All areas of student life, from clubs, societies and networks to the whole the Students' Union, are led by an incredible group of student leaders, and you can be a student leader too. Each year thousands put themselves forward in the Leadership Race. And each March, every student at UCL votes to elect their future leaders.
We caught up with Luisa, former Women's Basketball president to find out more about their leadership journey, and how bringing people together is at the heart of what inspired her to run for president.
Why did you decide to run for President?
When I ran for position, I was just part of the society. I really enjoyed it and wanted to make an impact on it. I wanted to be more involved, and I saw that we already had super strong competitive teams, so I wanted to improve the social side of the club.
What impact do you feel you had on the club?
As the leader, I think seeing the impact you can have on a club is amazing. Just seeing how many people turn up to your events - training sessions, socials, games, Varsity - all these events you put up throughout the year, it's super inspiring seeing how much change you can create within a society.
Before I became president, I think we had really strong competitive teams already, but the social side wasn't that big. But now we have so many people that want to compete in LUSL (London Universities Sports Leagues) for example, that turn up on Saturday mornings who just want to come from time to time and be part of the community. I think seeing that change is super inspiring for me.
What was the most rewarding experience of your time as President?
it's not just me, but it's all the people that show up that make the socials and the sessions so special. And it's everyone behind the scenes to help book halls, organise coaches, all these things that go in it.
it's super rewarding to see that suddenly you have 30 people on a Saturday instead of five.
Just doing small changes can have such a massive impact that's actually visible and that can be numbers turning up, but it can also be people coming up to you and being like "I'm so glad I joined this society!".
What would you say to someone thinking of leading their society?
It's super fun and rewarding. You get to have an impact on societies and clubs you care about a lot; even just putting in small efforts can have such a massive impact on so many students. And, it's a great experience, you can meet a lot of different people. You never have to do it alone, you have a whole committee to work with.