#keeleuni

That’s not been the case for me. True I have had to work insanely hard, spend nights in the library and it’s been tough. There’s no shying away from that. Yet, it’s not all doom and gloom. Before this year I’ve never joined a society. I’d done small bits and pieces, but nothing major, not until I joined Keele Drama Society. If I’m totally honest, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s hard to imagine the difference that joining a society can make. I heard everyone talk about it: ‘you meet new people’, ‘get to do something you love or try something new’, the usual.

But it’s not until I actually did it that I found out what that really means. I joined a few months ago now, not at the beginning of the year but half way through the semester and I didn’t think I’d really have time, that I’d only be able to the minimum and then go back to do work. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I threw myself into it, and plan on doing so again next semester because, for me, it’s not just been about trying something new, or meeting new people (although I have to say everyone was incredibly welcoming and I’ve made great friends), it was about finding something that gave me time to switch off from my degree.

That’s when I came to realise, university isn’t all just about doing a degree. Yes, that’s important and I’m not advocating sacrificing studies for societies. It’s also about balance, something which I’ve struggled with over the past few years. I’m sure I’m not the only person that does this, but I often obsess over essays and deadlines, maybe do too much and stress myself out more than I should. Joining Drama gave some time away from my degree, it was time that was I was making exclusively for that and nothing else.

This is the first time in a long time that a KeeleSU Officer or Keele University student has held an elected position in the NUS, as well as being the first time ever for an officer or student to be elected to this particular position. I’m really proud to have been elected; when I came to Keele I never thought I would run to be an Elected Officer, let alone for a position in the National Union of Students! Since being elected as a Welfare and Internationalisation Officer, and NUS Delegate, at KeeleSU I’ve worked to make sure that our students have a national voice and that the work of the NUS is enacted with students’ best interests at heart, something that I will continue to do in this new position.

NUS has a number of zones spanning Higher Education, Further Education, Union Development, Welfare and Society and Citizenship. The committees seek to hold the NUS Vice Presidents to account and support his work on a national scale. It will be an honour to work alongside the VP for Society and Citizenship Robbiie Young in the year ahead as he works on engaging students with democracy, citizenship and the wider world. For me, the Society and Citizenship Zone has the potential to be the most important as it tackles issues that are not just faced by students but that affect our society. This year the zone priorities campaigns around divestment with Emissions Impossible, sustainability, votes at 16, social justice and the living wage something which I have started work on here at Keele.