Story Norwich

Last semester was super busy for me, and one of the reasons it was so hectic was because I’m involved in planning a week of events in February 2017 called Story Norwich, which I’m really excited about! Being at uni brings so many amazing opportunities, and the project has been one of the most challenging but rewarding things I’ve been involved in so far. I hope Story Norwich will be something loads of students can get involved in and enjoy…

Story Norwich is a week of events hosted by UEA Christian Union, from the 5th – 10th February. There’ll be events every day on campus – free food and drink, live music, lunchtime and evening talks from guest speakers and a chance to hear from members of the Christian Union.

We all have a story, and we’d love for you to join us as we explore how our stories are shaped and what they mean. Come along to our events to hear stories of lives that have been changed by God, investigate the gospel story and uncover your own story. All events are free, and you don’t need to sign up.

We’re kicking off the week with free live music in the LCR from the band Lion of Judah on Sunday 5th February at 7.30pm. Then at 1pm each day we’ll be serving a free lunch and covering some ‘big question’ topics such as ‘is the Bible reliable?’ and ‘why does God allow suffering?’. Our evening events start at 7.30pm, with homemade cakes and hot drinks and we’ll hear stories of identity, acceptance, and purpose. To find out more about all our events, you can check out the full week timetable here and our Facebook event here.

In the lead up to Story Norwich, we’ve been releasing stories from members of the CU on social media. There are some really amazing stories of how CU members have encountered God in their lives, and it’s also a great way to get to know the CU a bit better! Head over to our Facebook page to read some of the stories so far, and more can be found on our website. You can stay up to date with Story Norwich and our events by liking our Facebook page or you can also find us on Instagram and Twitter!

‘Discontent on the course I had come to uni expecting to love’ – Alison’s story

It’s gonna be an incredible week. All the events are totally free of charge so we’d love for you to come along to any or all events! If you want to know more about Christianity or the CU it’s a great chance to hear about what we believe and ask any questions you have. Even if you’re not sure, drop in for a hot drink and a chat – all are welcome!

See you there!

2017

So I know the 12th January is a bit late to do a classic new year reflection post, but hey, let’s go with it…I thought I would do a little update on how the end of 2016 went and what I have coming up in 2017:

First term of second year went SO fast. I know in a couple of posts from my first year I talked about how quickly the year went, but nothing could have prepared me for quite how quickly year two is going. I think being involved in a lot more things and having more work means the weeks just disappear!

In my ‘Second Year‘ post, I talked about being a bit apprehensive about last terms modules. My expectations turned out to be pretty spot on – I found Anglo-Saxons and Modern Germany quite tricky but I loved Tudor and Stuart Britain. Anglo-Saxon England was the module I most struggled with – I’ve never studied it before, and it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t an area of history that I particularly liked. Although it was a nice contrast studying something so new to me, it definitely won’t be a period of history I chose to study again, and all I can do is cross my fingers and hope for decent essay marks! On the other hand, studying Tudor and Stuart Britain more than made up for this. The Tudor period is probably my favourite period of history and the teaching was really good. I genuinely looked forward to seminars which is pretty unusual for me! For my summative essay, instead of picking from the list of questions I made up my own essay question – ‘what were the limitations of female monarchy in the Tudor period?’. This was really nice because it meant I could write about a topic that really interested me and take it into quite specific detail. Getting to study stuff like this reminds me why I love history!

Still managing a few lake walks in second year

So, looking forward to 2017, I’m excited about next term – but simultaneously kinda terrified by the amount of stuff that’s going to happen in one term! Last year the spring semester was really busy, and I don’t think this year will be any different. New term means new modules, and I’m a lot more hopeful about these modules than I was about last terms. I’m also more involved in society stuff than I was last year – in February the Christian Union has a big event, Story Norwich, coming up (more about this in a future post) and this will all take up a lot of my time. Spring semester also seems to bring a lot of peoples birthdays (including mine), and as the weather gets better, so does the opportunity for day trips. The end of this semester means exams, and that means lots of revision because second year marks count! As well as that, I would really like to try and get some kind of summer job/internship. A lot of applications for summer internships close in January/February time so I’m sure I’ll enjoy a month or so of frantically trying to find places to apply to.

Phew, that’s a lotta stuff.

2017 feels like quite an uncertain year for me but hopefully another year packed with oppurtunities. The end of my second year feels quite far away now, but I’m sure it won’t be long until I’m writing my next round up of the year!