Hi, I’m Andrew McDonald and I am a third year Computer Science Student running for the role of Vice President (Sport).
I have been involved with sport for almost all of my life, first starting with skiing at the age of 4, followed by adding martial arts training at age 6 then eventually picking up badminton at age 9. Since then I have developed so much not just in performance, but also in technical knowledge of these sports, becoming a qualified coach/instructor in both skiing and badminton. Being a coach, I have gained a number of useful skills in organisation such as pre-planning, problem solving, and effective communication which have helped me massively in almost all aspects of my day-to-day life.
I am the current President of RGU Badminton, which gave me the opportunity to try to improve the club in any ways in which I felt it could be and have been re-elected for the 2021-22 academic year to continue to do so. There were a number of unforeseen challenges that presented themselves over this past year, though they didn’t stop the club from flourishing into a great place to exercise, have fun, and meet new people.
My Aims:
Rebuild the Student Community
One main focus of my manifesto is on bringing back old friendships when we are finally let out of COVID restrictions. In such a difficult time where we haven’t seen some of our closest friends in months, it really highlights how much having a little bit of social time with people can lighten your mood and brighten your day. I aim to assist clubs in building up these friendships again to bounce back after such a difficult ordeal.
Grow the Student Community
As well as rebuilding old friendships, I want to help encourage new friendships between the sports clubs and societies to really form a sort of family. I know from my past years as part of the badminton club that we don’t have many interactions with other clubs, and I am sure many others would agree that this is the case for their club. With the use of more interclub activities and events, I would hope to allow students more opportunity to meet like-minded people who have a common interest in sport and community.
Thank you for taking the time to read my manifesto! If you have any questions about me or my manifesto, please feel free to email me on a.mcdonald19@rgu.ac.uk.