Student Action Against Homelessness Society: Community Outreach Officer

Hello everybody 🥰!! I am Minh, a first-year student and I am excited! Though I might be new to UCL and university life, I have had experience with volunteering since I was 12 years old. I remember travelling to Vietnam's Dak Lak mountain and cooking and distributing food for the children alongside my mom and my sister. I also help with cooking and spend time with lonely patients at a psychiatric hospital a year later. The experience of talking to patients there taught me that everyone could have very diverse viewpoints of the world, but they deserve acceptance since we do not fully understand them until we get to know their backstories. Later, I also volunteered to assist a former patient who received drug rehabilitation in setting up his small cafe. I worked closely with him from suggesting menu prices, and serving customers to running marketing campaigns by running a Facebook account and promotional activities such as "Checking in at the Cafe and getting a free biscuit.". I realised that my true joy is in helping people achieve their dreams, that's why I pursuit my degree in Management Science, to learn how to utilise resources, make strategic decisions and turn ideas into reality. In high school, I also set up a social enterprise named Fun(d)4u and built a website game where people could role-play different characters to do weekly well-being challenges, read health and psychological research, enjoy weekly motivational quotes, and uplifting music. 

I have really enjoyed participating in outreach sessions and cooking with Feast With Us and therefore would love to organise more of these events and expand the other charities we work with to create even more positive change. Therefore I would love to be community outreach officer to increase the number of volunteering opportunities we offer as they slate always in high demand and also broaden the different charities we work with.