Written by Carol Paige, former Democracy, Operation and Community Officer

I’ve been at UCL for a long time, studying and working in the Union’s bars. The winter before I nominated myself to become a Sabb, I went to a Leadership Race workshop where I had a really good conversation with, Diana who was managing the workshop. Diana helped me realise that I could forward my passion on sustainability in the role of Democracy, Operations and Community Officer (Union Affairs Officer now) and influence the sustainability strategy at the Union.

Why I became a Sabb

Apart focusing on my goals of making my community more sustainable, I also wanted to give back to the place that I’d benefitted so much from. As someone who’d worked in the bars, I wanted to shape the Union’s bars, cafes, and other spaces for the better. And another big thing that swayed me into applying? I didn’t know what to do after I graduated so really this was a good way to stay within the UCL community and give back.

And really, I’ve loved every minute of being a Sabb. Granted, there were a few stressful situations, but I loved it because I could see I was making impact. I was Sabb when we first went into lockdown – which was scary and surreal but I’m so proud of the work we did in response to that. We were working closely with UCL to make sure sensible decisions were made and I could really see the influence of the Sabbatical Officers had with UCL when I saw other universities and their responses to Covid, particularly around accommodation and supporting self-isolating students.

Going back to working on why I ran: sustainability. I was also super proud of all the work we did around sustainability. I was the first person to write the very first students union sustainability strategy – and it’s something that’s still being followed today so that students can still see what the Union is doing in terms of sustainability.

Being a Sabb isn’t just going to a meeting and having your wishes fulfilled. It included talking to reps to understand what the issues were, going to zone meetings and hearing concerns and then regularly having conversations with, say, the accommodation team, to help solve the issues and chase it up if it wasn’t being solved. It involved coming up with solutions to problems and working in a way that would help foster positive working relationships between the Union and UCL.  

What I learnt in the role

But those meetings with UCL were so intimidating at the beginning. What really helped was the training we received from the Union but also being prepped and knowing what we were talking about without being combative. I mean, you're talking to humans. By the end of my time as a Sabb, I was so much more confident in myself and what I was saying. The experiences I’ve had over the years helped, but also the networks I’d built with other Sabbatical Officers helped. We had WhatsApp groups and it was useful to see that I wasn’t alone – everyone else was just as intimidated as me at the beginning! Everyone else was developing their skills and it was a great group to lean on.

In the role, I learnt a lot of things. The first is more on a personal level – knowing when I’m taking on too much, and that’s helped me in my current role. As a Sabb, you have the freedom to work on whatever you want to work on which means that at times, you fall into the trap of doing too much. I’ve also learnt how to manage my time and now know how to work with people on a professional level.

I know it sounds weird, but I’ve also learnt how to agree with people on a professional basis but also how to disagree with people professional. For example, although I disagree with some of the policies by Michelle Donelan, we still had a constructive meeting with her about the student experience through COVID, which I felt went well… until she didn't actually do any of the actions, she said she would. Through the role you just learn how to be diplomatic.

Working at the Provost’s Office

When I was a Sabb, one of the people in the Provost office was saying that they really wanted a dedicated person to help with student engagement and I was like, yep, that sounds like me! So when the role came about, I applied for it! It’s not a lie when they say that being a Sabb helps build your networks! It helped that I was already leading the Union’s democratic structures and I could apply that knowledge to the role. I could use the skills I’d learnt on the job to build my professional CV and apply for this job.

One of the key skills that applied to this role is stakeholder management. As a Sabb, I had to manage relationships with students, the Union and UCL so all of that came in handy when applying for this role. Relationship management is also another key skill you learn as a Sabb.

Marketing was another thing I’d dipped my finger in at the Union, particularly in my second year when I started doing regular update videos and started sending out the newsletters. That kind of media experience comes in really handy – oh, and being able to read out of a teleprompter!

Why you should apply!

I mean, it’s a great way to give back to the UCL community and improve things for future students. If you’ve benefited from clubs, societies, volunteering, being in cafes or bars then you should put yourself forward. You don’t have to be someone who’s really active in the Union, or in the activism community, the Sabbatical Officer roles are for everyone. Before I became a Sabb, I wasn’t even in any societies, apart from Jazz Soc, I think, but that was about it.

I didn’t even have a large group of friends at UCL so it isn’t a popularity thing. I just had good policies. I lobbied for microwaves, which is something everyone wanted – and I campaigned by dressing up as a microwave!

My advice to you if you are applying….

Go for practical manifesto points. Things like more microwaves is a tangible solution but things like free education for all isn’t as tangible. You’re more likely to win on tangible points.

Oh, and one bit of advice that helped me: when you’re campaigning, you shouldn’t just say ‘vote for me’ but rather question their needs eg. ‘have you been able to find a microwave on campus?’ and if they have been affected by this, they’re more likely to vote for you.

Nominations are open

Each year in March, every student at UCL votes to elect the leaders of clubs, societies and the Students’ Union. 1,000’s put themselves forward and 1,000’s vote. The students you elect start work in the summer and spend the next academic year making more happen at UCL.

You can put yourself forward to lead a club, society or the Students’ Union, then encourage students to vote for you. The Leadership Race is open to all. 

Most of the leadership roles are voluntary, undertaken alongside your studies, but six are full-time paid positions where those elected take a sabbatical year and lead the entire Students’ Union.