From Spain to Surrey

In the University of Surrey we have a great students union that support the students in several different aspects from our daily life.They are a not-for-profit charity, independent from the University that represents all University of Surrey students on a local and national level. Every year 5 full time offices are elected by the students to be our vp voice, vp activity, president, vp support and vp community. If you want to find more information about what they do and who they are, you can all visit their site in this link: https://www.ussu.co.uk

The area I find most interesting is the one of the events. Every week they organise plans and activities that give the students the chance to socialise, meet new people and make the most of their university experience. Apart from various theme nights in the university’s night club, there are often trips organised to different cities of England, such as Bristol, Bournemouth, Oxford, Cambridge… In my opinion this is a fantastic opportunity for all the international students to visit new places around in an easy and affordable way. Another kind of activities they might organise are trips to events like musicals and concerts. For example, we had the opportunity to go watch the Lion King musical last year, and there are new plans coming to go watch Aladdin musical or Harry Potter studios in March. All of these are highly popular! I strongly recommend you all give it a go! Make sure you sign up and buy tickets on time. This can be made on the Tixtu app.

Talking about my experience, I have recently been to Disneyland Paris with a friend in an organised holiday by the Students Union, and it was one of the best experiences I have had since I came to university. We left surrey by bus on a Thursday morning, and traveled by bus and ferry until we got to a hotel in Disneyland (a four star hotel with buffet!!!). It was amazing, we had a gym, a swimming pool and great rooms. We spent all the day on the park on Friday and Saturday, with absolute freedom to do whatever we wanted and come back whenever we wanted. There was a direct free bus connection all day to the park, which was great. Finally, we left the hotel that Saturday morning and come back to uni by Sunday morning, night travelling buy bus and ferry again. The atmosphere between all the students and the supervisors was amazing, I’m sure it’s a holiday no one will forget. And to have and idea… we just paid around £240, which included everything apart from lunch and dinner (and personal expenses in the park). I will attach some pictures of the trips to the end post:)

Have a lovely week!

Hello everyone!

After a long summer, we are back!

A warm welcome to uni to all new students in campus, as well as the returning ones. It’s really nice to see so many new and familiar faces around again.

In the University of Surrey they understand that this first weeks can be really tough for all those people living alone for the first time, for every student that is now starting to apply their placement year, or just anyone having a hard time starting routine again… and it’s normal, we all have our little problems.

However, do always remember that the uni is here for you, and please make sure you take advantage of all that help provided around. We all deserve to live an amazing experience in Surrey, no matter which our struggles might be.

Considering that, I decided to do a recap of some of the helps and services available around. Hope it helps!

If you are not feeling well:
• Health and wellbeing centre: as a Surrey student you are fortunate in having easy access to health and wellbeing services. You just need to register with the NHS to benefit from these services. The university wants you to be healthy and happy during your time at Surrey, and your physical and emotional health is important and looking after them will ensure you get the most out of university life.
• Student Mentors: all students new to Surrey are allocated a mentor, who is a continuing student. Student Life mentors are there ti help students settle in, make friends and act as an approachable and accessible point of contact during the year.

If you are having difficulties with studies or job related questions:
• Additional Learning Support: if you have a disability or a specific learning difference, ALS can offer you a wide variety of support and adjustments.
• SPLASH: the Student Personal Support and Learning Hub is a student-centred area designed to enhance your study. Student Learning Advisors can assist you in improving your writing, presenting, revision, time management or any other academic skills.
• Employability and Careers centre: this department includes a wide range of support, including confidential one-to-one advice on careers options and recruitment processes, and Quick Query sessions if you want to drop-in for advice about your CV/job application.

Some extra help:
• Students Service Centre: we think of the Students Service centre as a “first-stop shop”. If you don’t know where o go, come here. The staff are trained to deal with a wide range of enquiries, and they are the key source of information on many University services. If they don’t know how to help you, they will direct you to someone who can.
• Chaplaincy: the university is a multi-faith and multi-cultural community, which I personally believe is a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow. Regarding this, there is a chaplaincy that offers the provision of worship and spiritual practices, one-to-one pastoral care and the promotion dialogue and peaceful co-existence between people of different faith and believe.

I´ll end this post with a beautiful picture of our University lake I took on Monday morning on my way to the lectures:)