Freshers

Students’ Union – Education and Welfare

Continuing the Students’ Union feature, I wanted to find out a bit about what is being done to make sure you, the student, is looked after by your SU. In today’s interview, I find out about advice, politics, society, and what it’s like when you have a million-and-one things to do to at the same time. Speaking to me is Samuel Kasumu, Vice-President for Education and Welfare at Brunel University:

– You sound like a very busy man. VP for Education and Welfare, loads going on with the Afro-Caribbean Society (ACS)…you even said the first thing you’d do if elected to VP was have a big party. How do you cope with so many things going on?

“To be honest with you a lot of the times I am like a headless chicken. My memory is also not the best in the world, but one thing I do have is a big imagination. I believe nothing is impossible and that’s how a random guy like me can get so much done.”

– How do students go about promoting a good work/life balance? Do you have any tips from personal experience?

“Personally I am yet to fully strike the balance. Its still work in progress, however I think that organisation is the key. One thing I make sure I do now, is take weekends completely off in order to keep me sane. It is very easy to forget that you’re not a robot if you’re doing something that you enjoy and have passion for.”

– Your election video states that you’re looking for equal representation for all students, especially as things were sometimes getting a bit too cliquey. Is this a general product of university life in the UK that you feel needs addressing, or a bi-product of something more specific?

“I believe that cliques are a deeper issue that plagues our society. If you look at modern day politics it is no coincidence that a lot of the MP’s are from the Oxbridge ‘clique’. In universities it is the same thing, and the underlining reason for both is that politics to many people feels like something unattainable, and at times not too relevant. As a collective there is a need to show everyone that they can count. I won the election without ever really engaging with the student union before hand, and against some tough competition. It just goes to show that you can make a difference if you try hard enough.”

– Both Education and Welfare are wide ranging and hugely important topics. What will you deal with most on a day-to-day basis? How will you go about communicating things to so many students?

“As a student first, it is my intention to show students just how much politics effects who they are and how they function. I intend on developing a range of campaigns, from enterprise campaigns to sexual health awareness. The most important thing for me is that when I leave the work does not stop. Education and Welfare are important issues, and I guess no matter how much I end up doing, I would probably feel that I could have done more. As long as someone somewhere is helped or inspired, I’ll be happy.” [Martin’s Note: Samuel’s last sentence reflects exactly how I feel about this blog too. Passion is a great thing!]

– If a student is scared at first to seek advice or counselling, what processes are or will be in place to get help through to them?

“Here at Brunel we have the Advice and Representation Centre, which is independent from the university. This ensures unbiased advice is delivered. My office is also available for those who just want to pop in, as I was elected to serve. Hopefully I will have sufficient training to deal with the diverse issues that arise.”

– What gave you the passion to focus on Brunel’s Students’ Union? How intense was it to be part of an election campaign, especially one where you received 1000 votes?

“After running Brunel’s ACS, it was clear to me that the union offered a natural progression for me. I was also really upset about my treatment as a volunteer, and generally I get involved with things that have managed to tick me off. In my eyes to say that the student union was a clique, was very much an understatement. I may not have had the most knowledge in relation to the role, but I was confident that I had the character to handle any pressure. I hate to admit it, but the election was my political side at its best. I knew that even if I never ran in an election that my circle of influence had become so big on campus that I could sway any election. I ran with no fear, and thought that if I never won then something better would be waiting for me. My opponents were very strong and included the then Equality & Diversity officer. The election was a big challenge, but I thank God for the opportunity that he has given.”

For more information on Brunel’s SU, check out their newly updated site at http://brunelstudents.com/

Samuel Kasumu also runs Elevation Networks (Raising Expectations In Unity). For more info, check out the site and its MySpace page.

Students’ Union – Interview with a Societies Officer

In the latest part of the Students’ Union feature, I wanted to find out more about what constitutes a big part of a first year student’s introduction to university life: Fresher’s Fayre and all those clubs and societies.

The University of Nottingham is home to one of the largest Freshers events, the biggest RAG proceedings in the UK and some top-class clubs and societies. For example, the student radio station, URN, has won more Student Radio Awards than any other, including a win in 2006 for Station of the Year.

The Students’ Union at Nottingham plays a huge part in the success of all this. It’s what a university SU is all about. So what’s the deal? How do societies and events come to fruition? Best speak to someone who really knows. To find out more, I spoke to Nottingham’s Societies Officer, Matt Leventhall:

Matt Leventhall

– With 174 societies to choose from at Nottingham, there must be a massive push in Fresher’s Week to join clubs and societies. Do you have any tips to Freshers before they simply end up joining everything, panic a bit, then end up participating in nothing?

“At our Students’ Union we have a document called The Guide, which is basically the student’s bible. It’s got everything about the Students’ Union in it, including the societies listing. Every first year gets The Guide delivered to their room upon arrival. So my advice to them would be to have a look at the societies listing in The Guide and pin-point the societies you might wish to join. You don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money joining everything. It’s normally about £2-3 to join each society at Fresher’s Fayre. But at the same time, don’t be too closed, because there are so many societies that students probably won’t expect to be there, so have an open mind when going to Fresher’s Fayre. Take a look, join what interests you and get involved!”

– Say a new student spots a gap and wants to begin something new themselves. What’s involved (and how simple is it) in starting a new society?

“For students, it’s easy to get the ball rolling. All a student needs to do is to come and visit us and request a ‘starting a society’ pack. They need 25 people who are interested to sign a petition. They can get a pack via e-mail too, although it’s always great if they can come to see us face to face so we can have a chat and make sure they can get all the help they need.

“The pack contains some template constitutions, to get the students started. Once they have completed the information for their own society, it comes back to the Students’ Union. For the Students’ Union itself, things get a bit more difficult. The new group proposals go to the Societies Executive committee. This is so they can check through everything and make sure the society would be fully inclusive, totally democratic, not overlapping with any current societies and so on. This is quite a detailed process, which needs to be carefully thought over and agreed.

“Another thing to note is a scheme we have called STARS, which stands for Student Training and Activities Reward Scheme. It was formed because we wanted to guarantee that all clubs and societies provide at least a minimum service to their members and also that we wanted to award the amount of work that was being put in by students to make these things happen. The scheme has three levels, bronze, silver and gold. The bronze level recognises things such as full inclusion and being open to anyone with a disability, and is compulsory. The silver and gold levels are for when further elements of training and development take place to elevate standards and abilities within the societies.”

– It sounds like you’ve got a lot of running around to do to make all this work.

“I’m very busy looking at all these things and chairing committees, but I see my workload as strategic rather than operational. I look at the issues and problems to do with societies and how they can be resolved effectively.”

– Are there limits to the number of members in a society or club?

“That’s not something I’ve ever heard of, no. If any society gains a very large number of members, we would look to expand it and think about how much money was being put into the running of it. It’s all abount making the societies bigger, better, and more successful.”

– On your blog, you mention a proposition to create a Chair of Societies Council. What is this?

“When I first came into the position of Societies Officer, I identified a problem. Of the societies that were gaining affiliation, it generally happened because they had better or more confident public speakers. For example, if someone speaking was very shy, or if someone struggled with the speech because English wasn’t their first language, they would be far less likely to achieve affiliation.

“This was clearly not a democratic process.

“The unfair process needed to change so that a totally impartial person could read out speeches for all parties, for and against. In doing this, we achieve a more democratic result. This is what the Chair of Societies Council would focus on.”

– Are there any issues surrounding Students’ Unions that need to be looked into more deeply?

“One of the big issues this year for our Students’ Union is to address communication. We want to make it clear to all students of what the SU can do for them. Many students think that the SU is responsible for little more than arranging big parties and events [Martin’s Note: I THINK THIS IS THE CASE FOR MANY SUs AROUND THE UK]. What we need to do is make a bigger impact on students. For instance, we found that in previous years the SU logo wasn’t on everything that we did. We’re changing that now. We’ll be making a much bigger show right from Day 1 so that students are fully aware of what the SU does and how it can help represent students throughout their time at uni. It’s not yet publicised enough that the Students’ Union can actively help represent students on specific student matters.”

And there you have it. While every Union is going to differ slightly in the way they handle things, you get the general idea of the kind of processes involved. There’s a lot more going on than you might at first imagine.

If you are specifically interested in the Nottingham Students’ Union, these links will provide you with more information:

University of Nottingham Students’ Union Homepage

Students’ Union Executive: Personal Blogs [All blogs are together, but a box at the top allows you to choose one particular officer’s blog if you wish]

Groceries on a Grant, Lunches on a Loan, erm, Breakfasts on a Bursary? – I’ll get my coat…

Trolleys

Fresher Food – There are loads of cookbooks that persuade students that they can make wonderful and cheap meals every day. Sometimes the recipes might sound pretty quick to make. Sometimes. But for many students, they still want to grab the fast(er) food and speed up the whole process so they can spend time on other things. So how can you buy whatever you want, including ready meals (but easy does it!), when you’re on a budget? Well, it’s not always simple, but if you’re willing to put in the initial effort, there are plenty ways you can batter down the bills:

1. Become a Freegan! – Guardian / Guardian Blog / Aimhigher / Freegan Girl / David Rowan / BBC News / Times Online

2. Supermarket loyalty can BOGOF – If you are close enough to several supermarkets, use them all for their special offers. The more shops you can check, the better. Check out most supermarket offers online at Mad About Bargains. It’s great when you see how much is there at half price, Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF), and similar. If you’re a very picky eater this might not work. But if you’re willing to sacrifice a very particular shopping list, you’ll get a lot more for your money if you only look at special offers. There are even offers on alcohol, so try to grab those instead. In fact, try buying nothing but offers in each of the supermarkets. That’s how I did it. With so many BOGOFs, I’d sometimes walk out with double the shopping of my housemates, but had spent the same amount of money. Carrying it all back home was a hassle, mind you!

3. If you can’t beat ’em, list ’em – If you really must write a shopping list with specific products (or if you only want to use one supermarket per shop), check where the product is cheapest (I found a lot of things were always on offer in at least one of the supermarkets). Also, buy the cheapest brand there. Unless you’re an academic food snob who wishes to max out on the credit card from day 1, don’t worry. Sometimes you’re getting exactly the same food as the more expensive product, just with crappier packaging. And if it doesn’t taste quite as good as the brand you’re used to, is the slightly better taste REALLY worth two or three times the price?

4. Coupon collecting – You’ve probably seen various food product coupons in magazines and completely ignored them. If it’s for some brand of butter that you couldn’t care less about, for instance, you’d just turn the page. But what some of the supermarkets do is take the money-off vouchers and coupons, even if you haven’t purchased the product. They don’t all do it, plus it depends on who is serving you sometimes, but if you’re happy to try it each time, it’s worth a go. It might only mean a 60p here and a 40p there, but it’s still money better in your pocket. It all adds up.

5. Meals with housemates – Now this one depends on your circumstances. It might be super easy or it could be nigh on impossible. But you’re sure to get a good selection of meals if you can gang together with some of your housemates to take turns making meals. That way, you’d be able to have some of your meals cooked for you and you’d only need to take one turn ever week or so to do the cooking. AND…it’s usually a lot cheaper! If you can pull this one off, it’s a fantastic thing to do.

If you spend, say, £25 a week on your shopping, you’d be surprised just how much you’d get if four or five of you contributed £20 each and did one big shop for all your meals together.

6. Think BIG – If you can’t do the clubbing together thing for whatever reason, how about making a meal to last you three or four portions? That way, you can still look to cheaper grub, but divide it into fridge/freezer portions for yourself. Only thing is, you might get bored with the same food over several days. But sometimes when you’re trying to save money for better things…

7. DON’T IMPULSE BUY! – Just don’t. Yes, the sweets and goodies are by the till for a reason. No, you don’t have to succumb to it.

8. Go down the market – Find out if there’s a market that comes to town on a regular basis and make the most of their (usually) cheaper prices on fruit and veg. Similarly, if there is a farm shop nearby, they might have decent prices on fruit and veg, especially if you buy in bulk and combine some of the tips above. If you like a bit of a sweet snack sometimes, a load of different fruits might be a cheaper and healthier way to eat, rather than fatty and sugary snacks. I know that’s boring and you’ve probably heard that advice time and time again, but it’s true. And you know it!

9. Do your main weekly shopping AFTER you’ve had a good meal – You won’t be tempted to pick up half the amount of stuff you might have done on an empty stomach.

10. Buy fruit and veg loose, not packed – You pay loads extra for packaging, and excess packaging is getting a hard time in the press anyway at the moment. If you buy loose, you can save money AND tell people you’re doing it for the love of the environment!

Settle in, Enjoy, Make the most of it

Keep

There’s no point in waiting around or moping. Here are a few pointers to making the most of university as soon as you arrive:

1. Do as much as you can – If you find yourself at a loose end and don’t know what to do with yourself in the first fortnight, you must be hiding under your desk or something. There should be LOADS going on. If none of it sounds like your cup of tea, either force yourself to try it anyway (checking out something new can surprise even the most stubborn of us) or try and get some interest in something you ARE interested in. University is all about your interests, so you’re bound to find other people who would share the same likings as you. More about that in a future post.

2. Chill out, relax, and be yourself – how else are you going to enjoy the experience? No need to put on an act because you’ll be found out eventually and you’ll find like-minded people without the need to act.

3. Ask for help – There should be people on hand to assist you in pretty much anything you need. When I started, there were Senior Students, there were guides to show me the way and put me in the right direction, here were promotions, there were Student Union Reps who work for the students, there were…let’s just say here were lots of people available to help with pretty much anything. If you have a question, you’ll only find out the answer if you ask.

4. Unpack! – I was amazed at how many people didn’t bother unpacking everything to make their room look a bit more homely. I was one of those people. Not only does it feel a lot better once you’ve unpacked, but it’ll be much easier for people to relax in your room and feel welcomed. I remember how popular the first people were to make their room look as though they’d always lived there. A homely room is a comfy and welcoming room. If you’re the first person in your student digs to be unpacked and settled in, be prepared for company, especially if you’ve brought a doorstop with you! Just don’t let everybody outstay their welcome when it gets to the studying part of uni life…

5. Goodies – Bring photos, ornaments, and anything that will make you feel at home. Just as it’s helpful to unpack, it’s always good to have all the things you love around you. And it’s a boost to have little reminders of friends and family too. They’ll be willing you on to have a good time.

6. Don’t spend all your money straight away – It’s wonderful to have the money arrive in your account, but you need it over a longer period of time than the first copule of weeks… A blinding first week won’t feel anything like as good if you come out the other end of it with nothing in the bank.

7. Study – You what!? How can studying be a good thing? Well, the quicker you get on with your reading, the easier it will be to grasp the concepts you’re being taught when the lectures and seminars begin. In fact, there’s no time like the present, so if you’ve not left for uni yet, get reading as soon as possible. Get some of it out of the way before the fun begins.

8. Be prepared for better – Freshers Week helps get you in the mood and aims to settle you in to a few years of brilliance. The events lined up are designed to sound like the biggest party imaginable that won’t be repeated during your degree, but it’s not like that. Try to imagine your entire stay at university as the party. There’s a lot more goodness to come.

9. Long–distance Relationships – Are you about to embark on a long-distance relationship, or are you currently in one? If not, skip to the next tip. Otherwise, read on.

A recent article in The Times gives the following advice on long-distance relationships:

“Abandon all hope of continuing that relationship with your current boyfriend or girlfriend, and do snog strangers. It is the only time in your adult life, possibly with the exception of the next few New Year’s Eves, that you will have an excuse.”

Okay, well there is a point in there if you’re looking to snog a few people. Other than that, consider things carefully. Ask yourself exactly what you want at this stage of life. From personal experience, I survived a long-distance relationship without fuss and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. So it all depends on how much you want it and how you want to play it.

Now you can stop reading.

10. Not in a long-distance relationship? – Well get out there and start snogging people then! Erm, make sure they are happy to snog you too. These things do have to be reciprocated, you know.