Sajeena Balenthiran, Candidate for BL Societies Officer
Role Description: Societies and clubs at Queen Mary cover a huge range of interests (over 300!) and can be a great way to pursue passions and build strong friendships. Every year, we have thousands of new students eager to get involved and the Societies Officer plays an important role in being the voice of these students. As a Societies Officer, you will approve new societies, plan and deliver events as well as allocate funding, all while working closely with Students’ Union staff. You’d also ensure that BL Societies and the Students’ Union maintain strong communication so that everything runs smoothly!
What's your favourite moment from being a student here?
Honestly, there are so many! But, I think one of the things I love about BL is our student-led SSC programmes – one of which includes the Prehospital Care Programme (a programme that I am incredibly fortunate to be a part of). Being involved with PCP has certainly been one of the things I have really enjoyed as a student here due to the incredible opportunities I have had, but also because I get to spend time with other students and professionals who share similar interests to me! Over the past year, I have also taken on a leadership role within PCP as one of the communication officers and getting to play a part in the organisational aspect of the programme has certainly been one of the highlights of my year.
What's something you've done that you're proud of?
My incredible commitment to the societies at BL has been something I am genuinely proud of. Last year, I juggled 5 BL society committee roles while also balancing my academic and social commitments – it was certainly not an easy task, but learning to find that balance was important to me and looking back on it, it is something that I am still proud of. Continuing my commitment to BL societies this year with continued committee involvement as well as serving on the Societies Board as the BL Representative where I have had the opportunity to work closely with the QMSU as well as the current BL Societies Officer has brought me a lot of joy this year and I know that I will look back on it with genuine pride, especially considering how busy this year has been academically.
What is a problem facing students and how do you propose to fix it?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being involved with committees at BL, it is that the event-organising process through the QMSU can be quite complicated and challenging to navigate. I hope to smoothen this process out by advocating for reducing the number of forms that need to be filled out for events, by incorporating the aspects of the different forms into one universal form that can be used by all societies. This will ease the process and ensure nothing is missed out. I would also like to advocate for more commuter-friendly events to be organised by societies to ensure inclusivity for all of our students and to ensure there are no barriers for students to get involved with the incredible variety of societies we have to offer!
