Embracing the Challenge: My First Month At the RSU

Irene Reynolds, VP Education

Today marks the last day of my first month in office alongside President, Imran Shafiqi, and Vice President Welfare, Adam Fewster. As I look back, it is almost surreal to recount how much has been packed into these past four weeks, yet I believe every moment was filled with purposeful action.

Prior to the official start of my term, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a three-day community organising course by Citizens UK at King's College, Waterloo campus. This training covered essential topics such as power, leadership, research, and uniting people for impactful collective action. It also offered an excellent opportunity to network with key figures in the charity sector, who I look forward to working with soon to offer opportunities for our student body here at Roehampton.

My first *official* week kicked off with an abundance of training sessions that covered every aspect of being a Sabbatical Officer. These sessions focused on transforming my manifesto into achievable objectives aimed to create positive change for the student population, and ultimately how to succeed in the role to make the most meaningful impact during my term. Additionally, I attended my first Senate Board meeting with Senior Leadership at the university and acted as a representative of the student body, ensuring that every student’s best interests were at the heart of every policy being negotiated.

The following weeks, we worked hard as a team to plan our shared objectives and individual goals for the academic year, which I am looking forward to sharing with you all in the upcoming weeks! In conjunction with our thorough training sessions, I also had numerous ‘first of many’ moments that this role will require me to take charge on throughout my term such as:

• Delivering an RSU welcome speech on our undergraduate open day
• Providing an induction speech for the Faculty of Business and Law July Intake
• Meeting with the Vice Chancellor, Jean-Noel, alongside the College Presidents and Deputies to discuss potential areas for collaboration and how to align our efforts to enhance academic programmes, improve student services, and nurture a more inclusive campus environment.

To finish off the month, we had a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend the National Union of Students’ Lead and Change Conference hosted at Birmingham University Guild of Students. Alongside Sabbatical officers from universities across the United Kingdom, we gained crucial skills to drive positive change in our institutions, discuss collective ideas, and explore objectives with those who share similar roles within their organisations. This experience also provided an imperative opportunity to connect with officers from other local universities across London to discuss areas for collaboration and collective action.

Overall, I had an incredible time and I plan to apply everything I have learned this past month to all our upcoming projects and initiatives, to offer the best experience possible for every student at Roehampton.

My Books of the Month: 

• The Art of Happiness - Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler 
• Home Body - Rupi Kaur 
• The Tao of Inner Peace - Diane Dreher 
• Only Love is Real - Brian Weiss