Miles Davies, 22, Japanese student at the University of Leeds is running for Education Officer in this year’s LUU Leadership Race to become part of your Student Executive 2012-2013. Here, Miles tells us a little about what he’s done at university and his motivations for putting himself forward for the position.
So, Miles, let’s start with your course. Japanese seems a rather unconventional choice so what made you do it at university?
Well, I love communicating, meeting new people and expanding my cultural horizons, which are all things that come with studying a language. I chose Japanese specifically because I’d been interested in Japan since I was 13 when I started to teach myself the language in my spare time. Japan also inspired the setting of a novel that I have written but which is yet to be published. To make sure it was definitely what I wanted to study, I took a gap year before university and spent 7 months teaching English in a business school in Tokyo. This was a really fun experience that helped me grow in many ways.
At first, it must have been a big deal going to Japan on your own for such a long period of time. Did you experience a great culture shock?
To be honest, not really.The main thing that took a lot of getting used to was the bowing because people bow everywhere and seemingly to everyone. For example, a shopkeeper would bow and thank me after buying something, which was a bit bizarre at first. However, by the time I got back from Japan, I found myself bowing to everyone, even family members! Obviously there were other small things that added to the culture difference, like women-only universities, one of which I taught at during my year abroad.
So we can already see your passion for education through you teaching yourself from such an early age and teaching in Japan. How else in the past few years have you shown your interest in education?
In my first year of university, I became Level 1 Japanese Course Rep because from day one students were voicing their issues with teaching methods and I wanted to make a difference. Once elected, I was extremely happy to have the opportunity to make changes to the Japanese department at Leeds and made sure I did so throughout the year. On my year abroad in second year, studying at a university in Tokyo, I kept up the staff-student dialogue from overseas by being Year Abroad team leader. Then when I came back to Leeds, I picked up the role of Japanese Course Rep again for Level 2as fellow students were happy with how I’d done the job in first year. I made bigger changes in that year, such as adjusting the focus of a core module to ensure that every student on the course had a fair chance at success.Last year, I also taught some Japanese lessons in a local secondary school. As I’d had such a good time and felt a sense of achievement through making the small but important changes for students within the Japanese department, I decided that I wanted to take the role to the next level and applied to be Non-European Languages School Rep. I was really happy when I got the job and this year I have enjoyed being able to save a module from not running, change the Learning and Teaching Strategy for the School of Modern Languages and Cultures to deliver faster feedback and arrange for more student involvement in the changes to modules following module reviews. This year, I am also the chair for East Asian studies Student-Staff Forum.
Woah, that’s a lot of involvement! We can clearly see why you’re taking it further and running for Education Officer. If you were to be successful, what are you hoping to achieve within the University of Leeds?
Well, I have my ‘3 F’ plan – Feedback, Fairness and Facilities &support. Under Feedback, I will lobby for all assessment feedback to be strictly returned within 3 weeks, which is actually university policy but departments rarely adhere to it. I will also campaign for more opportunities for verbal feedback following assessments and encourage staff to set up informal student-led seminars for students in same subject area to meet and peer-review work. In terms of Fairness, I will campaign for better workload balance between 10 and 20 credit modules because in the general student experience, 10 credit modules are just as much work as 20credit modules and I think this needs to be rectified. Also, I will push for assessment to be split up fairly between essays and exams,as I believe that 100% assessment for a 20credit module to be exam-based is a ridiculous amount of pressure. I will look to achieve more efficient management ofessay hand-in events, to decrease the chance of late submissions due to volume and rush for integrity forms.My third F – Facilities &support refers to me campaigning for more convenient library opening hours, during both exam periods and term-time, especially at weekends when students would like the option of studying in the library late at night. I will also encourage lecturers to help students prepare for jobs after graduation by linking studies to employability. Finally, I will campaign for better PCs in the clusters and for more advertising of 24-hour clusters around campus. Those are my 3 ‘F’s!
I’m sure you will get a lot of support for that. As a final year myself, I certainly agree with the changes that need to be made. Have you given any thought as to how you’re going to raise awareness of your campaign?
Yes, I have. My slogan is GOING THE EXTRA MILES so during all of my campaigning, I’ll be wearing running gear and I’ll be jogging around campus with my supporters, going the distance for all students. I’d really encourage students to come and have a chat about what I stand for if they want to!
You’ve clearly got involved with the academic side of extra-curricular activities at university, but is there anything else you’ve done throughout your time at Leeds?
This year, I’m on the Japanese Society committee and I am also on the marketing team for Intercultural Ambassadors so I’ve been heavily involved in organising the International Cultural Festival happening within the Union this week.
Ah, yes, I’ve seen the posters for that. I think I’ll be going along to some of the film showings. And now you’re coming to the end of your university career, what advice would you give any current or new students?
Make the most of it. Take every opportunity you can to experience something new, have fun and better yourself.
I couldn’t agree more. Thank you very much, Miles and good luck from Her Campus in the Leadership Race!
For more information on how the LUU Leadership race, check out http://www.leedsuniversityunion.org.uk/leadluu