Film/TV, Razz News/Issues, What's Happening, Writing

Personal Stories and Public Conversations: Why Celebrities Share their Struggles

Most of us can probably recall more intimate knowledge about certain ‘celebs’ compared to details about our close friends. We consume celebrity culture at such a rate that it can be difficult to protest this fact, and the rise of social media has only forged a stronger connection to our favourite public figures. Images of Hollywood parties and luxury lifestyles sit in social feeds amongst … Continue reading Personal Stories and Public Conversations: Why Celebrities Share their Struggles

RAZZ MagJune 27, 2021June 27, 20211 Comment

health, Lifestyle, What's Happening

Social Anxiety and COVID-19: How to Cope After Leaving Lockdown

I’m panting, head racing, heart beating out of control. Wondering if I will be sick, I click on the blue button on the screen and join my first Zoom class of the day. To the average person, this may sound like an overreaction. After all, what can be so scary about a row of boxes on a screen? But the multiple lockdowns over the past year have taken a toll on my mental health and social skills. According to the Mental Health Foundation, over half of UK adults think their future will be worse as a result of the pandemic, especially students and those with pre-existing mental health conditions. While the country is gearing up to be set free from COVID restrictions on the 21st of June, some are wondering whether they will be able to handle ordinary life ever again. After all, if I get anxious before a Zoom meeting, how will I cope in the middle of a crowd this summer? Continue reading Social Anxiety and COVID-19: How to Cope After Leaving Lockdown

RAZZ MagApril 13, 2021April 12, 2021Leave a comment

Books, Columns, Review, Writing

Reading Corner: “Maybe You Should Talk To Someone” by Lori Gottlieb

While through most of 2020, reading was one of my top pastimes, in this third lockdown – just as others might have lost the urge to bake sourdough bread – I lost the motivation to read. After forcing myself through books for my English modules, I mindlessly scrolled through Instagram and Pinterest in the evenings, occasionally adding books to my “want to read” list. When … Continue reading Reading Corner: “Maybe You Should Talk To Someone” by Lori Gottlieb

RAZZ MagMarch 8, 2021March 8, 20211 Comment

Columns, Lifestyle, Sports

My Culture Comforts: Couch to 5K

As a baby, your parents wait with anticipation for your first steps and from that moment, you’re off. Children are encouraged to run around as much as possible when they’re little. In primary school, we had three breaktimes a day which were spent darting around the playground. If you asked a five-year-old whether they ever felt embarrassed whilst running, you would most likely be dismissed. However, if you asked a twelve-year-old girl, I am sure it would be a different story. Continue reading My Culture Comforts: Couch to 5K

RAZZ MagFebruary 23, 2021February 23, 2021Leave a comment

Lifestyle, Music

The Power of Music

Most of us know the feeling of listening to an old favourite song that transports us back in time. Every time I hear “Sun” by Two Door Cinema Club, I am back in my first-year bedroom, packing a bag for the first beach day of the year with my new friends. I can smell the sun cream, taste the strawberries, remember the games we played, everything. All from one song. And it always, undoubtedly, makes me feel happy – a nostalgic kind of happy – but happy nonetheless, because it’s not just the memory these songs evoke, but the emotions we were feeling at those times as well. Continue reading The Power of Music

RAZZ MagDecember 9, 2020December 11, 2020Leave a comment

Columns, Editorial Team, Lifestyle, Politics, Razz News/Issues, What's Happening

It’s Debatable: Gym Closures

For: 2020 has been an odd year in many, many ways, and for me, perhaps one of the oddest personal developments has been that I have become a Person Who Gyms. Regularly. On Purpose. Enjoying it. I cannot emphasize enough that if I went back and told 2019 me about this, she, along with everybody else I know, would have laughed very hard, for a … Continue reading It’s Debatable: Gym Closures

RAZZ MagNovember 25, 2020November 25, 2020Leave a comment

Editorial Team, Literature, Music, Performance Arts

Four Decades On, Patti Smith is Still the Godmother of Poetry and Protest

Few things match the feeling, as a fifteen-year-old girl, of hearing a woman in a classic rock song tell you: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine.” At once, you’re aware of the magnificence of living honestly and boldly. You also realise that if you’re too nervous to attempt that yourself, you can always turn up the volume, and live vicariously through someone who’s less afraid. Continue reading Four Decades On, Patti Smith is Still the Godmother of Poetry and Protest

RAZZ MagJuly 9, 2020July 9, 2020Leave a comment

Editorial Team, Exeter Uni, Lifestyle, Misc., What's Happening

Acknowledging Uncertainty: How Coronavirus has Changed the Way We Plan For the Future

Our lives are mapped around referential points. We all have calendars littered with birthdays, exams, parties, graduation ceremonies, interviews, visits to friends, events, plays, holidays, gigs. None of us live purely spontaneously. For decades modern life has functioned on the presumption that imposing order onto our immediate futures will make us more productive, prompt and predictable. Life is prearranged invisibly around us, marked by the constant promises of the near future, what’s coming next, what will I be doing tomorrow? Continue reading Acknowledging Uncertainty: How Coronavirus has Changed the Way We Plan For the Future

RAZZ MagApril 25, 2020Leave a comment

Editorial Team, Exeter Uni, Lifestyle, Local, Misc.

More Than Moustaches: Why Movember Matters

Now that the month is over, it feels like a good time to consider the scope of what the Movember movement is tackling in terms of men’s physical and mental health. First started in 2003 in Australia when four friends asked twenty-six others to ‘bring back the trend’ of growing moustaches, Movember has come a long way – raising £598 million over the last sixteen years. The annual event has become about more than just growing out your facial hair, with men and women across the globe raising awareness and money for this worthwhile cause. Continue reading More Than Moustaches: Why Movember Matters

RAZZ MagDecember 4, 2019February 13, 2020Leave a comment

Editorial Team, Lifestyle, Misc.

Compassion and Self-Care: Considering Friendship as Emotional Labour

When Melissa A. Fabello’s Twitter thread went viral, I understood the criticism. Fabello’s Tweets suggested that you should ask friends if they have the capacity to support you in times of emotional difficulty and provided a script for those who didn’t. The proposed response lacked empathy and sounded particularly clinical. However, the sentiment behind the message resonated with me. Although there is an essential level of effort involved in maintaining friendships, everyone has a limit to how much they can handle. Ultimately when you reach capacity, emotional support becomes performative and damaging to your own self-care. Continue reading Compassion and Self-Care: Considering Friendship as Emotional Labour

RAZZ MagDecember 2, 2019February 13, 2020Leave a comment

RAZZ

Exeter University's Arts, Culture, and Lifestyle Magazine

Tag: mentalhealth