Hello everyone,
I am Isabelle Prelipceanu, a second-year undergraduate of International Relations and Development Studies and I am running to be your Working-Class Students’ Officer for this academic year. I am determined to create a very inclusive community and to ensure that as students we receive all the support we need and that our voices are heard. I would like to encourage more students to find out and apply for bursaries and scholarships, as well as providing more awareness around career opportunities as we are all now starting to plan and build our careers.
My experience working as a Student Ambassador in the past year has helped me develop my active listening and communication skills between students and academic staff. I am willing to listen to all your needs and wants to improve our student academic community. I would also like to encourage more dialogue around mental health as I am a big advocate of student wellbeing, and I believe there should be more engagement between students and the counselling and mentoring teams.
I want to support you in your academic life as I’m aware how time and money consuming being a student in London can be, and that it is difficult to maintain a strong focus on education when having to financially support yourself too. As a working-class student, I want to make sure that university isn’t the preserve of the privately educated, middle and upper classes. I hope to achieve this by offering support for working class students throughout their entire academic life, from application and beyond.
If I was elected, I would aim to:
- Institute a programme encouraging higher education to young pupils which will offer a summer school to year 12 and year 13 students from disadvantaged backgrounds; such as those who have been in local authority care, those from areas of low attainment etc., allowing them to experience university life and then be given lower grade requirements to enter SOAS, increasing accessibility and diversity in the university.
- Promote the career advice service at SOAS, as well as provide work opportunities and internships to build your CV and expand your network.
- Hold workshops and offer information on employment, making a professional CV, and renting rights.
- Increase access and ease of application to scholarships, awards, bursaries, and other funding.
- Improve access to free and reduced-price long-term pastoral/mental health care
- Work with and support campaigns such as Justice for Workers.
- Offer help and information on budgeting in London.
- Work closely with other officers in recognition of the intersections of being working class with other systems of oppression to provide representation, signposting, and awareness to all those affected by classism.
You can always email me at 678191@soas.ac.uk with any concerns, information, and feedback and I will do my best to support you and make your voice heard.