I run on the premise of collaboration and communication. My prime focus is to combat the isolation commonly reported by postgraduate students. By developing our community, we enhance the academic and social side of postgraduate education. Therefore, I intend to foster the QUB PG community through student collaboration to implement the directives wanted by the cohort. As former course representative for MSc Applied Developmental Psychology, I implemented informal weekly wellbeing sessions which covered various topics, ranging from simple conversation to gathering student compliments and concerns; an initative which aided both student mental health and issues within the course. I intend to re-install this initative for the postgraduate community.
I intend to combat the 'do-it-yourself' approach common amongst postrgraduate education. While the postgraduate experience is individual, fostering an environment in which academic and social struggles can be freely discussed is important to better our performance as individuals and as researchers. By focusing upon community and practicing student advocation, I intend to eradicate the fear of reaching out and promote student (and student-faculty) collaboration.