The Simpsons have covered a lot of ground in their 25 plus years on air, including exactly what it’s like to be a uni student.

Here are seven of our favourite moments.

#1 Note Taking In Lectures

Sometimes it’s because of the 8am start time, other times it’s due to a particularly motor-mouthed professor, but on every single occasion when you’re struggling to write down that last dot point before the lecturer changes slides, you’ll be reminded of Homer grappling with the laundry list of tasks he had to complete as Mr. Burns’ assistant.

God help you if you ask the lecturer to slow down or repeat themselves.

#2 Our Feels Towards Mature Age Students

Let’s get this out of the way: simply by being older than you are, mature-age students have more real world experience and have learned more lessons about life than you.

Shuffling along this mortal coil for as long as they have, their wisdom has a depth and breadth to it you can’t begin to fathom at such a young age. A 70-year-old cabbie will always have more wisdom than any child prodigy.

With that being said, whenever a mature-age student raises their hand to interrupt the lecturer, I side with Moe in the above pic 10 times out of 10.

#3 The Way We Handle Hard Data

This quote refers to number data specifically, but I feel it’s just as pertinent for whenever you are so obviously pulling something out your arse to back up an argument.

One of the first things you learn about as a uni student is the concept of primary and secondary sources, citing your work and understanding how raw data can be fudged in a deliberate way to present a certain outcome. This will often take the form of the anti-vax guy pestering you with debate in tutorials, “Did you know that, when surveyed, 82 per cent of parents said they would go against vaccinating their chil–” ugh shut up.

#4 Our Attitude Towards Working In Retail

Every student knows the difficulty of balancing study with work, especially if your job sucks particularly hard. But as we know, part-time jobs are a mere stop-gap to the full-time career hell that awaits you at the end of your university tenure.

You won’t be at this gig for long, so there’s no point in trying to Norma Rae any improvements to the workplace. Just show up, take cigarette breaks often, clock out early and forget about smiling.

#5 When Our Own Brilliance Astounds Us

For those rare, brief moments when you earn any higher grade than a ‘pass’ on an assignment/exam.

You toiled for endless hours in the university library, sweating pure Red Bull while taking notes until your hand was cramped and bloodied, had panic attacks both before and after the final submission and yet, you did pretty alright in the end.

It’s almost as if hard work, practice and revision are the essential tools for being a successful student. Huh, go figure.

#6 How It Feels When We Graduate

When it’s finally, mercifully over. The final exam is completed, the thesis was submitted on time, the graduation was attended, and now you’re Homer Simpson screaming the above question at the world.

Come on, I did my time. Now give me full-time hours and a secure paycheque, employers of my industry. I wanna eat something other than mi goreng, goddammit!

#7 And The Reality God-Awful Reality Of Graduating

And THIS is the response you’ll get. Oh, you thought there would be something awaiting you at the completion of your history degree? Tell ya story walking champ, we already got plenty of historians.

You’ll beg for help at your uni’s career centre, looking for an internship or any other means of getting your foot in an industry’s door, and more than likely you’ll be met with a blank face saying “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do”. You’ve got your degree and a sizeable HECS debt. Now hit the bricks, kiddo.

When he’s not writing for Uni Junkee, Luke Hickey can often be found in corners of the internet jabbering about the New York Knicks, thin-crust pizza and MF DOOM outtakes.

(All images: Frinkiac)