Natasha Alia Mohd Razman, Candidate for Volunteering Officer

If you have a knack for leadership and hold a passion for fundraising and events, then the Volunteering Officer role could be the perfect role to jump-start your university experience. The Students’ Union offers great volunteering opportunities for hundreds of students, who give their time to support charities, societies or local sport communities, gaining new skills and making a positive difference. Being their representative as Volunteering Officer, you’ll voice their interests while developing the volunteering service and answering inquiries. You’ll collaborate with Union staff and the Mile End Volunteering Officer to support events, training and provide other general assistance.

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

Since I am an international student from abroad, it’s really hard to pinpoint an exact favourite moment, so I think the whole experience of being in university away from home, and being in a place as inclusive as Barts overall has been wonderful. I love that everyone is supportive of each other, and that you’re free to join whatever societies, activities, sports or volunteering opportunity, and feel right at home. This may be biased, but I really think being part of volunteering has been a big highlight for my Barts experience, because every time I go it’s always been so rewarding.

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

Honestly really, it’s getting into medical school, and especially getting into Barts and The London. Not a lot of people from where I’m from get the opportunity to enrol in medical school, especially with international student spots being so limited, and resources scarce. So I’m really proud of being able to be part of the Barts family, and I’ll forever be grateful for it.

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

In terms of volunteering, I think it’s student engagement with volunteering activities. I feel that because university is so overwhelming already, and on top of that there’s so many other great societies/sports groups that can occupy time, volunteering can pale in comparison. I hope to be able to improve student engagement by working more closely with volunteering groups to recruit members, and find ways to make volunteering more appealing to the students, especially during Freshers’ Fayre.