Starting university, moving to a brand new city, making new friends can be a daunting experience for a number of students.
To try and make this transition a little easier, Rebecca Willett, course leader for Journalism and PR with Media decided to take a different approach for the new level 4’s induction sessions.
Instead of the usual ice breaker questions, or trip to the pub. Rebecca decided to use a company named ‘Twiddle Food’ to make pasta with the students.
“This was my first year looking after the induction process as course leader and I wanted to create a fun and inclusive induction session for our new L4 students so they could get to know each other a bit better outside of the classroom. I think this stemmed from chatting to students who studied during the pandemic who kept saying the main thing they missed out on was the social interaction and opportunity to build relationships with peers and staff members and that really stuck with me.”
“It’s important for our students to learn but we also need to help them to flourish and take part in extracurricular activities which I believe making friends and connections plays a large part in. And I remembered that feeling of belonging from my University days.”
“I wanted to do something a little different from the usual pub setting and I remembered a local pasta making workshop I had taken part in with Viki from Twiddle Food and thought this could be a good fit – creating something to eat whilst getting to know your course mates. Viki also has a background in nutrition, so also offered the opportunity to hear about quick and healthy meals to make.”
“The session was an hour and a half, and the students commented how quickly the time passed, how easy it was to make pasta, and how much they enjoyed it. Lot’s of them commented on their social media or came up to see me afterwards.”
“The positive feedback from students and staff at SHU has definitely made me think I would like to run something similar next year. All level 4 students from Journalism, PR with Media and we also offered it to Marketing and PR who we share a course with as their students’ study some of our modules, so I wanted them to feel part of it too.”
Having the opportunity to meet your course mates in a relaxed and fun environment makes the transition easier and more enjoyable.
