microsoft word - mcr freshers welcome letter 2015.docx web viewqueens’, as well as being one...
TRANSCRIPT
Dear New Graduate Student,
Congratulations on your offer to come to Queens’ and welcome to the MCR community. I’m Alex Wakelam, the MCR President for 2017-18; this is just a short letter to get you up to speed on the MCR (Middle Combination Room) and what you can expect once you get here.
Queens’, as well as being one of the oldest colleges in Cambridge, has one of the largest and most diverse graduate communities outside of the graduate colleges. Half our members come from outside the UK, representing dozens of countries from all over the world. All Queens’ grads are members of the MCR – this offers you a community outside of your department, as well as use of the MCR Room in college, which is a comfortable spot for relaxing or studying throughout the day.
Other than being your primary representative to the college on any issues that might arise, our primary role is hosting a range of social activities to give you a break from the intense Cambridge work environment alongside the seemingly unending range of societies, events, and academic seminars run through the University and its colleges. Throughout the year we host a diverse social calendar. Alongside the weekly Woodville Room parties on a Friday night, you can expect formal hall dinners, day trips in and out of Cambridge, movie nights, bar quizzes, baking competitions, wine and cheese nights, punting trips, walks in the Fens, and much more. We also with the SCR run the Grad Talks evening – a relaxed forum where graduate students and academic fellows share short presentations on their work over wine and cheese. We aim to help you get the most out of your time at Queens’ while you concentrate on your work.
Your first experience of this will be our annual Freshers Week, which will begin when you arrive in October. This week will offer you a chance to get to know the city, college, and people you’ll be living with for the foreseeable future. We offer a range of day and night time activities, hoping to suit the desires of all our new students. To those on course, which require you to be in Cambridge a bit earlier (e.g. MBAs), don’t fear! We will be running some smaller events just for you to make sure you don’t have to wait until October.
Nearer to your arrival, you’ll receive a lot more information from us, particularly about the eccentricities of Cambridge such as academic gowns – though don’t worry about that for now! Right now, if you’re a facebook user I highly recommend you join our group for incoming students (https://www.facebook.com/groups/802203833267786/) where you can ask questions and get responses from current students. We also have a more general group https://www.f acebook.com/groups/382803758492649/ and a page to like https://www.facebook.com/queensmcr/ which should keep you up to date on all that’s going on. There’s also information on our Website http://qmcr.org.uk though it is in the process of being partially rewritten so bear in mind that it may not currently have the information you need.Of course, you can contact me or our MCR secretary, Joe, at any time:[email protected] or [email protected]
I think you’ll find that Cambridge is a fantastic, beautiful city in which to live, the university an inspiring place to study, and Queens’ the best place to call home. We are very much looking forward to meeting you in September or October and hope that you’re equally excited to join us!
Best wishes,
Alex Wakelam – Queens’ MCR President 2017-18