Pioneers And Profiteroles - How To Make A Super Student, Sorta!
Thursday 29-10-2015 - 11:59
"Pioneering"! It conjures up images of intrepid travellers striking out in search of brave new worlds and big bold horizons, and encouragingly it was used to describe us here at EHSU at the weekend.
The reason for such a glowing accolade was crammed into Creative Edge on Saturday, a little weary and bleary-eyed at such an early start to a weekend admittedly…but such is the lot of pioneers!
For several weeks now your Sabbaticals and Union staff have been locked away in a darkened room; food would occasionally be sent in; they would emerge periodically mumbling and wild-eyed, shouts of “I need more power” were heard, and all the time they were creating, then tinkering, then pulling apart and restructuring, until finally they had it: The Student Leaders' Development Day!
Not so much a masterplan to create a breed of super students, more a scheme to help nurture some really great Course Reps and Society Committee Members.
So Saturday morning effectively became the "Field of Dreams” moment: we’d built it, but would they come? Staff and Sabbaticals waited anxiously, a little more relaxed were Vibe Media, there to record the day (TV types see and so looking forward to a free lunch) but would there be much to record?
We’d like to imagine “they" began to mystically materialise and walked through some corn fields (well it is near Halloween) but actually they just started coming through the front door, and plenty of them! For a first time event we were really pleased with the turnout, if a little disappointed Shoeless Joe Jackson for one wasn’t among them.
The idea of the day was simple really: give some support and training to all those who decided to stand up and be counted as students by taking on leadership roles. It had come about as a result of EHSU listening to student feedback given last year which called for exactly that; basically it was the inside track on how to be an effective Course Rep or Society Committee Member.
What wasn’t so simple was the amount of planning, preparation and perspiration it took to see it through. The EHSU team on the day took care of everything from the registration, to the 16 different presentations and workshops, to the catering for 130 people (some very nice tortilla wraps on offer but the ice-cream filled, chocolate covered mini profiteroles were simply TDF it has to be said), to working with the six members of Vibe kindly giving up a day to video it for us... well they do say there’s no such thing as a free lunch!
Guest speakers James Pope from Wellbeing and Emma Bonati from Careers also came along to give a presentation each and impart words of wisdom, so many thanks to them also for taking part.
Charlie Walbridge, as a two-time Course Rep on Biology, valued, and embodied, what the day was all about: “I did it last year without any real training so I’m hoping that the changes made this year with the Student Development Day today (mean) that I can progress further."
For VP of the Harry Potter Society, Luke Myer, it was “ great for informing and training Student Leaders. I saw Society Committees who'd never met before, working together to plan not only the workshop tasks but real future events; I saw Course Reps improve their confidence and speak passionately about changes they wanted to see. We left inspired and invigorated to lead, and to electrify our campus. Not bad for a Saturday!" *
VP Academic Representation Rosie McKenna was delighted with the end result: “Taking into account that previously training for both Course Reps and Society Committee Members was nothing more than a PowerPoint presentation, we’ve taken the development of our Student Leaders to a new level this year. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.’
Whether being repeatedly sent out by "Lord Sugar” (VP Activities Pat) to come back with a better proposal, or learning “assertiveness” by facing down a big, Irish bloke with a bigger ginger beard who was really acting up (President Steve), there was also the endeavour of the Course Rep’s and Society Committee Members who threw themselves into the day and generally seemed to get a lot out of it.
“Everyone was really engaged and actually had the students they represent in mind! Creativity was certainly flowing and the commitment was extraordinary.” said VP Welfare Lauren Blundell, “I really enjoyed the day, both delivering workshops and being part of them. Also, the sandwiches were good.”
For President Steve Rouke, the day showed the power of one main thing, listening: "Everything from the day plays into our ethos. Training days like this show everyone from ourselves to the students just how critical feedback can be to their student experience. We as a Union must continue to place emphasis on their roles within it, and we must seek to be more reactive to what they say.”
We did ask VP Pat Soan for his thoughts too but he just told us “You’re Fired!” We expect him to come out of character some time next week.
Perhaps the biggest single effort though came from another of our guest speakers, Richard Brooks, NUS Vice President (Union Development). Richard travelled all the way up from London and back, in a day, just to give the final talk. The talk only lasted half an hour but in many ways it sort of summed up perfectly one of the themes of the day; that by going the extra mile there is a lot of student opportunity for you to enjoy and take advantage of out there.
It was also Richard who used the word ‘pioneering’ when describing the event: “I thought the day was absolutely fantastic. Stuff like this, and what Edge Hill are doing; they’re being interactive, giving people skills, bringing different sorts of people together…this is absolutely a pioneering event by Edge Hill Student Union."
This was basically why he’d been prepared to make an 8 hour round trip. It was also why we’d spent 8 weeks pulling it all together. It’s ALL about making your time here the best it can be, and giving you real opportunities to succeed. We hope next year to build on that, and we hope next year you’ll all join us in making it happen.
*Anyone who attended the day can leave feedback on it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SLDDfeedback
We really appreciate your help in making next year’s event even better!
