PRESIDENTIAL SHOWDOWN: Sophie Bradfield

Hi, I’m Sophie B and I’m running to be your Union President. Quite simply, if you want a President that will push for the changes you want to see in SUSU, a President that will make SUSU more inclusive and a President that will deliver on promises, then you should vote for me: a fresh face with new ideas and a wealth of experience to back it up, gained from outside as well as inside SUSU.

My experience from outside SUSU as well as inside, is an important quality that distinguishes me from the other candidates and enables me to bring about much needed changes, because I know enough about how SUSU works without being too embedded in the current environment that exists. Additionally, 10 years worth of experience of representing the voices of students locally and nationally, whether through government selected youth boards or as a member of UK Youth Parliament for 3-4 years, is experience that is extremely useful for this role and very hard to replicate, which would give me an edge if I were able to take on this role as the lead representative of the union.

My 3 key policy areas are:

-Better representation of the student body: taking the ‘I’ out of President and putting the ‘U’ back into SUSU. I aim to do this through my hands-on leadership approach, which is centered on quality and not just quantity of student interaction. I want to facilitate more discussions between students and their representatives through regular informal face-to-face consultations where students can learn who their representatives are, what they’re doing for them as well as how to get involved in important decisions.

-Outreach into the local community of Southampton to extinguish the sense of being in a ‘university bubble’ where we currently gain a minimal insight and little development into how to be citizens and live in the ‘real world’ after uni.

-Union-led training in areas that can improve access into employability as well as empowering you to do more while at uni, in areas such as Project Management. This is something, which I have lead in the past through my capacity as President of Southampton Hub, a charity that seeks to empower students to be the catalysts for changes that they want to see in society.

This is just a brief snapshot of my manifesto. For more info, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Sophie4President. Thanks!

 

We also shot some questions at Sophie:

What is your favourite sport?

• To play: Basketball, To watch: Street dance

What is your drink of choice?

• Whiskey&Coke

What was your New Years resolution for 2013?

• Run for Union President

What have you done in life that has no relevance to the role you are going for?

• I’ve been down the highest waterslide in the world… it had to be done once, but I’ll never do it again

Did you take a gap yarh?

• Nope

Are you graduating or taking a year out between your second or third year for your sabb position?

• Graduating

Was Southampton University your first or second choice?

• First choice

If you could do any degree apart from your current/ previous one what would it be?

• Music & Creative Writing

What’s your pincode?

• No chance

Favourite TV show?

• Gotta say Glee never fails to make me laugh, it’s cheesy as anything but there’s also underlying tones of sarcasm and irony which make it really witty

What do you want to do as a future career?

• My ideal job would be in the third sector, perhaps in an innovative, hands-on non-profit organisation which is committed to improving the lives of those who need help [insert worthy cause]. I would like to work in various areas of responsibility with such an organisation such as in marketing, campaigning, project management, as a spokesperson, a facilitator and as a trainer. Namely, it has to involve interacting with people.

Where do you call home?

• Southampton & Poole

Where did you last go on holiday?

• Technically to Anglesey in Wales but the last exotic place I went to was Barcelona with Jazzmanix

If you could write something on the top of the Maths tower, what would it be?

• What are you doing up here?

NUS: Yes or No?

• I stayed neutral during the referendum as both sides had pros and cons. NO: was it really value for money when there was seemingly not a lot to gain? YES: we’re currently left out of national discussions concerning students.

To view what the other candidates have to say, click here.