Student Blogs

Richmond University's First Year Experience Guest Bloggers

Welcome to Richmond University's First Year Experience Guest Blogger Page. This page is filled with students' perspectives from our First Year Experience Program, life in London, and studies at Richmond University.

Every month a student from one of our First Year Seminars will share a little bit about their experiences here at Richmond University. If you'd like to learn more about our First Year Seminars and First Year Program, please Click Here

Claire Helfrich

Winner of the "Beyond Babel" essay competition:

Name: Claire Helfrich

Home Country: none

Countries you have lived and studied in: The Netherlands, Hungary, Brazil, UK

Favorite place in the world: Ubatuba (a beach where I go surfing in Brazil)

Favorite place in London (so far): Richmond

Favorite movie: Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Favorite Food: Sushi

First Year Seminar: Heroes of Environmentalism with Dr. Wayne Clark

HIGHLIGHTS OF MY FIRST WEEK AT RICHMOND

Having moved around since the age of six, I have been to seven different schools, but as I always arrived in the middle of the school year, I was never able to take part in an orientation. It was therefore fantastic for me to come to Richmond and find that for once, I wasn’t the only new kid. Nobody knew anybody else, and everyone had that lost, ‘newbie’ look about them. In essence, I felt the orientation process was immensely successful at welcoming us to a new home. The Student Ambassadors and RAs really facilitated the various aspects of the move – from the more complicated aspects of registering for classes, to introducing us to other students that who had similar interests.
There is no ‘one thing’ I liked best about Orientation. The entire program was well set-up, and each tenant had its own impact on me that made it easier to adapt – not only as a student, but as a foreigner in London. I therefore find it more fitting to write a short poem about the whole process, rather than writing another dry paragraph of the things that I liked about Orientation, and hope to make my experience more personal and accessible to others:

You stand there, awkwardly, on foreign ground
Your yesterday in boxes at your feet,
Behind, your past home’s door now closed
Ahead, a new future for you to greet.

While Richmond CASTLE appears to throw you an impending look,
RAs welcome you within
With curiosity, warmth, they help and guide,
You feel comfortable in your new skin.

With great events planned for an entire week,
Orientation is a thrill
Movies, dinners, parties, quizzes—
You’re never standing still.

From pub crawls to exploring the hill,
There is always a new face
An interesting culture, background, appearance, or age,
Personality all over the place.

I thought adapting would be a menace,
But it was much easier than I thought:
We got lectures on practical student life
Updates on the items to be bought.

And although my room can’t fit two peers,
And scuffles over shower water ensue,
You won’t have to search for reasons to love it here
Because college freedom has come to you.

Julia Hatmaker

Winner of the "Beyond Babel" essay competition:

Name: Julia Hatmaker

Home Country: USA

Countries you have lived and studied in: USA

Favorite place in the world: Washington D.C., particularly "The Mall"

Favorite place in London (so far): The Terrace Gardens, or perhaps Hampton Courts

Favorite movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Favorite Food: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

First Year Seminar: Utopia and Dystopia with Dr. Michael Keating

Other cool stuff: I am the founder of the "Extreme Picnicking" at Richmond. Our slogan is "picnicking= eating just got dirtier"

HIGHLIGHTS OF MY FIRST WEEK AT RICHMOND

The best things in life are free. That maxim has proven itself over and over again to me, but most recently this past week at Richmond. When I first arrived on campus I discovered my wallet, with all of my pounds, was missing. It was a disaster; I was devastated at the prospects of living off the eighty dollars I had kept in my purse. My despair was worsened further by the currency conversion. However, the curse has become a blessing. I now realize that losing my wallet has been the best thing that has happened to me at Richmond.
This is not because I enjoy being impoverished in a foreign country; on the contrary it has been incredibly irritating. But losing that wallet has led to greater things. I have been forced to look around and appreciate the simpler and free activities avaliable, such as exploring Richmond itself. Throughout this week I have wandered around the town, walked along the Thames, meandered through the Terrace Gardens. This past Saturday I ventured into Richmond Park only to have my breath taken away by the sheer beauty of it all. My awe at the sight of a buck with antlers as large as I am tall is firmly etched into my mind. That Saturday, among the deer, ducks, swans, flowers, bushes and grass was a perfect day.
Because of my poverty I also hung around campus more and made many friends. I have already formed some excellent friendships, especially with my roommate. And from those friendships I have created memories, memories of lunchtime picnics, movie nights, and pub crawls. The picnics are a particular favorite of mine. I have made it routine to grab a lunch in the café and head out to Richmond Hill. There, with my fellow Richmonders, I sit and eat, content to simply look around at the scenic landscape. I have even become friends with the animals here, especially the squirrels. Granted, I think our relationship is largely based on the fact that I feed them chips, but it is a relationship none the less.
If I had not lost my wallet I may very well have made the same friends, explored the same places, fed the same squirrels, but I think the entire experience would be different. I think I might have been in more of a rush. I do not think I would have had as much time to sit, think, and enjoy Richmond. I think I would have been too overwhelmed at all the possibilities of exploring London. But not having money forced me to focus on those things, people, and places around me. I now realize that I have four years to see England and London. Spending this week here, at Richmond, has been about setting the groundwork, a groundwork for a future I eagerly anticipate. I may have lost my wallet, but what I found, all the places and the people I discovered, has been priceless.

Bobbie Haas

Winner of the "Beyond Babel" essay competition:

Name: Bobbie Haas

Home Country: USA

Countries you have lived and studied in: USA

Favorite place in the world: Queens, New York

Favorite place in London (so far): Camden Town

Favorite movie: Tommy Boy

Favorite Food: Macaroni and Cheese

First Year Seminar: Invisible London with Dr. Mary Robert

Walk Back From Roebuck

I’m on a shady street
with no shoulder on the road.
I’m looking over my shoulder
I’m praying I get home.
Back in New York boys are rude
but they ain’t Rude Boys per-se.
I hope I don’t run into
a Rude Boy today.
Because the walk back from the Roebuck
ain’t that far,
but I’m tired and it’s dark
so I wish I had a car.
The beer slowing my pace,
the street feel as sticky as tar.
I’m second guessing,
I never should have left the bar
But I got math at nine o’clock.
By noon I’ll be in shock
If I had another Fosters
or a Baileys on the rocks.
The Morning’s hard enough
Without another glass.
The morning’s hard enough
When it’s full of class.
The minutes for breakfast
I better eat it fast.
But a morning Red Bull
Means an afternoon crash.

Stephanie Taderera

Name: Stephanie Taderera

Home Country: Zimbabwe

Countries you have lived and studied in: Zimbabwe, Malawi, France, Ethiopia. Eritrea
Favorite place in the world: Harare, Zimbabwe

Favorite place in London (so far): Trocadero, Central London

Favorite movie: Run, Fat Boy, Run

Favorite Food: Ethiopian

First Year Seminar: Culture and Identity with Ms. S. Izedi

As the time to leave home and come to Richmond grew closer and closer, I found that not only did I become more excited, but ironically the prospect loomed ever more daunting. There were so many things that I looked forward to- exploring my independence, meeting different people, reading for my degree and just being in London. Yet at the same time, I had many niggling worries- most of them pointless, I knew- what if I didn’t like it in London, or I missed my family too much, or I simply couldn’t cope on my own?
The trip to London was the worst part of my journey, as the realisation that I was leaving childhood and childish cares behind slowly sunk in. However, once I arrived at the Richmond campus, I threw myself into registration and the whole orientation process. Once classes began, I realised that they were far more enjoyable, and the professors far less intimidating, than I had originally anticipated. I had been scared that I would not be able to learn the material presented in classes, but I found that my high school coursework and International Baccalaureate background ensured that I would find classes quite easygoing for the most part, challenging in some respects, but not overwhelming. I even found that I enjoyed classes that I had never considered before, such as psychology. I truly enjoyed finally getting to know psychology, free from the stereotypes and the misconceptions. Learning about dreams and states of consciousness was enthralling, particularly as I am a serial sleepwalker! I am a Marketing major, but I enjoyed exploring a field that is so different from the Business one.
At times I find it hard to believe that I am really at Richmond, in London, at that. I still find it absolutely staggering that I can decide to visit Ireland, Scotland-or Paris over the weekend, with very little hassle. Over the fall break, the school was like a ghost town because it is simply so easy to travel to the rest of Great Britain or Europe that very few students choose to remain on campus for that time. While my own plans to travel fell through, I found that there is still a wealth of things to do, from worldwide art exhibits to see, to theatre shows, to art shows, to theme parks to visit. Whatever you fancy, there is a way to indulge it here. Most students become bored because they don’t organise something to do, not because there isn’t actually anything to do! I had the chance to explore London with friends, and see different aspects of it, including the tourist spots in central London.
I never had the chance to visit Richmond before I actually came here, and I had to trust my sister’s judgment, as she lives in London and so saw the school and the campus. However, walking onto the site I couldn’t believe how much the real thing looks like the postcards! There really is a sense of community here because the university is so small. In other universities, you don’t get to see every other student every day; sometimes it may be a week or more between seeing a person. At Richmond, after not having seen people in three days, or even less, they start asking you where you were! Time has flown and the semester is over, and I can honestly say that I don’t know where the time went. As with any school, I know that Richmond isn’t perfect, but I feel a very real sense of attachment and look forward to furthering my education here.

Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/s/440.aspx