If you were at Edge Hill University last week, you might have noticed that it was Pride week. How would you have known, you ask? Why the main building being lit up in true rainbow fashion, of course! A great show of solidarity from the university, and with their continued support of all gender toilets and inclusivity it’s not without merit.
Last year was the first ever Pride week at Edge Hill University, before that, the LGBT+ students had usually headed over to Preston for their annual Pride event, lacking anything closer to home. This year saw the return of the pronoun workshop on Monday, a short educational event on how to ask someone’s pronouns and pronouns outside the binary of him/her. Also on Monday was the Student Union Bar quiz, featuring a bonus pride round.
Tuesday was a day for sports and societies to show their support for the LGBT community, with the Pride in Sport and Societies workshop on in the afternoon just before the BUCS sports teams signed the 2018 Pride Pledge, at the Team Edge Hill Forum. The BUCS teams all wore rainbow laces during their Wednesday games, making a visual statement of support to go alongside their signings the day before. Pride Social also saw a return in 2018 on Wednesday evening at Venue, with confetti cannons and rainbow face paint to boot.
On Thursday evening in the Hub, banners were made alongside the film, Pride, being played upstairs – right by the flags hanging proudly from the bridge to the SU Offices. This was of course in preparation for the Pride March that occurred on Friday at midday. Also on Friday, starting at 7pm, was the SU Drag Race, being presented and judged by Manchester’s own, Miss Blair.
Fear not if you missed the events of Pride Week, for, on March 15th, Venue is hosting “Milk”, the North West’s NEWEST LGBT+ Clubnight that promises drag acts and stilt walkers. Open not just to students but to all members of the LGBT+ community and friends.
With the beginning of February comes the Applicant Visit Days, typically held between now and March/April, non-interviewing applicants will soon receive notice of these wonderful days – maybe you already have! Although I personally did not attend an applicant visit day for Biology, I have worked for the Biology Department as an Applicant Visit Day Helper, therefore I know a little something about what goes down on one of these visit days.
The Edge Hill University Biology Department is home to many sub-disciplines, from ecology to human biology – despite this, students from different courses will certainly overlap both in the common first year and in shared modules. In account of this, the Applicant Visit Day has an introductory talk given to the cohort as a whole, as well as area specific activities with a focus on either ecology, human biology, or genetics, for example. When I worked the Applicant Visit Day last year, I supervised the ecology taster session – and introduction to invertebrate ecology and identification, using keys and microscopes. Also part of the Biology section on Applicant Visit Days is the building tour, where you get a better look at the labs and equipment available to use once you begin studying with us. With the opening of the Tech Hub and the top floor lab, there’s even more space and equipment to use!
The Biosciences building for Biology at Edge Hill
I have also worked for the Money Advice Team on applicant visit days, as a Money Buddy, positioned in The Hub. The Money Advice Team hold presentations on student finance, as well as budgeting – particularly from a student’s point of view (hence the Money Buddies). My role was to speak to potential future students about financial help offered by EHU as well as budgeting advice.
The Tech Hub
One of the pros of attending an Applicant Visit day (other than getting a better feel for your course and department) is getting to meet other students. If you’re worried about meeting new people at university, your course is the best place to start, and Applicant Visit days give you a head start. I hope you’re able to attend one and take advantage of this opportunity!
Edge Hill’s campus is full of beautiful places, it’s like its own little town with pretty much everything you would need. The friendly, community feel of the campus was a huge factor in my choice to study here so I thought I’d share a few of my favourite places with you.
I love the Arts Centre because it has such great facilities for the performing arts students. It boasts a large number of facilities for every aspect of the arts from dance studios to costume workshops. I personally enjoy going to see shows and events there, I’ve been to so many over the last couple of years from professional productions to those put on by students and I’ve even performed in the Rose theatre myself!
Chancellor’s court is where I used to live in first year, it has a certain nostalgia about it for me. My room used to directly overlook the river so it was lovely to wake up to such a gorgeous view. I Love sitting at the beach area when the weather is nice. The entire area is such a relaxing environment and definitely one of my favourite places to chill.
I managed to see Sporting Edge being built during my first year at Edge Hill, seeing how much it developed really interested me. I love how new and shiny everything is there, especially the swimming pool which is where I spend most of my time there. One of my favourite aspects of the sports building is that it has a café area overlooking the pool so you can grab a Starbucks after a good work out.
I spend most of my time in The Hub nowadays, it’s the central point of the campus and is often very busy during term times. It has so many different places to grab food and a drink, you can get a meal deal from McColl’s or a hot meal from Sages, or my personal favourite a panini from the sandwich area. The Hub also has a number of different stalls that visit on a weekly basis that sell crepes, smoothies, candles, knitwear and a load of other things. It’s a great and very central place to meet up with friends before or after class.
Now that we’re well into January, Edge Hill has kicked into study mode! Various exams and assessments are occurring currently, so I thought what would be better than to show you the perfect places to study around campus, as I think Edge Hill is probably one of the best Universities in terms of the variety of study-suited areas for students, each with their own atmosphere and resources.
1) The Edge Hill Library
Edge Hill Library
This is probably my favourite place to study, for a variety of reasons:
The library has a variety of brilliant resources- endless books (two floors full!), Windows computers for those who don’t have a computer/laptop of their own or for if you just want a change of atmosphere, printers and photocopiers, quiet independent and group study rooms which are suitable for getting your head down and getting work done, laptops available for rent and (possibly my favourite thing…) a vending machine with stationary!
The library is open 24 hours for students, all you need is your Student ID card so that you can gain entry! This is great, because you know there is a place where you can study for long periods of time without worrying about having to move somewhere else when you’re on a roll with your work. It also means that if you particularly like to work in either a busy or quiet environment, you can choose to go study in the library when you know it’s usually busier or quieter once you get used to the general atmosphere throughout the day.
As I mentioned above, the library has a variety of independent and group study rooms available upon booking. The thing I love the most about these is that they mean you’re not sat in your room where the urge to procrastinate is insane, but you’re in your own room away from the possible distractions of other students. This is especially awesome for when you’re only available to study at a certain time, but you know the library will be busy and you like to have a quiet atmosphere.
Hale Hall isn’t strictly a study area in the way that the library is- there aren’t books and computers available for you- but I still love it just as much!
There are many comfortable sofas in Hale Hall and tables, as you can see above, and the atmosphere is perfect for quiet study. There are moments throughout the day where Hall Hale might be slightly busy, however, it is mostly quiet and although you are studying, the atmosphere doesn’t seem as tense as maybe a space designed strictly for studying, like the library, might feel. It just feels comfortable!
3) The Hub
The upstairs area of the Hub
The Hub is situated in the centre of the campus, so easily accessible to all! The Hub is mostly for students to grab food between lessons or for catered students to get their meals for the day, however there is an upstairs area that’s perfect for getting work and revision done. There are computers and a printer and photocopier available for any work you need them for, and although most of the seats available are fairly out in the open, there are some small booths which are better for getting more privacy to work quietly, with large touchscreen computers for your use.
4) The LINC Building
The LINC Building
The LINC building is situated very close to the library in the centre of the campus, so is also just as accessible as the library and the Hub!
One of the biggest reasons I like this building when I have to study or get coursework done is the fact that it has a large amount of computers accessible to students 24/7 as long as you have your student ID. It also has printers and photocopiers for your use too!
The atmosphere of this building is great for if you need to focus on your work, as it’s mostly quiet throughout the day, however, it can get busy at times due to there being so many computers for the use of students, so if you want to get work done I wouldn’t wait around!
Of course, if you don’t like to study in places like the library or just find it easier to study in the environment of your own room, then why not?
Personally, I don’t find it so easy to study in my room as I get distracted too easy and procrastinate, but I do know that some people find it way easier to study in their own personal space so this is always an option for everyone! It also makes studying more appealing when it’s freezing or raining (typical Northern weather), as you can stay in in your pyjamas and slippers, have a coffee or two and power on through your work comfortably!
So, I hope this has given you some good tips and an idea of the kind of places available for studying at Edge Hill! Thank you for reading 🙂
Sometimes I feel like my life is like Rae’s… which is a bit of a lie if I’m being honest because we have very little in common. Unlike Rae, I thankfully don’t suffer from any mental illnesses, I don’t have a dysfunctional family (most of the time) and I don’t have self confidence issues.
BUT like Rae, I do seem to binge eat- a lot. I set goals for each year and I know losing weight will always be at the top, but this plan seems to vanish when I come back to uni. Uni can sometimes be long, dull days of which eating a full pizza (and not regretting any slice) makes you feel slightly better. This year (2nd) we aren’t going out as much, we aren’t messing around as much (indoor water fights/egg fights to think of a couple) and we pretty much know everything about each other, so hours of learning about everyone’s backgrounds are long gone. To be honest our focus has switched from the social experience of a fresher to knuckling down and working to maintain good grades.
Campus has many areas for you to eat. The HUB area offers a range of foods, including vegan and vegetarian options. There are shops based around campus for quick purchases, along with a takeaway and delivery service. The SU provides food at a good price and in some buildings, such as the education building and the heath building, there is a restaurant and catering facilities.
However I’m on a big push to not only kick start my diet, but to keep to it and actually lose weight! No doubt there will be ups and downs, but I’ll keep you all up to date on here.
One idea we’ve been given to write about in either March or April is student life at Edge Hill. This can include stuff about societies, facilities on campus we really like, the edge hill campus in general etc. So, I thought I’d talk about the hub. Finished the year before I started Edge Hill, it is one of the places I visit most often on campus aside from my departmental building (Social and Psychological Sciences building) and the Library. I’ve talked about the hub before in another blog post (http://blogs.edgehill.ac.uk/insideedge/2014/03/16/and-the-award-for-my-favourite-place-to-on-campus-goes-to/) where I named it as my favourite place on campus and this is still the case today.
What do I like about it so much? Well it’s diverse range of facilities. It boasts a shop on the ground floor (McColls) that sells a range of things, there are two eateries (Sages and Grab ‘N’ Go), there’s places you can sit and eat or just socialize with your friends, there’s computers up and downstairs, cash machines outside McColls and throughout the week there are stalls selling different things. My favourite of these is the Cakeman of Cottage Cakes who sells the most amazing cakes I have ever tasted (seriously if you end up coming to Edge Hill in University visit him when he’s in, you will definitely not regret it) and I even won one once (I had a choice of either three pieces of tray bake cakes or one big one – I opted for one big one because my family were coming up to visit me and take me out for my dad’s birthday).
The hub is also where I eat my lunch (I mainly bring my own in to help me save money) and spend some time chilling out when I’m not in the library or in lectures.
So that’s the hub in a nutshell, and if anyone wants to know anything more about student life at Edge Hill then feel free to drop me a comment.
Over the past few weeks or so the Doctor Who Society and Fantasy and Sci-Fi society (that I’m a part of) have been getting together on a Saturday night to watch, yep you guessed it Doctor Who on the big screen over in the hub. This can be booked out for use by Edge Hill students via the Student’s Union for society meetings, for instance the video gaming society use it on a weekly basis for playing video games in multi-player mode and the american Superbowl final gets shown on there too when it’s on. I started going to watch it with them around episode seven of the current series “Kill the Moon”, which features Peter Capaldi as the famous time traveler and Jenna Coleman as his companion Clara.
With them I have also watched
Mummy on the Orient Express (for someone who is interested in Egyptology this was a great episode)
Flatline (there were quite a few funny bits to this episode which we all laughed out loud at, the Addams Family reference was my favourite!)
In the Forest of the Night
Getting together with other people at University (who may or may not be on your course and in your year) to do things like this is a brilliant idea in my opinion. So should the above societies continue to do this next year when you’re at Edge Hill, it’s something I recommend you getting involved with 🙂
Fear not if you missed the events of Pride Week, for, on March 15th, Venue is hosting “Milk”, the North West’s NEWEST LGBT+ Clubnight that promises drag acts and stilt walkers. Open not just to students but to all members of the LGBT+ community and friends.
