G2 Students

My experience of involvement on campus got off to a pretty rough start, when I snapped my leg and tore all the ankle ligaments playing rugby at the end of my first term at York. Spending the rest of my first year hobbling round on crutches unable to put weight on my ankle made getting around on campus hard and I saw my distant dream of rugby stardom brutally dashed. All this, coupled with the loss of my ability to ever really do competitive sport again having done all manner of sports from age 5 to 20, properly knocked my confidence in getting involved with campus-based stuff.

At the end of first year one of my flatmates convinced me to chuck in a STYC application with him so that he had a mate to do it with. I agreed and naively ticked the box to be considered for Head STYC, and after a successful interview, resulted in me spending Freshers Week 2014 chasing after 75 freshers and 12 STYCs, as the sole Head STYC for my block and lost 10 pounds in weight.

It was chaotic, exhausting and filled with all manner of ridiculous mini-crises, yet I can honestly say it was one of the most encouraging and rewarding weeks I had at uni.

The opportunity to spend time with supporting a real mix of confident, shy, outgoing and nervous freshers settling into university was such a privilege. I saw 3 of my freshers come along to church with me on their first Sunday in York.

Being able to lead with personal conviction and strive to set a positive culture of respect amidst a week of excess and insecurity was important to me, and my experience of freshers week led to me running for Chair of Vanbrugh College a few weeks later despite having had no prior college committee involvement. 

I ended up losing by 2 votes in the closest ever JCRC vote at York, but gained an eye-opening insight into the internal workings of the college system at York and enjoyed all the drama and politics of student elections.

I believe that getting involved on the ground in freshers week, through STYCing at UoY, or helping out in similar ways at YSJ, is the most effective means of culture-setting and mission for us as Christians in freshers week. It was intense and challenging for me mentally, physically and spiritually, but if I had the opportunity to do it all over again, I woudn’t change a thing.

“I volunteer on a regular basis with two Christian charities in York: The Bus Stop, a purple double decker bus that G2′s very own Emily Finch owns and uses for youth work, and York Schools and Youth Trust (shortened to YoYo), who partner with primary and secondary schools in York and do all sorts of things, such as leading assemblies, running RE lessons and heading up school CUs. 

I’ve found that volunteering is an amazing way to to get to know people outside of the ‘student bubble’ and have a chance to impact the city and the surrounding towns and villages. Recently with YoYo, I’ve been helping to lead Q&A sessions about Christianity with sixth form students - it was amazing to encourage the young people to ask the difficult questions about faith and share how faith impacts my life. 

In Selby, with the Bus Stop, I’ve had the joy of seeing the young people grow in their faith and walk alongside them as they figure out what it looks like to know and love Jesus.  

Sport has always played a massive role in my life, so when I went to university it was an obvious choice to gravitate towards as a fresher (it was my comfort zone). During my first week at uni I was introduced to an organisation called YSJActive who aim to provide inclusive sport for all. Regardless of age, disability, or the level of sport. The idea of using sport as a tool to better someone’s health and their sense of belonging in a community was why I got involved. 

From first year I became the co-ordinator of multi-sports, a group open to the public for ages 12 years and above to come and take part in different sports every week. From this opportunity I then began to get involved in after-care stroke sessions also ran by YSJActive, as well as running health circuit classes for people suffering from addictions which I would never have seen myself doing as a fresher.

I am very aware that these volunteer opportunities are different from student based societies. They were not platforms to easily share the Gospel or my Christian faith, but they were opportunities to represent Christianity in a serving way. I always knew I loved sport, it was a passion God had placed in my heart from a very young age, so being able to use that when on campus and see it make a difference in the community was amazing. I wasn’t openly able to speak about the Gospel or my Faith, but it was an opportunity to show people Jesus through my actions.

One of the most brilliant things about my university experience has been the opportunities I’ve been part of on campus. I’ve been involved in volunteering in local schools, setting up a women’s coding course, Head STYCing (in my third year, controversial), helping in a student campaign, and various other society roles and odds and ends. 

Sometimes my faith has been a real encouragement in what I’ve been doing, and sometimes the the cultures and roles in which I have found myself have felt almost actively in conflict with my faith. I’ve learnt some difficult things about who I am and what my weaknesses are, but also areas in which I have grown over the years. 

From volunteering, I learnt that even though you know you can do lots of things, you don’t necessarily end up actually doing all of the things you could. Sometimes this looks like letting people down and knowing you could’ve - and should’ve - done better. From campaigning, I learnt (even amongst incredibly kind and thoughtful people) that there are negative aspects of competitive environments that can make it hard to keep a clear mind and stay accountable - the line between observation and realising you’re being the opposite of gracious is narrow. 

From each thing I’ve done, in different ways, I learnt that it’s really easy to look like you’re doing a better job than you know you really are. It’s easy to excuse this as being busy or tired, when in fact I’m just tired because I ended up going to sleep late, or spent an hour scrolling through twitter, which manages to sap energy as much as the five emails I ought to have written.

I have accomplished many exciting things, but I’ve learnt that the challenge of integrity is much harder than just getting the job done by any means. These lessons are things I am constantly learning and growing in, and these are not opportunities I would want to have missed. Brilliantly, I’ve learnt, since becoming a Christian again at the end of my first year, that God is so gracious. I have been challenged and grateful in equal measure for that. 

Joining a university sports team has been one of, if not the best decisions I have made during my time at uni. Before starting university, I was hesitant to join the football team since I was fearful I would become a different person. After realising that the 6am wake up calls for rowing were not for me, I decided to have a crack at uni football.

Being a part of the team has often meant that I have had to withdraw from being more involved at G2 since university sport is a big commitment. However, there are so many positives! It's allowed myself to build relationships with a group of guys, where I can see a lot of their weaknesses and they can see a lot of mine. Sport provides amazing opportunities to see other people's character, through the way people conduct themselves when playing and the encouragement they show to others. 

I have found that being a Christian in a sport team gives teammates the chance to see that Christianity is not just for the 'socks and sandals’, but can be completely relatable to the individuals you play with. My advice is that if you play sport or show an interest in a  sport, then join a team, be a positive influence and make a difference. 

Unlike many societies on campus, Politics Society (PolSoc) is departmental and not YUSU affiliated. It is designed to help integrate social events, alternative academic events and students with the department. But also students with one another.

Leading PolSoc, one of the largest societies on campus (with a budget to match… ), meant meeting, through large events, many students not only representing a diverse set of political views but also from a range of backgrounds and cultures. This exposure was challenging but ultimately enriching, and whilst I was not able to use my position to share the Gospel I instead tasked myself with encouraging the correct sort of culture in how PolSoc was run. In leading the culture of the committee an atmosphere more conducive to creating cohesion and settling disputes amongst committee members was created.

Not only was this beneficial for the interpersonal relationships of those I had to work with, but was also reflected in the success of the society. Events were more slick, we became increasingly more ambitious and turnout/participation rose substantially - in the last two years, tickets sold for the annual PolSoc Winter Ball rose from 35 in 2014 to 106 in 2016.

“One of the most rewarding things I have done at York is get involved with my college - Alcuin. At the start of second year I volunteered as a Head STYC making sure Freshers week went well for students who were not as interested in clubbing and wanted to go to the college's 'alternative events'. With this experience, I ran for, and was elected to the position of Vice President for Wellbeing on the Alcuin Students Association Committee. This gave me a lot of insight into the wide variety of struggles many students have to face at university, but also gave me the tools to start to help people and make a real positive impact. 

I really felt like I was in a position where I could be a positive Christian example to many people who until then probably only had negative experiences, especially in the LGBTQ community, by showing love and compassion instead of fear and hatred. 

“Freshers week as a Head STYC was one of my favourite weeks of uni. I had the opportunity to get to know and support freshers from Day 1, to get to know more people in college and to have a lot of fun with my friends. I decided not to pre-drink during freshers so that: a) I could deal with the consequences of the weird and wonderful things freshers and STYCs do on those nights and b) so that freshers and STYCs who didn’t want to drink (or drink much) felt comfortable joining in (the girl I Head STYCd with decided to do the same). And to be honest, you get through 6 consecutive nights out much better on cherry tango. 

There’s really no better opportunity to get to know such a big and varied group of people, especially when you’re not living on campus, and it gives you the opportunity to have some great conversations and invite people to things later in the term. 

 “I did not start York Anti-Trafficking Student group (YATS) with mission in mind. My heart was for justice. I wanted to promote justice within the safety of the four walls of church. That felt comfortable. G2 was brilliant in giving me opportunities to do just that. But God is funny like that. He likes pushing you out of your comfort zone. He likes to go beyond what you yourself can imagine. As a dreamer I always thought that my dreams was bigger than what God could do. I have learnt that it is usually the opposite. 

I was approached by two friends from church who asked me if I wanted to join them in setting up a society on campus in order to raise awareness for human trafficking. I said yes, though inside it terrified me. Thankfully my friends turned out to be some of the most capable human beings I have ever encountered. For most of it I was just allowed to sit around and dream while they did the hard work. Due to YUSU rules, we were not allowed to be openly promoting any religion, however in the first year of our existence our committee was solely made up of Christians, so we would pray during our committee meetings. 

I always prayed that God would be made known through our actions and through our advocacy for justice.

I can honestly say that I learnt so much about how God cares about the little details of our every day lives. Every single event we put on usually had last minute disasters happen, but through brilliant problem solving from the team and some divine intervention, the events always turned out brilliantly.