Happy New Year!

I know I havent updated this in a while but my New Years resolution is to keep you all informed of whats going on. Its also a good idea to post comments on my blog so I know what you guys want from your Union and what your thoughts are.

I dont want to bore you all with a long post about events past and future so I’ll keep this tight. The last 6 months or so have been extremely eventful with a huge amount of work going into how we operate as a community of students and how we can make life at RGU as fulfilling as possible. This has included elections, a Union refurbishment, improvements for both Societies and Sports clubs, the Annual General Meeting (which was a huge success – thanks to all the students that came along!) and many more events.

So what are we focusing on this year? Well there are the obvious events such as The Student Achievement Awards Ball (Formerly the Scarlet&Golds Ball – This is on the 26th February – email union@rguunion.co.uk for more info!), Blues Ball (23rd April), The RGU/Aberdeen Uni Boat Race and of course The Student Elections (March/April – who wants to be President?!?) to name but a few.

As I am now onto my last 6 months in office, the past year and a half has made it clear to me what the best thing is I can do for current and future RGU students. Many students benefit from Union services, particularly Societies or Sports Clubs, but what most students dont realise is that each and everyone one of you can get involved – most people just dont know how or are concerned its too big a responsibility to take on.

It’s clear that students just arent fimiliar with what they are able to do so I am making it my duty to lay the groundwork so students can ‘grab the union by the horns’. Someone once said to me “creativity loves constriction”. If students are aware of what they have to work with, I think we would all be amazed at what we can get out of life at RGU. Ultimately, it comes down to giving students ownership of their own ideas.

It reminds me of that old Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

I’ll give an easy to understand example. During December I received an email from an International Postgraduate student asking if there was any possibility a trip around some part of Scotland could be arranged for International Students so they could witness some of the culture and scenery Scottish Winters have to offer. I thought it was a brilliant idea but unfortunately I was on leave and out of the Country so did not receive the email until I returned.

But what if, on that students own Initiative, he could have arranged this trip by himself ? (funded by the Union of course – after all, thats what the money is here for!) Should events like this need to depend on the President? Or should there exist the option for students to take ownership of opportunities, allowing them to provide an experience for themselves and others? Surely this is far more beneficial. And this could be applied to almost any idea!

Dont forget, the Union is near enough a £1 Million a year organisation and is full of opportunities to help you enjoy yourselves, meet new people and to try new things. This applies to anything from organising a social event to having a sports tournament.

Well thats all I have to say for now – obviously there are lot’s and lots still going on. For instance we recently won a Gold Award in Best Bar None and we are going from strength to strength in a number of other accreditation processes such as Environmental awards, The Student Unions Evaluation Initiative, Investors In Volunteering and a few more! You might not always notice the behind the scenes work, but students ALWAYS benefit from it.

I’ll keep you all updated more often from now on, so bookmark this page and keep your eye for the upcoming changes. Oh and if you want to run for an Officer position in March/April for the Student Elections drop me an email at president@rguunion.co.uk . In the good old word’s of Moloko – The Time Is Now!