Anna Fedotova, the SU’s International and Community Officer, won her position last March with a strong 800 vote majority, and now is continuing to work on the promises made in her manifesto.
Fedotova had made plans to focus on easing the move to Sheffield for international students, boosting access to scholarships for international students, and collaborating with the SU and local communities to showcase international students’ cultural backgrounds.
Fedotova said: “When I got into the role, as well as international scholarships, sanctuary scholarships for refugees were brought to my attention, and I am now involved in a university sanctuary steering group where I represent students. It was nice to see a part of my manifesto coming into reality”
“I haven’t begun looking into scholarships for EU students yet, I’m still looking at what other universities are doing in that area and, even if I don’t get the chance to make much improvement within my year, I’ll still be able to pass on my research to the next officer.”
“At the start of my term I worked easing the process of moving for international students and I found some resources about short term accommodation and storage that I think will be really helpful which will be shared before the next summer holidays.
Fedotova also spoke about a plan to help international students with the cultural transition that she’s currently working on.
So far, some of Fedotova’s proudest moments in the role have been when she’s brought people together. She said: “The international cultural evening and the number of societies we have interested to perform this year is overwhelming, it’s amazing after quite a challenging few years and low engagement in university-related activities. It’s great to see people getting stuck in and being curious about one another.
“The responsibility of being an officer is also really rewarding, there’s always a thought in my mind when I’m sat in meetings that I’m talking for so many students who all have different experiences, and I always want to give those students the best experience they can have.”
Where she’s had success in many places, one of the biggest challenges Fedotova faces is getting the ball moving on change within the University, especially when her ideas can seem particularly ambitious.
Looking forwards to the elections, Fedotova highlights that applicants need to be ready for some challenge and confrontation but that that’s a good thing.
“There can be quite a lot of confrontation in terms of meeting students who are really needing of support who ask things like ‘Are you doing enough?’ that can cause a bit of imposter syndrome like ‘Am I doing enough?’ but you can’t be scared of that and you just need to know how to reassure yourself. There is a lot of support in SU too that staff can provide so use it.
“Hopefully the next officer will feel like this job is very rewarding, because I feel so.”