International Students' Officer

Fairness, inclusion, respect & appreciation of different cultures. I'm an international student, lived in seven countries-have experience at working with people from all around the world. Made me open minded, accepting & appreciating of different culture

Experiences at UCL:

Transition mentor

MAPs Ambassador to help new students (mainly internationals)

Vice-president Amnesty Society

Represented the student body to many authorities. Taking different roles helped me develop my communication, leadership and team-work skills. 

Our previous experiences in various leadership roles have equipped us with the necessary interpersonal and communication skills to listen, reflect and relay feedback effectively on behalf of students, and to find solutions to implement changes. Coupled with our active presence in societies like ABACUS, golf and squash, we believe that our understanding of the SU will aid in our transition into this role. Our volunteering experiences also mean that we are able to bring a level of care and patience to create a more inclusive environment for international students.

I helped 40+ foreign students in Portugal to get through their cultural transition. I organised weekly meetings by reaching out to different stakeholders to seek their advice and incorporate with different departments. This experience has given me the necessary experiences to handle this role and to act on it. It developed my interpersonal skills through closely working with students and professors from various ethnicity and social backgrounds. It has prepared me well for contributing to dealing with leadership and working in a diversified team in the UCL student union.

As a past class rep for my two recent schools, I have seen the direct and indirect effects of lack of communication between students and staff and the frustrations it can create on both sides. As an ex-lab assistant, basketball player, gymnast and someone who had operated a fun-raising event, I have become accustomed to presenting myself to an audience and am fully aware of the work required to ensure effective communication and delivery.

Your voice matters, and we will aim to ensure that your voices are heard! Our values find diversity and inclusion at their basis, and we (Kartik and Udaya) aim to foster the representation of international students at UCL. Our collaboration finds its roots in our understanding of each other's work ethics and close observations from our past associations in a working environment. May it be Udaya's ability to successfully run events or Kartik's quality to organize impactful social service campaigns, we provide to you a perfect blend ready to serve the international community at UCL.

Good communication skills are essential for this role. Every situation that involves interacting with and sharing information with other people requires effective communication skills. As I worked in a charity last year, I fully gained the communication skills by arranging meetings and figuring out the work tasks with other fellow members. 

As an international student at UCL, I know the difficulties that every international student faces starting from adapting to a new culture to making friends and being socially included. My role as a panellist for the student inclusivity champions panel at the UCL Economics department helped me develop a sense of maturity in my views.

A vote for me would be a step closer towards building a strong international community at UCL.

I was in the team in the NASA Competition where I needed to solve the problem in a limited time. To prove that I have good leadership skills and responsibility, I was a head of the department during the competition where I needed to arrange the meeting and lead the team. Later, I got chosen to be on the club committee which hosted the competition, and picked the team to represent the school. I also lead weekly group activities involving public speaking practices. I was also a Forum committee which I  improved my confidence through the weekly debate. 

As an international student myself, I understand the struggles of leaving home and coming into an unknown environment.

Some experience I will draw upon include my role as a welfare officer for UCL WASH society last year. I have attended talks on dealing with mental health through covid and how to signpost for help in an emergency situation. This experience will allow me to better understand different people and how they react under different circumstances, to be open and embracing of everyone.

If selected as international student's officer, i want to make sure our voices are heard and took into consideration as a whole in the decisions of the Student's union. As knowledge development director at impact initiative i learned what it takes to work closely with the student's union. I know what it takes to work with people of all backgrounds, from my experience as secretary general of my high school's UN society, to my positioning as president of my city's environmental society. I believe as such that my skills would be fit for this position.

I come from an multicultural family ,I have lived in different countries and I believe that I will be able to help new people easily adapt into new environments as I have experience in dealing with different cultural and social backgrounds .

I have not only interacted with other nationalities at school , but participated in international tennis tournaments,  gone through  competitive sides of the adaptation process. I believe that many of us can experience hard times while interacting with new people as we may be detached from our beloved ones and familiar lifestyles .