Taehyun and Amelia, Candidates for International Reps

The International Representative (Barts and The London) will gather feedback from and represent international students in the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry on academic issues and welfare issues affecting them. You’ll support the Vice President Communities and Vice President Barts and The London, and work with the other International Representatives (Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Engineering) to encourage the students they represent to participate and engage with the Students’ Union.

What's your favourite moment from being a student here?

Amelia: I found that the diversity of the university is my favourite aspect of Barts. Everyone is very inclusive and friendly that I never felt like an outsider. For instance, I was invited to numerous cultural society events that were or were not related to my own culture. A particular event that comes to mind is BLBSoc’s Maa events that were fun yet very knowledgeable.

Taehyun: Because the community here is so diverse and inclusive, my favourite aspect Barts is the fact that I can learn a lot about different cultures, and experience things that I would never have imagined. Along with my friends, I joined the BL Kashmiri society. With this society, I learned about culture in Kashmir (especially the tea!!) and generally had a good time learning and making friends with people from a country that I knew nothing about.

What's something you've done that you're proud of?

Amelia: I was one of the many people that helped make Malaysian Night 2022 happen. Even though it was quite stressful as I had never been part of a production, it was definitely a proud moment when you hear the roaring of cheers at the end of the play.

Taehyun: My proudest moment that comes to mind is when I performed with the orchestra at the Fresher’s concert. Rehearsals building up to it were tough since I was still falling behind in my ability to play the piece. However, after some practice, on the day of the concert, I could play in harmony with the orchestra. That feeling of happiness during the performance was one of my proudest moments that I will not forget.

What is a problem facing students and how do you propose to fix it?

We found that most international students, more often than not, would question ‘where is my tuition fees going’ from time to time. Thus, we will try our best to ensure more transparency as to why international fees are what they are. This is because although we understand that for the most part it is because our fees are not subsidised by the government, however, in another University, their pre-clinical tuition fees are around 20k pounds while ours remain at 40k. This is why we will try our best to look for the answer.