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By William Kerslake, First Year Politics and International Relations
Halls rivalries are an essential part of university culture and should be celebrated.
Uni halls: a vital part of the first-year experience where friendships are made and a deep rivalry with other halls is established.
The University of Bristol’s first-year accommodation is divided, however, this division is a friendly and amusing part of Halls life. The comic-contention between halls stems from the 'accommodation bubbles' of City Centre, Clifton and Stoke Bishop residences.
This filters through into student life with city centre students regularly pitched against Stoke Bishop dwellers in friendly competition over whose hall is better with trivial things like the heating or water pressure being used as barbs to assume superiority over residents of alternate accommodations.
to ban satirical remarks like this would take away the character of halls that makes the first-year experience so great.
You may find it annoying, but I believe it should be cherished, as the friendly rivalries amongst students provides common grounds with flatmates and allegiance to your own accommodation.
Without this, halls would have less of a sense of community.
The rivalry never amounts to much, but in Stoke Bishop 'I’d rather be in ISIS/UWE than in Wills' is a common occurrence on nights out. Admittedly, this is an uglier side to halls rivalry.
But to ban satirical remarks like this would take away the character of halls that makes the first-year experience so great.
It is important to not take the halls rivalry seriously and it would be ludicrous to suggest that jokes directed against certain halls should be banned.
Instead of being looked at as a problem, the competition between halls should be a prized part of the culture at Bristol as it adds humour to first year life.
Ultimately, if you can’t joke about one of the staple parts of first-year, then what can you joke about?
Featured image: Epigram/Ffion Clarke
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