Tuesday 25-08-2015 - 00:00

Starting any new job is difficult. Whether you’re becoming a cleaner and can’t find the bleach, or becoming a teacher and don’t like children (thankfully I’m not in that position) - adjusting to a new chapter in your life is never easy.

I have to say, being elected as a Full Time Officer has certainly been a new chapter that has required a lot of adjustments.  There’s been no more lying in bed until 2pm, forgetting what the sunshine (or lack of it in Scotland) looks like. There’s been no staying up all night before an exam, or staying out until three in the morning before coming home and burning a pizza.  Working full time instead of spending five hours a week in a classroom has been a shock to the system, but at least the past two months has seen no more middle-of-the-night-kitchen mishaps.

It wasn’t until my induction was over, my name badge was around my neck and my desk was in front of me that it truly sunk in that I wasn’t a full-time student anymore.  What’s more? I had no idea what I was meant to be doing to achieve the weird and wonderful ideas that were swimming around in my head.  My first week contained of sitting at a desk, trying to work out what acronyms like ‘LTQ’ and ‘E and D’ meant after the gazillion meetings I attended.  Not the image I had in my head when I first ran for a position that represents 17,000 students (it gets better, I promise).

It was only after a couple of weeks of thinking that I should just give up and become a full-time rock star that things started making sense. A weekend in Aviemore with the other Full Time Officers gave me the opportunity to write down all of my crazy ideas, plan them out, and realise that the things I was setting out to do were actually achievable.  Unfortunately Neil’s idea of turning the Saltire Centre into a theme park didn’t pan out the way he had hoped.

I’m now happy to say that my campaigns are taking shape, my ideas are becoming reality, and I finally know what LTQ means (although I only found out yesterday).  The transition from ‘student’ to ‘super responsible full time student representative who goes to bed early’ has been a scary one, but it’s also been a brilliant one.  I’m so excited for the rest of the year, and the full-time rock star dream can definitely wait for now.