"Hi, I'm Tilda I studied Psychology and was part of the Faculty of Health, and I'm also an ex Students' Union President. During my Master's year, I decided to run for Vice President of Wellbeing and Diversity. And I won that year. So I became VP. And then I enjoyed being VP so much that the next year I ran to be Students' Union President. And I won that and had another amazing year working at the Students' Union.
What initially interested me about running to be Vice President of Wellbeing and Diversity was that I really felt like the role complemented what I was doing on my course and the kind of things I was studying, as a Psychology student, and I think a lot of like Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology, and the policy work and the advocacy and campaigning that you do in the Vice President role really seemed like a good fit for what I was doing on my course. And my Personal Tutor encouraged me to get involved as well.
During my time as Vice President of Wellbeing and Diversity, I did a lot of mental health campaigning, I helped to rewrite and improve some policies around key things like sexual assault, and suicide. And I went to a lot of meetings representing students on issues such as funding for students with disabilities, and things like that.
And then in my time as Students' Union President, I was doing a lot more sort of big board meetings, running larger campaigns, working on like finance strategies in the Students' Union. And being President has really opened my eyes up to a whole different world, how large institutions like the University are run, and also how a large charity like the Students' Union is run.
If you are thinking about nominating yourself for a role at the Students' Union, my advice would be to just do it. Even if you're not 100% sure, or even if you're worried you won't win. Because as much as winning is great, especially if you're passionate about what you do. Taking part in that campaign week and learning amazing skills - you know, talking eloquently about the things you care about and making amazing friends and building your confidence - these are skills that will last forever whether or not you win the role. And if you do win the role, it means you get to work for a year on something you're so passionate about, really grow your confidence in developing your skills. See, I'd really recommend it."
Find out more about the role of VP Wellbeing & Diversity here.
Nominations are open until midday on Monday 6th February 2023.
For an informal chat about any of the four roles come along to our Thinking of Running sessions on:
January 31st, 17:00 - 18:00 in The Hive
February 2nd, 13:00 - 13:30 over Zoom
If you have any questions or want advice, please get in touch with the Student Voice team here.