Arts, Humanities and the Social Sciences are important, intelligent and beautiful areas of study. I am running for the position of AHSS Faculty Representative because of my genuine passion for these areas, as well as my passion for the experience of others in our university.

I may often be quietly spoken but I’m a person with a loud mind filled with ideas and a great love for creativity. As a person who dabbles in many things that work collaboratively with Media Studies (my chosen course), such as photography, article work and creative writing, I feel I am a good candidate to represent the collective student voice for this broad sector.

It’s vital that we all have the opportunity and comfortability to express how we feel about our courses and class atmosphere, and it would be my aim as a representative to ensure not only that people are able to do just this, but also that areas highlighted for improvement or consideration are brought to the attention of those appropriate.

I campaigned for this position in last year’s Student Election and it was an invaluable experience. It taught me a lot about what it means to put yourself forward as a leader and the importance of properly selling yourself to an audience.

Looking back upon last year, I feel that I should have sold myself better. I am 20 years old and, for a 20 year old, I feel that I have pretty extensive experience in many AHSS areas. I have experience with The National Centre for Writing and spent a year with them under mentoring as a Poet Laureate. During that year I got involved with many things such as commission work, performing and even teaching. I am published in an Australian Poetry Anthology, among many other places, and would be able to provide students who wish with information about the first steps to submitting their artworks and writing to magazines, zines and online platforms. I have also been highly commended by The Royal Society of Literature, have worked with the Young Norfolk Arts group and am a member of the Young Artists In Suffolk Collective.

If you’re interested in radio I have spent two years at university studying radio modules and have spoken on BBC Radio Norfolk in the past. If you’re interested in journalism I have been writing articles for 2 years and have spent the last year and a half running The Ruskin Journal. If you’re interested in blogging, video work or work in regards to social media, I currently work two part-time jobs in these areas. One job involves student life blogs and the other entails the production of content for a social media marketing team. I spent many years studying and enjoying Philosophy, too, and I also took on Sociology as an A-Level at college. Let's start some conversations and think about networking!

Upon leaving college with an Excellence In Media Award I didn’t know where to go, but deciding to join ARU is one of the best decisions that I have ever made. I’ve been doing my best to show gratitude and give back - be that in the form of spending a year as a Course Rep or through volunteering for over 430 collective hours with the Student’s Union so far - but I want to do more.

I know that I would do my best in representing you, and I know that I would work hard to ensure that your voices are heard. I will not let you down.