Portuguese Speaking Society: Welfare Officer

Hello! :))

My name is Teo Diniz Costa, and I was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2003. I'm a Global Humanitarian Studies BSc student. One important thing that I've learnt that helps reduce my 'Saudade', whilst living abroad is speaking Portuguese, and this society amongst other valuable and unique qualities possesses this irreplaceable trait.

If chosen as your next Welfare Officer, I would be centred on making our community a safe and welcoming society for all members, regardless of nationality or background. I plan to achieve this by helping to pre-organise our weekly meeting rooms into comfortable and relaxed spaces fit for multiple aims, a Spotify music playlist would be available to play through a sound speaker in the room (with songs of your choosing).

Regarding well-being, I believe that mental health is too often classified as something secondary, I would make sure that this would not happen within our society, bringing it into the centrepiece of our communal mission. I plan to achieve this aim by organising events tailored to members' interests, ex: mini sports matches, mindfulness sessions, or just meetings in which we discuss one-to-one or group open topics close to someone's heart, helping to alleviate any possible stress through sharing :)

As a final note, I would just like to celebrate the recently departed Gal Costa with the words she sings in her cover of Corcovado: "Muita calma pra pensar e ter tempo pra sonhar ". :))

Abraços e Carinho,

Teo

I want to be able to create a safe environment for every member of the Portuguese Speaking Society.

For now, at least, we aren’t that many and it can feel isolating to not have a group of people to which you can turn to when uni life or life in general becomes challenging, hence I want to avoid this to the maximum by creating a supportive environment to anyone who needs it.

However, at the same time because we aren’t that many, we can all become closer and support each other in a more personal way. Even if that is by only having chill sessions where we just talk to one another. 

Furthermore, I think that I’d be a very suitable welfare officer because I’d be able to apply the knowledge and skills that I’m gaining through my degree, which is Social Sciences aka sociology and psychology.