Laura Gibson is a 2^nd year Law Student in Cambridge and our Rep of the Month Winner for Cambridge in February 2018!

Laura’s main duties as a course rep is gathering feedback from students on her course and taking it to staff and lecturers in the Law School. They have recently had a lot of issues with cancelled lectures and it has required constant communication with the lecturers to ensure that everything possible was being done to get the module back on track.

“The thing I enjoy most about volunteering as a course rep is the feeling that students really can make a difference. During my role I have definitely learnt how to have difficult conversations with lecturers and other members of staff whilst staying professional.”

Laura aims to become a qualified solicitor and negotiating with the Law School on behalf of the students has been a really great opportunity for her!

“The students on my course inspire me to volunteer! I want to make our course as good as possible to make sure they get the most out of their time here.

“My favourite memory has been making friends with people I wouldn’t have otherwise spoken to.”

Caliana Jakes, the Arts, Law and Social Sciences Rep Co-Ordinator nominated Laura for Rep of the Month for going above and beyond her duty as a course rep. Caliana had the following to say about Laura;

“Laura's course were faced with the challenge of all their lectures for one module being cancelled due to a member of staff being absent. Laura used her initiative to contact her course leader directly to solve the issue and was told the provisions that were being put in place. Her course were not happy with the provisions offered and the staff were not delivering on them anyway. Laura came to seek my guidance in how to escalate the matter and proceeded to see me on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day, until she got the best result for her course.

“Not only did she raise the problem and wait for a solution, but she challenged the department to solve the problem faster, pushing them to improve the offered solutions. She even challenged them to make changes to the course assessment due to the amount of lectures missed. Even now that a temporary lecturer has been appointed, Laura is still communicating with me and the faculty on a regular basis to make sure that they deliver on their promises. Although these seem like regular tasks that a course rep should carry out, I really think that Laura has gone above and beyond her role to really represent her cohort and drive change.

“She is a great example of what a course rep should be doing!”

Laura’s final words on why she loves volunteering is;

 “I love volunteering because I enjoy helping people.”