Thursday, April 25Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Tag: advice

Advice For People in their Second Year
18Jan By No Comments
Lifestyle

Advice For People in their Second Year

Rhiannon offers 9 simple pieces of advice for second year student. If you’re at the supermarket and ask yourself "Do we need more toilet paper?" The answer is always yes. You can never have too much toilet paper. If you have one housemate or five, you will inevitably be annoyed at them, and that’s fine. Just don’t spend your entire year passive-aggressively dropping hints about how annoying they are. Learn how to make a shopping list and stick to it. Don’t get sucked in by all the deals in the confectionery section (trust me, I’ve been there.) Try and make at least one good friend in each of your lectures and seminars. Not only will you feel less awkward entering a room, but having somebody to lend you notes is an invaluable source if you have to miss a class. Set up a rem...
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A Guide to Being a Fangirl
18Mar By No Comments
Features

A Guide to Being a Fangirl

The fangirl culture is one that is definitely undermined, we all have an inner fangirl/fanboy inside of us. Whether you hate to admit it, you cannot deny that whenever your ‘fave’ uploads a new selfie on Instagram a little bit of you dies inside. Among the students at Royal Holloway, there lies a few fangirls and I guiltily consider myself one. Even though I have learnt to keep my cool at university, I cannot speak for when one of my faves play at TOAST on a Monday evening, and my inner fourteen-year old self comes out and I lose all my chill. When someone mentions fangirl, a 12-year-old Directoner comes to most minds. However, experience has told me, waiting outside a hotel for 19 hours, you’ll find a 33-year-old now and then. I’ve even seen mums bring along their children to ‘stalk...
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How to Deal with Terrible Housemates
12Mar By No Comments
Features

How to Deal with Terrible Housemates

Everybody has at least one domestic horror story throughout university, starring the notorious ‘terrible housemates.’ Shared accommodation means living within very close proximities to friends and also those you may not consider friends. Whether it’s the flatmates you are allocated in first year (and have no choice but to share with) or your very own, handpicked housemate, there are many disasters just waiting to happen. So how do we deal with the ‘terrible housemate’ trope? Whether it’s the party animal stumbling in and leaving pizza all over the kitchen, the slob or the 3am virtuoso, try and keep your cool. Here are some ways to deal with them once passive-aggressive post-it notes have failed! Firstly, you should always try and talk to the person. It could be work-related stress caus...
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Interview: Gun Threat in the USA
19Feb By Beth CarrNo Comments
Features

Interview: Gun Threat in the USA

Katherine Gorman spent a term studying History at Royal Holloway during her Junior year of college in the USA. Last month her college was closed after parents informed the administration that their son, Jacob, retrieved a gun from their home and went missing. In light of the previous major gun incident in America that led to threats being made against the University of Edinburgh, Beth Carr spoke to her about her situation and the steps taken by the college leadership. (Photo: Katherine outside the college, credit: Katherine Gorman) TIMELINE OF EVENTS November 16th 5:30am- Texts and emails were sent to students, faculty, staff and parents informing students of the suspension of classes due to the threat. The gunman’s identity was revealed shortly afterwards. 7am- College was closed w...
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A Home From Home
28Jan By No Comments
Features

A Home From Home

Choosing a house to live in is a daunting task, especially after the comfortable safety of university halls, where the worst that can happen is someone stealing your milk. The first thing you have to know is that estate agents will try and pressure you to put money down. They’re a business and you’re a customer, just make sure you’re clued up and savvy about it! There are a lot of estate agents and private landlords in Egham and Englefield Green, ask around for people’s experience of them before you commit and make sure you feel comfortable with who’s managing your property, otherwise, a year can feel like a long time. The second, and possibly most important thing, about second or third year housing is your housemates. How would you actually feel about living half a centimetre fro...
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3 Questions RHUL students get asked – and how to answer them
23Sep By Beth CarrNo Comments
Opinion

3 Questions RHUL students get asked – and how to answer them

You start university and suddenly you’re facing 20 questions from friends and family. As a smaller university Royal Holloway is not universally known so here are a few answers to some FAQs. 1. How’s life in London? Maybe it’s because of Holloway Prison or being part of the University of London, but almost everyone I talk to assumes I’m living in London. Take a deep breath to answer this and explain how you actually live 40 minutes away by train, and no, you’re nowhere near Holloway prison. Be prepared to say this again and again (sometimes with the same person!) 2. That’s a good insurance choice... This is a less common comment but people sometimes assume, because we are not Russell Group and have slightly lower entry requirements, higher achievers must have just settled for a place he...
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Advice for Freshers they won’t tell you in the Welcome Pack
15Sep By No Comments
Features

Advice for Freshers they won’t tell you in the Welcome Pack

Here you are. A bright-eyed young student, arriving for your first day of Freshers at Royal Holloway. When you get to your Halls, you'll get given lots of information and bits of paper (which you'll most probably lose - I did). One of these is the Welcome Pack. However, the university only tell you the things they want you to know in the Welcome Pack. Here's the unofficial advice guide to Freshers courtesy of yours truly, The Orbital. Ps - make sure you enter our Golden Ticket competition to win FREE entry to Freshers events during Welcome Week. 1. Buy a toastie maker for a range of midnight snacks and friends will love you 2. Grow your beard out full length then shave it half way through the year so you fool others into believing you’re a post-grad 3. Ask for a sip of strongbow...
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