Friday 30-07-2021 - 14:08

I genuinely feel like the University and its community are ready to move forward and become better

Nailah Haque reflects on her year as Undergraduate Academic Officer 

The last year has been dramatic to say the least! We’ve seen both the best and the worst of Durham, which at times was incredibly demoralising. Yet somehow, I have reached the end of my year as an Officer genuinely feeling like the University and its community are ready to move forward and become better. 

Being an officer has been a feat and there have been many points where things felt futile, but I’m so incredibly proud of myself and the other fantastic Officers for getting past the hurdles that were thrown our way – and trust me there were many! 

Biggest achievements

I think it’s obvious, but my proudest achievement is definitely being able to launch the student decolonising internship. I’ve spent a big chunk of my year continuously fighting to embed decoloniality within Durham and making sure that the way we achieve a decolonised curriculum is through critical self-reflection across the institution and true commitment to the project. I’m so incredibly thankful that Durham is finally at a place where we can recognise the value and importance of a nuanced curriculum and I’m incredibly excited to see what amazing work students can do to make Durham a better place. It’s been so lovely to see the amount of support, commitment and engagement from both students and staff and I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved for being so patient when progress was slow. 

At this point, it genuinely feels like talking about safety nets was from another lifetime. Dealing with the fallout of Covid and trying to make sure students felt supported during this time was an incredibly heavy responsibility. It was so important for me and Sarah that the student community felt some sort of relief because of the safety net policy and getting to a final decision did not come without its difficulties. I think it’s important that I take a moment to thank Sarah – my partner in crime – for being so incredibly determined to do what was right by students and so personally supportive when it felt like we were getting nowhere. Being in Senate and lobbying for a safety net was daunting and I literally would not have been able to do that alone – I could not have asked for a better partner, and I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to work with her.

Thank you and good luck! 

Looking back over the year there were very many points where I felt like I could give up because the intensity of Durham’s bureaucracy felt like trying to cut a brick wall with a butter knife. I want to say a personal thank you to all the staff at the SU for being so amazing and supportive from the moment our year started – particularly Emma and Richard who did nothing but go out of their way to make our jobs as easy as they could be. The personal and professional support I received from both is something I will never be able to thank them enough for and I will miss the privilege of being able to talk and laugh with them every day. You guys are both stars!

As an Officer team we have had to deal with the wildest circumstances and I’m so happy to have been able to work with such an amazing bunch of people who I get to call my friends. Seeing how hard each Officer worked throughout the year was so inspiring and I’m so proud of Sarah, Anna, Seun and Ewan as individuals but also a team and a family. They are honestly the best group of people I could have asked to do this with, and I know for a fact they have all left their mark in Durham. Finally, I want to say a massive, good luck to the next Officer team – I cannot wait to see the amazing things that you all achieve over the next year and the fantastic changes you’ll make in Durham!