A Monstrous Essay, Movember and Activism 2012

Monday 29th October to Sunday 4th November 2012

My diary this week - one big to-do list!

A Monstrous Essay

Some of you may be thinking "Why are you writing about this in your blog? It's nothing to do with Equality & Liberation!" And you would be right. But the truth is, being a part-time officer for the SU is all about time management and priorities, particularly in third year. An even more honest truth is that I'm not very good at this balance all of the time, and I really need to be. I'm not going to breeze past the tough moments and only focus on the successes - being a part time officer, whilst working part time and studying full time, let alone the radio show, is hard work. So when it's tough, I will let you know, and when it's thoroughly brilliant, the best thing I have ever done in my life, I will let you know also.

Back to this essay, this horrible essay. It was so horrible, I spent the evening of Halloween doing it and feeling thoroughly terrified! It was the hardest essay I have ever written, mainly because it was biology based and I had never studied biology before. But I got through it, it was submitted, and now it will only haunt me when it gets marked. Until then, ghoulish essay.

Alternative I&R Senate

The I&R Senate was cancelled this past Thursday as so many people wanted to go to the talk by the head of Amnesty International UK. Instead I sat in Crosslands for two hours, free to talk to anyone about anything including upcoming campaigns, organisation for the next senate and open forums. We will be working on having open forum for self-defining women, LGBT+ students and also first years. It's exciting stuff! The talk by the head of Amnesty was interesting, and when asked about the current redundancies and strikes at UK Amnesty, she avoided the question at great length. Otherwise, it was a valuable insight into what Amnesty strives towards, and the work they have been doing during the Arab Spring. 

That night was also the launch of Love Holloway Hate Hatred, following the end of Black History Month. It was a great night, with a good variety of music! Cosy in Medicine, it was great to see everyone after hiding in the library for a week!

Jess is the Change.

NUS Activism 2012 - I Am The Change

This was a conference/training session held by NUS for activists in and around the UK. I went with Jess (our Gender Rep), and we split up to make the most of the many many many sessions they were holding! We evaluated how we campaigned and how we engaged with the wider student population. The two sessions that were most useful to me included one on education campaigns (which overlaps with Equality & Liberation, and so will begin working on that soon!) and secondly a talk on tribes and gangs. It was about how we relate to one another, and the most effective way to engage people. It was actually one of the best talks I had ever been to, so good that I told the speaker so afterwards. 

It was about the difference between running something and leading something, the distinction between reacting and responding but also about realising the importance of the people around you. Every single one of you is important to the movement, to the SU, to me; so let's not forget that. 

Regular Duties

I met with the Executive Committee on Monday, and was given the role of minuting. My fingers tapped at the speed of light to keep up with the conversation! Taking minutes is one of those tasks that I'd always prefer not to do, but when it comes to doing it I actually enjoy it. 

The radio show on Wednesday was with Claire O'Reilly, and went really well! She had a great taste in music and it was a pleasure to have her on the show. There won't be a show next week (as it's reading week) but there will be a show the week after, I promise! 

Soon we will release the video footage from the Let's Talk About Porn discussion last week - I'm just running it by the speakers first to make sure they're happy with it.
I also sat on the LGBT Soc Committee meeting this week, and I was very chuffed to have been invited. We discussed some issues and ways to tackle them, so it was a very productive!
Something that doesn't sound incredible, or life-changing, or even time consuming are emails and facebook messages - but in all honesty these take up a great deal of my time! Talking about meetings, following up on how people are doing, catching progress, talking about ideas, asking questions, answering questions... I could go on! I spent a long time doing these tasks this week, which haven't led to anything concrete just yet but will.

In other news, it's also Movember! Grow a some facial hair to show support and raise awareness for Prostate Cancer, or support those who do if you can't grow facial hair of your own! You can check out Holloway Movember teams here: http://uk.movember.com/mospace/1480550

I drew this myself - fact!