Archive for September, 2011
Beatrice Hendra
BSc (Hons) Psychology
Connect’s Welcome Party
Thursday, September 29th, 2011The Connect’s Welcome Party last night was actually just like a gathering, with games and food. It was a really really good chance to get to know more people though. Guess since that is actually the real vision of the group it specially arranged the game and activities that require us to talk to each other and work in a team.
Oh and for you who doesnt know what Connect is,
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CONNECT is a Students’ Union social group that meets on a regular basis. It is open to all students and is a great way to meet new people, make friends and have lots of fun.
Activities include going to the Cinema, Ten Pin Bowling, barbecues, trips, museum visit, sport evenings etc. You can even input your own ideas for events you would like to participate in.
There is NO FEE to join CONNECT, but students are expected to pay for the activities they want to participate in (most of them are free or at a discounted student friendly rate).
If you are struggling to make friends, board, wanting to try new things or simply want to CONNECT, then join in! Email su.contact-officer@sunderland.ac.uk or check out http://www.sunderlandsu.co.uk/clubs/connect
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Okay back to the party. So after all the ice breaking games where we had to talk to everyone and stuff, we played the main game which was building a tower from papers. The group with the tallest tower that is still standing after 30 mins would win. My group’s tower was the second highest fyi but well, it only last 3 minutes lol. Well it was pretty intense and everyone seemed to be absorbed in the game! The dinner followed after and then we had a quiz at the end. It was a good night. x
Union Market & Freshers’ Fayre
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Did you guys go to the Union Market yesterday and Freshers’ Fayre today? I went to both. The motive behind it was… yes you’re right, to get free food and freebies (which I did). Haha!
On a serious note though, I think it’s really worth it to come to these two events especially if you’re a new comer because you would starting to get ideas about the pubs/clubs and restaurants/takeways around Sunderland. They usually give out samples or vouchers too. And, if you’re planning on joining clubs or societies to fill in your free time, the Freshers’ Fayre is the perfect event to check out. You would see a lot of club/society stands trying to attract new members and you can just drop your curiosity asking them your hundreds questions.
Anyway, I know there is a pubcrawl tonight but the first Connect’s meeting: The Welcome Party is also taking place tonight. Since I’m too lazy for a pubcrawl I’m planning to just go for the welcome party tonight. Will update about it soon. x
Ministry of Sound
Saturday, September 24th, 2011After S Club 3 now Ministry of Sound!
After working as the Freshers Welcome Team and getting people out from Clanny House, we took the last cab to the North Shore for the Ministry of Sound last night. It was minttttt. And they were giving either a lei or a mask for buying a glass of smirnoff!! x
S Club 3 – bring it all back!
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011Soooo as I promised, here are some videos of the S Club 3 concert in North Shore taken by my friend Almond:
What? Wanna see them closer? There you go… 
Isn’t it awesome guys?! He also went out of his way to ask people about the experience because I requested it :p.
Thanks so much Almond! I really really appreciate it! x
Helping on Registration Day
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011Hi peeps! So today I was helping out the Freshers Welcome Team again . This time I took the afternoon shift though, and we were asked to assist the registration process in the Gateway. If you came to the Gateway today you must have seen a lot of orange t-shirt people spread everywhere aye?
It wasn’t bad at all. I was doing a very easy job, just directing people to the rooms or “stations” as they put it: station 1 (the qualification check), station 2 (campus card collection), and the last station (registration with the Student Union). So if it wasn’t because of me a lot of people might have lost and couldn’t find their way. Haha!
Oh and TONIGHT IS S CLUB 3′s night for you who fancy it, LIVE in North Shore!! But you know what sucks? …I’m on duty tonight so I couldn’t go *sigh*. Anywayyyy, I’ve asked my friends who’s going there to take loads of pictures and videos for me to upload in my blog. Teehee. Wait for it guys 
x
There ain’t no party like an SU party!!
Saturday, September 17th, 2011
Save your pounds on the entry fees by getting the FRESHERS 11 WRISTBAND that will mean you get free entry to ALL the amazing Freshers events in North Shore from 17th to 30th September for only £35 x
RSA Training
Thursday, September 15th, 2011I’ve just had the most interesting session of the training ever! After spending 3 days learning about making a good report, communicating properly, cultural and mental health awareness, etc. today we learnt about emergency first aid and fire safety.
I’ve never had any of the first aid lessons before and therefore it was such an exhilarating experience for me haha! We were given a lot of scenarios and then learnt the best approach in each, and then we even did a CPR to a mannequin. Was really fun! And guess what – we’re gonna get a certificate as well for completing the course to show that we’re qualified .
The fire safety bit was fun as well because for the first time I got to use the fire estinguisher! Pfffitzzz.
The most memorable quote of the day is what the first-aid trainer said to us at the end of the lesson, “the hardest part of all is to be able step forward”. I can’t agree more. No matter how good you are and how many qualifications you have in these stuff, the most important thing is to overcome all the doubt and hesitation in yourself. Step forward, and help.
For me myself, I honestly don’t think I’d have enough guts to step forward if I’m really placed in a real scene. But well, guess we’ll never know what we’re capable of doing before we really have to do it. Hopefully what I learnt today could be helpful in the future 
x
Freshers Welcome Team
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011“Do you remember the loud, crazy people in Orange T-Shirts who helped you out in Fresher’s last year?
Are you friendly, up for a laugh, and keen to get involved in the best two weeks of your life??
Do you love being a Sunderland Student?
Do you want to live your Fresher’s Fortnight all over again?
The University of Sunderland Students’ Union (USSU) is looking for Freshers’ Welcome Team members to help all new students get involved in Fresher’s Fortnight events, as well as settling them into life in halls, promoting services and events, getting students dancing late into the night, and of course making them all feel welcomed into their University life in Sunderland.
If you are returning to Sunderland in September then why not apply to be on the Fresher’s Welcome Team!? Help to make one of the biggest and most memorable 2 weeks of a student’s life by being on hand to encourage, as well as guide all new University students, and have a great time doing it in the process”
So, the freshers week starts this weekend! Our Students Union has prepared two weeks events for the freshers and they need returning students to join volunteering as the Freshers Welcome Team. And yes, I applied for it as well since I don’t have anything better to do :p.
Apparently the successful candidates have to attend a mandatory training either today or tomorrow, which there’s no way I can make it to either since I have the RSA training. Luckily the president of the Student Union gave me some slack and said I can still do it without the training yay!
I cant wait for the freshers’ weeks to start and relive my memory of last year x
Residential Student Assistants
Monday, September 12th, 2011
Hello! This coming weekend will be the intake days for the new academic year, and thus it is compulsory for all the RSAs in all halls of residence to attend a training carried out from today till Friday by the university. Yes everyone, the training is everyday from 9 am till 5 pm D:
Anyway, do you guys actually know what an RSA is and what they do? Basically RSAs are students employed by the university to provide extra customer service to the residents. According to the residential service online induction, RSAs “are students like you! They’ve been first years and so can relate to your situation and provide impartial help” and “their main aim is to help you settle into your accommodation and provide opportunities for you to meet with other residents”.
We as the RSA live on site – Precinct for me – and we are all trained to provide advice and support to the students (e.g. directing the students to the services available from the university that they might not even know exist). We work together with Student Union to promote its events and also arrange social and sporting activities for our residents.
There are either 4 or 5 RSAs in each hall who will be on duty on rotation. You can find the duty RSA stands by in the reception on 18:00-19:30 on weekdays, 17:00-18:30 on saturday, and 12:00-13.30 on sunday. So if you live in the hall of residence and need any help, want to make a complaint, or need someone to talk to, just come to the reception and talk to the RSA. We’ll try our best to help you! x
End of EAP course
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011As I mentioned before, I worked as the EAP course assistant for a month since the beginning of August. It was an unbelievably enjoyable job with loads of events such as day trips to York and Edinburgh, a cinema day, technology day, and many more. It’s the beginning of September now and the course is ending. To close the chapter, we had a prom night yesterday!
It was happening in North Shore and we had LOADS of fun! I was assigned to assist in the karaoke session and was a bit worried if I couldnt find anyone to sing. I asked one of the teacher and she said “Let them drink, and you’ll have a long queue”. Uh well, she was right haha!
Congatulations and good luck for everyone! x
