Trinity College Christian Union ( TCDCU)

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Freshers’ Guide

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Hello.

And a big welcome!

My name is George Madden and I am the Freshers’ Officer at TCDCU. That means my job is welcoming you all, to CU to college and to Dublin in general. So welcome, we are really excited to have you join us.

I will be arranging numerous events throughout the year to help you to get to know others in your year and other years in CU. I’ve found that CU is great way to get to know people in other years who can be offer great advice on how college works.

Just last year I was in your position.

Moving from the West of Ireland to Dublin was a big change but 2

eventually heading to one of the CU’s freshers’ week events was a great decision, I found the CU to be a welcoming place and have made some great friends there. I’m putting this booklet together to help answer some of those questions I had coming to Trinity and about CU in general.

So hopefully it will help and I’m looking forward to meeting you all.

-George

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+ What is TCDCU? As someone who didn’t have a CU at my secondary school, I wasn’t sure exactly what CU did.

The Christian Union is a Gospelbased, non-denominational fellowship whose members live to proclaim the Good News of Jesus on campus.

It offers a chance for a time of fellowship, praise, and prayer. We meet every Thursday at 7pm in Regent House, this is at the top of the stairs from the door under the Front Arch.

relationship with God grew stronger helping me through both the joys and trials of college. I cannot encourage you enough to get involved in the CU. The CU runs many events throughout the year from free lunches to breakfast, the Carol Service being a personal favourite of mine.

We run events throughout the year so there’s always the chance to come along to one of our events.

Christian Union is a great place to meet other Christians and grow in your faith. We also welcome people from all faiths or people with no faith at all, CU is a place of learning and exploring for all of us and we welcome you all whether you have any faith or want to find out more about God. I found CU to be an incredibly welcoming place, it helped me develop great friendships and really helped me settle into college life. CU provided a God centred environment in which my

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What happens at CU? We have our main meetings in Regent

Burke our small group coordinator.

House at 7p.m. every Thursday during

Last year the CU ran several prayer

which we have a time of fellowship,

breakfasts and prayer meetings to pray

worship, and a speaker. The evening is

for each other, the campus and the world.

finished off with a nice cup of tea and biscuits.

Service in the college chapel. We even

During the week we also have various

had a Christmas-y Globe dinner! We also

small group bible studies that cover a

run lunchtime talks are always thought

variety of series with less people and in

provoking and filling!

more detail. This is a great way to get to know more people and I would really recommend finding a time that suits you to come along, I thoroughly enjoyed my small group last year. If you need any more info be sure to speak to Andrew 4

Other highlights included the Carol

The CU Weekend away was in Castledaly in Westmeath last October and will be happening again this October so prepare for some good fun!

What happens cont.

There will be several international events, to help international students to settle in, Irish students are also very welcome to come along to get to know and learn about Ireland and other cultures. If you’re interested Sarah Winterburn is our Internationals Officer.

We also take time to purposefully reach out to our classmates and fellow students on campus with the Gospel through out the year. Both through specific outreach Gospel events and a missions week as well as encouraging each other to personally live a life that seeks to Glorify God in all that we do.

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Meet the Committee

President-Katherine

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Secretary-Samuel

Treasurer-Shannon

Hi, my name is Katherine, my

Hello, my name is Samuel and I

As treasurer, I look after all

role as President includes

am a Senior Freshman History

things money, budgeting

chairing committee meetings

student. As secretary I look after

and sponsorship. In

and overseeing the running of

a lot of the administration of the

particular, the process

the committee. I'm really

Christian Union. This includes

of applying for and

excited to be part of the CU and

answering emails, booking

claiming our CSC grant.

see all that God will do through

rooms and taking minutes

it this year! If you have any

during Committee meetings. All

questions about anything,

in all I am general dogsbody,

please don't hesitate to get in

and look forward to serving you

touch!

in this capacity!

martink3@tcd.ie

jacksos1@tcd.ie

s.c.leakey@gmail.com

+ Meet the Committee Gavin-VP and Music Coordinator – Hello! My name is Gavin and I'm a 3rd year Law student, from Dublin. I'm the Vice President of CU this year, so I am responsible for co-ordinating our Events Week in the Spring term, and also for arranging music at our weekly CU meetings. Without doubt, being involved in CU has been the most rewarding aspect of college life for me over the past two years, so I'm very very excited about starting over again this year! So get involved in CU activities as much as you can! rothwellgavin@gmail.com Ellie-PRO and Evangelism- My job as a Public Relation Officer is to reach out to you. My responsibility is to update Christian Union website, twitter, Facebook page and send weekly emails. Hope to see you at some stage.

fujiware@tcd.ie

Andrew-Small Groups- Hey my name is Andrew. I am a second year student studying Geography and Political Science, I'm also the Small Groups Coordinator for the Christian Union Committee this year. I look forward to reading through different parts of the Bible this year and discussing the passages with one another.

Small Groups are a great way to settle into college and to make friends with other people. Small Groups are open to everyone and I am here for any questions you might have. burkey900@hotmail.com Sarah-International Officer-As International Officer, my job is to make sure that any international students feel welcome and comfortable settling into Dublin. So, if that's you, welcome! I also organise Globe Café, which is a great place for International students and Irish students alike to come and have fun, make friends and enjoy themselves. If you want to pop me a message to find out more, or get involved, please do! winterbs@tcd.ie George-Freshers’ and Prayer Officer- I’m responsible for welcoming Freshers’ so I’ll no doubt be seeing you throughout Freshers’ week and the year, I also serve as Prayer officer in the Christian Union. maddeng6@tcd.ie 7

Tips to survive TCD

Budgeting- throughout Fresher’s you’ll find loads of advice on budgeting, though I heeded little of it, I did realise that a bit of planning can save money, making sandwiches saves on the obligatory Chicken roll from Spar on Nassau street. Getting the shopping in a big supermarket saves compared to running Get involved, college has loads to offer and to utilize the age old cliché, the more you put in the more you get out.

Try something new, the college has a vast array of societies and sports clubs. Try swimming, rock climbing, debating, something new!

Go to lectures, this may seem a little obvious and it probably seems unimaginable missing a lecture at this point, but there will come a stage when that 9 am lecture feels like too much. But come exam time you’ll be glad you dragged yourself to those lectures.

Email, check your TCD email account, regularly. At least once a day will make sure you’re up to date with the goings on of your course, college etc.

Get to know the people you’re living with, whether you’re in halls or wherever you are put some effort into meeting and getting to know your flatmates. This will make daily life at college so much happier if you enjoy the place you’re going home too.

Stay organized. College can be pretty hectic between lectures, tutorials and society commitments, so get a journal to keep on top of everything.

Don’t feel pressured. In college, people will want you to do all sorts and go all places. Keep in mind you do not have to do anything that will make you feel uncomfortable, do and go where you want, College has something for everyone!

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Finding a local church is an important way of settling into Dublin, there are loads of great churches about. CU is not a substitute for a church and we really encourage you to commit to a church community. We’ll be running a Church Crawl at the beginning of the year so you’ll find a church for you.

Stay at college as much as possible. Going home is fun and I definitely recommend staying in touch with your friends at home but having a separate college life and home life is great. Maybe try staying here at least every second weekend to do things with friends here and it will help you settle in more too.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you have any problems at all do not hesitate to contact me or anyone within the CU – we are here to help you and make your transition to college as easy as possible. We have all been through the strange college-beginnings you are now facing and we can help with anything you need so just ask.

Finding your way!

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Freshers’ Week.

We’ll be running lots of events throughout Freshers’ Week from lunches to movie nights. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates and be sure to find our stand during Freshers’ Week to sign up! You’ll get our weekly emails that will let you know what’s happening each week. Hopefully CU there!

Be sure to get in touch if you have any questions whether they are about College or Dublin. We were all in your position not long ago, so please ask away, be it about the library or accommodation. We’ll be happy to meet up personally for coffee and a chat. We’ve been praying for you and will continue to, as you settle in.

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Look forward to seeing you!

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TCD CU Email: cunion@csc.tcd.ie Website: tcdcu.com Facebook: TCD Christian Union

Twitter @TCDCU