You know you're a final year student when...
Sleeping in the library
Friday, 20th January 2012
3 weeks ago, 2012 seemed like a far off, apocalyptical occurrence that was widely talked about but would never actually arrive. Fast forward to now, and you will see final year students the length and breadth of campus getting themselves in a right old tizz as they realise that the start of this term means the start of The Final Countdown before the big’G’. Graduation. If you are a final year student, you will probably be suffering from some of the following symptoms:
- You no longer do things for fun. Instead you do them because you think they’ll look good on your CV. Salsa? It shows a deep interest in the Hispanic culture.
- Nights out no longer dictate which lectures you go to-rather, lectures dictate which nights out you go on.
- Your library book history reaches triple figures, and 20 loans at a time is no longer anywhere near enough. In fact, as gym time is now limited, carrying your stack of books to and from the library is the best exercise you get.
- Graduation is referred to as ‘freedom’.
- You can count on one hand (or finger) the number of days you haven’t visited the library yet this term.
- Instead of writing notes to your housemates on normal paper, you write them on revision cards
- When writing articles such as this, you feel the need to insert at least one reference per paragraph
- The VLE has more hits that Facebook on your computer browsing history.
- Updating your CV and applying for jobs is considered a ‘fun’ revision break.
- Everything in the world around you takes on some sort of previously unnoticed meaning relevant to your course. Trust me, the accents of Coronation Street characters are MINDBLOWING for a final year linguistic student.
- The library guard guy does a double take when he walks past, as if to check that yes, you are the same person in the exact same spot as 9 hours earlier. You may even be on first name terms with him (Jim).
- The sarcastic Vanbrugh porter’s face grows more punchable by the day (you know the one I mean, although on second thoughts, this may not be restricted to final year).
- You meet a hot new guy or girl in your seminar...and the only number of theirs you’re interested in is their essay word count.
- You shake your head and sigh nostalgically (and somewhat patronisingly) at naive first years with their high hopes of going out 3 nights a week, signing up for 72 different societies, learning 3 languages and still getting a first in their degree.
- Perhaps worst of all is the freedom guilt-every second spent on something other than work results in an intense wave of guilt, even if you have already spent 10 hours working in the library today. Even mundanities such as cooking instil a sense of guilt. Revision notes in the shower? Sure. Lecture notes on the treadmill? Been there.
Short term, the best cure for the above symptoms is to bury your head in the sand and deny all knowledge. Long term though, let me know how that works out.
