Sean Murphy

February 12, 2019

Students helping students – How you are represented at Edge Hill University

Image result for student politics

Its worth talking about, every now and again, how your issues will be treated at Edge Hill University. While the university does a great job of making sure every decision is in the best interest of every student sometimes there may be something that you would like to see change. In this blog I will take a look at the SSCF and Student Representitives on each course and how they help you achieve the best posibile learning expereince.

What is a student representive?

A student representive is someone that is in your year elected to represent your interests to the board of your course and the wider Students Union. They are given the position and expected to take any issues that your year has forward to the relevent meetings, called SSCF or Student Staff Consultancy Forums. These are followed by a Programme Board meeting between all staff involved in your programme and the student representives with some special guests such as learning services. In a sense, if you have a problem you can take it to them and they will bring it to the correct person to deal with it and get a responce back for you.

How many represnetives are there?

In each year there is usually between three and four representives. They will give a short election speach to the entire year before elections are opened within your year. Plenty of notice is given by your faculty administration and the Students Union via email and in person before this takes place. Once the representives are in place they are requested to attend a training session with the Students Union who walk them through the different processes and methadologies.

How can I become a representive?

To become a representive you need to register your interest with your faculty administration. You can usually find these in your learning edge blackboard area once you have access to it. After you have registered your interest these memebers of staff will speak to you regarding the next steps. Its allways good practice to have a piece ready and rehersed if you are called to introcude yourself to the year. Your faculty administration will give you plenty of notice for this.

Student politics is an important role within University life and working at the ground level with your faculty is a great way to get involved and make sure that your year is represented correctly. I am now a second year representitive with the Computing deparment and can honestly say that had I not gone forward I would have been dissapointed not to have the chance to bring my years voice to the table.

Thats it for this blog, if you want to find out more about the students union you can check out their website here.

If you want more free and great advice email think@edgehill.ac.uk or leave a comment below and I will get back to you. If you want to suggest something to write about or want to be interviewed leave a comment below also and I will get back to you personally!

January 31, 2019

The faces of Edge Hill University – Unsung Heros

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The people who spend every working day at Edge Hill university have alot on their plate. Everyone from the canteen staff in the hub to facilities management technicians work tirelessly to make Edge Hill the best university that it can be. Because there is so many it is often easy to over look staff on the ground. In this blog I want to pay tirbute to three staff groups that I feel often go unnoticed in their daily duties.

Site Services – Housekeepers

135 house keepers work five days a week to clean flat kitchens and accomadation halls. These are the people who literally pick up after you. They are first on this list because they have a demanding job. They have my thanks.

Facilities Management – Post

Working in the durning center from early in the morning to late in the evening the postal team deal with not only staff mail but student mail too. Some of the friendlies faces you will ever see in there. Big thank you to all of them for their hard work.

Respective Departments – Admin Staff

Each department provides administration staff to answer questions from students. I have to give my thanks especially to Sally and Sharon from EHU Computing. Always there to help, no matter what the problem. A tough job, done right.

These three groups of staff work to make this university amazing, thank you to all of them. If you see them please do the same, without their hard work that sometimes goes unoticed, we would be alot worse off. Thats all from me.

January 29, 2019

Working for Edge Hill University – Students working for Students

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Working at Edge Hill university during your study is a rewarding experience with benifits for everyone. You provide a valuable service for the university, such as blogging, notetaking or even guiding prospective applicants. In return the univeristy will weigh your pockets down with the standard casual rate of £8.66 per hour. So for half a days work (12 Hours) you are looking at over £100 into your pocket. But there is many more reason for you to consider working for the univeristy, here are my top three.

Sense of involvement

Working with the university gives you the ability to infulence the university directly. With a sense of involvement you will feel that the university is suddenly alot smaller and the community will become tight knit. That involvement in the university will make your time here much more enjoyable, I know it has for me.

Great experience

Because the university has so many roles available you will always find something with transferable skills into your chosen course. Every role teaches professionalism and builds confidence. The supervisors are always there to help you no matter what, and the structure in the university is perfectly setup to encourage communication.

Make yourself stand out

I cant stress enough how much having job experience listed on my CV has helped me get jobs outside of the University. Listing your employeer is only half of making yourself stand out, having refrences from the University is the other. Having a job at Edge Hill University will make you stand out among any crowd.

January 24, 2019

£26 million, one building – Catalyst at Edge Hill University

Opening in 2018 the brand new Catalyst building at Edge Hill University has become a second home for most students who study at Edge Hill University. The stunning building provides almost every service imagineable to students and if you are planning to study at Edge Hill you will spend a serious amount of time here. So it might pay to have a read of this blog, because i’ll be sharing my own tips for using the building to its maximum potentional.

Image result for help desk Helpdesk support is avialable Monday to Friday 8am – 8pm and Saturday – Sunday 10am -6pm. They are always there to help and will do their best to point you in the right direction to any service that you need. If you have a problem, they will help.

Image result for printing and binding Printing and Binding is also available on every floor. Take advantage of the free binding services to make any of your projects look smart and presentable. If you have a presentation take in copies with a nice slick cover page and ring binder to hand out and you will have left the maximum impression on anyone in the room.

Image result for quiet Quiet study on the top floor with a outlook over the roof gardens and campus. If you need some space to get work done pull up a chair at a table or computer and you will get whatever it is done. If you prefer some group study pods are available on the ground floor for up to 8 people with a presentation screen.

If you want to read more about the investment at the Catalyst you can read my other blog here:

Sean’s Random Encounters – Edge Hill Applicant Day and the Catalyst building

Or if you want to find out more about the new Catalyst building you can find information here.

And if you want more free and great advice email think@edgehill.ac.uk or leave a comment below and I will get back to you. If you want to suggest something to write about or want to be interviewed leave a comment below also and I will get back to you personally!

December 31, 2018December 31, 2018

A look back on 2018 – My three top tips from the year past at EHU

A look back on 2018

2018 was an exciting year at Edge Hill University and I don’t think it would be complete if we didn’t take a look back over the last 12 months and give a few mentions to a few of the things that made everyone’s lives a little more special. So many things happened that you could be here til next year listing them so let’s keep this brief and drive right into, three top tips from the year past.

Shoot for the stars

In the year past we saw elections in March and in November at our students union. Big shout out to all of those who put themselves forward. I actually interviewed a number of candidates and heard their voices loud and clear. If there is one thing that people like Jack Fields, Molly Smallwood and Craig-Francis Meichan have shown its that speaking out for what you believe in will often yield many similar minds behind your cause.

Don’t leave it up to chance

Absolutely no point whatsoever in wanting something, but not badly enough to work for it. 2018 held many truths like this for me. I have to admit I didn’t work for much, maybe my license but that’s about it. If you want something then you need to get out there and fight for it. In fact i’m sick of saying it, I feel like my last 5 blogs have all touched on this, but trust me its important. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but just go do whatever it takes to get what you want.

Forget everything and be yourself

Right this one really goes out to you, yeah the one person who is reading this blog. No idea who you are, or how you even got here, but listen up. You might think this sounds corny or you might think it’s just a dumb piece of writing on the internet. You’re wrong. I’ve spent my whole life trying to fit my square personality into other peoples triangle shaped lives but in 2018 I stopped. I’ve never been happier to be myself and not care one bit about what others have to say behind my back. So, take my advice or don’t. Either way, I don’t really mind.

That’s everything. Just one more thing before you go.

Happy new year.

December 31, 2018

Staying on course – Keeping your sights set on University

Staying On Course

Reminding yourself time and time again that every social event or 8 hour sleep that you miss is going to be worthwhile can be exhausting. Trust me. Keeping your eyes on the prize for months on end really can become a futile task, but there are a few ways that you can keep your sanity and almost live to tell the tale of how you got the grades you wanted, made your first choice and finally exited the vicious circle that is education before University.

Meet your deadlines

Deadlines exist for a reason. We all hate them, I actually think that if we didn’t have deadlines we would probably get our work done sooner, and better. The fact is, however, that we are usually given deadlines for our work. These deadlines are there to keep us in check, and as much as we hate them they cannot be ignored. Get your work done, and you won’t have to stress over it. Start things with plenty of time to spare, and finish up as soon as you can.

Study as much as you can

Exams are a killer. In fact if you study in the UK count yourself lucky. Some places, like my own Ireland, don’t use coursework based assessment and students have between 6 and 10 exams at the end of their final year that will determine what university they get into. Exams are great though. As much as you might protest about them don’t think of exams as a test of memory, think of them as a test of knowledge. If you are confident, and understand your course exams won’t be a problem. Finally, study how you learn. Youtube videos count as study if they are on the topic!

Relax, dont stress

Alright. So if you are meeting your deadlines, getting your work done well and on time and keeping up on your revision you have the whole assessment covered. But you cant let yourself burn out. If you end up feeling like the whole world is pushing down on you all you will be thinking about is how much you hate learning and that’s not what you hate. You hate feeling like you are learning for someone else. Take plenty of breaks, get good sleep and don’t put yourself out there for anyone else. Do your thing, for you.

That’s everything. If you want to learn more about dealing with stress you can check out my other blog post here.

Dealing with Stress at University – Stress is like the flu, everyone usually gets it

December 21, 2018

Setting Goals for 2019 – Making the most at Edge Hill

New Year Goals

With the first semester over at university you may be thinking back over the times during when things didn’t really follow your plan. That might be that you never got the job you were looking for, or never got the grades you expected. It happens to all of us but in this blog post I want to talk about three ways that you can turn yourself around, and not give up hope on the goals you wanted to achieve.

Don’t forget your old goals

It might be tempting to simply write off those things that you just had to achieve in your first few months at university because you haven’t yet accomplished them. But don’t. Remember that perseverance in the face of extreme doubt is the only way to get where you want. I personally wanted to have my driving test passed before Christmas. When I didn’t, I came back after the new year with a positive attitude. I wasn’t bogged down with the fact I hadn’t passed, and shortly after the new year I got my full license. So don’t forget your goals.

Make positive changes

I’m not even batting around the bush with this one. Coursework. If you left it to the last moment last year, that might be in university or college, then don’t. Get your coursework down as quickly as possible and use all of the time given to you. Not doing so is a massive mistake. Apart from that make a list of things that you know you want to change. Maybe its going to the gym more, or maybe its simply learning a new skill. Whatever it is, if you want it then go for it.

Reward yourself

Don’t forget to relax. All work and no play is no good for you. Take the time out to get yourself something nice, take a break, go home and see family. Just chill out. If you push yourself too hard towards something then eventually you will burn out. You don’t want to start really excited to get what you want and end up not wanting it because you pushed too hard too early.

That’s everything. Take these three things and you will be praised, trust me. If you want to learn more about dealing with stress you can check out my other blog post here.

Dealing with Stress at University – Stress is like the flu, everyone usually gets it

December 12, 2018December 28, 2018

Balancing your time – Work, play and study at Edge Hill University

Balancing time can be a challenge at the best of times. At university you might find you have less than you imagined, especially if you are trying to have a vibrant social life while working a part time job. I wanted to share three tips of mine to try and help you balance your time and keep yourself chilled out so you can be the best version of you.

Keep track

If you are trying to balance the time you have between a few tasks such as work and study you might find it easier if you keep a list or a schedule of the amount of time you have to dedicated to each. Maybe you will find you are spending way to much time on one.

Stick to your plans

If you make plans to do something you should stick to it. Even if that means going out. If you keep to your schedule you will find that you actually get more work done. Just because you go to the library for 6 hours doesn’t mean you get 6 hours work done. Most of the time you spend 5 and a half thinking about what else you could be doing instead.

Enjoy what you do

This is the hardest of them all but the most important. If you don’t actually like what you are doing then why would you ever want to do it. If you are working, work in a way that you like. If you are studying, then study how you enjoy doing it (Pro tip: Watch YouTube videos on the topic). Finally, if you go out then go out how you want. Don’t go to places you don’t want to be and drink what you want, not the strongest cheapest thing there is.

That’s everything. Take these three things and you will be happier, trust me. If you want to learn more about dealing with stress you can check out my other blog post here.

November 28, 2018

3 Things to Make You the Favourite Flatmate – Living at EHU

Three Things to make you the fav flatmate

Moving into a flat with new people can be daunting and exciting all at the same time. Believe me, i’ve been there, and I know that you want to make a good impression from the moment you walk in the door. Over my first year there were a number of things that were great about my own flat but three things stand out that just made the experience better. So without taking up any more of your time here are three things that you too can bring with you to make you the favorite flatmate, at least in my flat.

1. Games

And not just drinking games, although they are great too if your flat is into that. Monopoly is just such a good game to play with mates. Everyone ends up either laughing or shouting because someone was cheating the whole time and the banker can never be trusted. If you want to know who your true friends are, its the ones who bail you out when you are about to go bankrupt in monopoly. Beer pong, truth or shots and a deck of cards for Kings (Someone told me they call it Ring of Fire here, that’s wrong though just saying) are also awesome ways to get ready for a night out.

2. Good food

This one is a little more difficult. When we say good food we don’t actually mean a take away or pizza, we mean a good recipe. If you can make a curry that draws everyone out from their rooms then you know you are onto a winner. This makes a lot of sense around Christmas time. Not a lot of students can make a full Christmas dinner but if you are willing to take on the challenge your flatmates will thank you. Try pick a night for flat dinner night in. We had Mondays, my favorite was the time we made pizza. Shoutout to everyone in Blake 101-108 who was there.

3. Firestick / Chromecast / Something with Netflix

The TV provided in the kitchen is unfortunately not a smart TV and this can make watching movies a real pain. Bring a cheap fire stick or something else for maximum flat happiness in the kitchen at all times. For music during cooking, nights out and movies late at night or early in the morning having some form of device on your kitchen TV is going to make the flat fitter, happier and more productive. And in turn you will be praised trust me.

That’s everything. Take these three things and you will be praised, trust me. If you want to learn more about what other useful things you should bring to university check out my other post here:

Walking out the door – Getting ready to leave home for Edge Hill University

November 26, 2018November 26, 2018

Gaming at Edge Hill – 3 Reasons to join the Video Game Society

Gaming is becoming a bigger and bigger entertainment source. With the explosion in recent years of E-Sports and Virtual Reality based gaming the entertainment industry has estimated that by 2021 gaming will make up a whopping $29 billion. So if you enjoy your gaming, on any platform from PC to tabletop the Edge Hill Video Game Society have you covered, and here’s why:

1. The people

The VGS is full of interesting characters of all backgrounds but what brings them together is the common interest of all things gaming. You will meet friends here and everyone has a laugh. Everyone is open for a chat and you don’t have to worry about showing up alone, someone will spark up a conversation.

2. The games

There is never a dull moment at VGS when it comes to games, a plethora of both classic and modern games are played every night at VGS. Nintendo is usually on the big screen with classic fighting games but expect others like Rocket League, Halo, Call of Duty, CS:GO, and more. There is something there for every type of gamer.

3. The Events

Finally in this list is the events. VGS meets twice a week but on so many other occasions they have special events like gameathons and charity fundraisers. One example is the recent 72 hour game jam ran in aid of children in need that raised over £700 for the worthy cause. The 2018 game jam took place on campus and lasted from Friday night to Monday morning with LAN parties and classic gaming. Trust me you don’t want to miss the next one.

If you want to find out more about the EHU VGS check out their page on the official EHU SU website here!