Thom Cuffin-Munday, Author at The Orbital

26Sep

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Features

From Home to Halls

It can be a daunting prospect starting university for the first time, with a new environment, a new lifestyle and new people. Nonetheless, it is important to remind yourself that if you have chosen to move into halls this September, you are one amongst many feeling the exact same way! To help with this, Royal Holloway offers a vast array of exciting ice-breaker activities and events throughout Freshers’ Week, which all are welcome to get involved in. Concerned about how the ongoing pandemic might affect your freshers’ experience? You’ll be pleased to know that the university has been absolutely on it, working hard behind the scenes throughout the summer to provide a range of both virtual and socially-distanced in-person events, to ensure the safety of everyone. There is ...

26Sep

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Features

You’ve got a friend in me

Navigating mental health issues within friendships Disclaimer: This article deals with issues of mental health. The advice given in this article is based purely on personal experience. Always seek the advice of a professional. Mental health is still unfortunately a taboo, and as much as we are trying to open up conversations, it is still a difficult and sometimes awkward topic. So when someone tells you that they are struggling, it can be hard to know what to say or do. Equally, confiding in someone else about your own struggles takes a lot of courage and should never be underestimated. Just having the conversation is a great start but there are some important things to note to maintain a healthy friendship, whilst also working through these issues. Oftentimes when a friend comes...

This month’s album review: Limbo – Aminé – 7/10

25Sep

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Culture & Literature, Music

This month’s album review: Limbo – Aminé – 7/10

Aminé’s second studio album sees the rapper define his sound following his 2017 debut Good For You. With Limbo he develops his lyricism from a primarily immature, albeit enjoyable and entertaining, style to a more poignant and topical approach, whilst still bringing with it Aminé’s quick wit. Written during the first half of 2020, the lyrics are partially inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other black Americans killed by American police, with Aminé delaying media for the album so that he could join the BLM protests spanning across America. Kobe Bryant also features heavily as a source of inspiration for the album with Aminé saying in Woodlawn that he was like a dad to him. This culmination of a father figure dying and a powerful mo...

An Introduction to Music at Royal Holloway

25Sep

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Culture & Literature, Music

An Introduction to Music at Royal Holloway

At Royal Holloway there is plenty to do, in particular when it comes to music. Of course given the social distancing measures that must be adhered to this year, events and socials may be slightly different than previous years, but all of our societies are doing their best to adapt to the new norms! Jane Holloway Choir The Jane Holloway Choir was set up in January 2018 as a non-auditioned choir for students, and prides itself on being run by students for students. The choir strives to provide its members with the chance to sing in an amateur choir at weekly rehearsals, and perform in chapel services and concerts, both on campus and in the local area. The Jane Holloway Choir is a great opportunity whether you have previously sung in choirs and are eager to continue, or ...

25Sep

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Culture & Literature, Music

Royal Holloway Introducing…

Here at Royal Holloway we are lucky to have a wide breadth of musical talent, and as the Music Editor of Orbital, I hope to bring you some new, up and coming faces each month! If you would like to be included in a future feature, please contact me directly at [email protected]. Miriam Endersby: Miriam is a 21-year-old soprano singer, currently studying French and Italian at RHUL. She recently spent a year-abroad placement at Istituto Monteverdi Conservatoire in Cremona, Italy, where she studied with the sopranos Federica Zanello and Maria Billeri, and the bass-baritone Mario Luperi. Miriam has a particular interest in baroque and early opera, and is currently writing a dissertation on gender and power in Handel’s Italian operas. She also enjoys Gilbe...

25Sep

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Culture & Literature, Music

The Ultimate Freshers Playlist

In a year that will have more flat parties than nights out, a good playlist is more important than ever. Here’s the biggest hits to add to yours! · WAP - Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion · Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles · Savage – Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyonce · Break My Heart – Dua Lipa · Blueberry Faygo – Lil Mosey · Spice Girl – Aminé · EARFQUAKE – Tyler, the Creator · goosebumps – Travis Scott · Kill the Director – The Wombats · Ransom – Lil Tecca · ...

25Sep

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News, Science & Technology

Freshers’ Tech Guide

Whether you’re an incoming Fresher or a returning student there is bound to be some new technology you’ll use this coming year. If you’re a returning student you’ll need to understand key changes due to COVID-19, and as a new student you’ll need to get to grips with a lot of systems you might never have seen before, and therefore, this brief guide aims to teach you about all the technology you’ll need this year. Online Lectures - MS Teams and Panopto You will be given a University MS Teams account, attached to your University email, to log in to. Lecturers will send you either a link to join a ‘team’ for each course, or a link to join the call for each lecture. You can also use this to set up teams with coursemates for joint work, if appropriate Panopto allows f...

25Sep

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Sports & Socs

The Editors Try… Keto

We try so that you don’t have to. So long carbs, it’s been fun. In the first of a regular series, we, your Sports & Societies Editors, try various diets, trends and challenges so that you don’t have to. On the face of it the Keto diet is actually pretty simple: it’s a low or no carbohydrate diet. By eliminating or drastically reducing the amount of carbs you consume, it forces your body to burn its stores of fat for energy. I managed to rope my deputy editor Claudia into doing this with me and if you’re wondering how I managed that, well she’s currently living with me so she didn’t really have much of a choice; I wasn’t going to suffer through this alone. Like I said on the face of it, Keto seems simple as you’re only removing one food group fro...

25Sep

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Science & Technology

Fact from Fiction: COVID 19

Fake news? One of the biggest issues our generation faces is the idea of “fake news”, in which information is misconstrued or completely falsified to better suit a specific agenda. This problem has been around for many decades but has seen a surge due to social media, and now plays a large role in our everyday lives. From catching up with loved ones to joining a random blog, it is now easier than ever to connect with people worldwide. This has led to various groups coming together on social media platforms to present convoluted ideas about the shape of the world or origin of a new pandemic. Large media organisations are, unfortunately, not innocent when it comes to “fake news”, and sometimes perpetuates the development of these ideas. A simple internet search ca...