aLife on the other side of the mortarboard is certainly very different.
Arriving back on campus as a postgraduate (and mature student) was very hard at first. I know a lot less people nowadays, I had no way of contacting my new coursemates, I had no idea how to find my fellow postgraduates - it was a very intimidating start to my year. I can't even imagine how lost other postgraduates must feel, who are arriving from different Universities and (in many cases) different countries.
The turning-point was the discovery of the daily Postgraduate Coffee Mornings. These were hosted by the Grad School every morning of Freshers' Week and gave us all somewhere to go in those difficult first few days. Each morning was well-attend and provided valuable networking opportunities. Many of us have kept in touch via a Facebook Group and we now meet up regularly for curries, bowling, pub quizzes and poker nights.
It was meeting all of these new and diverse students (parents, international students, MAs, MScs, MPhils, PhDs, taught, research, part-time, commuters, students studying at two institutions) that made me want to stand for the position of PMSO.
Traditionally, the PMSO position has been under-used in the past and I really wanted to see if I could help the huge postgraduate population that we have at this University. I have just spent a year in Nottingham where they have a full-time Postgraduate Students' Officer so clearly the position is justified and deserving of more attention.
Considering that postgraduates comprise 25% of our membership (and that's not even including undergraduate mature students), this is an area of representation that needs more focus.
So eyes forward class, we've got a lot to get through.
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