Exploring new places

While there’s a lot to see and do in Southampton, it’s also very easy to travel by coach or train to the neighbouring towns and cities. I’m always keen to go and visit new places, so last weekend I took a day trip to Reading with my housemate, before heading to London for a concert! We were really lucky to have refreshingly sunny weather, and it was fun to see the town where one of my closest university friends grew up in.

Knowing that I’m likely to be moving back to Australia once I graduate has made me keener to make an effort to see and explore more places in the UK before I go. It’s so easy to travel to and from Southampton.

Checking out the Museum of Reading 

A walk in Forbury Gardens, enjoying the great weather. 

Last week I attended the first Biosciences International Students meeting of the semester. Meetings are arranged for the first Wednesday of every month and are organised in order to help EU and international students with any difficulties they may be having while getting used to university life in the UK. We’re always given a free lunch and time to talk with other EU and international students, often to discuss any issues we may having with coursework or lectures (which is usually particularly relevant for those who have English as a second language). Optional English Language Support classes are provided for those who feel they could benefit from this extra resource.

In addition, we’ve started planning a couple of day trips for later in the year including a potential trip to the New Forest and a visit to the Royal Society in London. Talks are also organised to help support us with our studies and to help us when deciding on what to do after graduation. In the past, these talks have included information about postgraduate study with a focus on PhD’s in the UK, giving a good presentation and graduate entry into medicine for those who were interested.

I also held the first Green Action Society committee meeting of the year last week. After not meeting for several weeks due to the Christmas break and exams we had a lot to discuss and plan, which is all part of the responsibility of running a society. During our first official society meeting of the year we will be preparing for the first annual Global Divestment Day which will take this Friday. It’ll be exciting to see if we have any new members keen to get involved as well as continuing to inform current members about our plans. The aim is to get everyone motivated and excited about getting involved in order to reach out to more students and spread the aims and importance of our campaign.

Kristin