.

But throughout all the drinking, partying, sex, drugs and rock and roll – weird stuff sometimes happen, be it you that did it or you were merely part of the experience of it. But when you look back at these things from a graduate perspective, you can still laugh about it and if you did it, you can say it was definitely worth whatever sanity or dignity it may or may not have cost.

Here are 7 things that happened to me between 2008 and 2014 during my time in Scarborough that could only ever be unique because it happened there and then…and it was worth it.

Unusual Dress Codes

At some point, you’ll be invited to a themed night out or houseparty – usually halloween, often others. But sometimes the themes can go off the beaten track and sometimes your particular costume may do too.

My experience of this involved joining several hall-mates that were part of the HUU Athletic Union (Scarbrough Ladies Football Team to be specific) and their theme night one week was based on ‘Pimps and Hoes’. This was fine as the dress was fairly simple. The girls would initially go as hoes and the boyfriends/plus ones/housemates of the team leaders as pimps (regardless of gender). But for some reason there was an imbalance of hoes due to people dropping out…so when I returned from an Easter break, I got the news I was changing sides if I wanted to come out. It took a lot of thinking about, but I was eventually talked into it with the promise the girls in our halls would sort out the clothing, makeup and such.

Needless to say it was a cold night for my legs, an itchy experience wearing makeup on sensitive skin and a lot of alcohol needed to be consumed to ensure that I remained pacified. But it was a decent night.

Needless to say though, I have some dignity left so there are no photos available for public viewing (some things are better left unseen).

Take Some Unintentionally Bad Photos

There are an incredible amount of terrible pictures of me as a student posted on the internet. Not as bad as some I imagine, but everyone during their time at uni will experience that one picture you just couldn’t re-create. And it’s usually a hilariously bad one.

This one occurred in my first year in one on one of the last nights at our old favourite rock club that sadly no longer exists (although I’ve heard it’s recent replacement is quite good too). In the midst of Rage Against the Machine’s initial reprisal of “Killing in the Name” we entered a great bonding session over headbanging. Unfortunately I happened to lift my head at the wrong moment and this happened:

Me in Bar Zero. Copyright Ellie Casey. Used under fair use.

Photo Credit: Ellie Casey

Yeah…

Also Capture Some Amazing Photos Too!

On the same night during a later song, my good friend Ellie Casey also caught this cracker at the perfect timing of my hair peaking in hight. Whilst I’ve seen better one such as horizontal dolphins, well timed pool jumps and crazy death eye looks, this one’s not bad for a once in a life time shot:

Me in Bar Zero 2. Copyright Kat Tye. Used under fair use.

Photo Credit: Kat Tye

Strange Items Appear in Your House

Many people have woken up to something they don’t remember brining into their accommodation. Road furniture, other people’s ornaments, somebody you had a crush on lying in the bed next to you.

Of the many things myself and many people I knew in my undergraduate and postgraduate years (Traffic Cones & Road furniture, For Sale Sign, The world’s smallest – and crushed banana, Top of a concrete post etc), the spare wheel has got to be one of my more unexplained ones – especially since I vaguely remember wheeling it home, but with no explanation as to why I decided to, nor any memory of it appearing in my living room the next day.

Needless to say it became a good talking point for my house for the few months it lived in the back yard as well as something to play with during pre-drinks.

Random Days of Mass Energy

Most people aren’t adept at being able to work around the clock in their 20s (unless you were lucky enough to be born to work like a machine), but every now and then you manage to find the time to run on pure caffeine and adrenaline and yet escape without a scratch. This one my example and I didn’t feel all that terrible the following day:

Facebook Status 21.5 hours. Screenshot.

Can’t say I’d be capable of doing that in one go again without consequence!

Making Unusual Statements

Everyone that’s been on social media has or will at some point create an unexplained message and post it online – usually when under the influence of something or deprived of sleep. On rare occasions it can even happen when you’re sober and in the heat of a moment. And then some, like one a dear friend of mine posted that frequently comes back to mind will never fail to make you smile – unfortunately he’s offline currently so I couldn’t obtain permission to display it here today, but I can tell you that owls, dragons, philosophy and family members all made it into the final cut!

Bursts of Information at Random Hours

If you’re an arts student I’m sure you’ve had this at some point. When you’re sat in a studio for hours or days on end staring at your respective equivalent of a blank canvas only to come away empty handed. Then at some point mid shower, loo session or at 4am, it strikes. One of two things then happen – either you’re very lucky and you then stay up all night or soaking yet or unclean trying to bring this idea to life, or you spend ages looking for your utensils of creation and manage to find them all, only for the idea to have gone away. If the latter happens to you, take my advice. ALWAYS have something on you. Even if it’s just a pen and paper or a voice recorder (most phones and tablets have these as apps now) with you to take note or jog your memory later. Doesn’t always work, but when a rare and unusual moment happens, it pays to capture it!

 

Have any of these happened to you? Has anything happened that’s not on this list? Feel free to let me know and discuss in the comments section down below.

 

Mike

 

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