As a mature student, I sometimes feel that the requirements of the "older" student are often lost in the maze when it comes to knowing who to approach to discuss matters of concern.  

If the current pandemic has highlighted one thing, it is that organising study around family life and employment while everything is up in the air, can be, and has been quite a nightmare.

For single or seperated parents, having to juggle this around two or more households and working patterns only makes the stresses and strains greater, and can put additional strain on the already difficult tasks of studying at home.

Having a representative that understands these issues and shares them with you would be of great help to myself as well as others I am sure.

There can be no argument that the current representative roles are needed.  The rhetoric of the nation as a whole seems to be drifiting towards right wing mentalities, and our students that fall into the targeted groups clearly need protection and an outlet for their concerns, and It is also right that the university has concerns about the impacts for those students moving to a new city, being away from home for possibly the first time, the current impacts of not being able to move about freely, or benefit from the "full" student experience.

From a personal point of view however, it just sometimes feels that the focus (especially across social media) is more upon how everything impacts the younger student rather than those of us more advanced in years.  We struggle too, we may disguise it better through experience, but to have somebody we can approach and say "I need this raising", or "I am not happy about why this is being done", "I'm not getting any support from my tutors" will also help make our own student experience better, and support for our studies more appreciative.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this proposal.

Kind regards

Paul Gilhooley