Sociability and Food! A Simple Guide for University Students in Ireland.
University is a venue for many students to form connections and begin to develop contacts for their future personal and professional lives. For some however, University can make students feel lonely without the same support systems they may have had leading up to university. Students have to learn and adapt to ways in which they can become a part of their school and develop friendships with other students. Lectures are the first point of contact between students, but as we know, most social interactions arise outside of the classroom.
Although this is quite an obvious tip, clubs and societies around university campuses are a great way for students to meet new friends. Clubs and societies bring students together to create a shared experience based on their personal interests or for the sake of trying something new. Think of clubs and societies as a chance for people to use their hobbies and interests as their personal icebreakers. Most universities offer common societies to suit all students such as arts societies, culinary societies, and drama societies, but they will also offer some unique societies to help students discover new passions such as DJ societies, Go-Karting societies, Harry Potter societies and much more. On top of meeting new friends, students will learn more about themselves as they interact in different groups and activities.
Other than clubs and societies, it is quite evident that socialising through eating and drinking is an incredible way in which we meet new friends. I know that many of us rely on our peers to strike up the first conversation or to ask us out for coffee during lunch break, but why don’t we change this? As we know it is exciting to be asked to join a social event in college so why not return the favour once in a while? As students we need to learn to build up the courage to invite people to be sociable as it can be the foundation for future friendships. At this point you should have an idea of where to go or what to do. With help from the guide in the rest of this blog you will be able to show off in front of your peers as you can tell them all about how fantastic these deals are.
As we can agree, being a student is not cheap as we have to endure expensive tuitions, crazy Leap Card top ups, and not even to mention the prices on most food in Dublin. With this said there are many ways in which students in Dublin get a break in their bank accounts and I am here to give you all the assistance you need, but first I want you to answer this simple yet very important question, do you have a student Leap Card or an adult leap card? Well, if you are using an adult leap card you are already missing out on some fantastic deals on food, drinks, and activities around the city (and even abroad but we won’t dive into that today). To acquire a student Leap Card is quite simple actually, all you need to do is fill out the form online and receive it in the Dublin Bus building on O’Connell Street. Forget the boring stuff let’s get to why you really came for. The FOOD. One of the best perks of the Leap Card is the McDonald’s €5 student meal which is available all day long across all stores in Ireland. This is great for those 2-hour lunch breaks or simply a pre-sesh meal. (See image below for the details).
Our second cheap meal deal belongs to Boojum, seemingly the most popular place in the world at times it gets a reputation for incredible Mexican cuisine which has earned the admiration of many around Dublin. For just €6.25! students get to choose between a filling burrito or a burrito bowl containing a multiple choice of fillings, salsa, cheese, rice, and extras with a drink on the side. The best part of the deal is that the business offers its customers the opportunity to collect stamps to earn free food.
My favourite way to socialise with my classmates and the way we became friends was through picnics. Dublin is filled with big, beautiful parks with incredible scenery, and I wonder why we don’t take advantage of them more. This is a great opportunity to socialise with the chance of spending little, many people think that they need to spend a lot of money if they are going to buy food from a restaurant, but this is not the case. If you focus on many restaurants, you should consider how great the starters and the side dishes are. Grab some friends and discover the greatness of starters and go to places like Takara or Eatokyo (to name a few) where you can get the most delicious fried noodles and fried rice for €2. After you get your food, you should walk up to the closet supermarket and buy cans of Karpackie or Prazsky which cost €5 for four. You will realise in the next few days you will have saved so much more money and more importantly, gained new friends that you will keep for life, and it all started from taking this advice.
