End of Spring Term Blog – President – Viviane Cao

This past term has been a bit hectic but here are a few updates about what’s been keeping me busy since January.

In the first two weeks of term, I was working with the GSA staff to organise Welcome Back Week events and talks. Everything has obviously been a bit weird over the past few years so it was brilliant to welcome students to an in person campus again and was great to get to know so many of you.

Following that, we had our first proper graduation in January for what feels like forever, and I was invited to attend as a graduate representative. I was honoured to be invited because representing postgrads is a genuine passion for me, and seeing my name and picture printed in the first few pages of the graduation booklet really reminded me of the responsibility I have to serve you. The ceremony moved me immensely and gave me the confidence and spiritual support to continue to perform my role as well as I can.

By taking these opportunities to meet students, I’m constantly given a broad insight into what you think and feel, and most recently I was given a chance to hear your voice during mental health week and from Jia’s Loneliness and Wellbeing survey that has been running ever since. I’ve also got to hear from potential graduate students at taster sessions, to understand what the postgrads of the future want .I think that students’ voices are vital for the priorities of my manifesto, so I should say I am grateful to the graduates for giving me this opportunity.

This leads into the last major priority for me this term, which is working on my manifesto projects. To be honest, these are commitments I’ve been driving towards since I started the president role last year and if you didn’t already know, it’s all about equality and community. This is my priority because there are continued systemic issues of inequality in what needs to be an inclusive country, and I want to do what I can on behalf of those at risk by promoting real racial equality and ensuring safety for our students on and off campus. Every bit of progress we can make towards these aims is entirely done for those who voted for me and I am proud to be trying my best to serve everyone represented by our liberation networks. The more you can tell us about your student experience, the more we can do to have your back.