And here, on the second week of June, you’re about to read my last entry as a first year officer.

In the last entry I did a brief walk down memory lane, so I won’t do that again. Instead, here, I will dedicate my lines to recognising our three outgoing officers and some of their contributions to the SU this year.

Jura was the only second year officer this year. This means she deserves a massive amount of recognition. Not only did she put up with all five of us running around and being too energetic for it to be sustainable, but she patiently answered our million questions over the first couple of months in the post. She also managed to write her masters’ dissertation at the same time, which I will also be impressed by. She spent most of her second year working alongside the rest of the officer team (and mostly David) to improve PG engagement in societies and the wider university experience. This Summer, for the first time, we’ll be trialing affiliating PG only societies. I think that’s a great step in the right direction. She also started conversations about professional development for doctorate students through work-based opportunities. This is still in its early stages, but she started the very important conversations.

Hanna and her all-contagious energy also left a powerful mark on our union. I am particularly grateful to her for putting forward what just over a year ago was simply a pipe dream on my first manifesto: the early arrival program for international students. Hanna not only accepted this challenge but succeeded in getting it to happen. In September, we’ll have around 100 international students pilot this program for the first time. I hope Hanna’s initial project will continue to grow in the next few years, so more international students can settle into our community better. As a community officer, she was also part of a series of conversations with the local council on voter registration for students, giving our members more opportunities to engage with councillors, and participating in SCP initiatives to make sure our ties to the community continue to improve. She’s about to go slay in her new job in Uniqlo, so make sure to bade her well if you see her in the next few days.

Abbie is simply a star. It’s not a secret that she is one of my closest friends and like a sister to me, so I won’t pretend like this is an objective account of her contributions. She fiercely worked on the pitch side medics scheme for sport fixtures on Wednesdays. This project has moved forward slowly, but all progress has been thanks to her unwavering dedication to it. She also managed to tick off quite a few boxes from her manifesto. I’m sure you remember the rainbow laces she gave to different sports, or the £1 flash kit sale at the beginning of the year, or perhaps even her drop-in sessions and quash that rumour TikToks. She made an incredibly hard role seem like a walk in the park. She also chaired

our internal SU finance and audit committee, and that is no easy task. She will be greatly missed, and I say that as an officer, as a friend, and as a BUCS player.

I will leave it here, before getting emotional (again). I hope you all have a lovely Summer. Stay tanned and be kind to one another!

Much love,

Jiji x