Features – The Orbital

Student Union Elections: Communication, Collaboration, and Joyful Surprise!

29Mar

By Madelaine GrayNo Comments

Elections, Features, News

Student Union Elections: Communication, Collaboration, and Joyful Surprise!

On Wednesday the Sixteenth of March, Orbital Magazine attended the SU Election results night to interview some of the lucky elected officers, including NUS Delegates, School Reps, and the 2022/23 Sabbatical Officer team. NUS Delegates – Maia Jarvis, Ananya Krishna Madelaine: Well, congrats to both of you! First off, I’d like to ask what your main priority is going into the NUS conference? Maia: So, I actually submitted a proposal to the NUS National Conference, which is about making education more accessible. So, making sure there’s flexible online learning. I’ll be pushing that agenda and making sure that’s on the national stage for education, because I want to make sure Holloway student concerns are on the national stage. Madelaine: What about you, Ananya? Ananya: I t...

Everything you need to know about the UCU strikes: why and how you can support your academics.

20Feb

By Emma HalahanNo Comments

News

Everything you need to know about the UCU strikes: why and how you can support your academics.

If you don’t need to be persuaded, scroll down for an email template that you can send to Paul Layzell and other members of Senior Management to come out in support of your striking academics and potentially end the strikes sooner. What, when and why are the strikes taking place? The Universities and College Union (UCU) have called for four weeks of ‘unprecedented’ strike action over a deal made by the governing body for universities, University UK (UUK) that would see the average lecturer lose roughly £10,000 of their pension a year in a restructuring of the University Superannuations Scheme (USS). Pensions which are usually paid in by academics each month and then matched by the university, would be tied 100% to the stock market. This means that universities would void their respon...

Interview with Amani Fancy; Professional Pair’s Figure Skater and ROHO Student

21Mar

By Louise JonesNo Comments

Features

Interview with Amani Fancy; Professional Pair’s Figure Skater and ROHO Student

Deputy Editor Louise Jones talks to Amani Fancy, professional pair’s figure skater, and how she balances being a professional athlete with being a student here at Royal Holloway University of London. Firstly, thank you so much for talking to us. I have watched some of your videos of you ice skating and some of the routines you perform look utterly terrifying but absolutely amazing! How do you have so much trust in your skating partner and what is the most terrifying move you have had to perform? To be a pair skater, you have to be a little bit crazy to be quite honest. I personally love the adrenaline of being thrown in the air and lifted all the time (I know, weird), but as you pointed out, there has to be an extremely high level of trust between both partners. To achieve this, it is ...

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...

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...

14Nov

By No Comments

Features

Paris Under Attack

At around 9:50 (GMT) last night, in an act of hatred that rocked the world, at least 128 people were brutally murdered and a further 180 were injured in a series of bombings and gunfire attacks in central Paris. Explosions were reported throughout central Paris – the most densely populated areas to be targeted were near the Stade de France where the French football team were playing Germany, and the Bataclan concert hall where there was a sold out concert of US rock group, Eagles of Death Metal. It has been reported that there was a hostage situation in the Bataclan where 87 were killed, and there were an unknown number killed at the stadium. This horrific violence comes less than a year after Islamic extremist gunmen murdered 18 people in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, and on...

7Jun

By No Comments

Features

10 Things to Do After Exams

Ten Things To Do After Exams So exam season is finally over, and after all that worrying, revising and at times, sheer terror, you’ll probably have a lot of time on your hands. Sounds great, doesn’t it? However, you may find that there’s simply too much time and boredom may strike. To avoid that scenario, here are a list of the top ten things to do after exams, to give yourself that well deserved break and also put your time to use. 1. Go out Number one priority is definitely to go out and let off some steam. You officially have zero responsibilities and trust me, the ‘I’m a student’ excuse is enough at this point of term. Whether it’s a boozy night out on the town or a dinner date with some friends, make sure you relax and properly enjoy yourself. You’ve earned it! 2. Get your s...

18Aug

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Features

‘You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone’ – or do you?

The old classic: “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” is thrown around a lot. It’s one of those bittersweet feelings in life, where retrospection is simultaneously your best friend and your worst nightmare. With my time at Holloway now drawing to a close on the eve of my last exam (why I’m writing an article and not revising God only knows), my thoughts are populated more than I’d like by this notion. This is hardly a new thought for me though, especially as I spend the majority of my time wrapped up in a process of overthinking that would make Hawking proud. Yet at this point of life, for the first time I also feel like I have the clarity to look back into the past and into the future too. I mean after all the purpose of University is to prepare us for life, as a psychology...

18Aug

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Features

The Reformed Student?

The summer. A time of being exam free, where lying down all day in the sun and drinking a cider at 11am seems perfectly acceptable and where short-shorts make their repeated dreaded appearance. Either way, it is meant to be our time to relax. Well, that’s wrong… and I shall explain why. Having recently taken up a two week internship slot to work with Poet in the City, a charitable organisation that seek to bring new audiences to poetry events across London, I’ve suddenly seen the light in terms of using my spare time to get whatever experience I can for the future. Gone are my days of staying in bed until beyond midday, I am rid of the times when wearing my pyjamas all day was a reasonable response to rainy weather. I am now an early-bird riser on their laptop throughout the day look...

18Aug

By Laura DenhamNo Comments

Features

The Meaning of News

All day, every day, our lives are permeated by facts and knowledge of others than ourselves. We spend hours of our time checking Twitter and Facebook, updating, liking and reading about other people’s lives. But how much of what actually matters do we absorb? How many young people prefer to spend their time online checking up on celebrities and football, on films and music, and yet barely notice anything of significance that appears on their feed. I am not saying that as young people we should be disregarding these things which make essential elements of our culture, but surely there should be a more even balance? I feel that many of my peers care too little about what is happening in the wider world, as they remain ignorant towards the world around them. Occasionally, events can filter...