This week, Her Campus Leeds talks to Emma Healey, a women’s lib co-ordinator in in Leeds University Union (LUU).
Hey Emma! Thanks for agreeing to chat to us! So, tell us a bit about yourself…
My name is Emma Healey – I am in my 4th year of a Politics degree, but don’t try and ask me about government. I try to stick to political theory and gender modules. I’m from St Albans, which is kind of near London.
How did you get involved with LUU Women’s Lib Co’s?
I went on my year abroad to a much smaller university in the Netherlands. It made me realise how good LUU actually is and how lucky we are, so when I saw this opportunity on the union website I thought I might as well apply and see what happened. I hadn’t really done much union stuff before and now I do so much – but I think it is so worth it because LUU is fantastic.
What’s a typical week like for you?
I don’t really have typical weeks – but generally on a Monday I spend the day in the library working on my dissertation or doing life admin. I obsessively check my emails so that takes up a lot of time. I also often work at the Global Café with international students on a Monday Evening in Hidden Café. On a Tuesday I have a seminar, followed by a gryphon writers meeting in the evening – I spend all afternoon working in social sciences building. On a Wednesday I have a lecture in morning and then a Tab writers meeting in the evening. I tend to meet Anja, one of the other women’s Liberation Co-ordinators, on one of these days – although at the moment we meet pretty much every day and are constantly messaging to try and arrange our Galentine’s event. I spend a lot of my spare time writing, I probably write 2 or 3 articles most week and honestly that’s my passion. It just makes me feel so alive! Thursdays are just another uni day – lots of time in the library. I spend a bit of time contacting societies for my job as a brand ambassador for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I am a peer mentor for new Politics students so we arrange events and have meetings for that working out how we can best help them. I spend Friday in a seminar and doing uni work. The weekend is a bit more relaxed – I do some life admin and some seminar reading, but I normally do this from home. Having said that, some Saturdays I have campus tours to do as a I am also a University ambassador.
How can people get involved in with LUU women’s lib?
Drop us a message on our facebook page, find me on facebook personally, or email me at pt12eh@leeds.ac.uk. We are here to run campaigns for you and to help you in doing so – so please get in touch!
Anything exciting planned that we should know about?
Galentine’s Day – which is tomorrow! I am hugely excited and it’s something we’ve been working on for months. It’s a full day of fun feminist and gender related workshops and sessions. After that we want to start better promoting and advertising support for sexual assault survivors. Personally I’ve started my own blog for people to anonymously share their experience of sexual assault and domestic violence, as I think talking about it and writing about it help in realising that you are not alone.
Anything else to add?
If I’ve learnt anything it’s that if people are complaining, you’re probably doing something right – keep fighting and keep calling people out.
https://www.facebook.com/LUUwomenslibcos/photos/a.802110176566526.107374…