Ten Things I Miss: My University Years

It's really not healthy dwelling on the past, but seeing all these Facebook statuses and photos that are both cloying and enviable has made me rather sentimental. I have only just graduated and though three years have gone by as quickly as it came, it's not like I've been completely out of it. I can still relate. In fact, just last week NatWest sent me a Graduate Discount card through the post and a letter saying that they understand that coming off of higher education will always be an opportune moment to bury some student further in debt. See? 

I do miss a few things from my past life as a Classicist-in-the-making, but surprisingly, not one relates to my course or alcohol-induced blackouts (I really do believe that unless you drink a case of Jagermeister and down a whole bottle of sleeping pills, 'blackouts' will forever remain as a petty cop-out to avoid dealing with the shame of last night's antics at the local Oceana.)

So here we go. 

10. Academic S&M- I don't miss the cryptic tendencies of Plato and Heraclitus, but what I do crave every now and again is that bittersweet shot of stress over something scholastic, i.e. an essay due in 12 hours or a dissertation due for May that wasn't started until April. Nothing beats the high and low of having to write 2k+ words a day, only to cut it down to half, go to sleep and then write some more knowing in the back of your mind that this thesis can either take you up a grade boundary or completely erase you from the list of graduands come July. Obviously, things work differently outside that bubble and a career is on the line, but the truth is, sometimes I can't help but feel like I would rather go through the pain of final year again over my current day job.

I'm A Student In Leeds, Get Me Out Of Here!

This is just outrageous. As of late, the current scare around the Leeds area has been this gang of twenty youths, geared with balaclavas and screwdrivers and possibly the rest of the home depot section, who insist on attacking students not only for whatever they can scrounge off but also because they find it entertaining. The student paper has since been reporting horror stories that are just so random and totally out of left field. A couple of students were attacked by their accommodations in such a 'dramatic' fashion (the gang slowly came out of the bushes to commence their attack) that you have to wonder why. Is it jealousy? Are they really that delinquent that they have nothing to do in life but to skulk around in a pack, masked and with steel in hand? Obviously, they choose to hunt in packs because individually they wouldn't have the balls to do it themselves. They have tactics. And the thing is even when you're in a group of 5 or so, against a bombarding twenty, it is like 300 all over again. Just as we feel safety in numbers, so do they. They are like a malignant tumour in the heart of Leeds and we have got to do something. 

A re-enactment courtesy of Leeds Student

Last week, the police reported catching two of the gang members and while the rest of us took a breath, after all little victories like this is what you want to hear for comforting, the backlash was even worse. Just today, the Leeds Student Paper reported a horrific attack- ten were assaulted in a matter of minutes, unprovoked and with weapons for some of the victims. At the moment these attacks are mostly around Woodhouse Moor and the Hyde Park area, but there's no reason not to be careful even when out of these areas because there's not stopping these attacks from spreading. If there is anything to be thankful for in this holiday (Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family in the US!), it is that none of them are dead. 

Never have I felt unsafe since I started in Leeds back in 2009 and as students we shouldn't have to. I always tell people, even if you're in a group, take a taxi especially when out in the evening or something. It's £4 or your life, because as it appears, these youths have no scruples when it comes to their attacks.  I haven't had much of a social life as of late thanks to the pile of work I have, but I have to say, I am quite happy about it. Not to be a wet blanket to the whole student population who do spend evenings out, but I wouldn't dare risk being attacked for a night of drinking. Okay, so that makes me sound sad doesn't it? I'm not saying we can't have fun just because the gang is out there. We can. In fact, if all of us work together in making sure they don't win, showing a united front from the residents of Leeds might just be the solution. We just have to make sure that everyone remains alert and smart with what they do outside school hours. As for me, thankfully, the Christmas break is just around the corner. And with everything that is going on in the city right now, can you blame me if I say "Bring on the holidays, so I can get the fuck out of here."

Be safe everyone! And stop walking around in the dark late at night. Jesus Christ, learn from all of this!

xoxo