Hello friends!

It’s been three weeks since I’ve started as your SU 2021/22 Activities Officer and what a RIDE it has been.  My first three weeks have been faced with some highlights and some low lights obviously.

One of my highlights included talking to you wonderful people (unfortunately, virtually – big sad) about your opinion and ideas on how we can improve the student experience.

I’ve been working closely with the Arts Team (they’re amazing) and the Societies & Volunteering Team (they’re also amazing) on how we can bring back groups in the new year. We’ve had conversations around how we can bring committees together to collaborate and plan exciting events together.  We also talked about how we can best support student leaders in the new year in a (hopefully) post-covid world.

Talking about exciting news, there is a new Exec structure this year which brings new challenges and new opportunities. I’ve been getting ready to welcome them into this new role and looking at how the next year might look for them! ??  

On my first day myself and the wonderful Sports Officer got a tour of the Edge and it got my brain thinking of what sort of events we can plan and how groups could use the space in the next year. I have been working closely with the Arts Team on how students could use these spaces and how we can best support you in doing so.

I have also hit the ground running on my manifesto points including Varsity for the Arts which has been super exciting. I have been excited about starting this for quite literally months and being able to start talking to people and planning it. I’m hoping it will happen but with everything changing so fast, who knows!
I have also started working on creating a Volunteer Recognition Award to ensure student volunteers get the recognition they deserve for the amazing work they do all year. Whilst it is in its very (very) early stages the process has made my brain a little fried and I’m so excited for what’s to come.

The sustainability agenda has been WILD. I met the Climate Action Framework Team where we discussed in various meetings how we can make our campus greener. I met with various University stakeholders and students where we discussed how we feel the direction for the University should be to achieve the objectives set by the Climate Action Framework and what we can do to achieve this. Students are so so important in the process of achieving these objectives which is why I started working towards increasing student representation in sustainability. On that note, if you do have any ideas/interest on how we can make our campus greener -  please email me !!

One of the low lights of the week included hearing the news regarding graduation. I am absolutely gutted that we don’t get to graduate (I was also meant to be graduating). I hope that we can soon all be reunited and graduate in proper fashion.  

I couldn’t finish my first blog post without remembering Rob Tyrell. Rob Tyrell was the SU Activities Officer 2020/21. Whilst I never knew him, he left a significant mark on the SU and needless to say, I have big shoes to fill in, as he leaves behind a legacy filled with joy and kindness.

Hope everyone is having an amazing summer and speak soon!
Zoe