Tell your story (and help others)
What would have helped you find your people at University? One of the most difficult things to do is to feel like you belong.
There’s no manual to tell you how to be a successful and happy student. We’re all different, and have lived experiences that shape us and that make us who we are.
We’re looking for students like you who can share your experiences, your tips, your ideas to help others feel like they belong at Uni. We’d love you to create some content for other students to help them fit in, share what you’ve learnt, what helped you feel at home and to find your people. We’ll pay you, of course.
What we’re looking for
We’d love to be able to share content created by students giving advice, support and insight on a variety of different topics that are important to you.
Here are some ideas — feel free to use these as inspiration for other thoughts you have:
Housing — finding housemates, looking for houses, who to speak to if you have issues with your house, landlord or contract? What can you do if you have a problem with people you live with? Are you a good neighbour? How to manage the transition from halls to private accommodation.
Money — how do you manage your money? Balancing working and your studies, ways to earn money as a student, what happens if you get into debt, what if your friends have more money than you and it’s making you feel anxious?
LGBT+ — Places to go in Leeds, how to find your people, Pride — a summer of celebrations, managing a conflict between your University life and your home life, clubs and organisations at Uni and beyond.
Faith — Finding your friends, clubs and organisations at Uni and beyond, sharing the key pillars of your faith with a wider student audience, managing conflict, balancing conflicting messages and opportunities.
Sustainability — Leading a sustainable life, making every day changes to make a difference, finding those who share a similar outlook, getting involved in Uni or wider community projects, feeling like you’re making a difference, how sustainability and saving money are closely related.
Mental and physical health — sharing your experiences with your disability, being a neurodivergent student, coping with loss as a student, managing stress and anxiety, finding others at Uni and in the wider community, developing a programme to improve your physical health, clubs and societies to find your tribe, becoming pregnant at University.
From an under represented group — Many of you are from an under represented group and can share a very different set of experiences to help others — estranged students, life-long learners, being a commuter student, groups and societies to join at Uni and the community, being the first in your family to study at University.
Academic journey — how to manage the change from school or college to Uni, study tips, the best places or times to study, how to manage your time, best study tips you’ve learnt, who helped when it felt you weren’t good enough, managing your imposter syndrome, how to get your favourite library spot every time, why I almost dropped out.
International students — my first few days in Leeds, how I found other students from my home country, culture shock, discovering the differences between the UK and my home, and how I overcame them, what it’s like in Leeds when lots of people go home for the holidays.
Discover Leeds and beyond— guides of things to do, if you’re in to… places to visit, walks from your halls or student house, places to take your parents if they visit, best places to go on a date for students, volunteering in the city.
There’s so much more than this. Your idea might not be about the topics above. That’s fine — we want you to tell your story to help others feel at home.
I’ve got an idea, what do I do next?
Speak to us! We can help shape your idea into content which will reach others, and we can use at key times of the year to support other students.
Writing a blog — this is a great way of sharing your experience and advice with others. We’ve got lots of them already, some written by us, and others by students like you. Here’s a few:
- Am I good enough? Managing imposter syndrome at University
- What to bring to Leeds if you’re an international student
- How I learnt to feel less homesick at uni
- Top Tips for Joint Honours Students
Here’s the full list of blogs we’ve got. Don’t worry if you’ve got a similar idea — read through the one with a similar title and see if there’s a different experience you have, or could approach something from a different angle. Got pictures? This can really lift your writing and make it much visually appealing!
Maybe you’ve got a different way of presenting information? Are you a content creator for YouTube or TikTok? Perhaps you’ve got a podcast or are a designer and prefer presenting information in infographic formats?
Email us at studentcommunications@leeds.ac.uk and we can talk more.
Obviously we might not be able to publish every idea you have — some may not what we’re looking for, or we may already have some content already created for the topic you suggest. We’ll let you know, and there’s nothing stopping you submitting another idea.
It might be your content is more suitable for a social media take over, or question and answer — we can help put you in touch with people who might be able to help.
I really want to get involved, but aren’t able, or don’t want to create content.
That’s OK. It can take time to create content, and to get it right. However, if you’ve got an opinion about what communications to students could look like, and how they can be better, then we want to hear from you. Having your opinions and sharing ideas is invaluable to other students.
