Hi! My name is Mackenzie and I’m currently in my third year at Lancaster in Religious Studies. Long ago, in the distant past of 2015, I left my home and lovely dogs to study at Lancaster, and I’ve enjoyed it so much that I want to stay here another year for a master’s! This blog is to try and give you a bit of an insight to daily uni life, and my experiences in PPR (Philosophy, Politics and Religion) in particular. Also I’ve never written a blog before so, for the sake of adventure, here we go!
With Halloween just gone, I thought I’d talk a bit about the social side of uni first. As a fresher you will undoubtedly be introduced to the wonders of Lancaster nightlife, with 9 bars on campus for the lazy and the famous Sugarhouse! Those of you who aren’t down with the kids in terms of music taste, fear not! While comparatively small compared to the music scene in bigger towns, Lancaster still has something for everyone if you look in the right places. There are live events throughout the year, open mic nights across a number of pubs, and even societies in the uni that revolve around different types of music.
Alongside making friends with your flatmates and people from your course, a great way to get out there is to join a society! After a very lazy first year, I decided to join the Trampolining Club despite having no trampolining or gymnastics experience beyond leapfrog. It has been one of the best decisions I’d made at university (excluding the academic side, obviously!) It was a really fun way to get some exercise, push myself (way, waaaay) out of my comfort zone and learn new skills, and of course to make new friends. Despite being so nervous about joining, everyone was lovely and encouraging, to the extent where I’m now competing, which I never thought I’d be brave enough to do. Don’t hesitate to try something new when you get to uni, there are so many opportunities and it’s a great way to unwind after a week of lectures!