Editor's Note

4. Personalise things Personalising things does not just apply to your room, but all your things (kitchen accessories). To differentiate your things from other peoples’, opt for different colours, funky designs etc. Then for your room, maybe decorate your door with a whiteboard or a sign with your name on it. Anything to make it feel truly like your home.

5. Have numerous decorations

Again, this one is self-explanatory, but decorations help to finish a room. This could be postcards or posts, candles (but not burning them), pottery etc. Anything that helps to define your room as yours and make you feel at home really helps.

6. Put up photos of family and friends A simple but effective decoration. Plus, it is nice to see family photos when you are so far from home.

7. Make sure to get some plant friends There is a plant market that usually happens in fresher’s week and is hosted by the Student Union, so head to this. Plants make a great accessory to a room that liven it with green, and make you feel like you have some responsibility.

8. Ikea, Wilko and Amazon are your best friends For all the above points, these stores are your best options. Honestly, if you have Amazon Prime you will use it every day for all your bedroom and kitchen supply needs.

9. Invest in storage boxes Even though you have just brought everything to university in boxes, you will want and need storage boxes in your room. Think ones to go under the bed, bottom of the wardrobe or in shelves. Storage boxes are perfect for hiding seasonal things, things you need but do not use that often or even things you just do not want out, like chargers, because they look messy. 10. Make sure to have an abundance of blue tack/white tack and command strips When in halls, the number one rule is ‘to not stick things on the walls’ but if you are planning on all the above, a lot require some sort of sticking method to a wall. With white tack (arguably better than blue tack because you cannot see it) and command strips you can stick things on the walls without a worry of the paint chipping off at the end of the year.

ABRA HERITAGE | EDITOR IN CHIEF

The academic year of 2020/21 was characterised by disruption, a sense of unknowing, and for many of us, loneliness. Students once taught under one roof were spread across the globe, our sense of community and togetherness replaced by the two-tone chirp of the Microsoft Teams notification alert.

Yet for what could have been a bleak and dispiriting year, The Founder was one of my only grips on student life. Studying from home in rural Norfolk, my main connection to Royal Holloway sat in my role of Opinion & Debate editor last year. Assimilating the voices of students and working alongside editors on special editions such as our Black Lives Matter September 2020 edition, I felt continuously a part of the university. Being one hundred and twenty-eight miles from university and back in my childhood bedroom suddenly felt a little less alienating.

The UK’s current mainstream media outlets provide students with a dire and one-sided landscape to consume news. The Founder rejects these current journalistic norms and is a publication that instead combines a diverse range of voices and perspectives. This edition’s front page on climate migration, written by Joel Davies, is an example of what’s to come from The Founder: writing focused upon social justice, world issues, the need for change, and marginalised communities that are too often forgotten by the UK’s leading broadsheets.

I feel abundantly proud and fortunate to be able to lead the team as Editor in Chief this year, and I’m incredibly excited for The Founder’s continued growth on campus. I’d like to send a thank you to our editorial team and content writers for their outstanding effort in our first edition of the academic year, and I know that the team will continue to produce incredible and inclusive work in these divisive times.

If you’d like to write for The Founder, or have any questions regarding pitching or publication, please contact Abra on editor@thefounder.co.uk.

Caption: Abra, Editor in Chief, and Laura, The Founder’s 2020/21 Designer, distributing The Founder’s September 2020 Edition.