Geographical Society: Social Secretary

GeogSoc has played a significant role in shaping my first-year experience; therefore, I am standing for Social Secretary to give back to the student community by creating inclusive, well-organised, and memorable social events. 

As a current First Year Representative, I have gained valuable insight into how the society and its committee operate. Supporting flagship events such as the Winter Ball showed me the planning, coordination and teamwork required behind the scenes. It inspired me to continue building connections across year groups and courses.

Alongside this, my role as Academic Representative has developed skills essential for this position. Through SPC meetings, I act as a liaison between students and the department, gathering feedback and representing diverse perspectives with clear communication, directly improving student experience. This has strengthened my organisational, problem-solving, and collaboration skills, making me confident in my ability to organise events that reflect what members genuinely want. 

My three years of volunteering experience with Girlguiding have given me hands-on experience managing finances, coordinating logistics, and leading both weekly meetings and large-scale fundraising events. In 2024, I fundraised £3200 for the charity, demonstrating budgeting, negotiation and attention to detail, key skills that align with managing external partners and ensuring GeogSoc events run smoothly and successfully. 

Have you found yourself wishing for more ways to find geography and fellow Geographers outside of the lecture hall? I am standing for Social Secretary because I feel our community should have opportunities for getting to know each other and engaging with our field. My goal is to make sure events are truly representative of people’s interests and inclusive. I will do this by collecting feedback and acting on it, thereby creating a social calendar that you’ll actually want to part of.

I am currently serving as a first-year representative in the society, and this has given me first-hand experience with planning upcoming social events and supporting the logistics of Winter Ball at the door, which has given me insight into the organisation of the society. Being part of this team has been a great opportunity for collaboration. As a first-year representative I was focused on support, and I now want to take a larger initiative to make sure the society's social events are enjoyable and suited to people’s wants and needs. 

I am incredibly passionate about Geography, and want to ensure I can use my administrative and people skills, which include strong communication, planning and proactive problem-solving, to continue to make this society valuable to all members, and a space for making lasting connections for everyone. 

In short, I want to make sure you are getting the most out of your membership in social terms!

Hi! I'm Karina, a first-year BA Geography with Social Data Science undergraduate. I'm running for this position because I strongly believe that the social events organised by our society are incredibly important in helping students settle into such a large department. I have experience organising large-scale events in the past, including my high school's talent show and arts festival, and would love to bring those experiences to this role whilst introducing smaller, more frequent gatherings. Through planning and executing these events, I have learned how to communicate with students, staff and external partners, as well as how to organise engaging events with tight deadlines.

If I am elected as social secretary, I will ensure there will be a variety of consistent social events (both small and large) that focus on strengthening our sense of community. Alongside continuing the society's annual events such as the balls and pub crawls, I would love to explore new types of events like geography-related movie screenings or cookie-decorating socials that offer alternative ways to connect. I will also prioritise inclusivity in social events through providing accessible feedback forums so students feel supported and represented.