UCLan students break a few eggs and make friends

Thu 01 Oct 2009

Rain didn't stop play in Preston on Tuesday this week where new students gathered in one of Preston’s parks to engage in some team-building activities.

New and returning students were taken to Avenham Park in the heart of the UK's newest city to get to know each other better and learn more about each others' cultures. 

Despite the grey skies the students enjoyed a walk around the park, a game of football and some egg catching which resulted in a mess for some!  Abdulaziz Al Khalaf, pictured below showing off his football skills has been in the UK for 2 weeks and is a big fan of the wetter weather; "I love the rain.  At home it’s hot and humid and I love the clouds here – I have lots of energy!"

Zhong Chen, pictured above with some new friends, is planning to study Geography next year.  He is also enjoying his first week; "The activities are really good and my classmates are really friendly.  Everyone is happy to talk to each other."

Centre Head Mary Bounds talks about why they took the students to the park: 

"It’s really important in the first few weeks to encourage the students to talk to as many other students as possible and not only stick with the group that they came with.  We decided to take the students to the park to show them that there are areas in the city they can come to when they want to get away from the busy streets but also to give them a non-academic environment to get to know each other in. 

We used the park to encourage the students to talk about differences between parks in their own countries and here and to help them to start reflecting on their experiences here.  We understand that coming to a new country is an exciting experience but can also be overwhelming and we want the students to form bonds with each other to help them feel at home as early as possible. 

Both I and the Deputy Head Bridget Weller have lived abroad and Richard Zhao, our administrative assistant, was a student here from China 3 years ago - so we are in a good position to provide the students with support."

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