As a student at a Northern university who is also from the North East, I haven’t travelled far to study, but in many ways, I have never felt further away from home. There is a constant feeling of not being the ‘typical’ uni student who has come to the North to find themselves. There is an underlying feeling of not doing enough to improve your life and branch out because you are still stuck in the North East. It’s almost as if you are suddenly living in an artificial bubble that no longer represents the place you have known your whole life. I find that many students, particularly those who have travelled from areas with more opportunities, have a warped perception of the North East, because they are surrounded by people who are also not from the North East. Therefore, their ‘grim’ view of the area cannot be challenged until they fully immerse themselves in the life and culture here and realise it really isn’t so different from life anywhere else in the country.
It feels like more of a novelty to be a northern student in the North East than to be a southern student, something I have noticed in many social situations. A northern accent is picked up on by peers much quicker than a southern accent, which I think demonstrates this idea of the artificial student life bubble which we are all placed in the second we are put into our first year halls. It is expected that a North East accent means you lack knowledge or advantages in education whilst we are all at the same university for the same reasons. Perhaps if we stepped outside of campus life, we would realise that the North East isn’t a lesser place, but somewhere bursting with community and opportunity where we can all thrive.
