On campaigning
Campaigning is not an easy task. At the moment, I’m campaigning to be elected one of three Student Trustees for the Students’ Union. Now I thought this wouldn’t be much work, comprising of printing off a few posters, getting some t-shirts done and generally having a great time plodding around campus canvassing for votes. But no!
As well as having multiple coursework deadlines looming, I also have a job interview, hustings (twice in a day) and what is left of a full day’s work on what is supposed to be my day off! At the same time, I am also trying to co-ordinate visits to the University’s other main campus, poster-sticking campaigns and handing out freebies.
I am lucky to have two capable campaign managers, an official spin doctor (!) and an enthusiastic group of individuals called “Team Ruben” ready to plaster the campus with large photos of my face, but there’s nothing like having the candidate there in person to interrogate. I don’t want to be someone who gets elected by proxy and then spends the next year shying away from the public. I want to be out and about around the people I will be representing to find out what they’re thinking and saying, which is why I’ve dedicated what is left of my free time for the next two weeks (until voting is over) to being on campus as long as possible and accessible to everybody.
Let’s just hope that it works!