Name: Paloma Paige
Year: 4th
Degree: International Relations
Hometown: Santa Barbara, California
Congratulations on winning the students elections! What have been the best and worst parts of running?
There are two different aspects to running I suppose, the first one was obviously the end goal, which was to win and to be in a position to implement policies. So I think in that sense, one of the really great parts of campaigning was being able to sit down and formulate my policies and really thinking it through. Thinking about, okay this is what I believe and this is what I think should be done, how would I do that if I were to win? That was just an incredible experience. I had so many interviews with staff members, current sabbaticals… so being able to talk to them, even if I didn’t win, I learned so much about the university in that week and what was coming up in terms of projects. It was really really fascinating.
On the other side of it was the campaigning, going to my friends and saying you know, “I’m thinking of running for president! Would you like to help me out for a really really intense seven days?”. And so many of my friends just came forward and showed an incredible amount of support and really put a lot of time and effort into helping me win. It meant a lot to see how much people cared about my campaign, that was just incredible.
The worst part, gosh… the rain? On a serious note, I have to say the rain. Because people kept saying to me “It’s so great that you stand out there in the rain alone,” but I have to say that as part of the campaign, the nice thing is meeting your fellow competitors. You’re competing against them to have that experience, that discussion. I think it’s kind of a pity that we only did that at hustings in the last couple of days when the sun came out. It’s much nicer to stand outside the library with a lot of your peers and go through that really intense week together as a team.
Strength that was the most valuable to you when running?
I’d have to say the persistence of our team. We just didn’t give up. I think across the board there were a lot of set backs: weather, last minute preparations, last minute hustings, everybody of course is incredibly busy with coursework that was popping up along the week and we just kept going. I think that was really important because it could’ve been really easy to say “Oh, we’ll go to the absolutely vital events, and the last Thursday and Friday when voting is open we’ll give it our all”. It was 1:01 on Saturday and we were off and I think that was really important.
Which societies are you part of?
So this year I’m the SSC Design Convener through the Student’s Association, so I’m head of the design team basically. But I’m also a student ambassador, helping out with hall tours. I still live in University Hall, so I help lead the hall tours and open days. I’m also involved with ‘First Chances’ Ambassadors scheme.
How would you recommend our HerCampus readers to get involved in all three of those roles?
Sure! So, design team is a really cool, not actually a society, but a subcommittee of the Student’s Association. It’s really cool because every matriculated student is automatically a member, you don’t have to pay to join or opt in, just show up. We have our own suite on the first floor of the Union and we run a lot of workshops. I hold office hours every week, so really it’s supposed to be a very approachable committee, come to talk to us, have a look on our FaceBook Page( https://www.facebook.com/pg/StAndrewsDesignTeam/posts/ ) about the different ways you can get involved: either as a design volunteer or helping out on committee, helping out at events, really anything you’re interested in.
For the ambassadors scheme, there is more of a set timetable for joining. I know that they hold applications every year. I think the one for this academic year has just passed. But it’s worth checking out on the university website to see the different schemes that you can get involved with.
Plans for the future/ dream job:
Nothing specifically, I think I’m going to take this year to really reflect on my degree and explore options. I think I would love to stay in the UK, but as an American that’s obviously very difficult to do. So it’s just about finding the right job and the right sector where I think I have a good chance of getting a job that will sponsor my Visa.
Dream vacation:
It’s not going to sound very relaxing but .. a dream trip is to do the trans-Siberian railway all the way to Beijing. It’s the dream.
Three things you can’t live without:
My bicycle, the only way I get around, books, peanut butter
If you were known around campus/among friends for one thing what would it be ?
I don’t know… maybe just being involved with a lot of things. I think I have a lot of friends from all different kinds of parts of the university.
Find Paloma around the design suite for the rest of this year! (Saturday 4-6pm)
Starting next year she will be in the sabb office and welcomes emails!