A year in Warwick begins its final countdown

As the freshers of Warwick despair about where their supposedly easy first year has gone and begin to fret about the horrors that await them as they are outsourced in September, and the finalists begin to do everything they can to postpone their inevitable entry into the real world, it becomes clear that the summer term is starting. Exams are coming up and it is just dawning on people that maybe they should have done some work over the Easter break (not that this realisation will stop them from leaving revision to the night before in the Learning Grid). But how has this year gone?

Way back in September, the new students here arrived to find they had been deceived – with all its talk about what a fantastic Students’ Union Warwick had, all of the open days and interviews had cleverly forgotten to mention that, in fact, that fantastic Union building was being wiped out and would not be properly open until September 2009. Now, despite assurances that everything was on schedule, it seems that the full opening of the first phase of the build is having to be postponed until the fifth week of term -although the Dirty Duck has already opened. While the Union is usually keen to avoid promoting outside clubs and bars, it is this term having to outsource nights out to Leamington and Birmingham.

Although this was perhaps inevitable, contractors hardly being famed for their ability to stay on schedule, it is perhaps representative of how the year has progressed. From the rebuild and issues such as oil company sponsorship threatening to divide students, to the inspirational show of togetherness and democracy shown at the Union EGM in the spring term, the whole year has been a little disjointed. Whatever your opinion on everything that’s been happening, at least you can never call our university boring.

The Boar at least is remaining optimistic. Sure, there are things that have not gone as smoothly as they perhaps could have, but isn’t this always the case? Despite the delays, the new building looks like it will certainly be impressive, and the other events of the year have merely shown what a diverse and engaged student population we have. So chin up, keep smiling, and good luck with exams, essays, hangovers, job applications, housing issues and whatever else you’re having to deal with this term – there’s a lot to look forward to yet.