Opinion – Page 7 of 31

26May

By Bridget OSullivanNo Comments

Opinion

The Reality of Sex Work at University

All names have been changed to preserve anonymity. ‘I’ve been very lucky that all of the arrangements I’ve had have been with really genuine people’ – surely it indicates something foul when someone feels lucky to have encountered basic respect? Surely such respect, and ‘genuine people’, should be the norm? Are we so doomed as a society? I would like to believe we are not. However, when it comes to the industry of sex work, and young people entering it, it may be a different story. According to a pre-pandemic stat by Leicester University, an estimated 5% of UK students turn to sex work, and one in five consider it. Remember, that is pre-pandemic. If Covid generated any mainstream student story, it was the...

18May

By Jessica WoodNo Comments

Opinion

An Ode to Domino’s

Pizza is the love language of people all around the world; I’ll continue to endorse this until my lactose intolerance wins its ongoing battle for my attention. It is an incredibly versatile comfort food, from the variety of toppings to the versatile uses. Hangovers, date nights, cram nights or simply in need of a trusted companion - pizza consistently provides. It’s a student staple, providing us with more stability than most of our love lives. Thus, I feel it is my duty as a student to finalise the long-lasting debate: which is the superior pizza takeaway? Within my first week at Royal Holloway, it became abundantly clear that Domino’s would be draining my bank account. Yes, it is higher on the price scale than other take outs, but you can quite literally taste the difference, to quot...

13May

By Sofia BajerovaNo Comments

Opinion

Written from a dorm room in Hong Kong

What International Exchange can do for you and the application process Eight months ago, I sprinted through Zurich Airport and boarded a twelve-hour flight. After fourteen days of quarantine, filled with temperature checks and Covid-19 tests, I was finally able to start my life in Hong Kong. I am incredibly grateful for my experiences here, which have led me to consider Hong Kong a second home. I have thrived in the education system, though the same could not be said for the summer heat. I have tried several new hobbies including bouldering and aerial yoga and continued my love of hiking in a place where the view of the city from the mountains is unlike any other. Thanks to the friends I have made in Hong Kong, I have spent countless hours playing Mahjong and eating Dim Sum. Be...

13May

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

Opinion, Sports & Socs

Cash is King

Is Formula One an Elitist Sport? At the start of 2020’s season, Lewis Hamilton reminded us that ‘cash is king’ in the world of formula one. The paddock is full of millionaires, each race a glittering spectacle of celebrity, champagne spray and the sound of multi-million pound engines. Each team is vying for sponsorship and the driver that can give them that all important sponsorship deal - if there’s no money, there’s no competitive car out on the race track. Take Haas, for example: with limited money behind them the past few years and a lack of points to go toward a constructor championship, the Haas cars have often been left floundering at the back of the grid. 2021 saw a critique of Haas’s new rookies: Nikita Mazepin, son of Dimitri Mazepin, owner of Urakali, Haas’s former ...

12May

By Bridget OSullivanNo Comments

Features, Opinion

The Privilege Complex

University is a space to explore who you are and what you want. It’s a place to embrace change and adopt new identities. If Royal Holloway, and the great metropolis that is Egham, helps you do that, great! If new friends and SU nights help you do that, great! If long rants about how much you’ve changed since Sixth Form help you do that, great! A complex can arise, however, when students shake off their privilege to assume an identity they consider more interesting. What privilege am I talking about? Specifically, those students who have had access to the best money can buy, whether that’s education, holidays and/or material goods. What new identity? The one that some adopt to play down said privilege in order to come across as anti-capitalist and, dare I say, ‘woke’. It is declaring th...

University is No Longer About the Degree Alone

12May

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

News, Opinion

University is No Longer About the Degree Alone

How to Tackle the State-Private Education Divide, an Interview with the 93% Club. By Accalia Smith At the 1996 Labour Party conference, Tony Blair infamously stated that his three top priorities when coming into office were “education, education, and education”. Indeed, it was a large part of New Labour’s manifesto and although largely adopting the previous Conservative education policies, he did make many changes whilst Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007. This included increasing support and teacher training schemes, and crucially “a 50 per cent target for university participation among young adults”. This emphasis on the importance of education caused a huge influx in university attendees. Choosing university was no longer the exception but rather the expectation. Blair’s son, Eau...

12May

By Jessica WoodNo Comments

News, Opinion

Defining Class

Defining Class: is it about what you earn or how you act? By Jessica Wood Society is ordered; people, places and possessions are constantly being put into boxes. Have you ever seen a movie and not had the desire to place it into a genre? It is a human instinct to name and sort things, that’s why we have an entire literary category called nouns. But what effect is this having on how we view the people around us? Does it explain why I was once told by a ‘friend’ that they would “only be friends with someone who went to a boarding school”? What defines this elusive term ‘class’? Why am I considered to have a lower status in society than them, even though my household income might actually be higher? This made me think that status in society is much more than what lands in your ba...

12May

By Laura BloomfieldNo Comments

News, Opinion

Studytube: Helpful or Dangerous

By Laura Bloomfield In the last few years, StudyTube has boomed, with videos gaining thousands and thousands of views. However, it’s worth wondering whether StudyTube advertises unhealthy study habits which viewers may feel they have to copy in order to achieve certain grades. The ‘Study with Me’ videos are some of the most potentially damaging videos I’ve seen on YouTube. Content creators post up to 12 hour study sessions. This has the possibility of making students feel like they need to study for equally long to achieve the same grades as these StudyTubers, which is not the case. These long study stints aren’t always healthy. We need breaks. On the flip side, these videos do have the benefit of making viewers feel like they have a study companion which can motivate people to cont...

12May

By Emma HollyNo Comments

News, Opinion

Dying For Help

People are being ignored amidst a mental health pandemic By Emma Holly There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you hear that the waiting list is eighteen months long. A molten liquid spreads through you, and you think you might vomit. You are the little person waving from their desert island, realising that your S.O.S. message got washed away by the sea. You don’t quite know if you can make it through today, let alone the next 547 of them. It feels as though you are the sole being on the planet who is experiencing this. Of course, you are not. In the wake of the pandemic, the demand on the NHS for mental health help has been at an all-time high. An estimated ten million more people are predicted to need help within the next three to five years as a result of th...

12May

By Hannah ArmourNo Comments

News, Opinion

Strategic Schooling

It was the first day of sixth form and in they came, an influx of kids from all of the surrounding private schools. One, an all girls school, was only across the street from ours. They arrived in their pre-made cliques, ready to learn and ready to get into Oxbridge. Since acceptance rates are higher for state schools, their parents had moved them to us. Their movement was strategic. To the parents, it was simply a stepping stone. For their children, it was two years of their life. Now, don’t get me wrong, my state school might as well have been a private one. Sure, we didn’t have the one-on-one attention private schools do but we had some fabulous teachers. I’m tempted to say the best in the country. Situated slightly outside the city centre of Oxford, we all had some connection ...