What course are you studying?
BA (Hons) History
What stage of your course are you currently studying?
What motivated you to run for a Sabbatical Officer role and why do you think you would be a good Sabbatical Officer?
Turbulence within my own educational career has motivated my to run for VP of Education. experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic during both my A-levels and first year of university, alongside the current cost of living crisis, I understand the anxiety faced by students regarding their education during strikes etc. I would be a good Sabbatical Officer as my priority is to engage with students and advocate to improve their educational experiences.
Why is the Sabbatical Officer role important?
I believe the Sabbatical Officer role as VP of education to be important as often for students facing issues within university settings, its often daunting trying to find where to go to find solutions to issues regarding your education. Therefore, the role of Sabbatical Officer reduces this issue, acting as an easy point of contact to aim to find help in student issues. This role is also important as it also acts an advocate for the student population, voicing issues and creating resolutions.
What three words would your friends use to describe you?
reliable, organised, confident
If you could change one thing about the University, what would that be?
One thing I would change about the University is its accessibility on campus. While overall accessibility is good in new/updated buildings, from the perspective of disabled peers, they have faced issues in particularly older building in regard to issues such as lifts often being out of order, disabled automatic doors also not working. While its not possible to fully renovate these areas, as a Sabbatical Officer I would aim to advocate for the increased maintenance of these accessibility aids.
If you could change one thing about the Students' Union, what would it be?
One thing I'd change about the SU would be its social engagement with students. While the SU offers amazing events/facilities, I feel as if they are often not made full use of due to students unknowing of what the SU does. Therefore I would use both social media and public engagement to enhance the marketing of the SU to aim to promote the use of the SU to a higher population of students.
Who do you draw most inspiration from and why?
To be cliche, I draw most inspiration from my mum! As a single mum in the healthcare industry, she worked tirelessly to provide for me in a climate where I didn't have the advantage of many of my other peers. She has never failed to instil the values of hard work and a good education in me so she can watch me grow. I truly wouldn't have become the first person in my family to go to university without her.
What is your proudest moment so far and why?
My proudest moment is (nearly) making it to the end of my degree. I think many students are able to say that within their university experience they have doubted their abilities as a student, pushed to their full potential and maybe even had a case of imposter syndrome. The experience of completing my studies is nothing like I expected yet completely exceeded all exceptions and I'm so proud to be so close to achieving one of the largest goals I've had so far!