Edition 8 – The Bucks Student lite by Bucks Students' Union

lite

edition 8

Get your fill of chicken

STRIVE is underway

Wednesday 13 May

A Festival from home

The Bucks Student lite: edition 8

Welcome! In this edition: Sabb update . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Rusty recommends. . . . 4 Events calendar . . . . . . . 5 STRIVE Festival. . . . . . . . 6 With the festival underway, find out what you can get involved with

BUCS challenge. . . . . . . . 8 Catherine and BUCS challenge you!

NSS update. . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Thanks to your efforts, the University have donated a lot of money to RAG

My time at Bucks . . . . . 10 Alumni activities. . . . . . 11 Recipe corner. . . . . . . . . 12

Editor’s note, Wednesday 13 May Is the end of lockdown in sight? Whilst the weekend announcement maybe wasn’t the clearest, it seems that some restrictions are starting to lift, and maybe our new normality is changing again as we slowly revert to how everything was before. Although who knows what lasting impact there will be? I know it will probably take me a while to get used to not dodging people in the street, or pressing up against the sides of aisles in supermarkets when someone walks by.

Remote volunteering. 13

What do you think? How have you spent your lockdown time and what changes are you looking forward to?

Employability tips. . . . 14

You can let us all know by dropping a quick email to; editor@thebucksstudent.com and who knows, maybe it’ll get published and help someone else out?

We explore how to use assertiveness to your advantage

Advice Centre update. 16

If you don’t want to contribute, that’s fine too - you can just take half an hour out of your day every Wednesday to see what’s been going on at Bucks Students’ Union.

Sabb update

Christina Demetriou VPSI

Tao Warburton President

Brooke Pilbeam VPEW

Hey everyone! So started off this week feeling pretty inspired, and it has really made such a difference. You’re probably wondering what influencer has inspired me or whatever but really, it’s been all of you!

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well and working hard on those last assignments/exams.

Hi everyone hope we’re all good! Quick little update from me!

Seeing posts of our students submitting their dissertations in the midst of all this, the names of all the Union Awards nominees and all the beautiful posts on International Nurses Day... Not only am I inspired but I am grateful for all the positivity and tenacity that everyone is sharing; it makes working from home easier and reminds me of why I’m proud to be a sabb.

Just a quick one from me this week. Our first Union council of lockdown went really well last week, we got to hear how you are feeling and what your questions are at this time. We could answer most if not all of your questions there and then, but if you didn’t get to ask what you wanted or we ran out of time then please do email us and we can make sure you have all the information you need. The ‘thankyouNHS’ campaign is still on going, so if you have yet to make a blue heart then please do get involved and tell all your friends and family to make one too. Don’t forget to tag Bucks Students’ Union with your pictures on social media. I have a pretty busy week with meetings so I should have more of an update next week. Hope you are all well and staying sane during this time, I know I’m struggling to find new things to keep me occupied but we can do it! Have a great week.

Union awards nominations are in the process of coming out, I hope you’ve seen them! We have some amazing students and university staff nominated for lots of exciting awards so stay up to date with it all on our social media! We held our first union council over Zoom last week where it was great to see some faces and have a chat about how your all getting on! We would like to do another one at some point so keep your eyes peeled for it! Speak to you all soon!

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Tao Warburton, Brooke Pilbeam, Christina Demetriou

Rusty recommends

Rusty recommends These are the events you can be looking forward to!

Although there may be no venue, that doesn’t stop events from happening! We’re searching the internet far and wide for virtual events that suit everyone! Wednesday 13 May – Wild Wednesdays

Friday 15 - Saturday 16 May – Five4Five Fest

It’s almost like being at the Zoo yourself! Join in with Edinburgh Zoo who are live streaming their webcams of SO MANY animals! From Penguins to Panders, Tigers to Koalas and so much more! Animals have such a positive affect on mental health so to keep up the positive spirit we recommend this every week!

Five4Five Fest, a new online music festival, have revealed that their headliners are set to be Enter Shikari and Don Broco. May 15 and 16 from 7:30pm, ten bands, five a day, will play sets that will be streamed on the Five4Five Facebook page. The sets will range from full band to solo and even feature completely re-imagined performances. The whole thing will be public and free, but those watching will be encouraged to donate £5 for the pleasure with all profits going to NHS Charities Together.

Thursday 14 May – Parc des Princes, PSG

Sunday 17 May – Star Wars Kahoot quiz

We’re exploring all sorts of virtual tours and after exploring so many beautiful museums of art and history we’re now checking out famous football stadiums from all over the world! We’re crossing the waters over to France for the 50,000 all-seater stadium. Keep an eye on where in the world we go too next!

A series of quizzes wouldn’t be right without a Star Wars week surely? That’s why this week we’re bringing you all things YODA! Check out the ‘what’s on page’ for everything in Yoda language and join us via Kahoot Sunday at 8:30pm – this week we’re bringing back a One Month Disney+ Subscription to the winner!

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Seana O’Reilly

Events calendar

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

13 May - 26 May | Events Calendar Wednesday 13

Thursday 14

Friday 15

Saturday 16

San Diego zoo cams

Netflix Party

Groove aerobics with alumni Daniel Browne

DJ OneF mixes

All day - What’s on page

Groove aerobics with alumni Daniel Browne What’s on page

7.30-10.30pm - Netflix Party

Virtual tours: Parc des Princes, PSG All day - What’s on page

What’s on page

Five4Five Fest: Don Broco stream

All day - Mixcloud

Five4Five Fest: Enter Shikari stream What’s on page

What’s on page

Alumni Activity: Rock it with Rho What’s on page

Sunday 17

Monday 18

Tuesday 19

Wednesday 20

Star Wars Kahoot quiz

Virtual tours: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Alumni Activity: Rock it with Rho

San Diego zoo cams

8.30-10pm - Kahoot

All day - What’s on page

What’s on page

Alumni Activity: Rock it with Rho

All day - What’s on page

Alumni Activity: Rock it with Rho What’s on page

What’s on page

Thursday 21

Friday 22

Saturday 23

Sunday 24

Netflix Party

Virtual tours: Georgia Aquarium

BBC RADIO 1 BIG WEEKEND

7.30-10.30pm - Netflix Party

Virtual tours: Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid FC

All day - What’s on page

BBC RADIO 1 BIG WEEKEND

All day - BBC Radio 1

Monday 25

Tuesday 26

Virtual tours: Shedd Aquarium

Alumni Activity: Rock it with Rho

All day - What’s on page

Groove aerobics with alumni Daniel Browne What’s on page

Alumni Activity: Rock it with Rho What’s on page

What’s on page

All day - BBC Radio 1

Animals Kahoot quiz 8.30-10pm - Kahoot

STRIVE Festival update

STRIVING for more Our Strive festival has started with our first workshops and panels taking place earlier this week, but it is not too late to get involved! Alumni Q & A Our alumni Q & As will run in a similar format but tell closer to home success stories from our graduates, again from a range of industries, giving tips and advice on how to succeed after graduating from university. Our Alumni speaker is Georgia Globe, a Film and TV graduate.

Paula Bolton Successful leader Successful leaders’ Q & A Our successful leaders’ Q & As will be done via instagram as a takeover and will be an opportunity for local successful leaders to talk about their experience and career as well as giving students tips and advice on how to “make it” in the business world. Our successful leader speaking this week is Paula Bolton, Director Franklin James Group Limited. This year (2020) she was elected by Santander to be part of their Breakthrough Women Business Leaders’ Mentoring Programme. Thousands applied, and they chose 21 mentors to help support Women in Business.

Georgia Globe is a graduate from Bucks New Uni. She studied Film and TV Production from 2014-2017, graduating in September 2017. After finishing her course, she struggled trying to find a job within film or TV, so continued with her part time jobs over summer. A month after Graduation she finally secured a 6 week contract with a production company shooting a show for the BBC at Pinewood Studios. From there, she did a 2 week placement at the ITV Daytime show This Morning in December 2017, which pretty much launched her career. After that placement, she did a few freelance jobs over the next 6 months, including working on Dancing On Ice, Blind Date and the pilot for the BBC1 show The Hit List. Until, she got the job as Office Runner on This Morning. Whilst on the show, she worked her way up and is now a Researcher. She has worked on This Morning for nearly 2 years.

We have a full programme of events with at least one taking place every day covering a range of topics so there will be something for you! We have specialised employability sessions covering topics like CV writing, time management as well as confidence building and goal setting workshops on offer and individual alumni and successful leaders takeovers spread throughout the week so there is something for everyone! All content is available online and you can attend from one to all the sessions. If you sign up to any part of this festival, we will email you offering to source a contact within your chosen industry. This will be your opportunity to network with someone already working in your chosen, or a similar field and ask any questions you may have. All of this is available online and all events can be signed up to on our What’s on page of the Students’ Union webpage. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Christina Demetriou

STRIVE Festival update

11 12

WEEK 1 JOBHUNTING WORKSHOP noon - 1pm

MO NDAY

T UE S DAY

13 14

MON D AY

Managing Director of Cerub PR – Successful leader Q&A and IG takeover 1 - 4.30pm

CV WRITING WORKSHOP noon - 1pm

CONFIDENCE WORKSHOP noon - 1pm

PAULA BOLTON PANEL Director of Franklin James Group – Successful leader Q&A and IG takeover 1 - 3pm

15 FRIDAY

GEORGIA GLOBE PANEL Film & TV alumni – Alumni Q&A and Instagram takeover 1 - 4.30pm

USING YOUR BUCKS AWARD noon - 1pm

RHONA NOEL PANEL Dance alumni – Alumni Q&A and Instagram takeover 1 - 4.30pm

CERI JANE HACKLING PANEL

W E DNE S DAY

T HURS DAY

WEEK 2

19 20 21 22

TIME MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP noon - 1pm

TU ESD AY

INTERVIEW SKILLS WORKSHOP noon - 1pm

WED N ESD AY

GOAL SETTING WORKSHOP noon - 1pm

TH U R SD AY

FR ID AY

NETWORKING SKILLS WORKSHOP noon - 1pm

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Christina Demetriou

BUCS challenge

Universities across the South East of BUCS are encouraging all our students to stay active, so have set up a challenge for the month of May. The Universities involved will create a team, more information about how to sign up is below. The Run Things platform brings together all the team members’ distances and creates a team total, which is presented in league tables. Not only that, but the members area dashboard will also display other team members, latest run info and the team total covered.

The guys at Run Things will also put out stats every few days with facts and figures such as:

The challenge is not just about running. The organisers have devised it so that running counts, but so do all other exercise activities. The event platform allows people to link their Strava, which then automatically ‘pulls through’ all runs undertaken. On top of that, people can manually upload their latest activities (and evidence). This can be runs if they don’t have Strava, or it can be for all other activities. For every six minutes of exercise undertaken, the participants can claim 1km towards the team total. That allows everyone to stay active and not rely only on running. All exercise counts – be it cycling, a HIIT class, dance or anything else.

To get involved, all you need to do is register using by going to runthings.co.uk/team-invitation. Register an account and then you will then need to use the id 42503, and coupon code WeareBucksNew to add yourself to team Bucks New University.

• Team sizes • Total distance covered • Average per participant in total, and per university • Total duration of activities declared • Average duration per participant, and per university

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Catherine Lymer

Responding & giving

Filling out the NSS all in the name of RAG... Thanks to all final year students who completed the NSS 2020 survey. We appreciate your valued feedback about your experience at Bucks which will help us to plan for the students who follow in your footsteps. The University donated £1 to the Students’ Union’s RAG charities for every completed survey, and we’re delighted to announce that together you’ve raised £1434 for Hillingdon Autistic Care and Support and Thames Valley Air Ambulance. We’re waiting to hear when this year’s NSS results will be published. As always, we’ll share the results with our University community and explain what action we’ll be taking in response to our students’ feedback.

Many congratulations to the three winners of our online prize draw who will each receive £100 of vouchers: • Charity Muchung: BSc (Hons) Nursing (Children’s) with NMC Registration

• Kirsty Phipps: BA (Hons) Airline and Airport Management

• Sandun Gunasekara: Foundation Degree (Science) Assistant Practitioner

Your feedback is welcomed throughout the year, and there are many different ways to make your voice heard. From completing surveys and module evaluations to attending the Student Union’s Union Council meetings, and by talking to your tutor and Course Reps. We’re here to listen and will keep you informed about how we’ll act on what you tell us. If you have any queries, contact student.centre@bucks.ac.uk.

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Rachel Cragg

My time at Bucks

We are talking (remotely!) to all of our Venue staff over the next few weeks and bringing you their run down of what it’s like to work for the Bucks Students’ Union Venue and Events team. This week Aaron talks about all the added benefits he has found through working at the Students’ Union Venue. “Since joining with a warm welcome right at the beginning of my first year, working at the Student Bar has been a great way to meet new people, learn an extensive amount of new skills (with many free courses included), and healthily balance my studies with work. The lovely colleagues and managers really do make you feel comfortable and valued, the hours are extremely flexible (very useful for the student lifestyle) and the actual duties involved are, on the most part, very enjoyable.

Aaron Dartnell If you would be interested in working on our bars, within our promotions team, a member of security or as part of our technical crew please check out bucksstudentsunion/workforus or you can get in touch via email; suvenuemanagement@bucks.ac.uk.

With the vast range of courses available to take, like learning first aid, fire safety qualifications and even earning your own bar licence, the Student Bar is packed with opportunities to help you progress as an individual and build a well rounded CV. There are also numerous opportunities for progression within the Student’s Union itself, such as becoming a team leader of the bar or a member of the security team (with the course available to take through the Students’ Union).

Overall, the Student Bar has been a place where I feel a great sense of community, trust and support and I feel very happy to be able to call it my place of work. It has given me a great chance to get to know many people in and outside of the bar, especially the lovely customers that I see weekly! As a person who isn’t pulled so strongly by the parties and dance floors, it is a great way to stay as social as possible, and that is one of my favourite things about working here!”

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Aaron Dartnell

Alumni activities

We’re working together with Bucks Alumni to support businesses by getting involved, check out what we have going on the ‘What’s on’ page on the website for more details!

Vintagejords – Jordan Malonga

Denise Sumbler

Bucks Alumni Jordan Malonga’s career has been non-stop since graduating, and even then Jordan has been known to return to link up with BNU Dance Club for some masterclass sessions! Jordan has since become Co-Founder of Virtue Media, apart of the creative team for Ronu Creative, created his own YouTube Channel – Vintagejords and is an ambassador for JK Attire!

2015 Graduate, Denise Sumbler some would say

Jordan’s newly found YouTube channel consists of regular videos about the behind the scene process of some of the concepts that he has shot and created. As well as the concepts of the videos themselves. Videography has allowed Jordan to be apart of some amazing events such as ‘Strawberries & Creem Festival’ ‘Hackey Carvinal’ filming for Tropical Isles Carnival group and Track Mafia. Even campaigns such as ‘I AM WOMAN’ for International Women’s Day and working with Fomm who collaborated with Simon Thompson in their most daring, exciting project to date! With the #podcastnetflixandchill The film review podcast that focuses on Netflix original shows, giving you the audience a feel on what to watch when you’re on Netflix! YouTube: Vintagejords Instagram: vintagejords

Denise is a ‘Bucks Legend’ when it comes to her fiery spirit and dedication to dance. Since graduating, Denise has returned to Bucks on a number of occasions to teach contemporary/ commercial masterclasses which are always FULL and fantastic! From choreographing the contemporary competition team with BNU Dance whilst still a student, to returning and teaching others Denise is a choreographer’s class not to miss! Her experience has continued to grow from teaching contemporary classes yearly at ‘MOVE IT’ the world’s biggest dance event at the Excel London to weekly classes at Futunity Dance, who are famous for their street team reaching the live semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent in 2018! Denise’s passion for dance fills a room whenever she teachers and we’re lucky enough to be supporting her live classes on Instagram! Check out Let’s dance on live for regular classes and you can also see others videos as they are reposted! Instagram: letsdanceonlive

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Seana O’Reilly

Recipe corner

Cornflake chicken An easy and tasty home comfort that’ll leave you coming back for more.

Ingredients 2 chicken thighs or drumsticks or 1 breast cut into 3-4 strips A little oil or butter

• Pre-heat the oven to 180°C • Put a small amount of oil or butter in an oven proof dish and heat in the oven for a couple of minutes • Crush the cornflakes with the back of a spoon in a cereal bowl • Season the cornflakes with salt & pepper and any herbs and spices to taste

Big handful of cornflakes

• Dip the chicken in the milk, then roll it in the cornflakes and transfer into the heated dish

100ml milk

• Sprinkle the leftover flaked mixture over the chicken and bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness of chicken)

Salt & pepper

• Enjoy with rice, chips, mash potato, salad, veggies, whatever you fancy really!

Optional herbs

• You could even serve with katsu curry sauce most supermarkets sell jars for under a pound.

Any dried herbs Paprika / chilli powder / Chinese 5 spice / steak seasoning/ fajitas seasoning / garlic granules

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Katie Smith

Remote volunteering

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Jade Collis

Remote volunteering This edition is all about becoming a “home hero” with Marie Curie. If you want to find out how to get involved, keep on reading!

The 2.6 challenge The 2.6 Challenge can be any activity you like – from running around the balcony for 2.6 miles to juggling for 2.6 minutes or doing 26 press-ups with the dog on your back, the options are endless! Sign up for the 2.6 challenge on the website mariecurie.org.uk/get-involved/ charity-events/two-point-sixchallenge

Join the Marie Curie team Now more than ever, the organisation need your help to support people with a terminal illness and their families. Find out how you can help make a big difference by joining their Volunteer Response Team. mariecurie.org.uk/get-involved

Fundraise by gaming Love Gaming? It’s time to do what you do best while raising money for Marie Curie. Join Power-Up and make a difference to people living with a terminal illness and their families. To find out how your hobbies can make a change to people with a terminal illness, visit the website to see their step by step guide. mariecurie.org.uk/get-involved/ power-up

These are only some suggestions of how you can use your time for good! Whatever you chose to do will have a huge impact on someone else so get involved! When volunteering don’t forget to tell us all about it by tagging the union on Instagram and Twitter and logging your volunteering hours! If you want to volunteer or want any help with volunteering or logging of your volunteering hours, please get in contact: volunteering@bucks.ac.uk.

Employability tips

Employability tips Assertiveness

Assertiveness is an incredibly useful skill to have through all aspects of your life, but most importantly at work. It will allow you to calmly and reasonably prevent yourself from taking too much on, while maintaining as much as possible (and this will depend on others’ personalities!) positive relationships with clients and other members of your organisation. We have outlined our top tips on assertiveness to help you be assertive in the workplace: Top Tips: • Show you are actively listening by maintaining eye contact and uncrossing your limbs • Be sincere and keep your voice firm with situation appropriate volume • Handle criticism constructively and positively, accepting praise and remembering it is ok to say no! • Respond to aggressive behaviour by giving a minimal and calm response that is neither defensive or in agreement, but does placate the other person. • Repeat your needs over and over again firmly but without raising your voice or getting angry Show your active listening: Active listening is a way of not just listening to the words spoken, but paying attention to the behaviour and body language of the speaker as well. It allows you to develop a more accurate understanding of the speaker’s message and a more positive response from the speaker as a result. To do this, it is important to maintain eye contact and open body language by uncrossing your arms and legs.

Be sincere: It is important when dealing with any situation that you stick to the facts and try and show this with the tone of your voice. Try not to raise your voice, but keep your voice firm and focused. Handle criticism and accept praise: Handling criticism well can be difficult, but it is important to try and take the constructive elements of criticism as this can help you improve your performance. It is equally important to be able to accept praise when given as this will act as a great motivation boost. Remember again that it is always ok to say no if you disagree with something or if you are asked to take on too much work! Respond to aggressive behaviour appropriately: It is not acceptable for anyone to act aggressively to you and it is important to report any behaviour that causes you to feel threatened in any way. But when dealing with a frustrated client or team member there are good techniques to placate the situation. Try and give a minimal and calm response, without being defensive over your position. This should act to placate the aggressive speaker and create a space to discuss the situation calmly. Repeat your needs: This is known as the “stuck record” technique! Try repeating your needs over and over speaking firmly but without raising your voice or getting angry, as this will show that you are calmly and reasonably able to stick to the point that you are trying to get across. Look out for our next employability tip in next weeks paper and don’t forget to sign up for our free employability workshops as part of STRIVE from this week!

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Emily West

Bucks Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union

Advice Centre Got a problem?

ADVICE CENTRE We help you find a solution! Tell us what it is

MONEY

Please call to make an appointment at either campus for a face-to-face, telephone or Skype

ADVICE CENTRE If you have problems in any of these areas we can help: ADVICE ADVICE CENTRE ADVICE CENTRE E CENTRE High Wycombe Campus:

Uxbridge Campus:

Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday LEGAL ISSUES Located: Room N0.03, ground floor, North Block Located: Room 1.03, first fl YOUR PERSONAL LIFE Phone: 01494 603 016 Phone: 01494 605 180 to make an appointment at either campus for a face-to-face, telephone or Skype appointment. Evening appointments are available outside of standard opening hours at High Wycombe Mon-Thurs: 5p contact us to arrange an appointment at a time to suit you. igh Wycombe Campus: Uxbridge Campus: hursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm MONEY COURSE ISSUES YOUR PERSONAL LIFE INTERNATIONAL MONEY oom N0.03, ground floor, North Block Located:YOUR RoomPERSONAL 1.03, first LIFE floor STUDENT ISSUES Phone: 01494 603 016 Phone: 01494 605 180 to make appointment at either or campus to make an appointment at either campus for a face-to-face, telephone or Skype appointment. suadvice@bucks.ac.uk bucksstudentsunion.org/advice an appointment atPlease eithercall campus for aanface-to-face, telephone Skype us for a face-to-face, telephone or Skype appointment. Please call to make ments are available outside of standard opening hours at High Wycombe Mon-Thurs: 5pm to 7pm. Please High Wycombe Campus: igh Wycombe Campus: Campus: Campus: Uxbridge Campus: contact us to arrange an appointment at a time toUxbridge suit High you. Wycombe Uxbridge Campus: Monday to Thursday Monday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm hursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm to Thursday 9am-5pm, Frida Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ISSUES Located: Room N0.03, groundLocated: floor, North Block oom N0.03, ground floor, NorthLEGAL Block ISSUES Located: Room 1.03, first floor floor, North ACCOMMODATION Located: Room N0.03, ground Block Room 1.03, first fl INTERNATIONAL Located: Room 1.03, first floor STUDENT ISSUES Phone: 01494 603 016 Phone: 01494 603 016 Phone: STUDENT 01494 605 180 603 016 ISSUES Phone: 01494 Phone: 01494 605 180 Phone: 01494 605 180 suadvice@bucks.ac.uk bucksstudentsunion.org/advice Evening appointments are available outside of standard opening ments are available outside of standard opening hours at High Wycombe Mon-Thurs: 5pm to 7pm. Please High Wycombe Mon-Thurs: 5 YOUR PERSONAL ng MONEY hours at High Wycombe Mon-Thurs: 5pm to 7pm.Evening Please appointments are available outside of standard opening hours at contact us suit to arrange an appoin contact us to arrange an appointment at a time to suit you. contact us to arrange an appointment at a time to you. intment at a time to suit you.

ADVICE CENTRE

Please call to make an appointment at either campus for a face-to-face, telephone or Skype appointment. COURSE ISSUES ACCOMMODATION COURSE ISSUES ACCOMMODATION

High Wycombe Campus:

Uxbridge Campus:

Phone: 01494 603 016

Phone: 01494 605 180

suadvice@bucks.ac.uk buck suadvice@bucks.ac.uk bucksstudentsunion.org/advice Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4.30pm suadvice@bucks.ac.uk Monday to Thursday 9am-5pm,bucksstudentsunion.org/advice Friday 9am-4.30pm cksstudentsunion.org/advice INTERNATIONA LEGAL ISSUES Located: Room N0.03, ground floor, North Block Located: Room 1.03, first floor

STUDENT ISSUE

Evening appointments are available outside of standard opening hours at High Wycombe Mon-Thurs: 5pm to 7pm. Please contact us to arrange an appointment at a time to suit you.

ACCOMMODATIO

COURSE ISSUES

suadvice@bucks.ac.uk bucksstudentsunion.org/advice bucksstudentsunion.org/advice suadvice@bucks.ac.uk

Advice Centre update

The Bucks Student lite edition 8

By Julia Crooks

Advice Centre update Are you worried about the future? Coronavirus, the lockdown, and the very recent exit roadmap are affecting all of us in how we are currently living our lives. And although each of us will have our own situations and be facing our own personal difficulties and concerns one thing we all have in common is that none of us know how the situation with coronavirus is going to turn out. In fact, no-one knows, not the scientists or academics or government. Having such a large unknown that is affecting our present and our futures is a worry for most of us, but for some it can feel overwhelming and can lead to unhealthy states of anxiety. Here are some ideas to think about if your worries about the present and future are taking over your life and you are finding it difficult to cope. Accept the unknown - We are used to feeling that we are in control and that we can plan our future lives. The coronavirus has thrown us a curveball and it can leave us feeling we have no control and cannot make any plans. In fact, the feeling of being in control of your life is a bit of a myth. Prior to this recent pandemic you may have felt more in control and able to make plans confidently, but none of us can ever be sure about what tomorrow will bring, coronavirus or no coronavirus. So, make plans and work towards those but accept that right now you cannot be specific about dates or when those plans will come to fruition. Worrying does not help – Some of us learn to worry. I know I learnt to worry from my Mum. She felt that if she did not worry about something then something bad would happen. This is NOT true. Worrying about something or not worrying about something makes no difference to the outcome. If it makes no difference then there is no point in worrying, it is a waste of time and can being overly worried can make you ill.

Control what you can – There will always be things in your life you can control and things you cannot. If there are actions you can take to make your situation better or safer then take them. If there is something you cannot control, then accept it and work around it. Do you know how pearls are made? Sometimes a bit of grit or sand accidentally gets into an oyster’s shell. The oyster does not want the sand in its shell, but it has no control over that. The sand irritates the oyster and could damage it, so the oyster makes the rough sand smooth by covering it in material and this also produces a pearl! A problem shared is a problem halved – This may be a cliché, but it is true. Telling someone what you are worrying about can really help. There may be nothing the other person can do but empathy, understanding and having someone hear you helps. Even hearing yourself say your worries out loud can help. Focus on positives – When we worry, we tend to think about the worst that can happen. As I have already suggested none of us know what tomorrow will bring so why waste time thinking negative thoughts. Challenge your self that next time you are worrying that the worst will happen, think of something positive instead. Imagine the best outcome will happen. Facing a challenge feeling positive is much better than facing one feeling negative. To misquote from Winnie the Pooh “you are braver than you feel and stronger than you think”. If you want advice about any of the above drop us an email suadvice@bucks.ac.uk. If you would like a phone appointment include your student ID number, your contact telephone number and some days and time you are available, and we will call you at the agreed time.

THANKS FOR READING see you next time

Contributors Christina Demetriou • Tao Warburton Brooke Pilbeam • Oli Gunson • Seana O’Reilly Catherine Lymer • Rachel Cragg • Aaron Dartnell Katie Smith • Jade Collis • Emily West • Julia Crooks Want to be on this list? Submit your content to editor@thebucksstudent.com!