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International Students to LSBU Students

International students from London Southbank University (LSBU) have had mixed reviews on their transitions from their countries to here in London.

LSBU has hundreds of international students studying on their campuses working hard. Their journeys to get into LSBU has been even harder for some, from trying to achieve their home status to trying to find different payment plans for their accommodations. 

If you’re not from the EU then good luck getting a quick response from most London universities. A resident from Hong Kong who is living in David Bomberg House, Borough Road, has said “It’s not fair, it’s like they push the international student to the back because we are harder to deal with”. They had to keep bugging universities for a response to if they were able to study there and it was just luck that they were able to go into LSBU. They have said “They really just want your money, I still haven’t been able to get a student finance and I have to keep asking my parents for money. They aren’t considering my family and how I am meant to keep myself stable to student finance”

Listen to Alice from McLaren house on her transfer to LSBU

Another student, Lisa from McLaren House, St George’s Circus, was able to move swiftly with a Swedish company called blueberry who help students from the EU transfer swiftly to the UK to study. When applying for a student finance there were complications as she had to have on paper she was receiving the payments and making a payment plan with the university as she could only pay monthly unlike the UK students who pay termly. She said “it was quite easy, a few bumps in the road but I think it’s because I am from the EU so it should have been quite straightforward.”

What do I think so far?

Here is my intake of living in student accommodation as a first year so far…

I’m living in McLaren house which is part of the 4 accommodations that London Southbank University has to offer. It’s one of the biggest having almost 600 student flats. The place is full of life with students from all over the globe studying many different courses. Well of course it’s literally the ‘party central’.

My time here so far hasn’t been too bad. I’ve met amazing people within the accommodation. Not a far walk from my classes. It’s a nice place. However, where there is an up, there is also a down. This is for people thinking about moving into student accommodation

It’s crazily lively here, but maybe too lively. It is nice to see people having a good time but if you want to study or do some work maybe do it during the day? You will hear the craziest singing, arguments and just bizarre comments from other students. Sometimes they don’t stay quiet. On top of that, living next to a A&E dept AND a police station you will constantly hear sirens but they come and go.

Another thing is guest passes. Story time. So my boyfriend wanted to come over and spend the night. Very convenient because I live so close to where I work compared to him. The problem is I can’t just sign him in. I have to wait two days to see if the accommodation can approve him coming over. A simple thing that takes two whole days to approve…In good news, we’ve learnt to overcome that obstacle.

Alice from McLaren has said: “the atmosphere is so good. Everyone has a good vibe.” She’s right but she’s also said: “facilities are not as good as they could be. It’s very strict with the rules. If you don’t have a guest pass, you will be kicked out even in the middle of the night.” That’s the down side of it all.

Student accommodation has its moments. If you’re in for a right laugh I would say go for it otherwise, think about flat sharing. I’ll be making another post for students who want to flat share as a first year.

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Fortune telling journalist? What a dream!

Tarot cards

Who wouldn’t want to be a journalist who can tell the future? Having future news at the click of your finger would be a dream for every journalist all around the world.

Malee is a student studying journalism in London and her hobby is divination.  Divination is a type of practice by using supernatural means for seeking things about the future or the ‘unknown’. Malee has been professionally practicing for more than 3 years. She said: “I’m a spiritual person, nothing to do with religion or anything but I love the way I can be so free with with it.” she classifies herself as an eclectic witch. She studies journalism in a London University. She said “ Both subject gives me freedom, one in writing and the other spiritual.”

Malee and her tarot cards

When visiting Malee, she uses a spare room which she has decorated so she can have visitors and use her spiritual mindset without any distractions. When visiting, it seemed like a nice calming space. She lit some incense and candles around the room. It was quite relaxing. Malee herself was very calming, she is currently trying to increase her knowledge by learning witchcraft and spells. She said: “I want my guests and visitors to have a calming experience, no judgement is allowed here.” This is a new adventure to start up her hobby. Wanting it to be business on the side, she charges £5 a session. Hoping she can learn more within the hobby, she is thinking about increasing the price when she learns and practices more.

Adam, who visited Malee for the first time, was there to have a tarot card reading. Usually a session lasts 10-20 min depending on which package you decide to take and how  much you want to know. He said “I’ve been having a tough time recently. I don’t usually believe in stuff like this but I wanted to have a try.” Even though he doesn’t believe in her hobby, he does read horoscopes and he mentioned how accurate they are however, they are quite vague. After his session, it was almost like adam had a change of heart.  He said: “It helped me realise what I need to do. I will come back again.”

Asking two university students, Alliyah, studying law, and Becks, studying drama, about what they think about divination, they both had similar opinions. Alliyah didn’t believe in it one bit. She said: “ It is complete bollocks, a complete scam. They are playing on something people want to believe in and getting people to pay for it. Completely disgusting.” Talking to Alliyah she was very passionate about how the whole subject is fake. Becks said “I am very skeptical about the whole subject. It’s nice to know about your future but it is quite vague. Especially, as she is studying journalism, I don’t think it mixes very well.” In response, Malee had a calm approach, welcoming them to a free session saying: “There is no judgement, people are welcome to their opinions.  

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Diabetes UK

Will Stone from Brixton

Four colleagues work together to raise money for a charity which is close to their hearts.

Will Stone, 25, a surveyor from Brixton and 3 of his colleagues have completed the One Million Step challenge for Diabetes UK.  They have all enjoyed working  together as a team as well as individually to help fundraise and create awareness for Diabetes UK, as they each have close friends or family who are suffering from diabetes. Andrew Shepard, one of the colleagues has said: “Everyone in the team has their own experience of how diabetes can affect our loved ones and ourselves.”

Diabetes is the most devastating and fastest growing health crisis of our time, affecting more people now  than any other serious health condition in the UK before. It affected more people than dementia and cancer combined. There is currently no known cure for any type of diabetes.

Diabetes UK have been asking people to step out of their comfort zone and complete 1 millions steps over the course of 3 months ending in September and encourage people to get sponsored for every stride.  Diabetes is a condition where there is too little or too much glucose to the point where the body can’t function properly.  

Andrea Baganz-Pritchard, Diabetes UK Fundraising Manager, said: “We’re really grateful to the team at AS Retail for supporting our work to fund ground-breaking research, care services and campaigns that can change the lives of those living with diabetes. The One Million Step Challenge is perfect if you want to take steps towards a healthier you.”

 

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The rebels are coming

Thousands of activists from Extinction Rebellion are joining forces all over London to make demands to the government about deteriorating state of the environment.

Extinction Rebellion describe themselves as a “non-violent civil disobedience activist movement” who are looking for answers from the government about how they are going to deal with climate crisis. They have activist groups in all 32 boroughs in London and are expanding as we move. Not even a year old and they are demanding the government to take action on this crisis. They have built protest sites all over Central London from Trafalgar Square to Whitehall and City Airport with the total of 12 sites across Central London.

Speaking to Hayden from Extinction Rebellion Hackney he said: “the government are not delivering, we want them to communicate with us to see what action they are going to take and we are not stopping until they listen.” The activist group have only three demands of the UK government. They want the government to tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, to stop biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse emissions by 2025 and create a national citizen assembly on climate and ecological justice.

One of the activist, Mark, 45, has been campaigning to push legislations on climate change for 30 years. He has said: “Nothing has been happening, something needs to happen.” 50 years he has been a non-violent activist and has seen these protest all before. He has mentioned “The rise of Greta Thunberg has brought people together. The public are starting to listen and realise there is a big problem. However, the government keep giving us false hopes. The more people realise, the more people will act and the more the government will have to raise attention to this.”

As well as the biggest protests happening in London, Extinction Rebellion are based in 23 location all over the world and just keep expanding. Greta Thunberg has become the poster girl for this movement and keeps on shining even though she has faced much criticism from famous figures as powerful as world leaders. Only 16, she has created movements such as ‘school strike for climate change’ where she encouraged millions of student to walk out and protest for their future. She’s impacted millions to protest around the world to take action.

Another activist, Grant, 24, has said: “The system is toxic. We’re destroying life as we speak. I was inspired by Greta Thunberg. She has made this movement so fast growing it’s not even a year old. We need to start educating people about this crisis.”