Are there enough blogs about University life in Leeds?

University life. Courtesy of Francicso Osorio

People go to university to further their career ambitions by getting a degree, and being able to go into their field of work. However, a bonus is the University life and experiences you get with it. Whenever people think about the term ‘university life’, peoples’ first thoughts are of a lazy routine involving drinking, going out, and staying in bed till the later afternoon.

These assertions may not be far wrong, and Beth Jones supports this when writing a witty, talkative guide to what you need to take to university in the Daily Telegraph. With the heading ‘Armed with a trusty laptop, an alarm clock, and (of course) a corkscrew, you are all set.’ this guide forms to the stereotypical student expressed in the lines of Asher Roth‘s song I Love College, and portrays a life of a lazy, boozy student.

When looking for blogs, I found a popular blog exploring university life in Leeds called the student channel. In its about us page it describes

We love student life. Student life should be about discovering new places, meeting new people and pursuing a passion. We believe that students should be able to enjoy student life without the worries of money and too many responsibilities, after all, that time will come (unfortunately!) It was with this ethos that we decided to set up The Student Channel, a website dedicated to helping you make the most out of student life.’

I think that this attitude echoes what I was looking for in a blog about University life, and is highlighted on the site with interesting reviews on different clubs like Teknicolor @ Mint Club or even just different things to cook at uni.

There has been a rise to popular sites like UNILAD where people post stories and confessions involving sexual escapades, and even rises to Facebook pages like Spotted:Leeds Met where people comment on people in the library, and is seen as a communication tool for people to discreetly share their opinions individuals in the library. In both cases it seems that the embarrassing content provided adds to the entertainment of others and is popular reading for students, more so the male students. Although it is popular, and offers an interesting read, does it represent what university life is about?

Hazel Morgan highlights this point in a article in the Independent suggesting ‘Lad culture is a black mark on university life’. She goes on to write, ‘Whereas lad culture is seen by many people as harmless fun amongst young male students, I see it as a pressure group creating the myth that time at university should be spent in a certain way. Students should be having ‘top banter’ and going ‘on the lash’. This focus on flaunting heterosexual conquests and the pressure to behave in certain ways alienates not only men who feel pressure to fit in but also female students.’ She does raise some good points, and these views can be seen in sites like UNILAD, however I feel that some of her views are quite extreme.

Other than blogs written about vodka driven exploits in Oceana, there are some different blogs which offer another insight. Like ‘Alice’ blogs explores different cooking activities she gets up to while at university, then shares different ideas. From this to my appeal I found a post on University Style Apple and Pear Crumble, which looks easy to make, and the combination of apple, pear and frosted flakes seems irresistible!

With over 60,000 students in Leeds, I would have liked to seen more blogs on university life in Leeds, but I feel student blogging is only growing and there will only be more blogs on university life to come.