Today I had the opportunity to speak to over 400 Psychology and Humanities studentsduring Welcome Week as School Representative for Psychology & Humanities.

Public speaking has never been something I’ve felt particularly confident doing. In fact, if someone had asked me this time last year to stand up on my own and speak in front of more than 400 people, I’m fairly certain I would have found every possible reason to say no! 

So, walking into the room today and realising quite how many people I was about to speak to was definitely a moment…

But somehow, once I started talking, the nerves instantly settled and, unexpectedly, I actually really enjoyed it.

I had the chance to introduce myself and my role as School Rep, speak about some of what I hope to achieve this year, and introduce the Buddy Scheme I’ve spent the summer developing to strengthen peer support, belonging and community across the School.

The response afterwards made the experience even more special. Having students come up to me afterwards and receiving such lovely feedback from both students and staff meant more than I can probably put into words - especially knowing how far outside my comfort zone something like this would have felt not that long ago. So many people told me I was amazing & did incredible which has truly made the biggest difference 

I even had a course leader suggest afterwards that I should consider becoming a lecturer, which definitely wasn’t something I expected to hear when I walked into the room this morning!! 

I think today made me realise just how much I’ve changed over the past year. Taking on opportunities through student representation and getting increasingly involved across the University has pushed me to do things I genuinely wouldn’t have imagined myself doing before - and apparently, somewhere along the way, speaking in front of hundreds of people became something I could actually enjoy!

There’s still plenty I want to learn and improve on, but today felt like one of those little moments where you stop and realise that you’ve become much more confident than you thought🧠

Very grateful for all the lovely words afterwards, and feeling incredibly excited for another year of representing our students and seeing where else saying “yes” might take me. 

I’m so thankful for the incredible Psychology and Humanities staff for always believing in me regardless - your support is always so appreciated 🤍