It’s so close now, you can almost smell it!
I’m Lukas, a second year Business student at King’s. Last year, I moved into King’s Residences, which meant moving away from home for the first time, so trust me, I know exactly how excited, nervous and maybe even a little bit apprehensive you’re feeling right now. Continue reading
Post contributed by Julie, War Studies
Hi, my name is Julie from France. I am 18 years old, and I just finished my first year at King’s. I am studying War Studies, and all of my classes are at Strand campus.
When I arrived in London, I was still 17 years old. It was impressive to be in a huge international city, mainly because I come from a town in the South of France, which is not that big. I remember, it was like a dream, to be by myself not knowing anyone and having to get used to this new chapter of my life. This dream was real, and before I even realised, my life changed completely for the best. This first year was a fantastic year that I will never forget.
Contributed by Konstantinos, former 3rd year medical student
My name is Kostas, I am a medical student at King’s. 2018 was the year I started my own business called Student Essentials.
Don’t get too excited it doesn’t involve machine learning or artificial intelligence. It is a super simple business, yet it offers great convenience to our customers. We deliver all the essentials (like duvets, pillows, towels, kitchen items) to students when they arrive at their accommodation. It saves them time and money.
Post contributed by Helen Kursten-Holmes, Positive Peer Supervisor
The Positive Peers are a student-led volunteer group that sits within KCLSU Wellbeing. We aim to enhance the personal and collective wellbeing of King’s College London students by giving evidence-based information to improve student mental health and wellbeing, sharing experiences and connecting each other with helpful resources. We organise a variety of interactive events and workshops throughout the year that all students can participate in. Through our projects and events, we seek to promote, support and celebrate the wellbeing of students at King’s and to create a healthier and happier community. The Positive Peers team is divided into 3 main strands, each led by Positive Peer Supervisors. The strands comprise of Peer Run-Support, Peer Health Education, and Engagement and Online Support.
The Peer-Run Support strand delivers one-to-one and group support for students experiencing mental health difficulties. This includes Positive Minds, a 4-week course to support students experiencing low mood and mild depression. We will be launching this course in November, so if you’re feeling a bit low and finding university difficult, you can attend our peer support group Positive Minds or reach out for a one-to-one chat with us. Alongside this, we also offer wellbeing checks where we interact with new students to support their transition to university and to highlight KCLSU Wellbeing resources and other essential services. During Welcome 2020, the Positive Peers spoke to over 100 new King’s students in our one-to-one virtual King’s Check-in sessions. These sessions were offered to new students to make sure that they had everything they needed to get started and thrive at King’s.
The Peer Health Education strand leads on education and outreach through delivering workshops and facilitating initiatives about mental health and wellbeing, online, on campus, in residence halls, and for specific student groups. This strand’s activities include wellbeing checks, Cooking and Conversation, which is a cooking workshop in partnership with King’s Residences where students learn a new healthy recipe while getting to know other students, and our 3 part programme, Thrive. This 3 week course gives students the support to learn strategies that can promote positive wellbeing and equips them with the tools and activities that can be included in their daily routine so that they can flourish. Thrive is one of our most popular courses and in light of the pandemic, we have been delivering it virtually. To join our next Thrive programme starting in November, sign up for it using our Eventbrite page.
The Engagement and Online Support strand runs the team’s digital outreach by creating accessible communications for all students (including those not on campus) to improve their wellbeing and promote the team’s activities. The digital team also creates the monthly Positive Peers newsletter, detailing our recent news and campaigns, upcoming events and wellbeing tips. You can read our October newsletter by clicking here. The team also writes blog posts for the KCLSU website and each blog post delves into a variety of wellbeing topics, tips and themes, our most recent one is Settling in at University. In addition to this, we have a podcast and lots of content on social media to help boost wellbeing and increase awareness of mental health and wellbeing events and concepts. For Wellbeing Week (2nd November – 6th November), we are organising a Positive Peers Instagram takeover of Project X’s Instagram and collaborating with Big Pitch Energy on a competition that will be open to all King’s students, staff and alumni, where you can win £50 and be featured on our newsletter. So, make sure you keep an eye out on our socials for more information about how you can take part!
We hope to see you at our upcoming events and if you have any questions, our inbox and social media are always open so feel free to get in touch.
Visit our website: www.kclsu.org/help/wellbeing/positivepeers
Email us: positivepeers@kcl.ac.uk
Connect with us on social media:
Post contributed by Nkasi Stoll, 1st year PhD student, Department of Psychological Medicine
Black Students Talk is a new virtual weekly peer wellbeing support group run by us, for us.
Topic: Black Students Talk (BST)
When: Every Thursday, 3pm-5pm
Link: https://zoom.us/j/98862363294?pwd=anJRZzBLTkxjQXhpYmNvVFVnREtnUT09
Meeting ID: 988 6236 3294
Password: BPT20
What is Black Students Talk (BST)?
BST is a peer support group that provides safe, supportive and therapeutic spaces for black* students to meet, share, learn, and manage our mental health & wellbeing at university.
BST online sessions are held weekly via Zoom. Each weekly session from 3PM-5PM and lasts 2 hours.
Why does BST exist?
As university students we experience complex academic, psychological, social, emotional and financial pressures. Black* students face specific pressures that often affect our mental health and therefore, our university experience and outcome.
BST x KCL was set up by Nkasi Stoll (Postgraduate student at King’s College London, IoPPN) and Yannick Yalipende (Postgraduate student at University of Bristol).
Nkasi and Yannick worked with the IoPPN Diversity and Inclusion team to set up this group due to their own experiences with depression and anxiety whilst studying at university.
What do Black Students Talk (BST) sessions offer?
Who is Black Students Talk (BST) for?
University students at King’s College London who identify as “black*” (African, Caribbean, Mixed heritage).
How do I attend the Black Students Talk (BST) sessions?
BST sessions are being held virtually. No need to sign up in advance. On Thursday at 3pm click the zoom link and enter the meeting ID and password (provided at the top of this email) to join the group. Email us on: hello@blackpeopletalk.co.uk. Find us on Twitter: @yyalipende & @NkasiStoll
Contributed by Maddie Jammeh, Residence Manager at Great Dover Street Apartments
The prestigious CUBO RA Awards is open to all Universities in the UK and Ireland. The award seeks to recognise the important contribution the Community Facilitators or Residence Assistants make to students’ wellbeing, and this year our very own Jessica O’Logbon is a winner!
Jessica is a medical student studying at King’s. Last year she was amongst some students from King’s who visited No.10 Downing Street and Parliament to help promote how BAME students can apply for medicine and diversify the profession.
I nominated Jessica for this award because I was able to observe her over the past two years working with new teams who had no knowledge or little experience in the Community Facilitator role. She is very passionate in her work and worked very effectively with the ResiLife team to support students at Great Dover Street 
Apartments and other societies she pioneers within King’s.
Jessica is dedicated to student experience and enjoys her role as a Community Facilitator. She has demonstrated this through her continuous engagement and commitment with the residents and others.
Thank you, and well done!
Whether it’s for mindless games or to train your brain to be more powerful, they’re ideal for times just like this. Below we’ve collated some apps to try out for various moods…
Houseparty | IOS/Android: Combining video chat and quizzes, this is perfect for big groups
Monopoly | IOS/Android: The age-old classic has gone digital (less opportunity for cheating mind you)
8 Ball Pool | IOS/Android: Well, we can’t go to the pub for a quick game, so compete from your room instead
Luminosity | IOS/Android: Challenge and improve your mind with a range of exercises and quizzes
Mini Metro | IOS/Android: A strategy simulation game about designing a subway map for a growing city!
The House of Da Vinci | IOS/Android: A bit different than the usual brain training games but with puzzles and mysteries to solve, it gets you thinking
Duolingo | IOS/Android: Brush up on your languages ready for when we’re free to fly again!
Ted | IOS/Android: Inspiring TED talks covering a host of topics, there’s no doubt you will learn something new
Khan Academy | IOS/Android: So many skills to learn and thousands of interactive exercises, videos, and articles at your fingertips
Glo | IOS/Android: Yoga, Pilates or Meditation, whichever you prefer this has unlimited classes to choose from
Overdrive | IOS/Android: Not got a kindle? Not to worry, Overdrive is stacked full of e-books
Colorfy | IOS/Android: Zone out and relax with some good, old fashioned colouring in
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