Why do you want to apply for an Officer position?

Hi there- My name is Molly Davies, I am currently applying to be your Student Life President 2024/25. Right now I am in my 3rd year of my psychology undergraduate degree and am the current President of CCCU netball. Since starting my role of president in September I have enjoyed all the opportunities, responsibilities and challenges I have faced. I have learned so much from this experience and want to now take this to the next level by being the President of student life. I am so excited at the possibilities of what next year could bring and am keen to bring my ideas to life. What particularly sticks out to me within this role is giving a voice to the students. I think the most important thing about change within our university’s student life is that it stems from the students themselves. I think I could be a strong and responsible leader when it comes to voicing students' opinions to the union and creating campaigns that the students as a whole want to see. Overall, I think I am a fun, friendly person who is easily approachable and listens to any point of view. I'm always up for a debate or a discussion and enjoy hearing different peoples opinions.

What are your priorities?

Throughout my time at CCCU there have been many amazing and beneficial campaigns and projects that have been introduced. Although I would love to continue some of these I would also like to introduce some of my own. I want one point of focus to be on the way sport and exercise comes hand in hand with helping mental health. It is common knowledge that the effects exercise has on a person's mental health are nothing but positive, however I feel like it is important to emphasise this and speak about it more openly. This especially applies to those students who may just join sports/societies for noncompetitive reasons but may still want the full training experience. These students may be using sport and exercise as an outlet or a space to ‘clear their head’. As a female in sport, it is clear to see the difference and lack of opportunities available to women compared to men. This is something I’ve always been passionate about and one of my main campaigns would involve promoting projects like ‘This Girl Can’ and also bringing more light to females in professional sport. It is clear to see there is a lack of opportunity/interest for specific female sports for example: Basketball, Football and more. I feel maybe running female-led/female-only sessions in sports that have interest but no opportunity, could be beneficial in finding potential new female sports teams. It also opens a whole new door in making Team Christ Church more inclusive as a whole. Following on from this, making the female sports teams stronger and making students of all genders aware of how successful female sport has been and can be will help bring students together and be more aware of their fellow sportsmen/women. I am a complete open book and will always be open to anyone's thoughts or opinions they may want to share. I want my campaigns to feel as though they have come directly from the students' issues/thoughts.

What skills and experience do you have that would make you a good Officer?

As mentioned above I am the current president of the CCCU netball club. Since September there have been so many amazing highlights of my time as president: Raising over £2000 for Cancer Research, working alongside Student Republic to create our new Juice Wednesdays at Cuban and all 3 netball teams finishing respectfully in their leagues. I have thoroughly enjoyed this new found level of responsibility for a club I have loved since my start at CCCU. Although running the netball club has been fun and exciting I now want to progress and look towards working for the Students union and Team Christ Church. I feel as though being President of Student Life is the perfect next step for me to take. I am driven, motivated and above all excited to think of what the year to come could possibly be. I have always been extremely passionate about sport and exercise, and I recognise the huge importance of inclusion and creating equal opportunities for all. As a female within sport, I have had a fair share of lack of opportunity when growing up, for example having to compete in men’s competitions in certain sports due to no female categories. Although at CCCU female representation and opportunities in sport have improved there is still so much growing to do and this is something I’m extremely passionate about moving forward. I have always thrived as a leader and enjoy having responsibilities within something I am passionate about. I take pride in being a good listener and am always keen to share views and opinions with others. I am especially not afraid to have hard discussions and am always open to hear everyone's view on a situation. Being a voice for the students is something that excites me and as a strong, open-minded person I feel this could be a great role and opportunity for myself.