Oh hey there,
For many people, this September has brought about a terrifying reality- it's your last year of school/college and clearly the age of 17/18 is the perfect time to decide what you want to do with the REST OF YOUR LIFE...what?!
If you're like me and struggle deciding what you're doing on a Saturday night, this is probably causing some intense panic. Considering we're well into October, I'm assuming everyone who's going to uni is well submerged in UCAS applications, personal statements and open days (and if you're not, then God knows how you're being so chill about the whole thing). The thing with UCAS applications is, that you actually have to choose where you want to go for the next 3 years as well as what you're going to spend more than £27,000 studying (DA FUCK?!!!), the whole idea of this has my nerves gone, there's about 300 courses to choose from and that's not including the option of joint honours/major and minor subjects/years abroad etc. This is one of the many reasons why I've decided to stay in my wonderful city of Liverpool as quite frankly add a change of location into my already massive choice and my head will most likely explode.
If this applies to you and you've made the genius decision to stay here then you've probably been met with various questions like "don't you want to get the full uni experience?" "Don't you want to be independent?" "Don't you want to see other places?". I've had all of these as well as about 100 more, mainly from my Dad (to be honest, I think he just wants me as far away as possible so I can't ask him for lifts everywhere- yeah I'm onto you Paul) So here's all the reasons why I think it's perfectly acceptable to stay in Liverpool...
1) Liverpool has 4 universities!:- yes 4 and okay I know Edge Hill is verging on major wool territory but you catch my drift. The University of Liverpool is one of the top universities in the country for things like Dentistry and Nursing, it's also a Russell Group university which is basically the top 25 uni's in the UK and it's got a massive Management School which offers courses like accounting & finance, business management and marketing. You've also got Hope, JMU and Edge Hill with Hope and Edge Hill specialising in things like secondary and primary education, offering some of the best courses in the country for any future teachers. Not to mention, when it comes to student satisfaction and best nightlife, all Liverpool uni's always smash the league tables (well obviously)
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| Just look how gorgeous the University of Liverpool is! |
2) Independence is overrated: Hear me out for a minute here, I'm not saying stay at home with your mum forever if you're staying here for uni, cos to be perfectly honest I'm a bit jealous of all my mates who have got their own little flat and new life going on right now. But I am very much into the fact that my mum and her roasts are a bus ride away if I'm feeling a bit shit on a Sunday or my dad being able to come and get me when I'm stranded somewhere and I've lost my bank card again. It's going to be scary enough moving out and not being able to shout my mum when I can't work out if my foods done but moving that far away that I can't ring my dad to come and fix my telly if it's broken- no thank you, that's not happening.
3) Uni is expensive: as previously mentioned, uni costs upwards of £27,000 for a regular student like me who won't be receiving grants or bursaries so would it really hurt to save some cash by being close to the Bank of Mum and Dad? I think not. Following on from my last point, not only is it nice to still have your parents around, it makes sense economically...I swear. Think of all the money you'll save on food when you get to go home, have your dinner and raid the cupboard for all those koka noodles and doritos your mums carried on buying cos she's forgotten you've moved out. Also if your mums anything like mine, the idea of mess doesn't bare thinking about. So you can pretty much guarantee a full room clean, duvet change and dish wash every time she 'pops round', it's like having your very own Kim and Aggie but without the bejewelled marigolds and over bleached hair. As well as all these, never underestimate how much you actually cost to buy for. My Sunday scrangover probably sets my parents back a good £15 a week, add in my inability to switch off lights and love for having the hot tap on whilst I'm in the bath, my mum and dad are gonna be minted when I finally get off next year. More money= happy parents, happy parents= increased generosity, increased generosity=more likely to give me a nice little hand out when I come round purely because I miss them. Don't feel bad about it though, you're not rinsing them, it's simply the circle of life.
4) Who wants to become a 'student'?: Now I'm not talking about an actual student of a university, cos that's pretty much the point of this blog post. I mean those people that show up in September and hang around concert square dressed up as a Smurf or Where's Wally and feel like UV/ foam parties are acceptable forms of entertainment for people that are supposed to be real functioning adults. If you're one of these people and the only reason you're even bothering to go to uni is to pull birds/ be a constant bevy victim, then please save yourself the £27,000 and go and work in Zante or Napa for a season or two, at least you'll have the weather. Seriously though, this is one of the MAIN reasons why I'm staying in Liverpool as I reckon it's moving away that does this to people. I'm sure not everyone who moves away for uni becomes a massive loser who you'd usually feel ashamed for if you saw them on a night out, but it happens to that many people, I'm not willing to risk it. Clearly when people move away, the fact that they can reinvent themselves is too much and they instantly become a uni victim, complete with freshers wristband and shutter shades. Maybe it's the fact that they no longer run the risk of seeing that tidy lad who you stalk on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook etc or that girl who always has perfect brows and is your secret sworn enemy. Whatever it is, I'm not okay with it. I like dressing up and going out looking nice and their is no way that I'm swapping my heels for a pair of Tom's just because I've decided to carry on with a glorified version of school, swerve that. If you move away you either beat them or join them and the odds of beating what so many wools aspire to be are slim to none, at least if you're still here you can stick to the safe perimeters of Seel Street and judge the kitten-heeled, ra-ra skirted wools with fellow scousers.
5) You can still leave: This might come as a bit of a surprise to everyone who see's staying in Liverpool as a life-long sentence to never venture further than the Runcorn tunnel, but you can actually leave whenever you want to. Just because you choose to stay here for uni doesn't mean you can't visit your mates around the country or apply for graduate positions in London or Birminghan or Timbuktu when the time comes. When people leave, no one tells them they can't come back home, so why is there some sort of weird stigma attached to people staying here as if the trains and buses only go one way. Liverpool is one of the biggest cities in the country, there's no absence of jobs opportunities for students. We might not be London but our business sector is thriving and we've got amazing companies like Agent Marketing setting up things like their Agent Academy that offers people the chance to get 10 weeks experience of working in marketing to boost your CV and possibly lead to a job opportunity. You can still leave whenever you want to but with the business ventures that are popping up around Liverpool at the moment, do you really need to?
All in all, I love Liverpool and I couldn't bare to leave it for too long but if you're one of those people that are moving away, good luck to you and never forget the great responsibility you have of representing Scousers everywhere in whatever city you choose to make your temporary home. If you are staying here, then congrats on being one of the 60,000 students that have also made such a genius choice. I'll be there in full Scouse rigout whinging about any student that dares step foot in Santa's with flashing bunny ears on or in fancy dress, you can swerve that right off.
XXX
