Hello!

As it is nearly Christmas / mid way through our final year, we thought we would write about the topic of money as it seems to be a big thing right now.

When you go to uni, whether you get a loan, a grant, a bursary or neither, learning how to budget your money becomes one of the most important things you will learn how to do. When we both first started uni, initially it was quite hard to budget our money in a way which gave us enough to do what we wanted to do for example – money for food, drink, bus tickets, train tickets, nights out, washing power etc etc. After a while you do get used to it but initially it is a bit weird as you find yourself thinking about things that you probably haven’t thought about before: like washing powder, tea bags, milk, cheese, bread etc. Buying things like washing powder, washing up liquid, bin bags etc are all very mundane but also very important so it’s always good to make sure you have enough money to buy them when thinking about money. In regards to food shopping – one thing to do is to take advantage of any deal or offer in a supermarket as you can actually save quite a lot of money in the long run. It’s good to buy non-branded stuff as it really is so much cheaper and it’s also good to makes sure that you don’t buy more than you need.

In terms of nights out: you genuinely can have a good night out in Lancaster without spending much money. Entry into the LUSU club is usually around £3/£4, and if you drink at pre drinks, you don’t need to spend much when you’re actually in the club. In terms of taxis, a taxi from town to campus is usually around £10 or there is the free sugar bus home after a night out which is always so handy to use and so you don’t need to splash out a lot of money to have a good night out.

We both have railcards and the are probably one of our best purchases ever. You can literally save so much money with them – whether you are travelling home or just getting the train somewhere for the day – you save 30% which really does make a big difference!

It is quite hard to explain what ‘money’ is like at uni, as everybody has different experiences but, money does become quite an important thing and as long as you spend it wisely / keep an eye on it, then you won’t have anything to worry about.

Merry christmas and happy new year!

Becky and Katie x

Firstly, many apologies for posting so late but due to the floods, travelling about and sorting things out it, it slipped my mind. I doubt I will be posting too often over the course of the Christmas holiday as I’m not in Lancaster but for now I am going to talk a little about crisis management which, while not something people consider when thinking about University preparation, now seems a lot more relevant.

In the last week of term the North of England, including Lancaster, was hit by Storm Desmond. I knew when I came here that weather could be a bit feisty, being from Wales I hadn’t really noticed the difference, but this was unexpected. I was fortunate enough to be on higher ground so the floods themselves did not affect me aside the power cut. At first it was a novel experience, everyone frantically looking for candles and torches (ironically difficult in the dark) and going out to see the submerged cars and shops for themselves but by the following day the excitement had worn off leaving an air of panic. Realising that we had no heating, no means to cook and only natural lighting which had gone by 4pm, everyone started evacuating that could find a bit of signal to call in the cavalry. So what have I learnt from it all?

When choosing off-campus accommodation check where it is and how ‘crisis prone’ it is, whether it is with regards to flooding, crime or power cuts. Also become friendly with your landlord so that if something was to occur you know they will be there to help you; I am lucky to have very friendly and attentive landlords but I saw the masses of people banging on the doors of letting agents who were clearly less fortunate.

Make sure to keep things like torches in obvious places because when you most need them is when you’re least likely to be able to see them. In case of bad weather specifically make sure you have a decent raincoat and walking boots too, I didn’t go as far as waterproof trousers but it never hurts to be more prepared.

The most important thing is to make the best of whatever situation thrown at you. Despite all the worry there were positives; I’ve never bonded with some of my friends so much and you rely on the simple pleasures such as going out for walks and drunken board game nights. It almost had a festival feel as people sat around playing instruments and smelling a lot.

Lastly I want to say a few things about how Lancaster University handled it. Being that last week of term held everyone’s exams and coursework deadlines we were all considerably nervous that we couldn’t get to campus easily, couldn’t write or submit our essays, couldn’t revise properly or generally had been too displaced or worried to focus, especially as no one could get online to know what was going on. I think the University did well to postpone all deadlines and exams until next term even when the power did come back on and things began to return to normal, they focussed on the student’s welfare and told us to leave Lancaster if it were possible. Whilst I don’t live on campus I heard that they set up spaces for the students to sleep if they had to leave their accommodation, served free food and even set up common rooms and cinema viewings to keep up morale. They also put on free buses to Preston in order to get students to an open train station when Lancaster Train Station was closed. So as much as it isn’t something I considered when choosing a University, I can now say that Lancaster University will look after you should something go wrong.

And on that note, happy holidays.

In the lead up to Christmas there is always a plethora of events going on in Lancaster. Christmas themed clubbing nights out, society end of term socials and general celebrations of completed exams and coursework. Last week I attended an art exhibition in the centre of Lancaster town with one of my housemates. All the artists involved were PhD Fine Art students, who had come together to put on an exhibition of what they had been working on that term. The event was based in The Storey near the railway station, so after a quick bus ride, it only took five minutes to walk the rest of the way. Upon entering the exhibition hall, we were plied with free glasses of wine and a programme of the work on display. Truly, the talent of the artists was phenomenal. My housemate and I happily spent an hour gazing upon watercolours, canvases thick with paint, apocalyptic screens of mushroom clouds that were represented as chicken drumsticks, photographs full of white silhouettes where the people in them had been removed and heavily graffitied books that had been published many decades ago, judging by the state of their spines and the discolouration of their pages. All the artists were in attendance and available for answering questions concerning their work, so we took full advantage by asking what the inspirational origins, and the underlying meaning, behind their creative accomplishments were. With many abstract pieces on show, this was frequently necessary!

Such cultural events serve to break up the stresses of exams and the inevitable and much dreaded end of term deadlines. Brief periods of respite are incredibly helpful in allowing you to re-approach work with a refreshed and alert mind and can help no end in increasing motivation.