Corranne Wheeler, Author at The Orbital

27Sep

By Corranne WheelerNo Comments

Sports & Socs

The ABCs of a Club

If you’re thinking of joining a sport or society, there are couple of things you need to know about becoming a member. A) Initiations will be wild – Students + CIYK/CIYS = chaos. If you choose to drink, you will likely wake up with a vague memory of shots, chanting and men in lycra. You haven’t attended some satanic ritual, it was just the rowing team passing by. Also, you will probably be forced to wear your sparklingly brand new kit to the SU which may/may not come back in one piece. And at least one of you will end up on Spotted… B) You will dress up - …so stock up on your fancy dress (i.e. visit Egham Essentials). The usual themes will likely crop up throughout the year – toga, military, school – but your club will probably have a strange theme of its own. If you see someone wander...

23Sep

By Corranne WheelerNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Why join a society?

Royal Holloway has dozens of societies, ranging from the usual, such as History, to the not so usual, Humans vs. Zombies, and now is the perfect time to join up! If you’re struggling to decide whether or not to join a society, we've come up with 5 reasons why it would be a fabulous idea. 1. A CHANCE TO TRY SOMETHING NEW Have you always wanted to complete a D of E Expedition? Do you sing Carmen in the shower? Joining a society is a fantastic opportunity to try something entirely new that you may not have had the chance to do before. Royal Holloway boasts over 80 societies with everything from Computing to Tolkien, so there is something for everyone to try. 2. MEET NEW PEOPLE Coming to university can be daunting and it can be difficult to make new friends. Outside your flat and you...

7Jun

By Corranne WheelerNo Comments

Sports & Socs

The Sportshack 24

26 miles. 24 hours. 2 radio presenters. 1 charity. Insanity's Radiothon was just the warm up for Sportshack presenters Will Chamberlain and Tom Brown. The next stop - running the London Marathon. Whilst presenting a radio show. How hard could it be? Where did the inspiration for a marathon/radio show come from? We took part in the Insanity Radiothons with a number of other radio shows, all of us doing 24 hour marathons on air. We decided to push ourselves a little further and as we both love sport and host a sports radio show, thought running a marathon would be a great challenge. Why did you choose 'United Through Sport'? We chose UTS as Elena Guthrie (head of operations at Insanity) had been out to Africa and worked with them in the summer. After checking out their website and chatt...

7Jun

By Corranne WheelerNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Mud, Run, Fun

Running hasn't always been part of my life. It has only been since coming to Royal Holloway that I started training seriously - mainly because I was rubbish at ball sports and couldn't do a cartwheel to save my life. Back then, however, there was unfortunately no official running club, just a few people who competed because they were very, very good. I did my own training, fell in love with the sport very quickly and soon saw huge improvements. Running helped me to both focus on my studies and gave the opportunity to 'get away from it all.' This has been the first year of RHUL Athletics and Cross Country club and the enthusiasm from fellow students has been overwhelming. Aall abilities are encouraged and welcome to join which promotes a really friendly atmosphere. We now train together ...

7Jun

By Corranne WheelerNo Comments

Sports & Socs

RHUL CU

Royal Holloway Christian Union are the unsung heroes of campus. When you’re stumbling out of the SU on a Friday night, looking a little bit worse for wear, they’re the saviours only too pleased to offer you some water and donut to help you safely home. And whilst you labour on through yet another one of those late night library session during exam time, the CU are there every Tuesday with their stall to coax you from your Bedford-induced coma with treats to get you through revision. Whether you had realised it or not, the CU always have your back here at Royal Holloway. And finally, all their hard work is being recognised with a RHUL Laurel Award nomination. Made up of around a 100 members the CU meets every Thursday. It’s a community where you can relax, have a break and most importan...

6May

By Corranne WheelerNo Comments

Opinion

A Society Election POV

“Can we have all the candidates for secretary please?” [ITALICS] Is that me? Am I running for secretary or treasurer? Maybe a quick look around to check if anyone else is running…okay, looks like one other person is running so I’d better get up there. Wait…hold the bus! There’s dozens of candidates! Oh, no, they’re just letting someone out. Phew! And it looks like I’m going first. Great. Now let’s just grab my notes…oh, no! Where is my Post-It note?! I swear it was in my pocket! *Breathe sigh of relief* It’s here. I could have sworn that I wrote more. Never mind, everyone’s waiting. Trip up onto the stage equals fabulous start. Why does it have to be so silent when people do speeches? There’s not even annoying elevator music. Right, establish eye contact. With twenty people. Easier said...

28Jan

By Corranne WheelerNo Comments

Opinion

F*minism

The English language has many a foul word. Most are four letters. Many we now accept in day-to-day conversation without so much as a flinch. But utter ‘feminism’ in a conversation and it is likely one of two things will happen: a) conversation will continue albeit with some odd looks in your direction, or b) there will be silence. Utter silence. Please exit, stage right. So what is it about the word ‘feminism’? Even people who support gender equality often shy away from the F word. Automatically, the first thing that leaps to my mind when someone says ‘feminism’ is an incredibly butch lesbian with a buzz cut angrily shouting at police. In the 80s. This isn’t to say that I dislike or judge lesbians, angry people, people with short hair, or even people who were alive in the 80s! But if I,...