Wednesday 24-04-2019 - 08:52

Elections are the biggest thing that happens at The Union every year — who gets elected gets to decide the direction of The Union for the next academic year. The Union caught up with Evelyn, the elected Societies and Development Officer, to find out about her experience running for election. 

Why did you decide to run for election?
I'd been involved in the societies council for three years and had seen first-hand how the Activities Officer and the Societies and Development Officer roles worked and how much they could influence at the Union. I started thinking about what I'd like to change at the Union. I knew how much societies had changed my experiences of university, so being able to continue that experience and provide fantastic opportunities to so many students really appealed to me.

How did you end up on the MMU Most Wanted slate?
I knew Anna from when we both ran the Rock and Anime societies. We had fun running collaborative events and working together. We remained friends when they became the first Societies and Development officer. Once I found out they wanted to run for President, I may have dropped one or two hints (or maybe a hundred) that I wanted to run for the Societies and Development officer this year and would love to work with them on a slate. I then got to know Andy, Ross and Lucy better and before I knew it, we were planning our campaign.
 
What was the best piece of advice you received before you ran?
To take care of yourself! Caring for my mental health was so important during the whole process. But also basic things like making sure to eat /sleep enough and to take breaks when you need to during campaigning was vital.

What were the highs and lows of campaigning for you?
Trying to get used to going up to strangers and talking about yourself is such a bizarre experience and one I wasn't comfortable with at all, it took a while to get into the swing of it and could make me feel incredibly anxious.

But the highest points were being a part of such an encouraging team and getting our friends involved, whether it was when we were making videos or we had them coming out talking to people with us. That support was so appreciated and made the process a lot easier. 

What was it like to win?
It was such a fantastic experience! I could hear my heart pounding in the build-up to who was announced as the winner. And then when my name was called, I felt a million emotions at once and couldn't stop crying. I was so proud of not just myself, but my whole team. 

What are the first things that you hope to achieve?
There are a few things I want to achieve by the end of this year. I'm looking forward to introducing new representatives on the societies council so there's more support for different committees, as well as introducing a new Societies Volunteering Website so that members can log the hours they invest into societies that they can show to their future employers. 

How do you feel about starting your new role?
Really excited! This last year has been incredibly successful for societies and other development campaigns and I can't wait to build on that success and introduce my own ideas.