As the month of October is black history month, HC got an exclusive sit-down with the President of Aberdeen University’s African Caribbean Society! And can we just put out there how much we love her; we will definitely be heading to as many ACS events as we can from now on!
Name: Sandra Tagbo
Age: 19
Hometown: Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria but resides mostly in Lagos
Degree of Study: Chemical Engineering.
Fun Fact: Sandra is 6’2 but has no intentions on modelling or playing basketball! She’d rather stay at home and appreciate the beauty of her ceiling. “It’s incredibly white,” she adds.
HC: What made you want to become the President of the Aberdeen University African Caribbean Society?
S: Every time I’m asked that question I always giggle to myself. As I never imagined such a position to a girl who was very reserved and rather introverted and now all of sudden is this passionate and bubbly social butterfly. However I guess I would say the reason why I wanted to become the President of ACS was a result of my innovative ideas and though my decision to run was very last minute, my motivation and passion for the position and society was evident and I believe it successfully transpired in my campaign. Also as I had a position on the previous committee as an event planner this gave me some experience, which proved helpful when running for president.
HC: How do you juggle being president of a society, uni work and having a part time job?
S: I can’t deny how stressful it is. ACS, schoolwork and part-time job, all this jumbled up, felt like hell the first week. But hey! Look at the bright side; I have never been this organised before. You just need to set time aside for the society and also for the academics. I work during the weekends and on Wednesday, when I have no uni, then proceed to study every other night, including after work.
HC: Studying Chemical Engineering must be very interesting, especially as a woman, how having you found it so far?
S: How interesting is chemical engineering as a subject on a scale of 1 – 10? I’ll give it a 7. But in terms of as a profession, it’s 10 all the way. During the summer, I had a 3 week placement with Shell, and did you know that no chemical engineer actually end up as a chemical engineer?! You all end up in different engineering fields. I worked on life projects, had a trip to see the platforms and how they work. It was an absolutely amazing experience as it gave me areas of concentration on subjects this year. Males get ready, the females are coming for you!
HC: What’s your favourite thing to do to relax?
S: Before I took the whole world on my head, I enjoyed just having a run or going to the gym, meeting up with friends and so much more. But, now that I’m the president during my free time I try and sort out things regarding ACS. It’s like ACS is taking over me * sighs * what a leisure time! But I do enjoy it!
HC: Now, why should our readers join ACS?
S: ACS exists for all races to come together in educating and encouraging others about the African and Caribbean heritage. The appreciation of cultures is encouraged through every event from debates, movie nights, food festivals, parties, talks and of course our annual Spring Ball. Furthermost ACS promotes growth both socially and professionally for the African Caribbean student community and gives a listening ear to these students. As cheesy as it sounds, we are all one big happy family and I genuinely consider everyone in the society as a friend.
HC: Wow! So how can we join?
S: Log onto the Ausa website and get your membership, or alternatively go onto our Facebook page there’s a sign up on there too. We hope to see your lovely faces at our upcoming events!
Thanks Sandra, we’ve loved chatting to you! HCXO