Full name: Carrie Corbin
Age: 26
Course: Archeology, 3rd year
Talk to us a little bit about your background…
The town I grew up in is a small town in Cheshire, which people sometimes think sounds pretty nice. Cheshire is where a load of football players have their massive houses, where Harry Styles grew up and where The Real Housewives is set.
My town was, however, literally a place where poorer families from Liverpool were dumped in the 70s when it started to get full – that’s how my family ended up there. In the middle of posh, pretty Cheshire, my hometown is this rough little town with a salt mine. It’s underfunded and it’s falling apart (the town centre literally caved in a few years ago, and is yet to be rebuilt). I do, however, still like it in many ways. I think I’d rather have that than say I came from somewhere all posh and pristine.
I moved to Sheffield when I was 20, basically on a whim, having worked a terrible retail job since I was 18 and saved enough to move out. I had to get another terrible retail job soon after I got here, because I went through my savings just on bills and food pretty quickly. I ended up, way before I became a student, working at the supermarket across the road from the SU. I still work there today- many of you probably recognise me from that shop! I’ve met probably up in the thousands of students just through working the tills there for over 5 years, and that has definitely been the best part of the job.
Why do you want to be SU President?
I want to be SU President because I believe in the collective power of the Students’ Union. The next year or so is going to see many changes to the University, and I think it’s vital that students have someone who represents their collective voice when meeting the University Executives. As students, we often feel like changes at the uni are out of our hands, but that doesn’t have to be true- I want to take your concerns, grievances, and ideas directly to the University Executives, with the SU at my back. Especially as an Archaeology student (our department has been shut down by the uni), I want to fight destructive decisions made by the University with as much backing as possible.
I also believe that my own experience as a mature student going through her undergraduate degree is vital in my plans going forward. As much as I manage to fit in generally with other students, being in my 20s still and therefore not looking like a ‘typical’ mature student, I’ve still noticed many ways in which the SU and the uni are not catered to older students. Having spoken to many of my postgrad and mature student friends, I know this is how many others my age and older feel, too.
What are your policies, list 5-10 key pledges?
- Fight the Univeristy Executive Board on their destructive ‘School System’ restructure, mitigating the harm it does to lesser-funded courses as much as possible
- Challenge the University on decisions that effect student wellbeing and quality of education.
- Call the University out for its ludicrous spending habits- keeping some departments open is apparently too expensive, but building the Wave, knocking it down, and building it again was well worth the money according to them!
- Improve sports and fitness spaces in the University- like finding an alternative to the closed pool at Goodwin, so SU members finally have access to swimming facilities again
- Create more opportunities for mature and postgrad students to engage with the SU
- Make decisions made by the SU as transparent as possible, so students can understand exactly what is being done on their behalf
- Act directly in accordance with student voice, listening to your ideas and taking them to both the SU Board of Trustees and the University Executive Board
- Create more physical space in the SU and University where mature and postgrad students feel more catered towards
- Continue to use the SU to fight for the reinstatement of Zoom cards
What makes you different from the other candidates?
I haven’t met all the other candidates yet, but I’ve met a few, and what sets me apart the most is my experience. While I’m only five years older than a typical third year, those five years between my A-levels and my uni career were valuable in gaining a wider perspective outside of university life. That diversity of experience gives me confidence that I can fulfill my pledges of challenging the university and advocating for the student voice.
What do you think are the main three problems facing students?
I think one of the biggest problems, going into the next academic year, is the departmental restructure into the ‘Schools System.’ I won’t go into detail in this short response, but the way funds are being allocated in this way is destructive and inconsiderate.
Secondly, I think decent study spaces in both the SU and the uni are woefully lacking when it comes to deadline season. There needs to be more space where people can quietly sit with their laptops or books and prepare for exams, finish assignments, and read for seminars in the run-up to deadlines.
Finally, anxiety around what the SU is actually doing for students is a huge issue. The SU is not always open with decisions it is making in regard to students’ concerns, even when it is working to meet those concerns. Sometimes this can’t be helped, but in cases where it can- it absolutely should.
Three things the University does well?
- Firstly, our SU itself has consistently been voted best in the country for years now. I know we’re technically a separate entity to the uni, but it still counts in their favour I’d say.
- Second, the facilities available to students- even in my department, which is facing closure- are helpful and accessible. Lab space, fieldwork equipment, trips- all these things are available to students if necessary, and that would not be possible without the uni.
- Thirdly, the libraries- both the IC and Western Bank- are excellent study environments, well stocked for books, and staffed by incredibly helpful librarians. Without them, all our degrees would be much less pleasant.
Forge has reported extensively on the SU’s campaign to reverse the cuts to Zoom Cards – Sheffield’s discount bus & tram travel scheme for young people. Would you continue this effort, and is there anything you would do differently?
I would absolutely continue this! While it makes up only one of my pledges, I plan to keep the SU fighting for the Zoom card either until we get it back, or until I leave the position. I don’t have any plans to change the way we’re doing this right now, but I am passionate about the issue and will change course if it becomes apparent the current strategy isn’t working. I look to cities like Manchester, where the Bee Buses are entirely free, and wonder- if they can do that, why can’t Sheffield’s bus companies and council at least make young peoples’ tickets cheaper again?
What are your interests outside of student politics?
I’ve got far, far too many. I roller skate, both in my own time and as a member of committee for our own Roller Skate Society. I play video games (RPGs are my favourite). I absolutely love hiking in the Peak District- if you haven’t been yet, and you’re a student here, get the 257 bus to Castleton and hike up into the hills. I did a dig there with the archaeology department last summer and it’s one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been. Oh, and archaeology is also one of my interests, as boring as saying your degree is an interest is.
Talk to us about your future… what do you want to do after uni?
Well, other than this role, I want to go off and be an archaeologist outside of university life for a while. It’s not easy work- long hours digging in the rain never really can be- but I’ve found little else as rewarding. Troweling back layers of dirt for hours on end, only to find a piece of flint from the Mesolithic era, or a button from the industrial revolution- I know to many people that sounds incredibly boring, but I absolutely love it.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Anywhere! I’ve accepted that I’m not a person with goals as long-term as that. When I was really young I wanted to be a scientist, because I thought they made robots. Then it was actress. Then it was author. Then, for a tiny bit, it was animator (I have never even begun to attempt this, and it was a bit of a wild goal). I think whatever I’m doing in 10 years, my only hope is that I’m passionate about it. That’s always been my most consistent goal- passion over pay.
Who would play you in a film of your life?
Either Winona Ryder or Rachel Weisz. I’ve been told I have similar features to both, and I won’t lie I quite enjoy the comparison! They’re both very talented actors too.
You can time travel to any year in history anywhere in the world. Where, when and why?
England, 1660. I find Charles II (the king that brought back partying), and I show him the wonders of modern alcohol and foods. We have an incredibly night of drinking Gordon’s pink gin and eating flaming hot wotsits, and I use this bonding experience to convince him that he’s way too much of a party prince to keep being King.
Further, I show him that nobody needs that position when they could just be living it up like a fresher in September. He cancels the restoration of the monarchy and lives out his days as a legend of the club scene (having invented the club scene 300 years early). I return to the modern day, where there’s no monarchy, wotsits are an ancient British tradition, and Corp has been open for 300 years.
What living person do you most admire and why?
That’s so difficult, I like so many dead people! Of the living, my partner is number one (not to be sappy)- we’ve been together throughout my whole undergrad degree, and in that time they’ve had multiple academic articles published, gotten a job in their dream field, and made immense strides in all aspects of their life. And that’s all within the last couple of years! Sorry if that’s not an interesting answer, but it’s absolutely my most honest one.
You’ve just been elected SU president. How do you celebrate?
Handing in my notice at work. Immediately. I know that’s a given, but after so many years of retail nothing could bring me more joy.
What’s your favourite thing about Sheffield?
The people. Moving to a city when you’re from a small town can be daunting, but Sheffield’s people don’t feel like big city folk. I’ve never felt unwelcome here, and I’ve always felt a strong sense of solidarity with all people of this city- locals and students. It’s genuinely one of the friendliest places I’ve ever been.
I also love how green it is. Every city should be absolutely full of trees like Sheffield!