I was reading some stale and crusted old newspapers and magazines whilst on a Great British holiday the other week (and yes it was raining as you suspected).
An article in the Guardian about a new indie duo caught my eye. Not because I thought listening to their music might make me seem oh-so-cool and edgy but because of the description of how “the pair met at Nottingham University in 2010 but, both [were] disillusioned by their “soulless” experience during their time there”.
It makes me wonder whether many students view university life as a series of purposefully quantified and qualified events that fit into a neat little “rites of passage” package.
I was a little crestfallen. I queried myself, perplexed as to whether the soullessness referred to was due to the trashy nights out or the 5pm supper times in halls, maybe students skipping early morning lectures or overreacting to seeing someone they didn’t want to on a luridly orange 34 bus. But then I concluded, those are also the nostalgic fragments of university life in Notts, even if they are a little generic. I began to think that just maybe mine and others university life is a more homogenised existence than we would care to admit. But “soulless”? A crushing clout of a word. Soullessness is defined as “showing no human qualities or influence”. I’m not quite sure that I’d be that scathing about my time at #unay. Or would I?
I will admit that our obsession with attaining a “university experience” is a little odd. It makes me wonder whether many students view university life as a series of purposefully quantified and qualified events that fit into a neat little “rites of passage” package, opposed to a more gradual transitional period of learning. I suppose however that it is the whole unoriginality of a rite of passage that defines it as a commonly shared life experience that people go through en masse, year after year.
The experiences had at university may seem cringey to those older and wiser, but hindsight is a forgiving friend.
One thing is for sure, plenty believe Nottingham provides that elusive university experience, as demonstrated by its mobilisation up the ranks this year up to 10th place in The Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey. Harry Copson, president of the University of Nottingham Students’ Union, said to the Nottingham Post “We welcome the feedback from the National Student Survey in order to build upon previous successes as a Students’ Union. We are also keen not to become complacent as we continue to aim for an improved student experience at the University of Nottingham.”
The experiences had at university may seem cringey to those older and wiser, but hindsight is a forgiving friend. So to all the hackneyed grads out there who may be tempted to dismiss university life as trite and clichéd, go forth, but there is no way you can claim university years are without soul.
Louisa Chenciner
Image courtesy of Matt Buck via Flickr
