Telugu Society: First Year Representative

Coming from a school where there wasn’t even an Indian society, let alone a Telugu one, I often felt that part of my identity went unrepresented, especially when there were societies for other cultural groups like Jewish, Middle Eastern, or Latin American students. Arriving at UCL and seeing how active the Telugu Society is, and how it builds genuine friendships and a strong sense of belonging, was inspiring.

As First Year Representative, I want to help foster that same sense of community for others—to create a space where people feel appreciated, their culture celebrated, and where meaningful connections can grow. I’m running because I want everyone, especially those who’ve never had that representation before (like myself), to feel seen, heard, and proud of who they are

I am running as a first-year representative as I want to help build a more welcoming space for Telugu students to connect over our shared culture, language, and traditions. The Telugu community is a comparatively smaller one, so I’d love to make the society a "home away from home". I am keen to help the society continue its work in creating opportunities for people to celebrate and embrace the Telugu culture.

As an FYR, I would focus on making inclusive and fun events for freshers, regardless of their familiarity with Telugu culture. I would also enjoy helping with planning and advertising so the society’s events reach more students and bring people together. Ultimately, I want to help the society grow into a tight-knit community where everyone feels at home.

At secondary school, I was always part of a tight-knit community that celebrated Telugu culture by attending festivals and cultural events to taking pride in our traditions. These experiences have shaped who I am today and have stayed on my mind since having gone to university.

At UCL I want to be involved in bringing that same experience to others within Telugu Society, especially for first-years. Right now, living at one pool street on the Marshgate campus, the community can end up feeling really separate from the main campus, where the Telugu presence is relatively unknown. For this reason I’d like to be involved in getting Telugu people at UCL East more connected especially when they don’t have the time to commute to main campus to make it to events.

By becoming an FYR, I hope to stay connected to my roots while building stronger connections with other Telugu students from similar backgrounds and to contribute to the growth of the society across both campuses.

Hi everyone!

I’m Shashank, and I’m running to be your First Year Representative. I’m outgoing, social, and passionate! I was born in Hyderabad and can speak Telugu fluently. I would really like to make an impact on Telugu society by implementing my goals listed below.

My goals as your First Year Rep:

1. I want to help organise games nights, cultural gatherings, and social events so that everyone can meet, have fun, and feel part of the society. More events = more fun.
2. I’ll make it easier for new members to meet each other, make friends, and get involved in the society.
3. By encouraging participation and helping advertise more, I hope we can make our Telugu Society even more active and vibrant.
4. I’ll listen to your ideas and feedback and make sure first-year members are represented in all society decisions.

I would love the chance to help more Telugu students connect, have fun, and make the society bigger and better!

Vote Me! For a fun, connected, and active Telugu Society!

Hi my name is Sonia and I am ethnically from Andhra and am fluent in Telugu. I am running to be the FYR for Telugu Society because I genuinely want to contribute to building a stronger, more connected Telugu community on campus. Having grown up surrounded by our traditions and celebrations, I’ve always valued how culture can bring people together. Whether it was helping to organise Diwali events at home or leading initiatives such as Culture Day as Head of Embrace in school, those experiences really strengthened my communication and leadership skills, and more importantly, taught me how much I enjoy bringing people together. Telugu culture has always been a big part of my life — from the food to the festivals to the films — and while I’m proud of my roots, I’m also still learning and excited to keep growing my connection to the language and traditions.

If elected, I want to make it super easy for freshers to get involved, make friends and actually feel like they’re part of something. I’d love to organise things like Telugu music and film nights, language lessons where people can practise the language or pick up phrases in chill setting, and events that help the society feel welcoming and connected like Ugadi ball or Sankranti event.  I want everyone to feel included and excited to be here. I am aware uni can feel overwhelming at the start, but having a community like this makes a huge difference — and I’d love to help build that sense of belonging for all of us.

Having a telugu community in a UK uni is quite rare. My friend from LSE told me her one does not organise proper events and didn't even advertise themselves in welcome week so I count myself lucky. The few tsoc events I have been to have been very enjoyable solely based on the people I have met and talked to. I would like to be a fyr because I would love to help organise events and meet-ups throughout the year in the society and with other societies. Things like telugu movie night or telugu quiz night or just meet ups like the SKVP one. Not only that but also festival related celebrations like ugadi, ganesh chaturthi and bhathukamma. Actually my birthday was on Ugadi this year! Also I would like to increase the size of this community. I know some telugu people who don't come to these events. It would be really nice if we could grow our community through more advertising and collaborations with other societies. Having been born and brought up in Scotland, the telugu community I have is quite small but I am hoping to expand this at uni and I feel like this position would help me do just that.

As part of my previous leadership roles, I have gained the experience of leading others and thus I constantly seek opportunities for leadership positions. I am a proactive and self-motivated individual, therefore I enjoy taking charge to implement collective ideas. Through my leadership roles, I have demonstrated commitment by being organised and ensuring deadlines were met, alongside balancing my academic work. By being a trustworthy individual whom my peers can approach, and actively offering suggestions at school council sessions to improve school life, I showcased my communication skills with staff and students of various year groups. I pride myself on being hardworking and collaborative to bring out the potential of others.

My culture is integral to my self-expression and therefore it shines through in everything that I do; being able to help instil that passion in others greatly inspires me. 
I also regularly volunteer at Telugu religious events, enabling me to have a deeper connection with our wider community and would like to do the same at UCL.

Therefore, I truly believe I am suitable for this role.