'Grab every opportunity that comes your way': UUSU President's message to students as new term kicks off
Students are heading back to the three Ulster University campuses in Belfast, Magee and Coleraine
Universities across the UK are a hive of activity right now as they welcome new and returning students for the start of the new term
It's no different at Ulster University where Freshers Fayre events take place this coming week at its three campuses in Belfast, Magee in Derry and Coleraine. One person looking forward to meeting the new faces is Emily Roberts, President of Ulster University Students' Union (UUSU) for the coming year.
Emily's role as President includes overall leadership, coordinating the work of the SU on a day-to-day basis, acting as the principal spokesperson, improving and monitoring SU services, coordinating overall campaigns, and representing you on numerous committees within the university.
Emily, 22, and from Co Armagh, previously served as Vice President of Education and is a graduate from the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, having studied Health and Social Care Policy.
Her key priorities for the coming year are centred around the implementation of a charter tackling violence against women and girls; women's health inequalities and better awareness around general health, especially for international students; bringing Irish/bilingual signage into Students' Union spaces and bursary increases for social work and life and health and science students.
She told Belfast Live: "Serving as VP of Education definitely helped me find the balance between being a Students' Union that is a separate organisation with autonomy, and growing those relationships throughout Northern Ireland, making allies from government right down to the ground with those charity organisations who are backing us in every corner where needed."
Looking ahead to her to-do list for the coming months, Emily said: "This year, UUSU made it a central mission to confront the rising violence against women and girls across Northern Ireland. It's something I worked on a lot last year as VP Education and the launch of my charter - Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls in Northern Ireland: A Student Movement Response - was a key part of that.
"It's a big key area that I want to highlight again in the coming months. Last year we mostly focused on just violence in general and the increase in physical violence. This year I want to bring it back a wee bit, to the foundation of where the problem is and the misogyny.
"One key area in particular is that regular terminology that we hear in the feminist movement of 'no does not mean convince me', so it's a big area that I'm going to be working on this year as part of the charter alongside the other unions across the North of Ireland."
Emily added: "Over the past year working in the student movement, the number of businesses across Northern Ireland who continue to use victim blaming whenever it comes to nightlife safety and put the problem back on the victim, in terms of how somebody dresses, how much somebody drinks.
"The message I want to make very clear this year is that it's never the victim's fault. It should never be about how somebody acts, how somebody dresses on a night out or in regular day-to-day life. It's never OK to assault, harass or abuse somebody.
"Other areas I've mostly focused on are women's health inequalities and we'll tie that back to the charter but more from the Sexual Health And Guidance (SHAG) perspective. We talk a lot about contraception during SHAG and positive sex life but we fail to acknowledge health inequalities and more sexual health problems.
"People tend to confuse sometimes sex and sexual so those problems about checking yourself regularly, knowing the signs and symptoms of your own body, particularly for the likes of international students who come over and aren't as familiar with the screening processes here in Northern Ireland and the fact that they can access those for free while they are here.
"I want to bring a lot more awareness to the generalised health side of sex but also tap into conditions like endometriosis and the shocking waiting lists that we have here in Northern Ireland and make people aware to go and get their screening done earlier.
"I do hope to actually work very closely with Amy (Smith, the Students’ Union President at Queen's University this year) on that this year as a collaborative approach, as opposed to just being a UU v Queen's kind of thing."
The Irish language is another big issue that Emily has campaigned on: "I did a lot on this last year and very successfully myself and Reece (Armstrong), who was last year's Vice-President Magee, got the Irish language campaign award for the island of Ireland (at the Student Achievement Awards Ireland).
"We want to take religion and politics out of it - it's a language that's native to our country. We want to do a lot more education about it and bring those small little words or cúpla focal into everyday life whilst at UU.
"One of the biggest ambitions for this year is bilingual signage in all of our Student Union spaces. We'll do lots of research around that to make sure that it is 110% what our student body wants and we'll hopefully get that launched for next March."
Emily's last big priority for this year is lobbying for bursary increases, particularly for social work and life and health science students as she explained: "They already do get certain bursaries but the big one I want to focus on and put most of my energy into is the travel bursary.
"Students get around £500 at the minute to do them for the year and it's not enough money to get to placement. We've got students who quite literally don't proceed with their studies because they cannot afford to attend their compulsory placement, a placement which they are doing free of charge.
"We need to look at that because £500 wouldn't even last you one semester in diesel or petrol let alone an iLink card, because our Y-link card in Northern Ireland stops at 23 but most of our students who study social work are actually returning to higher education or entering later in life so they don't apply for those public transport discounts.
"It's definitely an area that I'll be lobbying NUS-USI to get behind our higher institutions and even our further education institutions to get that bursary increase."
And Emily has this message for new and returning UU students ahead of the new term: "The best part about the Students' Union is there's always somebody who's ready for a yap! There's always somebody with a cup of tea and a door lying open who will gladly step away from their computer for five minutes to have a conversation because university is isolating.
"It's the first time that you're coming together and meeting people from so many different cultures and backgrounds and religions - that can be very daunting. It can be very much imposter syndrome sometimes and it's the first time you're exploring your own beliefs and opinions.
"I think the Students' Union is the perfect place to experience all of that in a much more safe environment to allow yourself to get used to being around new people. There are so many opportunities so I would definitely encourage people to come on in and say hello.
"Also remember that this is an experience that you're actually paying for, that you're putting yourself into debt for, so grab every opportunity that comes your way. Get involved in everything that comes knocking on your door. I always like to remind students that you're paying to be here, so get your money's worth."
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