Edinburgh's student presidents reflect on their year's work

As the initial excitment slowly fades away for the five newly-elected student presidents across Edinburgh, it is time for them to face up to the daunting job ahead of them. And where better to start than looking back on their predecessors trials and tribulations.

With their journey down the rocky road of student politics coming to an end, EUSA’s Adam Ramsay, HWUSA’s Ruth Bush and NSA’s Carys Evans, spoke to The Journal about their greatest challenges, achievements and disappointments.

Beginning on a light note, the trio were asked what they have enjoyed most about being President. Ramsay claimed: “The best bit is getting to work with great students.”

His sentiments were echoed by Ruth as she stated: “The best part about the role is the number of inspiring and passionate students you get to meet and work with each day,” whereas Evans enjoyed “representing and being the student voice.”

While student presidents are often widely criticised by the student body for various issues, the academic year could not pass without recognising some of the substantial achievements our presidents have celebrated.

Ramsay admits: “In this job, you don't achieve anything on your own.

“We have organised the teaching awards, for which 2700 nominations have been received, got the council to report on insulating every house in Edinburgh for free and secured a real-terms cut in rent for university accommodation.”

Bush has also enjoyed a busy year: “There are so many things that we've worked on over the year that I hope have made a difference to Heriot-Watt students.

“What I'm probably most proud of is getting environmental and ethical issues on the agenda of the Students' Association and the University.”

Evans, meanwhile, succeeded in her efforts to create social events: “We created a social space for students through our Passionate club nights, which allow students to come together in a way which was not previously possible.”

But, the world of student politics can be a fiery place, and each one of them has fallen upon challenging times.

Bush had to keep the peace as Heriot-Watt restructured their academic year: “This was the first year Heriot-Watt used a semester system and it left many students in difficult and stressful situations. We had to work extremely hard as a Students' Association to make sure everybody's problems were acted upon as quickly as possible.”

Ramsay admits that finding a new chief executive after the shock resignation of Graham Boyack in the first week of term was stressful: “Having never recruited anyone to any job before, I had to recruit the head member of staff for an £8 million organisation with 400 odd employees.”

Evans spoke of the more general problem of attempting to please everybody: “Everybody wants you to do certain things for them but prioritising the needs and wants of students is difficult at times."

When asked if they had any advice for their successors, Evans warned: “Don’t take insults personally, there will always be some students out there who think you should be changing the world in a year; but you simply can't,” whereas Ramsay kept it short and sweet: “Don't forget the big picture.”

Bush maintained that there were two principals any student president should stick to: “Include and encourage as many people as possible in the activities of the Students' Association and listen and think carefully about what people are saying to you.”

All three agree that despite the everyday stresses, they have had an enjoyable experience.

Evans explained: “The past year has been the best year of my life. The ups and downs have been huge but I have never had two days the same.”

Bush would like to be remembered as “a principled and open president that tried her hardest to make life for students at Heriot-Watt as fun, active and exciting as possible.”

Ramsay joked: “If I'm remembered positively, I'll be doing well for a student politician!”