Sean's Blog: Get stuck in with Welcome Week
One week to go! Think your summer has gone quickly? I promise you they don’t slow down. I feel as though I’ve barely sat down between my first Welcome Week and now my fourth. This summer has been a funny one for me; it’s the first time in my life that I’ve not had a break. The whirlwind experience that has been taking over as President began in June and since then I’ve been prepping for the year ahead, in an almost desolate Guild. Now we’re so close to everybody coming back I’m getting excited to see so many familiar faces as well as all of our new arrivals.
If you are wondering why you are reading a blog by some git pretentious enough to refer to himself as “President”, I can only assure you you’re probably not alone and I’ll try to leave the pompousness at the title. However, thanks for bothering to get this far – these blogs will hopefully give you some insight as to what your elected Officers spend their time doing and why we’re here (I mean what we Officers are for - not the human race’s existential question). For this initial post, I will just give you a brief summary of what I’ve been up to and a heads up for this month.
Those of you who remember me from such election campaigns as “It’s Time The Guild Has A Turner ‘Round” will know I promised to work on Liverpool RAG (Raise And Give). We’ve now created a new job post at the Guild specifically to help out with RAG. I’ve also been liaising with charities and the new committee to get some really exciting stuff in the calendar for this year, so check the RAG stall out at Freshers Fair. I’m also looking into the governance of how RAG and other societies fit into the Guild and how to better improve collaboration between societies. Finally, I am discussing with the University how we can better advertise all the fab stuff that we do.
More recently, have a look at this article about a potential increase to student rent. I am interested to see how this is going to play out over the next week and decisions made this week could really impact the purses of students nationwide. Because, you know, we don’t already pay enough. We also are planning to attend the NUS Demo in London in November and hope to take a gang of Liverpool University students, along with LJMU, Hope, Edge Hill and the local UCU branches. Watch this space!
Big pat on the back to our events team at the Guild for putting together a fantastic Welcome Week timetable. There’s something for everyone in there. I will definitely be heading to Riot Jazz and Bongo’s Bingo. If you’ve not seen either of them, they’re neither the jazz or the bingo you might expect: possibly the only jazz band who wouldn’t sound out of place in Ibiza and possibly the only bingo that requires “Keep off the tables” signs.
Welcome Week is always one to remember. Make sure you get yourself stuck in because it will be source for many of your anecdotes for the next few months and will forge friendships for the next few years and beyond. Do not miss Freshers Fair. I said go to see the RAG stall but they are amongst 200-odd societies, over 50 sports clubs and then all the external companies who smother you with freebies. If you forgot your pen (tsk, come on it’s the start of a new term) then no worries – you will find free pens in places you didn’t know you had after Thursday and Friday.
Besides the stationary orgy, sign up to as many clubs and societies as you like. I warn you that you will be inundated with emails from them before you’ve even made it home. (I still get Liverpool Canoe Club ones and I’m not even sure I ever gave them my email. No hard feelings to LCC, maybe I’ll come to a session this year, if you’ll have me?) You can always quit some of them later but try as many out as possible – you may have a knack for something you didn’t even know existed. Basically throw yourself in at the deep end because you’ve only got a limited time here.
Anyway, I’m going to stop now. Thanks for reading this far. Inevitably some of you are reading this in the future, like next year or something. Stop procrastinating and get back to revision. All the fun is over now. Back to the books. For those of you who are reading this at the right time, the fun is all ahead (it doesn’t really stop unless you’re daft and leave things to the last minute). Have a boss* month and do come and say hello to me and the other Officers in our office next to Starbucks, (unless you’re boring). To get your wristband to guarantee entry to all of the Welcome Week events, click here.
*boss [scouse dialect]
1. positive adjective: great; excellent; outstanding.
“Had a boss scran this avvy la.”
I may define other scouse terms in the future. I may not. You’ll have to read the next blog to find out.
