Tcdcu freshers' guide

Freshers’ Guide

Hello and Welcome!

Hello everybody! My name is Peter Watson and I am the Freshers’ Officer at TCDCU. Just last year I was leaving home in Cavan to start an exciting new chapter of my life at Trinity. This was a massive change and I found the new place extremely daunting but heading along to some of the CU’s Freshers’ Week events was a fantastic decision.

Being part of the CU has been an absolutely great experience!

I’ve found the CU to be a hugely welcoming and enthusiastic place and I hope this is what you find too.

As Freshers’ Officer this year it’s my job to welcome all you lovely freshers to Trinity life and the Christian Union here! Throughout the year, I’ll be organising a load of events to help you get to know other Freshers and CU members from different years (who will offer sagely wisdom on how to survive college). It’ll be fantastic!

I’m putting together this booklet to introduce you to the CU and hopefully answer any questions you may have about it.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

-Peter

What is TCDCU? My school never had a CU so I didn’t know much about how one worked or what it did. But as the year went on I found it to be a great encouragement and an excellent investment of my time.

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

The CU meets every Thursday at 7:30pm for a time of fellowship praise and prayer.

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. Personally, being part of the CU has really helped me settle into Dublin. It has been a terrific encouragement to be around other Christians and I really feel I have grown in my faith as a result. I can’t encourage you enough to get stuck into CU activities!

What happens at CU? Every week at 7:30pm the CU meets. Here we sing songs, pray and quite often have a speaker along to explore how the Bible applies to us. The evening is always finished with a nice cup of tea and a good wee chat.

We also have several other events going on from week to week.

Small Groups are a chance to meet up and study the Bible in smaller groups every week.

There are several going on each week so I’d really encourage you to find a time that suits you and head along for a chance to get to study the Bible in more detail.

There will also be plenty of prayer meetings organised for a chance to pray for each other, everyone at Trinity and the world!

Other highlights throughout the year include our Carol Service in the college chapel and the CU weekend away which has taken place at the wonderful Castledaly Manor. The Weekend Away happens really early in the year and is an awesome time for getting to know others so watch out for it!

My highlight last year was our Events Week. This was a time when we, as a CU, organised lunches and evening events to purposefully reach out to students on campus and let them know what the gospel means to us. This was an excellent experience and is definitely something to look out for next year.

Meet the Committee President George Madden From County Mayo 3rd Year History and Political Science Hi, I'm a Third Year History and Political Science Student from Co. Mayo. As President my role includes chairing committee meetings, contacting speakers and overseeing the running of committee. I'm really excited to be part of the CU and see all that God will do through it this year! If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to get in touch!

Vice President & International Officer Andrew Burke From Dublin 3rd Year Political Science and Geography Hello! My name is Andrew and I'm a third year student of Political Science and Geography. I am the Vice President of the CU in Trinity, while also having the role of International Officer. As the International Officer, my job is to make all international students feel very welcome and comfortable as they settle into Dublin. I will be organising fortnightly socials known as Globe Cafe, which is open to both International and Irish students. This is a great place to meet other students and develop friendships, while having some banter!

Secretary Georgie O’Sullivan From Dublin 2nd Year PPES Hi, I’m Georgie and I’m a second year PPES student. My job as secretary involves responding to emails, booking rooms for events and taking minutes in Committee meetings - essentially administrative work for the Christian Union! If you have any questions or want to get involved please do get in contact!

Meet the Committee Evangelism & Publicity Officer Grace Torrens From Ballymoney 3rd Year History Hello hello! I’m PRO and Evangelism officer this year for the CU. I’m meant to be in charge of posters, social media and the website - pretty much trying to make sure the CU can be seen on campus! The evangelism part is also really important as we try to make this an integral part of who we are as a CU. With your help, we’ll be organising specific events and encouraging everyday evangelism as we seek to show Christ’s love among our friends and classmates. Anyone who has poster making skills, a heart for sharing the gospel or both please get in touch!

Small Groups Coordinator Sharon Emma Besra From New Delhi 3rd Year Law and Political Science Hi! I’m a third year Law and Political Science student and I will be the Small Groups Coordinator for this year. I look forward to reading the bible together and discussing it in groups. I really hope it benefits everyone and that these groups help in increasing camaraderie within the society. These groups are open for all and I’m here for any help/questions.

Freshers’ & Prayer Officer Peter Watson From Cavan 2nd Year Medicine Hello there, I am the Freshers’ and Prayer Officer this year. I’m here to help the Freshers settle in and make sure they have plenty to do.

I’ll also be organising prayer meetings throughout term time where we’ll be praying for the campus here and CUs all over the place! I’m super excited for all this so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any more info!

Meet the Committee Music Coordinator Young Chae Soon Howdy! I'm Music Co-ordinator this year in the CU. This role involves helping people understand worship and praising God through singing and music. I will also be 'recruiting' (hunting down) anyone who is able to play or sing a tune to help do that! If you are interested in serving as part of the worship team, please contact me, I'd most love a hand! Really looking forward to serving with you!

Treasurer Lisa Walsh Hey there! I'm a third year neuroscience student from the wilds of Kerry! My role as treasurer is to follow the money.

I’m in charge of raising sponsorship, getting membership discounts and running after everyone for receipts.

Top Tips to Survive TCD Budgeting Keep on top of your money from the start. Planning is really helpful and can save you a lot! There’s plenty of help on offer for this during Freshers’ Week so pay attention.

Stay Organised You’ll get plenty of emails. Make sure you’re checking these regularly so that you know what’s going on. I found Google Calendars was an extremely helpful tool in organising myself when college life was running at 100 miles per hour.

Try Something New Trinity offers a huge variety of worthwhile activities. If you’ve got the time, try something! Meeting new people is great and you never know when you’ll find a new passion be it rock climbing or debating!

Find a Church Getting settled into a new Dublin church was a huge help in making the change smooth. CU is not meant to be a substitute for church so we really encourage you to get plugged into a church community down here in Dublin. Ask any of us on committee if you have questions regarding finding a church! We’ll also be organising a church crawl over the first few weeks so please be sure to get along.

Ask for help anytime!

Everyone on the CU committee is so glad to offer their services. We’ve all been through the first weeks of college and know how tough they can be. Whatever it is you may be wondering we’ll be happy to help to the best of our abilities.

Freshers’ Week This will be your first week at Trinity and the CU will have plenty of events on, ranging from movie nights to IKEA trips, to make it a good one. Check out our Facebook page for updates on what will be going on. We’ll be in the jungle that is Front Square during Freshers’ Week everyday so be sure to pop in, say hi and sign up. This means that you’ll get our weekly email to keep you in the loop.

This will also be a great opportunity to ask plenty of questions about absolutely anything. We’ll be extremely happy to meet you and chat about studying, accommodation or even photocopying.

We’ve been praying for you all and will continue to do so as you settle in!

Front Square, where we’ll be during Freshers’ Week.

Arts students may be found here.

Check out the Book of Kells here.

The Gym, for all interested.

Spot a scientist here.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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