Elections for LUSU full time officers were held this week at uni. Looking around campus there were so many fliers, posters and banners promoting the (rather brave) candidates and their ideas for a better students’ union. As I took note of these promotions I began to think about how uni can give you a voice and a platform. Uni can offer you the opportunity to promote something important to you and this week I have decided that I’d like to take up that platform; it’s time to talk about a few things, beyond my degree, that are really important to me.

– Raising awareness

This week I have been in collaboration with County’s JCR (which is our college’s student led council, for those wondering what on Earth a JCR is!) to organise a quiz to raise awareness about mental health and the stigma that surrounds it. Actually, the title for this week’s blog is taken from the name of the campaign I am supporting: Time to Talk, Time to Change. There are so many questions people have about mental health and this campaign wants to show that it is okay to talk ask them and to talk about it. There should be no labels preventing people from doing anything at all. Mental health is not something we should be supressing, it is something we should be supporting. People do NOT deserve to be discriminated against because they have a mental health problem, they deserve support and understanding. My aim for this event is to really encourage people to adopt this view and to highlight that, as students, we should all make the effort to talk and make the effort to change by stopping this stigma.

The quiz is actually Harry Potter themed and I have had such a great time organising it! I have created a set of questions based on the series of books and the films which will hopefully challenge even the most dedicated Potterheads! I’ve been working alongside our college welfare officers to develop the event and we’re hopefully going to be able to hold it in our college bar, The Northern Oak. I’m really hoping that it’s going to be popular because the campaign is really, really important to me. It’s been so fun writing the questions and designing the posters for the event, so I’m willing people to come along and support this worthwhile cause, plus they’ll get a chance to show off their Harry Potter knowledge!

– Food(!) and Writing

You may recall my mentioning of joining up for the uni paper SCAN and that I had a meeting with the editor of Carolynne to discuss some ideas? Well, I had a fabulous time with her! It was really great to hear the sorts of things they wanted to include in the column; I now have 2 sides of A4 full of article topics that they want me to get going with! I’m particularly looking forward to writing an article on how to make vegetarian food interesting, as well as working alongside Green Lancaster to promote their new ‘pick your own’ herb gardens and give some suggestions of how to use what they’re growing effectively. I really enjoy cooking and baking, so hopefully writing the column will inspire some students to get a bit savvier in the kitchen. I’m hoping I’ll get quite a lot out of it too, because they have given me some challenging ideas! I just hope my flatmates have a pair of stretchy trousers on hand if they try all of the new recipes!

– Being part of my societies

This week choir had TWO (!) wonderful announcements! We are going to compete in a sectionals competition in Wales later on in the year and we will be doing a set at Campus fest next weekend! BUT to top that off, we are also accompanying the fireworks on Saturday evening with a Disney medley – including Let it Go from Frozen! Aaaaah! I am insanely excited! I’m looking forward to going to the competition so, so much; I’m sure it’s going to be such a fab day. We’re deciding on what we’re doing for that when we’ve finished Campus Fest and I think it’s going to be amazing! I’ll let you know how Campus Fest, which is a big event at the uni with music, food, other cool stalls and fireworks at the end, goes in the next post! I can’t wait to sing the Disney medley, but our set also includes ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ which will be a bit of a laugh!

Ballet society are also performing in Campus Fest, I found this week, so I’ve got some extra rehearsals coming up for that too! We’ve also been discussing our new exec for ballet, so who will be our new president and treasurer, things like that. I think I might run for Secretary of Treasurer; so I’ll have to get on with a little manifesto! I think being part of the ballet exec will be fab; it’s such a titchy society and everybody is quite close, so I’d like to think that that will continue as we move into next term and next academic year! We’ve also got society sweatshirts now (and I am way too excited at this fact) so we’ll all match!

– Being close with my family and my friends

I spent Saturday in Liverpool with my auntie  the weather was absolutely stunning and I had such a lovely day! We visited New Brighton and Birkenhead and rode on an old fashioned tram! I have two aunties living in Liverpool so I went to visit my other auntie too! I love being so close to them, as it’s a five hour car journey from where I usually live! I had a really lovely chat and a proper giggle! So, there you have just a couple of things that are important to me!

It’s strange, sometimes my flatmates and I will hardly see each other – we’re either busy with assignments and lecture notes, or out at society meetings, or trying to catch up on sleep. This week, however, we’ve done so many things together! We went on a little jaunt around campus, when the weather was lovely, and took some great photos; we went to Nando’s in Preston on Friday (it was beautiful!) and we watched a film! Just taking some time away from study to have a bit of fun without going out-out is wonderful; we chatted and we laughed and we just had a really fab chilled couple of evenings. I think everyone had a nice time, well I hope they did!

This week has made me appreciate the fact that sometimes it’s worth discussing what’s important because these are the things that I feel strongly about, or that I really enjoy and, for me, they really matter. I really hope my little adventures this week have somehow conveyed this and that you’ve enjoyed reading!

History Hugs,Eleanor :0