Student Action Against Homelessness Society: Vice President

Having seen first-hand the impact that organisations can have on the lives of the homeless I want to ensure that the society is running at its best to allow for the biggest impact to be made. I work well alongside others and am excited to see the progress we can make over the upcoming year. 

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. Not limited by my age, 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.

Homelessness is one of the social causes that I'm most passionate about. Through participating in homeless outreaches both in my home city, Hong Kong, and in London, it makes me reflect on our privilege as UCL students, and how we can help those who are less fortunate. I believe that as we are privileged, we should then utilise it to give back to those in need as much as we can. I also believe that everyone deserves help, no matter what, however, it is difficult for the homeless to access it, so it is up to us to provide aid. I enjoy serving people in need in hopes that they can thrive in this community. 

Additionally, I have volunteered at several charities, such as at British Heart Foundation and Young Minds. It has also shown me how each charity works alone and in unison, with a similar end goal in mind - serving the community. I have also organised fundraising activities with Birmingham Children's Hospital.

After serving our society in the past year as treasurer, I want to continue to broaden the scope of the effect I can make as vice president, and inspire more students to have a heart dedicated to the community around us. I hope that we can influence more students to volunteer for and create greater awareness of homeless crisis in London.