The University of Derby Union of Students Leadership Residential (By Anisha Kaur Johal)
In August, the University of Derby Union of Students hosted their annual Leadership residential retreat. The retreat aims to support students who work within the Union to develop their leadership skills. As an Academic Representative (Programme Representative and College Part Time Officer), I was delighted to attend the residential and what an amazing experience it was.
After a few icebreaker activities and team building sessions, everyone got to know each other much better and it really did feel like a Union family. The tasks and activities were very informative, enabling us to obtain a deeper insight into our roles within the Union and how to progress and develop our Leadership skills further. They were also very fun, engaging and we all definitely had many laughs. Spending a night in the Peak District was a great addition to the trip as we embraced the nature around us and even got to go to an Escape Room in Matlock, which each and every one of us thoroughly enjoyed (although my team unfortunately did not manage to escape).
From a professional development side, the real life scenarios that we had to emulate,debate sessions and personal quizzes were very beneficial in helping us to develop our transferable skills and apply them to the wider context of life after University. It also gave us the chance to learn more about our roles within the Union and I certainly learned a lot more about Academic Representation despite working in it for three years.
The personal side of the residential was also equally significant as I had the chance to meet my fellow Academic Representatives and learn more about their experiences in their role. It was good to build up a network with my fellow peers as term time is usually extremely busy that we don’t get a chance to socialise with each other. The Escape Room was perfect to put into practice everything that we had learned over the past couple of days; having fun and working together in an effective manner.
The residential left us motivated and determined to achieve success in our roles over the upcoming academic year and I certainly cannot wait for the next one.
By Anisha Kaur Johal
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