Abdulrahim Khalid
Mohammed Edrees
Can you introduce yourself by telling us your name and the position you are running for?
Hi everyone. I’m Abdulrahim running to be your next equity officer.
What are your hobbies and interests outside of the university?
I usually play football on a weekend, football within the university, usually playing on Sundays.
I like to do a bit of walking when its sunny, but we don’t really see weather like that at the minute.
Why have you decided to run for your chosen role?
This year, I chose to run for equity. Some people know me from last year, when I ran for Activities Officer. I chose to run for equity because I feel that I can bring together both sports and global societies. I want to work with international students to make their student life better.
What are your top three policies?
My first policy covers student monitoring, for international students, for home students. I want students to be able to monitor their attendance if you’re absent or if you’re ill or any excuse you have. For international students, even if you’re a commuting student or an ill student, you still must attend to the classes, and you can’t currently record your absence to the university without being penalised.
My second policy will be working with societies and clubs and making it be known that job offers are available on our campus. Personally, I’ve been here in the university for four years without knowing all the opportunities that the university offer us. I want to give that to the societies and clubs, because not a lot of students know about that. I’ve worked within the ActiveHud team, and the SU team, where I worked as a volunteer. A lot of students do miss out on that and having workshops and collaborations with the careers team makes it easier for everyone to understand what we have within our campus and what we can get out of our time here at university.
My third policy surrounds women’s safety and women’s engagement. That’s something I added to my manifesto for this year, that we can talk about on and off campus. There are issues of online harassment that we don’t mention usually. I want to make sure people report issues and I want to work with the council and the security campus to address these issues.
Why do you think these policies are important for students?
These policies can benefit everyone. I listen to my peers, even if I’m not an officer. I listen to all student concerns, and I try to help whenever I can.
They are very important for our students, to keep our students safe within our university environment. It keeps us aware of what the university can offer us and what we can gain from our time at university.
Do you have a message for the students reading this?
On the 25th of February, be ready. It’s voting day. Vote for who you believe will thrive in each position, and who you who you see as the right candidate for all students. It’s a game of equity. And don’t forget, I have a surprise for you all.
Qandeel Zahra
Can you introduce yourself by telling us your name and the position you are running for?
Hi, my name is Zahra, and I’m running for Equity Officer.
What are your hobbies and interests outside of the university?
I’m a part of a society which is Ahlulbayt Society. It’s a faith society. It’s my third year in the society. In my second year, I was the vice president of society, we did a lot of events, collaborating with different societies. I also like to play sports such as badminton. I also like to craft, make flowers and assemble something that looks something pretty.
Why have you decided to run for your chosen role?
I have been working closely in the SU for the past two years. Voice and representation are a vital part of our team values. The “voices” part is made up of six networks, women, BAME, LGBT, global, disabled, class and social mobility. All those networks are voices I’ve been working closely with. I’ve been doing stalls, organising events with them, meeting different people who are diverse, who are different, yet everybody’s got something to say, something to bring to the table. I’ve realised that even within the education sector, there is plenty of diversity and the inclusivity that I want to work on and provide a safe space.
What are your top three policies/Why are these important for students?
With one of the students from human health sciences, I’m trying to diversify the curriculum and the sources that we learn from, so we can learn from multicultural perspectives. I’d like to bring more inclusion in so that everybody feels supported and everybody feels listened to.
I’d also like to improve the reporting mechanism for issues such as racism. Some people may not feel confident enough or comfortable enough expose issues. With my ethnic background, I know that people would see doing this as a weakness. I’d like to strengthen confidence in being able to report issues so that we can fight it together to make campus more inclusive and safer for everybody.
When I talk about financial housing services, there are issues where students don’t feel supported, especially living in privately rented accommodation. There are problems that students don’t flag up because they think that there is nobody to express these concerns to with it being private accommodation. I want to make sure that students know that there are people who you can talk to these issues about.
Do you have a message for the students reading this?
There will always be someone who will look after you, and that you should consider the university a safe space. All the people who are currently running are exceptional human beings. They’re all great, all good people. But if you feel that you want to come down to have a chat, we will always have someone that can help you out. You are never alone in things.
Rhoda Onyinye Asi-Nwaka
Can you introduce yourself by telling us your name and the position you are running for?
Hi everyone! My name is Rhoda and I’m running for Equity Officer this year.
What are your hobbies and interests outside of the university?
Outside of university, I enjoy talking and connecting with people, and I’ve also picked up reading.
Why have you decided to run for your chosen role?
I wanted to challenge myself, and I also genuinely care for people. I’m a passionate person, and I want to put my passion somewhere that matters.
What are your top three policies?
I want to build a stronger student community for students here on campus. The goal is to help students, especially international students, and new students, to feel at home in Huddersfield. Personally, I’m an international student, and I want to help others build a home away from home.
Another policy is making leadership and career resources and opportunities much more accessible to students, and equipping them with everything they need to be marketable in the job market, and making leadership and career opportunities more inclusive.
I also want to bring in a more holistic approach to students’ health and well being. I’ll be focussing on men’s mental health, as it is an initiative I see the value in, as well as more reproductive health initiatives, to equip women with the knowledge they need to navigate reproductive health, like the kind of changes hormonal imbalance can cause on the body. I feel these are important as if you don’t feel healthy, you won’t be able to thrive in university.
Why do you think these policies are important for students?
I feel like it is important to equip students with the knowledge, as well as giving them support to thrive in university, and life. It is also important that students have a strong community of people who are able to support them in everything that they do, and help them to grow. On top of this it is also important that students will be able to access resources to help them in their future careers and finding jobs.
Do you have a message for students?
I’m a passionate person in everything that I’m involved in, whether I’m asked or not, and you voting for me is asking me to use your passion for you. Let me be the voice that represents you. Vote for Rhoda, your road to order.