In my time here at LSE, I have dedicated some time to exploring London and trying new things. My friends and I are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to do something different and exciting. If nothing else, this is an excellent way to take your mind off your studies for a while and do something fun to relax.

I was sat having dinner in my accommodation, as I do every day, and one of my friends told me about the English National Opera’s (ENO) scheme where under 21s can get free tickets to the opera. If you’re aged between 16 and 21 you can get one free opera ticket per production for every ENO show! This is part of ENO’s aim to make opera accessible to the younger demographic. To get access to free tickets, all you need to do is sign up through the ENO website – it’s that easy.

My friends and I decided to really embrace the outing; getting dressed up like they would have done in the “old days”. It felt like a very refined and civilised thing for university students to be doing – very different from the booze-driven rampages which is most commonly expected of the student experience. On that note, it is a great activity for those students who aren’t necessarily party animals. Or even if you do love a good night out, everyone needs a break every now and then, right? But there’s one thing you can’t argue with, and that’s the price of this activity, which is exactly zero pounds. There’s no denying that a trip to the opera is a friend to any student budget.

The experience of actually being at the opera was different to how I expected. Other people weren’t as dressed up as we thought they’d be (I guess times have changed from what we were envisioning). We didn’t let this burst our bubble, however, strolling confidently in wearing our best dresses. Though the good news is that it doesn’t matter if you’re not a fan of getting dressed up; you can equally go as casual as you want. It was very nonintimidating.

One thing we did each separately notice was that the average age of the people sat around us was significantly higher than our own. This is exactly why ENO has the under 21s scheme, as opera tends to attract an older age bracket. But if we take advantage of these offers now, we will go and make memories that will eventually lead to our nostalgia-fuelled returns in the future, hopefully helping the opera to continue.

The show itself was good. I mean I’m no professional critic, and I have no prior experience to compare this production to, but my friends and I all found it engaging and admitted that we were actually getting quite invested in the storyline! So I guess you’ll have to go and see for yourself whether or not the opera is something that you enjoy. And why not – it’s literally free!