Meet Aminul, one of your new GSU officers - interviewed and written by Andrea Ulibarrena-Mendez
Aminul is a final-year Law student at the University of Greenwich, who is passionate about working with people. He considers himself to have had an excellent experience while studying at Greenwich and is keen to ensure that all students have the best experience possible during their time here.
“The GSU election was my dream because when you work as an Officer you have the opportunity to work with students,” Aminul says. “I have experience working with societies so I know so many places where I can improve and give some positive aspects for students who are coming to Greenwich next year or who are currently starting.”
When putting together his campaign, Aminul was keen to reach out to as many students as possible and ask them what problems they were dealing with, to ensure that his campaign represented students’ wishes as accurately as possible. “I tried to go for the genuine problem, not just saying something that is not real life and people are not facing at all,” he says.
After his conversations with students, and drawing on his own experience at university, he realised that one of the most pressing issues is mental health and providing the necessary support for all students. This is something that he feels very passionately about. “As a Law student, I have been through so much during my assessments,” he says. “I am an International student, so I haven’t had my family here. I have seen so many of my classmates drop out… they were struggling and they didn’t have enough support."
“If we could improve support in terms of mental health, I would say students would have a better opportunity to complete their studies. I’d say the University of Greenwich has quite good support for mental health, but I want to make it more accessible for students and want them to feel more comfortable in getting the support they need.”
Another issue that Aminul is keen to address is providing support to societies. Being involved in societies and their events has been a huge and positive part of his university experience – Aminul has been the President of the Bangladeshi Society for the past two years and volunteered at the Global Greenwich events, but he fears societies cannot continue without support. He is keen to provide enough support to societies to keep them running, as he deeply believes in their importance and role in students’ experience.
When asked what message he would like to give to students as he takes office, he stresses that students should take advantage of the full range of opportunities available at the university. “Some people, when they talk about GSU, they don’t even know what GSU is,” he says. “Since I started university, I tried to get involved with societies, so I had opportunities to get involved with their activities and their opportunities, like the volunteering opportunities.
“Some people […] only come to their classes and do their courses. I would say get involved with societies, get involved with the GSU, get involved in volunteering experience, use your university opportunities.”
We wish Aminul the best of luck for the upcoming year!