Charlotte’s Blog – Welcome to York

Hi!

Welcome to York! (and welcome back to our returning Postgraduates!). I hope that you are now settled in, ready for the start of term. It’s been a very busy week, and it was great to see so many of you at our various welcome week events  – if you still haven’t picked up a GSA welcome bag, then we have plenty of Leaflets in our office. We’re on the 1st floor of Vanbrugh College, so do pop in and say hello!

Following on from our Welcome Week, this week is Network Week – a chance for you to meet students on similar programmes to yourself, through our MA and PhD networks, or through the events put on by our LGBTQ, college tutor and family networks. Our daytime events include an Afternoon Tea tomorrow in Wentworth at 2pm (I am often found at Cake events….), a trip to York Minster on Wednesday, a cycle to Naeburn on Thursday and a café crawl on Friday (yet another opportunity for cake ☺ ). Our evening events kick off this evening with a Masters Network Karaoke night at 8, followed by an Open Mic Night on Tuesday, a Cocktail crawl from the LGBTQ Network on Wednesday, a Film Night on Thursday and a PHD Network Quiz night on Friday!  You can find our timetable of events here https://www.yorkgsa.org/event/. On Saturday, we’ll be at Freshers fair, so come and see us on your way to free domino’s pizza….

Starting at a new university, or course, is a stressful time, and we would like to make this as easy for you as possible! If you need a helping hand, or have queries or comments about the GSA or the university, please do contact us and ask! Both myself and Fatma (GSA Vice-President) are on Facebook (our email addresses are on the GSA website), and if you have a more serious issue, our website will direct you to the GSA advice service. If you’re looking for some time away from study, we run a number of free weekly sports sessions in the Sports Centre on Heslington West, including Badminton, Tennis, Squash, Netball, Volleyball, Basketball and Football. More information about our sports can be found here https://www.yorkgsa.org/students/sports/. If sport isn’t your thing, do find an activity separate from your area of study, be it baking, quidditch, comedy or chess – having a wider group of acquaintances and interests helps to ensure a healthy work – life balance!

See you at 2pm tomorrow for Afternoon Tea in Wentworth Common Room!

Charlotte