39 minute read
It’s back! They’re back! Our annual (apart from last year, let’s not talk about last year)
STUDENT GUIDE
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First Steps
Wanting to change the world but unsure where to start? Here’s a rough guide to taking your first steps in activism, political engagement and community work
Words: Jodie Leith Illustration: Phoebe Willison
As the world finally re-opens after a rather unconventional period of university (and life) for countless students across Scotland – marked by isolation, at-home learning, and facemask-wearing – positivity is beginning to be restored for many. However, the last year-anda-half has emphasised complex and intense issues faced by many worldwide, and fuelled discussions of humanitarian assistance and social justice in the face of adversity. Now, more than ever, many students are motivated to make a positive change to the world in which they find themselves. While this may feel daunting and slightly hopeless – as prevalent issues such as the climate emergency require large-scale transformation from numerous conglomerates – self-made changes and efforts, while only helping so much, can set individuals forth on a positive, personal journey of world-shaping that will last a lifetime. It may be no easy feat, but the historical impact of students in activist movements globally isn’t to be sneered at.
Getting involved with activism Causes like the climate emergency, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights, homelessness, and feminism are at the forefront of society today and increasingly the subject of daily discourse. While these are all huge social issues to tackle, organisations including Greenpeace, Stop Hate UK, Stonewall Scotland, Amnesty International, Homeless Action Scotland, Girls Against, and Women’s Aid are a perfect place for Scottish students to get started with activist involvement. Whether it’s attending a protest, raising funds, or promoting awareness of the issue on social media, participating in organisations among likeminded individuals rallying for a cause is an extremely gratifying and important aspect of activism.
Engaging with politics Find your local MP or MSP by simply entering your address at the UK Parliament or Scottish Parliament website and subsequently use their contact information to write a letter, send an email, or attend surgeries to complain or discuss relevant issues – this is a perfect way to persuade your constituency representative to petition for change on your behalf. Otherwise, you may decide to join a political party yourself to support a leadership you feel best reflects your interest on a larger, governmental scale. Finally, beginning a petition nowadays is extremely easy to do with websites like Change. org and the Parliament website dismissing the need for an old“Understanding yourself and fashioned, door-todoor campaign, protecting your mental health allowing others to is key, especially when feeling share your petition virtually. The more overwhelmed in the face of signatures in favour of a cause, the better, complex social matters” so get signing!
Unionising Joining a union allows multiple individuals to develop a united voice against a larger employer or academic body. In the workplace, Unite Hospitality works to avoid exploitative workplace practices and protects the rights of hospitality workers, a large portion of which are students working part-time alongside their studies. Furthermore, a university’s student union is composed of students who are often elected by classmates, who represent and voice the opinions of fellow students. Members of student unions may also host events, volunteer for charity, and campaign for diversity and equality within student bodies – holding the university accountable for issues such as financial support, accommodation, protection of students, and more. Living Rent is a Tenants’ Union that advocates for the protection of tenants’ rights. They campaign for an end to forced evictions and the reintroduction of rent control to allow a fairer market for renters – an issue particularly important for many students across the country who find themselves seeking accommodation for term time.
Find your voice Spending time researching the causes that are best aligned with your personal beliefs is a perfect way to shape your activist voice and carve your path to world changing. Growing an online social presence, speaking to fellow activists, and following accounts that discuss causes that you are passionate about is a brilliant way to educate yourself while scrolling when out and about. Engaging Instagram accounts to follow include: Young Friends of the Earth Scotland (@yfoes), a “community of young activists across Scotland
campaigning for environmental and social justice”; Bikes for Refugees Scotland (@bikes4refugees), a charity which “supports New Scots with free travel through the distribution of free bicycles”; Refuweegee (@refuweegee), a community-led charity welcoming refugees to Glasgow; and The Black Curriculum (@theblackcurriculum), an organisation promoting the teaching of Black British history in UK schools. Offline, locations like Edinburgh’s Lighthouse – a queer, women-owned bookshop full of educational resources – and the soon-to-open Pink Peacock in Glasgow – a queer, Yiddish, pay-whatyou-can cafe – provide community-driven, educational spaces ideal to educate students on activism and relevant social issues. For extra activist education, an ideal way to spend down-time is listening to educational podcasts like Sooo Many White Guys, in which host Phoebe Robinson features guests discussing social issues including race and feminism, or 99% Invisible, in which host Roman Mars dives into lesser-known topics, including architecture and infrastructures that reflect social issues and spur activist discussion and reflection.
Volunteer in the community The best way to get to know your local community is to immerse yourself in local events and projects. Whether it’s helping to litter-pick a park or volunteering at a food bank, community-focused events are a fantastic way to meet neighbours with a similar outlook on inciting change in the area to connect and develop. Reaching out to local organisations has never been easier, with many charities and events using social media as an essential means to unite residents. Volunteering in the community is also perfect for students who have moved to a new location for university and are keen to get to know their local area! Alternatively, many societies at university including charity fashion clubs, refugee/asylum seeker solidarity societies, and BEAT societies to support students dealing with eating disorders, work to unite like-minded students in rallying for change. Fundraising, event-hosting, and campaigning with fellow students is an ideal way to forge new friendships and widen knowledge of the community with many off-campus events.
Individual accountability Worldwide change undeniably requires an overwhelming, large-scale movement, however smaller changes undertaken at home can have a massive impact. By making smaller lifestyle changes, such as sporting a sustainable wardrobe and shopping for vintage or second-hand clothes, students can combat the negative impact of large-scale clothes donations, greatly worsened by fast fashion, on the global south and instead support local textile production which struggles under large markets of donated and discarded items. Additionally, selecting a renewable energy provider, and avoiding unnecessary car use by taking public transport, walking, or biking can all work to massively reduce carbon footprints and encourage a greener lifestyle during a climate emergency. Carbon footprint can also be reduced by reviewing the age-old student diet of Pot Noodles and attempting to consume locally grown, seasonal vegetables and reducing meat intake where possible. Meat Free Monday, an initiative founded by Paul, Mary, and Stella McCartney in 2009 promotes a ‘flexitarian’ outlook on cutting
back on meat. It encourages even the most devoted steak-lovers to consider the environmental impact of continually neglecting meat products for just one day a week – an ideal method for those who try (and fail) their hand at vegetarianism.
Practising self-care Finally, taking time to ground yourself and alleviate any stress or anxieties is invaluable in an increasingly chaotic world. While ‘mindfulness’ may seem like an influencer buzzword, the term is on the rise in popular discourse for great reason – understanding yourself and protecting your mental health is key, especially when feeling overwhelmed in the face of complex social matters. Acts of self-care great and small can provide a well-needed break. Creative classes, such as lifedrawing or pottery painting, can offer much-needed entertainment while also working as an excellent way to meet new people; meditating, picking up a hobby, meeting with friends, grooming, or even a daily walk all provide a positive step to prioritise the self and recharge the mind and body. After all, changing the world is a pretty exhausting full-time job. Now, about that essay due next week...
Cut the Trash
Living well shouldn’t cost us the Earth. Follow these tips to get your groceries, devices and your next fashion fix sustainably
Words: Becca Inglis
Photo: Courtesy of The Eco Larder Photo: Courtesy of Locavore Photo: Courtesy of The Refillery Photo: Erin Canning
Student Guide
The Eco Larder Locavore The Refillery Zero Waste Market
Okay people, it’s time we talked about waste. If you weren’t already suffering some base level climate anxiety (ah, the Gen Z zeitgeist), then by now you’ve probably (definitely) had the fear of god struck into you by the IPCC report. Message received, planet Earth – it’s high time we cleaned up our act and stopped pushing our throwaway problems on to nature. Sure, it’s difficult to feel like you can change the world when oil companies continue to chuck greenhouse gases into the air. But also, wouldn’t it be nice if we could stop microplastics from polluting our oceans, food waste from secreting methane, and cotton from guzzling up all the water and causing droughts? Yes of course it would, and these are all things that are in our power to change. Here are a few of our favourite places that can help you cut waste from your life and regain some climate optimism.
Zero waste groceries Despite many a painful Google search about putting the right plastic in the right bin, recycling just isn’t happening on the scale we need it to. Only 9% of plastic ever made has been reprocessed, while the rest has either gone to landfill or blown into our rivers and seas. A far better option is to cut food packaging altogether at zero waste grocery stores. You can bring your own containers to the shop – huzzah, a way to reuse your leftover plastic bottles and tubs! – and fill them with all the dry food, fruit and veg, and cleaning fluids you need. Edinburgh is well-served for low impact shopping, from Refillery in Newington to the Eco Larder in the West End, Weigh to Go in Leith and The Good Store in Inverleith. We’re even getting our own zero waste supermarket in Dalry, to be run by Locavore – one of Glasgow’s favourite package free shops. Over in Glasgow, the Zero Waste Market covers the East End, while Society Zero serves the West End community – including with a pay-it-forward scheme for those who need it. In Dundee you’ve got the Birchwood Emporium or The Little Green Larder, both of which offer some luscious looking veg boxes.
Rescued food Food waste is actually a bigger contributor to climate change in Scotland than plastic is, with an estimated 987,890 tonnes scraped into the bin in 2013 compared with 224,000 tonnes of plastic. Before you go and spend more money on new groceries, see if you can acquire some rescued food and get creative with your recipes. Groups like SHRUB Coop’s Food Sharing Hub in Edinburgh and the Too Good to Go app in Glasgow help to divert surplus food from supermarkets and restaurants, while Dundee’s West End Community Fridge makes food available to their local community to tackle food poverty. If you’ve got cans to spare, consider donating your leftovers to help these projects.
Slow fashion Another thing that SHRUB Coop is really good at is helping us to repurpose our pre-loved clothes. Unlike your regular charity shop, SHRUB’s Swap Shop gives back 20% of the value of what you donate in tokens, which you can then spend in the store. R:Evolve in Glasgow boasts three swap shop hubs in Rutherglen, Cambuslang and Hamilton, where you can bring in your old fashion items and, you guessed it, swap them for a fresh look free-of-charge.
Upcycled electronics Built-in obsolescence is a huge drain on your wallet, which is annoying enough when you’re trying to stretch your finances through uni, but there’s a hidden cost to electronics with an expiry date too. The UK generates around 1.5 million tonnes of electronic waste every year, and up to 82% of us have no plans to recycle or sell on our devices once they fall out of use. Don’t be that guy. Places like the Remakery in Edinburgh and WEEE Scotland in Glasgow will take in your decrepit electronics and re-use them for parts, or simply give them a repair (remember those?). If you are looking for a new device, you can use the circular economy to your advantage and buy a refurbished one for cheap. A MacBook Air goes for around £250 from The Remakery, which is one heck of a markdown from buying brand new.
Digital communities (see also; free shit) Facebook might be dead, but it’s still good for one thing – asking strangers to give/receive miscellaneous stuff. The Meadows Share is probably Edinburgh’s most notorious Facebook group for picking up random bric-a-brac. Last we checked there was a bagful of corks up for grabs, but you can also source your more traditional bits like chairs, mirrors, or spare light bulbs. Glasgow’s equivalent is Sharing Is Caring Glasgow And Surrounding Areas, or there’s the Glasgow Southside Sharing Community, where you can post saying you want to borrow something and people will actually lend it to you. Incredible scenes.
Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby
We chat with author and journalist Rachel Thompson about her new book Rough: How Violence Found Its Way Into the Bedroom, ways of addressing sexual violence within society, and the importance of going beyond consent
Interview: Anahit Behrooz
Alot of what you discuss in Rough is what you term “grey areas”: acts of violation such as non-consensual choking or spitting that lie outside the limits of the law. Why was this focus so important? Rachel: I wanted to explore the broad spectrum of harms that we don’t necessarily have language to describe. By always looking through a legal lens, we erase these lesseasy-to-define aspects of our sexual culture, violations such as digital sexual crimes that people think aren’t valid as they don’t fit a legal definition of assault or rape.
Why do you think language is so important within these contexts? Language gives a sense of validity. In I May Destroy You, for instance, a lot of people watching it had experienced stealthing [the non-consensual removal of a condom] but didn’t know what it was called and didn’t know it is actually classed as rape under English law. I May Destroy You was so empowering because [it gave] survivors the terminology for something that had happened to them, that they hadn’t known what to do with.
Rachel Thompson
The last few years have seen conversations around sexual assault focus on consent as this golden ticket to a good sexual relationship. In Rough, you talk about the limits of consent culture: can you expand on this? We have focused so much on consent, and obviously we still need to because it’s clear that even with these big conversations, it’s still not getting through. But I do really regard consent as the bare minimum. We should be thinking about sexual boundaries constantly and communicating what are hard limits and soft limits. It sounds so basic but we should be treating each other as human beings. There’s a disposability that exists within dating app culture in particular, but when there’s an added layer of the vulnerability that comes with sex, I do think that you have to model your best ethical behaviour. Image: courtesy of Penguin Random House It reminds me of Katherine Angel in Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again, who talks about desire as a gradual, ambivalent concept. She argues that framing consent as a tick-box hurdle forces women to always know and be able to articulate what they want. Absolutely. We’re sold this myth that you will always have instant attraction to someone and it just doesn’t work like that. One thing we should Rachel Thompson also be talking more about is unwanted sex as a grey area. There are all kinds of reasons why we consent to sex and it’s not always because of sexual desire: it could be because you’re an anxiously attached person and you want someone to like you. Or it could be within the context of a healthy relationship. But we should be talking about desire and unwanted sex, not necessarily to always problematise it, but within the wider context of systems of oppression that shape our agency and our ability to consent.
In the book, you make it very clear how women and people of marginalised genders’ sexual safety is bound up with broader power structures such as racism, homophobia and capitalism. Why is this intersectionality so crucial? Essentially, we’re currently trying to protect women and people of marginalised genders within the patriarchy and within white supremacy, and it’s obviously not working. We should be outraged by the fact that huge swathes of the population are deprived of basic resources, and that this creates conducive conditions that allow these cycles of violence to happen. We should be really angry that, because of systemic inequality, women and people of marginalised genders don’t always have the option to say no.
It’s really striking how Rough brings together so many voices through interviews. Can you talk a little about the power of testimonial in these contexts? It was really important to me to honour the language that people used when they were describing their experiences. I didn’t want to impose onto
Rachel Thompson
their lived experience. But it was also hard because sometimes people would describe something as a grey area, and what they were describing was assault. At one point, an interviewee reflects on their experience of stealthing and how they felt lucky it wasn’t worse. I found it extremely telling how we’re conditioned to feel, even if something traumatises us, that we got off lightly.
It makes me wonder to what extent the myth of the rapist in the alley has been deliberately manufactured to deflect from more pervasive incidents of rape and assault. Exactly. Who benefits from that? Because statistically, most people know their attackers. Yet the stranger rape trope is more of a dominant image than the reality, and I think that really interferes with people’s ability to understand the things that do happen to them as violence.
So often when we have these conversations, the onus is placed on women or people of marginalised genders to educate and protect themselves. What should men be doing? Men need to broaden their understanding of how misogyny and white supremacy and power structures manifest, not just in their behaviour but in their thought processes. I would encourage people to be mindful of the power that they hold, whether in relationships or one-off sexual encounters, and to be conscious of power dynamics and microaggressions that could retraumatise someone. We need to start modelling better, ethical, sexual behaviour. Just be a good person.
Rough: How Violence Found Its Way Into the Bedroom is out now via Square Peg
The Open Road
We talk to Sophie Grace Chappell, Professor of Philosophy at the Open University, about epiphanies, Bruce Springsteen, and making the most of human potential
Interview: Laurie Presswood
“There is nothing more wasteful of human potential than engrained hierarchies” – this is the doctrine of the Open University’s Sophie Grace Chappell. A professor of Philosophy, Chappell works most regularly on the topic of ethics, and is the only trans woman to hold a Philosophy Chair in the UK. Her work at the OU, she says, aims at undermining the hierarchy that is so deeply ingrained in UK society. It has, after all, been nicknamed by some ‘the university of the second chance’. “Human beings are always full of potential, always capable of surprising you, of doing something new and amazing and creative. And we need to find ways of structuring society to realise that potential in as many people as we can,” says Chappell. The Open University prides itself on giving anyone, anywhere, the chance to learn. Chappell says this is reflected in the student demographic – from her home in Dundee where she lives with her family, she is able to reach a wide variety of students. “Alongside 18-year-olds we have people in prison, we have people aboard submarines, we have hermits on Hebridean islands. We also have retired Whitehall mandarins and 75-year-old ex-Classics teachers; you can’t ever take it for granted, when you teach for the OU, that you’re not talking to a student who actually knows more about the topic of your lecture than you do yourself!” Philosophy is a subject area that is often
seen from the outside as somewhat impenetrable – woe betide the unlucky first year who picks it up as an ‘easy’ outside module. But Chappell points out that philosophy is much bigger than its academic study – it’s something that most of us engage with on a daily basis. “When you ask whether anyone really knows anything, or what the difference is between a good argument and a bad argument [...] or whether other people have the same experience as you when they see something yellow – and what you mean here by ‘the same’, or ‘experience’, or indeed ‘yellow’ – when you engage with any of these questions you’re doing philosophy. All an academic can do is help you to think about questions like these in a clearer and more organised way.” She’s recently finished writing a book on epiphanies, and weighs their importance in our lives against the value of the times when they are markedly absent. “I’m interested in how [the highs and lows of our psyches] interact, and in how the bad times feed and nourish and make possible the good times.” Originally a religious term, the ‘epiphany’ attained its contemporary meaning through the writing of James Joyce, who used it as a literary device in Stephen Hero and Dubliners. On whether any living artists seem to have taken up this mantle, Chappell points out that art is all about moments where something suddenly strikes you as overwhelmingly beautiful. “Given that I’m 56, I won’t embarrass myself, and you, by trying to talk – in an arts magazine's student guide! – about the latest things in music, or in film for that matter. But the best Bob Dylan
Photo: Imogen Chappell
and Springsteen is epiphanic. Bruce’s Backstreets is an epiphany; [...] it’s about turning private, personal pain into public, universal beauty, which is one of the big important things that a lot of art does for us.” It’s obvious that art has always been central to her life, although it may have taken some time to work out just in what capacity. “When I was 18 I wanted to be really, really good at something. I wasn’t quite sure what. [...] It took me longer than it might have done to work out that what I’m best at is philosophy, with a side-order of poetry. Maybe longer than it should have done, but hey, life is the journey. If we knew in advance where we were going to end up, we could just head straight there without the detours and false starts. In that case life would be a whole lot simpler, for sure. But on the other hand, it wouldn’t really be life.” This sentiment undoubtedly rings true for those who spend their young years feeling lost, or who commit to one course only to find that it feels entirely wrong. Chappell says that two quotations sum up the lessons she would impart to those who feel directionless. “One is my favourite line from my favourite film, Moulin Rouge!: ‘The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.’ The other is a quotation from D. H. Lawrence: ‘Find your deepest impulse, and follow that.’”
Sophie Grace Chappell’s books include Ethics and Experience (Acumen 2009) and Knowing What to Do (OUP 2015). Her next philosophy book Epiphanies is forthcoming in 2022 (OUP), as is a collection of her poems, Songs for Winter Rain (Ellipsis Imprints)
Money Worries
As restrictions lift and life starts going back to some normality, we speak to young people about how spending the last year-and-a-bit in lockdown has changed their attitudes towards money
Interview: Eilidh Akilade Illustration: Edith Ault
Adouble vodka Diet Coke is significantly more expensive when you’re not pouring it in your own bedroom, pre-drinking for the night’s Zoom hang. Ubers add up. Brunch isn’t cheap. Young people are re-learning all this now that we’re living a semi-normal life for the first time in a year and a half. It’s an odd pairing: the world is reopening yet somehow it feels like the beginning of the end. A ‘fuck it’ attitude takes hold – we’ve just survived a pandemic after all – but that attitude gets increasingly expensive when the world continues to stay open. It’s not as if the pandemic years have been financially easy. Calls for rent controls were answered with rent increases – by an average of £73 a month in Glasgow, according to ECA International. Government funding has been cut for just about everything. Plenty of workers were denied furlough, and instead were put on unpaid leave or simply made unemployed. Now, many young people are finding themselves on Universal Credit, amid panic-masters degrees, or moving back to the family home. For Hamilton-based Laura*, 23, the pandemic marked the beginning of “almost intrusive thoughts” about money. These thoughts focused on financial security: “Why didn’t I save enough money for this, or why haven’t I started saving, or why don’t I know about saving money.” Laura’s emphasis on “I” is normal: we tend to blame ourselves for our financial concerns. In a country where money is one of many topics considered impolite dinner conversation, it’s unsurprising that we’re all a little financially incompetent. But we’re putting the weight of this responsibility on our already weary shoulders, amid a pandemic that has been catastrophically mismanaged by a Tory government. However, lockdown marked almost the reverse for Hannah*, 20, from Glasgow. “Lockdown has helped me get into saving,” says Hannah. She’s aware she says this from a place of privilege. For many, the pandemic brought serious financial fears from the offset and, for many more, financial fears are part of daily life, pandemic times or otherwise.
But, no matter the privilege behind your pandemic, everyone was looking for ways to cope as life changed forever. For many young people, that meant overspending. With not much of a social life during lockdown, Hannah started saving, but she isn’t shy to admit that she also started overspending on things she didn’t need. “I definitely have overspent in lockdown, like big time,” she says. ASOS orders and takeaway coffees were as exciting as things got for her – and for just about everyone else. Material goods became a reminder of who we once were and of what our lives once looked like pre-pandemic. “I was just being a bit impulsive,” Hannah tells me. Youth is often characterised by a certain recklessness that the pandemic took away. We woke up with a different kind of hangover: rather than regretting drunk Instagram stories, we’re instead regretting lockdown purchases and an empty savings account. Recently, restrictions have been lifted in the UK, but Laura’s concerns remain the same. “I want to be chill and allow myself to have a good time – eat nice food and do nice things – without always coming home and feeling really guilty about how much I spent,” she says. There’s a pressure to be carefree and fun-loving, to be the kind of person who doesn’t lie in bed at night worrying about their lack of savings. As Laura says: “I feel like money is a constant worry for me – which is not cute.” Hannah, too, is “struggling spending money on going out while also budgeting,” but a social life isn’t all she’s trying to stretch her wage to. She wants to go on holiday and take driving lessons. Young people are hoping to spend money catching up on all that they missed out on over the last year and a bit – to buy back stolen pandemic time. But time and money are finite resources. Nevertheless, arts student Laura, who is set to graduate a year from now, is looking to the future: “Do I reconsider my career path?” she wonders. It’s an anxiety-inducing task to ask the unpredictable: what career might survive future lockdowns and pandemics? For Hannah, her head’s very much in the present. “I’m actually making a budget plan tonight – just to sort myself out,” she says. There’s a sense of immediacy. We have consistently given ourselves the-end-of-the-pandemic as a deadline; by the time COVID is over, we will have started therapy, learned a new language, started budgeting. While the pandemic is far from over, restrictions themselves have very much come to an end – and that personal budget now seems scarily necessary. Young people aren’t only trying to balance a budget; they’re also trying to balance future stability with present happiness. 2021 looks like a vodka shot in one hand, while logging into your banking app with the other – and it seems like that balancing act will be around for some time.
How to budget when you lack self-control
Set yourself up for a year of financial stability with these tips, learnt the hard way
Words: Laurie Presswood
Living within your means can be hard at the best of times, but compounded with hormone-driven spontaneity, a dense backdrop of parties and low-interest borrowing opportunities, and you could have a recipe for financial crisis on your hands. While it’s easy to say “just set a budget and stick to it”, or to promise yourself that you’ll bulk cook every week, the reality is that impulse control isn’t always that simple. It’s important to prepare for your self-discipline to falter, and have mechanisms in place to limit the consequences when it does. Establishing your budget First of all, it’s important that you get an idea of what your budget should be – even if you slip up, having these figures in your head will help you to move in the right direction. This doesn’t need to be an overwhelming task, just set aside an hour to add up your monthly income against your estimated expenditure. Money advice site Save The Student has created a really helpful budget spreadsheet which you can download – it’s easy to use, and they’ve done all the equations for you already so you don’t need to learn how to work Excel. Be aware that things like textbooks, rent and cheese will likely cost more than you are anticipating – while there isn’t much we can do to help with the last two, asking for your reading list in advance in order to buy second-hand copies will make a big difference. The Direct Debit is your friend Set up as many bills as you can to go out via Direct Debit at the start of the month, so you don’t have time to eat into your student loan. Alternatively, keep the bulk of your monthly income in a second account, and arrange for it to be drip-fed into your primary account on a weekly basis. Of course, there’s nothing to stop you simply going into your online banking and transferring it back when you fancy a last-minute night out, but the idea here is that the act of having to transfer money over should act as a psychological block of sorts – not exactly insurmountable, but at least a trip hazard. Don’t take out the maximum student overdraft straight away, and avoid credit cards. Given — 29 —
that most high street banks will approve student overdrafts more or less overnight, you can always take one out or extend it when in need. Going for £2000 immediately just because you can will only encourage you to spend recklessly, and it will take longer than you expect to get in the black again. The most important piece of bank-related advice, and the one that students violate most regularly, is to keep looking at your bank balance. Get mobile banking set up, and don’t let the fear of what you might see keep you from being prepared. Feeding the 5000 Invest in a big pan at the start of the year (3’’ deep x 9’’ diameter, minimum). Then pick one bulk recipe and perfect it – you can make ten portions of bolognese sauce for under a tenner if you shop cannily at Lidl (less if you cook without meat and cheese) – but be realistic. If you are not within walking distance of a reasonably-priced German supermarket, don’t budget on the basis that you will do all of your shopping there. You’re unlikely to have the time or energy to go every week – but you can still save by shopping off-brand in your local store. Of course in an ideal week you’d do a bulk cook once a week, but even doing a huge cook once a month and then freezing most of the portions will set you up to stay wellnourished on a low budget. Complement this with as many frozen meals and cans of non-perishables as your hands can hold and you’ll know that even if disaster strikes you’ll be able to eat. Lifestyle and Entertainment Make sure you’re taking advantage of deals on any recurrent expenditure – get a 16-25 railcard and a student Spotify plan (or, if you get on well with your flatmates, why not team up for a family plan?). And if you’re shopping for clothes, try charity shops rather than full-priced vintage shops, or head online for proper bargains. eBay, while sometimes harder to sift through, is a good alternative to app-based retailers like Depop and Vinted if you’re worried about having temptation so immediately accessible. Don’t feel ashamed
If you find yourself in financial difficulty, or are struggling to make key payments, talk to someone. That could be your Personal Tutor, student union, or �� a family member or friend. Most universities offer hardship funding to students facing unexpected money problems, but alternatively here are some helpful websites to consider:
nus.org.uk
gov.uk/student-finance/ extra-help
nasma.org.uk
studentminds.org.uk
�� “The most important piece of bankrelated advice, and the one September 2021 — Feature
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So Fresh, So Clean
With Freshers’ Week able to incorporate club nights once again this year, we speak to the promoters behind popular student nights Overground and RARE about their plans and the safety measures that will be in place at their parties
Interview: Nadia Younes Illustration: Jemima Muir
Following the Scottish Government’s announcement last month that nightclubs would be allowed to safely reopen on 9 August, many of us who were deprived of late nights spent on sweaty dancefloors for the last year and a half flocked back to our favourite clubs at the soonest possible moment. But this month, as students return to in-class teaching, many students are set to have their first-ever clubbing experience during this year’s Freshers’ Week. As nightclubs scrambled to prepare for reopening, so too did Scotland’s promoters, who rushed to plan their event schedules for the months ahead, following a prolonged period of uncertainty. Popular Edinburgh club night Overground was due to celebrate its fifth birthday last March, before the pandemic hit, and will finally be able to do so this month during Freshers’ Week, with events at The Mash House on 17 September and The Bongo Club on 24 September. Rather than booking a big name DJ, though, Overground founder James Wright has instead opted to showcase local line-ups “filled to the brim with homegrown talent,” he says. For all of Overground’s events, it will be a requirement to take a lateral flow test within 24 hours of the event, register with the Test & Protect QR Code on entry, and wear a mask in certain areas of the venue, excluding the dancefloor. “With Edinburgh having such a large and international student population, it’s going to be more important than ever that we effectively communicate the measures we’re introducing to minimise risk of transmission,” says Wright. “Like any system, the one under which we’re operating is far from foolproof, and relies on people’s honesty. This includes honesty about taking the tests correctly, registering an accurate result, staying in if they have any symptoms, and quarantining if they have to. “I’ve seen instances of venue staff being too overwhelmed to enforce the wearing of masks when ordering drinks,” he continues. “This rule isn’t in place solely to protect the staff themselves, but to allow for events to even go ahead in the first place. The responsibility lies not only with the venue, but also with the attendees to behave responsibly.” Rory Masson, founder of club night RARE, echoes Wright’s insistence on the importance of following the guidelines in order to avoid any further lockdowns and restrictions on the nightlife industry. “We are urging people to take regular LFTs before coming out to nightclubs,” says Masson. “This is to protect themselves, the people around them and also the staff at the clubs. The last thing we want is to have to close again because of an outbreak.” RARE has been running in Aberdeen’s The Tunnels since 2015, encompassing weekly Thursday and monthly Saturday parties, and it expanded even further in 2018, launching a new weekly Wednesday party at Glasgow’s Sub Club. Renowned for their legendary Freshers’ parties, RARE will be returning to The Tunnels for this year’s Freshers Week on 16 September, as well as hosting an event at La Cheetah in Glasgow on 14 September. “Usually we start planning our Freshers’ re-launch events in July time, [but] we were taken by surprise at nightclubs actually being able to open as normal for Freshers,” says Masson. “We were worried that people might have lost their tolerance, would get too excited and accidents would happen. However, we have already had three events in August [which] went really smoothly and the crowd was great. “I think it’s human instinct to want to socialise, dance and connect with people, so I’m not expecting this year’s new students to behave any differently,” he continues. “It’s such an important time for new students and for them to lose those first few weeks at university would be terrible. It’s the best time to make new friends, discover yourself a bit and make a few mistakes along the way.” After months of limited social contact and endless hours spent on Zoom, Wright is equally hopeful that the mood among this year’s Freshers’ Week will be one of excitement rather than apprehension. “In general I think we’ve all noticed an atmosphere of tension and edginess in crowded environments,” he says. “Nightclubs are the spots where we come to let loose, so hopefully it’s a breath of fresh air for them.” Freshers’ Week may well take a very different shape this year, with less of the usual inflatables, foam parties, and generally very COVIDunfriendly behaviour, and for students stepping foot into a nightclub for the first time ever this month the clubbing experience is likely to be very different. But that all-important feeling of connecting with a group of people on a dancefloor is at the core of what makes clubbing so special, and nothing will ever take that away.
Overground’s 5th Birthday takes place at The Mash House, Edinburgh 17 Sep & The Bongo Club, Edinburgh, 24 Sep
RARE: Freshers Party takes place at La Cheetah Club, Glasgow, 14 Sep & The Tunnels, Aberdeen, 16 Sep
Virtual Reality
With the arrival of a new expansion pack, Cottage Living, one writer contemplates what The Sims has taught them about idealising work, productivity and success
Words: Xandra Robinson-Burns
The Sims 4 Cottage Living by BusinessWire / EA
The way you play The Sims says a lot about you as a person. This I have believed since the first version of the game came out when I was nine years old. With no clear way to ‘win’ the game, The Sims requires you to bring your own measures of success. Some players enjoy making beautiful homes, earning more money, or building a legacy that lasts generations. As a kid I would steer clear of anyone who delighted in finding creative ways to murder their Sims, such as drowning them by deleting pool ladders. My preferred gameplay is a mix of time management and storytelling. I craft backstories for my Sims, who max out skills and climb virtual career ladders, satisfying my favourite pastime: productivity. Selecting which expansion packs to buy is another personality test. Strangely, I am most drawn to packs for activities I don’t actually want to do, like Get Famous or Discover University. I passed over Cats & Dogs, because my own dog requires enough of my attention. City Living, however, brought me some lockdown solace, when I got to experience virtual festivals, street art, and food stalls through my Sims. Recently, I have caught on to how the storylines I create in the game ‘just for fun’ are actually clues for how I want to live IRL. The University expansion pack became a fantasy version of academia, as I created a student house of ambitious women, all excelling in their studies while prioritising wellness. They cook nourishing meals, go for morning jogs, and share their successes before going to bed at a reasonable hour. This hypothetical self-care study group pointed to my actual desire for a community of women, supporting each other’s dreams, and leveraging humanities degrees into well-paying arts careers. Then, there was Salim Benali, an aspiring novelist with the Lazy trait, who came with the City Living expansion pack. His bio in the game hints that he played too many video games and didn’t get any writing done. I reframed this narrative, suggesting that he can indeed complete writing projects, have fun, and take naps. In fact, in my version of the story, Salim’s passion for video games helps him channel his creativity. He becomes a fantasy novelist, spawning geeky franchises beloved by fellow gaming nerds. Perhaps I, like Salim, desire to make meaning from the games I play in my downtime. Games aren’t lazy or counterproductive, but integral to my creative work. I didn’t set out to recreate my dreams in The Sims, but it happened anyway, where I least expected it. When the most recent Sims expansion pack, Cottage Living, was announced, I knew I had to give it a go. Cottage living is my literal life goal at present. That said, my dream of moving to the woods is pretty vague. I desire the quiet, the trees, a space to write – but I’m still defining the details. Historically, my Sims’ storylines have given me unexpected life guidance. Could I leverage that into learning about an actual aspiration of mine? Or would simulating cottage life distract me from my real life goals? Booting up my game with Cottage Living installed, I created a few different storylines, but couldn’t get into the flow with any of them. It felt like work, imposing my personal agenda of life clarity onto this wholesome village of an expansion pack. While I would enjoy many of the Cottage Living activities IRL, I noticed a disconnect between how these actions feel as tasks rather than as parts of life. The game quantifies a cottage bucket list, defining certain activities as ‘success’. While I would love to max my relationship bar with a flock of wild birds by singing together, I am more interested in the act than the achievement. I would do this every day, and never truly be ‘done’. In the game though, making my Sim do this all the time is, frankly, boring.
The Sims quantifies life progress in a way that is artificial in real life, and yet, we fall into the traps of progress bars and arbitrary achievement anyway. So while some of my Sims taught me how I want to go about goals, Cottage Living made me ask myself: what if my next goal is no goal? Perhaps I’ve levelled out of levelling up. While I am seduced by progress, my next great challenge in life is to let go of the levels and just live. The scary thing about actual cottage life is that there is no winning. And isn’t that how The Sims started out? Life can be simple. Just feed yourself, get enough sleep, and check for ladders when you get in the pool.
