My Experience as a Welcome Helper
I volunteered to be a welcome helper during the Fresher’s week of my second year and it was an amazing experience.
I first met my team at the training event at university before the first event and we got to know each other through playing games and doing ice breakers. We stayed together as a team throughout the week, became really good friends, and have stayed in contact ever since.
I think the opportunity to be a welcome helper is one that should not be passed up. I feel that it has allowed me to improve important skills such as working in a team and leadership skills. My confidence has grown enormously and I’m now much more comfortable in social situations. Being a welcome helper is a very social experience and I have made so many new friends and have built relationships with people I wouldn’t have met or wouldn’t have spoken to before.
One of the challenges I experienced as a welcome helper is that as a student nurse, I was on placement during fresher’s week and therefore couldn’t stay out with my group and on some days I was only able to attend for a couple of hours. However, both my team and the Students' Union were really supportive and enabled me to join in as much as I possibly could.
In my opinion, being a welcome helper was an invaluable experience and I am defiantly going to apply again for September.
Jazmin Hackett
To apply to be a Welcome Helper for this Welcome period head to https://www.ucsu.me/volunteering-opportunities to apply
