Michele Theil, Author at The Orbital

23Mar

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Raise Up Your Talents

Michele Theil reviews the Raise-And-Give Talent Show, an event raising money for three excellent charities. The Raise-And-Give society’s charity event, aptly named ‘Royal Holloway’s Got Talent’ was hosted in the SU Main Hall and allowed students and parents to see a wide variety of talents and acts. The show aimed to raise money for Action Against Hunger, Meningitis Now and The White Lodge Centre. Action Against Hunger is “a global charity committed to saving the lives of malnourished children in over 40 countries”. Meningitis Now is a global charity that researches for and supports sufferers of Meningitis and The White Lodge Centre is dedicated to “supporting disabled people of all ages”. Each charity supports extremely worthwhile causes that RAG is dedicated to raising money for. T...

Dissent & Disapproval: English PEN’s Muslim Ban Protest

1Mar

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Dissent & Disapproval: English PEN’s Muslim Ban Protest

President Trump’s executive order banning refugees, migrants and visitors from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the United States for a period of three months has sparked protests all over the whole world. As those seven countries are predominantly Muslim, people have taken to calling it a ‘Muslim Ban’ and protesting against it in an effort to stand against the somewhat questionable reasoning behind the ban. The English PEN society, headed up by Rebecca Wilson, organised a protest on the 2nd of February for Royal Holloway students. People gathered at The Hub and proceeded to march along the road up past the Students Union, congregating in Founders South Quad to stand, chant and listen to speeches made by representatives from the English PEN society, the M...

8Feb

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Comedy Society Showcase

Royal Holloway’s Comedy Society is popular for one reason: everyone wants to laugh. There are around 20 regular members of the society as well as many others that attend and perform at specific events, making the eventual number of participants in the Comedy Society uncertain but high. The Santa Isn’t Real event on the 7th of December was a striking representation of what Comedy Society represents their dedication to the “appreciation and performance of comedy”, as the description of the society’s Student Union page states. Several students went up onto the stage at Stumble Out to make jokes, sing songs and perform skits about Christmas and Santa in honour of the season. Stand-up comedy has gained notoriety and recognition in the last few years as an increasing number of stand-up comedi...

6Feb

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Dancing With The Stars

The Royal Hollywood Dance Show, hosted by the RHUL Dance Society, consisted of three acts of differing dance styles as well as a few musical performances, all performed to an incredible level. The Dance Society’s annual show had dances choreographed to songs from famous films across the ages with rehearsals only beginning 4 weeks ago, an amazing feat for the calibre of performances I witnessed. While every piece was outstanding in its own way, there were several standout performances that I found to be particularly amazing and deserving of recognition. ‘Inside The OR’, a competition street dance choreographed by Dance Society President Eden Brown, had dancers in surgical scrubs and masks, dancing to theme songs from medical TV shows. ‘Upside Down’, a Burlesque piece ...

1Feb

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Reuniting Through Poetry

The Royal Holloway English PEN society hosted a poetry and speaking event on the 2nd of December that aimed to highlight the differences and similarities between the Eastern and Western worlds. According to the English PEN society, the event was about “breaking down the East/West divide, through poetry and spoken word”. The event saw several students, one staff member and two outsider poets speaking about dual nationality and their positions in both the Western and Eastern worlds. Victoria Bulley and Antosh Wojcik, the two outsider poets, as well as Jazz Kaur, Modupe Reis, Prudence Chamberlain and Dr. Eley Williams all dazzled the audience with their insightful observations regarding the “East/West divide” and their own experiences of it, emphasising the notion of free speech that is ensh...

26Jan

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Rowing to the Rescue

On the 5th of December, the members of the Royal Holloway Rowing club sat on rowing machines outside Bedford Library and aimed to row 346km, the length of the Thames river. The fundraiser was in aid of the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and the British Heart Foundation as well as the purchase of a new boat for the club’s competitions. Each member was required to sign up for at least one hour of rowing (or 12km) as part of the fundraiser. In the end, the rowers surpassed both their distance and fundraising goals. They rowed over 500km, the distance to Calais, France and raised £633, exceeding the £500 they originally aimed to raise. The idea for the fundraiser began when the father of one of their senior rowers passed away from a heart attack very suddenly. The club rallied around the me...

15Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Features

The History Of Bedford College

Many overlook the fact that Royal Holloway's official name is Royal Holloway and Bedford New College. Deputy Sports and Socs Editor, Michele Theil, looks into Bedford College, a more significant part of our history than most realise. Bedford College was founded by social reformer Elizabeth Jesser Reid as the first women’s university in the United Kingdom in 1849. It became a constituent school of the University of London in 1900. Originally, the college was situated at 47 Bedford Square before moving to 8/9 York Place and finally settling at Regent’s Park before the merger with Royal Holloway College. It merged with Royal Holloway College, another college of the University of London in 1985 due to a lack of government funding for higher education, forcing the smaller University of Lo...

2Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Features

Brexit: The Effect On Us

‘Brexit’, the name given to the United Kingdom’s impending leave from the European Union, has and will continue to have effects not only economically, but socially too. When the vote to leave was announced, it became apparent that the majority of young people aged 18-24, particularly those studying at university, were disheartened by this result. It was estimated that nearly 75% of those voting in the 18-24 category wanted to remain as a part of the European Union. Recent statistics show that 6.4% of all undergraduate and postgraduate students in the UK were non-UK EU nationals, meaning that the EU and EU students are a fundamentally large part of higher-education within the UK. According to the Independent, approximately £3.7 billion is generated as a result of the numerous EU students...