I Started at Birmingham in September 2006 and moved into Ashcroft in Prtichatts Park. Despite being a law student I didn't do that much Uni work in the first year, and no surprise really but i didn't engage in the Guild much. The extent of my involvement was being a member of the Neighbours Appreciation Society -I spent the majority of my time going out the hottest new place in town 'oceana', as well as Vodbull at the Works and Risa when it was still on a Monday!
Around Easter in my first year I got a job on the Reception desk of the Guild, this is what kick started my involvement in the Guild, getting to know what the Guild was about, meeting people who were alot more active than I was and hearing about different societies and activities I wanted to get involved in. This is where I heard about Carnival RAG for the first time and in september 2007 I started attending the meetings to find out what it was all about.
After attending Carnival events for a semester I decided to run for a committee posistion, and before I knew it I became the hitch rep - organsing hitch hikes across the country to places like Edinburgh and Newquay and we even streched ourselves as far as Amsterdam. I can honestly say it was the best thing I did during my time in University and without me realising I became very involved in the Guild.
At the end of my second year I spent 9 weeks over the summer in Uganda in East Africa, through the International Volunteering society at the Guild i went as part of a group of 6 to Volunteer with the Straight Talk Foundation. Straight talk are a non governemental organisation that are invovled in the promotion of HIV/AIDS awareness as part of a wider sexual health iniative that teaches the social importance of relationships and how to transfer this into safe sexual practice if and when they decide to do so. This project allowed me to spend my time in Ugangda teaching sexual Health in schools to students aged 12-22, as well as doing role plays, getting involved in community projects and offering one to one counselling for children if they need it. This project helped me to get a frim grasp on welfare issues, and although the issues themselves do not translate to our Univesity, the skills that i learnt i think do.
I also took on a second job in the Guild working for the Representation and Democracy department (the overdraft was being spent far too quickly) and I decided to run for a Guild Council position for my course. This is where I really found out about the Guild Officer positions for the first time. In addition I realised I would need something to fill the void that was Carnival when it ended at Christmas in my final year, so I decided to run for Social secretary for the Holdsworth Club (Law society) which kept me thoroughly busy throughout my final year organising events such as River cruises, trips to Amsterdam, theatre trips in the west end and the Annual law ball with a very large Budget. I also had a role to play in reforming the constitution, dealing with law firms to secure sponsorship, and helped to develop a peer mentor scheme.
Around christmas in my Final year i decided I was going to run for a guild officer posistion and the rest as they say is history. So here I am about to begin a pretty daunting year but one I can't wait to get stuck into. Thanks for reading this blog, keep checking back to find out what I have been upto and remember to protect your welfare with a Johnny.
