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!
