Meet Luisa, former President of Women's Basketball, and find out what impact she made in her role.
Why did you decide to run for President?
Luisa: When I ran for position, I was just part of the society. I really enjoyed it and wanted to make an impact on it. I talked to some friends about it, we ran together and we had a really nice committee.
I wanted to be more involved, and I saw that we already had super strong competitive teams, so I wanted to improve the social side of the club.
What impact do you feel you had on the club?
As the leader, I think seeing the impact you can have on a club is amazing. Just seeing how many people turn up to your events - training sessions, socials, games, Varsity - all these events you put up throughout the year, it's super inspiring seeing how much change you can create within a society.
Before I became president, I think we had really strong competitive teams already, but the social side wasn't that big. But now we have so many people that want to compete in LUSL (London Universities Sports Leagues) for example, that turn up on Saturday mornings who just want to come from time to time and be part of the community. I think seeing that change is super inspiring for me.
What was the most rewarding experience of your time as President?
it's not just me, but it's all the people that show up that make the socials and the sessions so special. And it's everyone behind the scenes to help book halls, organise coaches, all these things that go in it.
it's super rewarding to see that suddenly you have 30 people on a Saturday instead of five.
Just doing small changes can have such a massive impact that's actually visible and that can be numbers turning up, but it can also be people coming up to you and being like "I'm so glad I joined this society!".
What would you say to someone thinking of leading their society?
It's super fun and rewarding. You get to have an impact on societies and clubs you care about a lot; even just putting in small efforts can have such a massive impact on so many students. And, it's a great experience, you can meet a lot of different people. You never have to do it alone, you have a whole committee to work with.