When this post is made live on the Union website, I would be on my way to residential training with my fellow Officer Trustees. After two weeks of intense handover, which has seen over a dozen training sessions and the chance to meet new colleagues across College, I am incredibly excited to finally be able to put my ideas onto paper, and start translating them into actions that I hope will bring tangible, positive impact to your time at Imperial.

I don’t for a moment underestimate the challenges that I will be dealing with over the next year. Some of the challenges that I will be facing are ones that have been longstanding in parts of the College, such as poor feedback, underutilization of e-learning and limited pastoral support. I will need to continue the work of my predecessors, making sure that the Union and the Representation Network continue to work with College to study why these problems occur, and to present student-backed recommendations to solve them. I am also keen to capitalize on my own experiences, from my time as an Academic Representative to my identity as a Science & Society student, to bring new ideas and a fresh attitude to the table.

Some challenges are closer to home, concerning how we as the Union support and represent you in your learning. Over the course of August and September, I plan to review the state of our representation system. This includes working with members of the GSU committee to look critically at whether we are efficient and effective in representing Postgraduate students. It also includes reviewing communications within the Representation Network; my mission is to make sure there are as little barriers as possible for you to engage with your reps and myself, so that you can ask questions and pose suggestions whenever and wherever you want, across the widest range of platforms that you use.

And then there are some challenges that extend beyond the traditional, degree-centric meaning of education. Part of this includes helping you attain better learning facilities and resources. I will start by working with Estates towards improving the shuttle bus service between the South Kensington and Hammersmith campuses based on your feedback. Another area that particularly excites me is about supporting you in your professional development. Some of this work will be Union-specific, as I aim to work with our Student Development unit to better and promote our Imperial Plus scheme. Other work will be with great friends around campus, such as with the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication, to inform new opportunities for you to learn more and do more.

But perhaps the biggest challenge of all would be to fill the massive shoes left by my predecessor Pascal and his outgoing team. It is incredible to see the work that they have done and the relationships that they have built, both on the surface and behind-the-scenes. I am confident that their work have led to significant benefits to your learning that would reverberate through the years. 

I do wish all of them the very best ahead, and I look forward to building and innovating on their legacy to make your year at Imperial the best that it can be.