Hi everyone! My name is Raya and I’m a third year Law with Finance student. I am also one of your Societies Representatives on Student Parliament, President of the Law Society, and a walking ray ‘a sunshine on campus ;)

I’m from Lebanon but grew up in the UAE and Egypt. I’ve never spent long enough in one place to make it feel like home, but that’s what Essex has become for me. I have had the opportunity to reach out to communities around me, postgrads and undergrads alike, and the same struggles have come up. The same struggles I have had up until very recently, that it took too long to make it feel like home and that is the reason I am running for this role.  

Firstly, this role is in charge of “the Big Plan” – which is still a work in progress. I want to focus on perfecting it and even look to different alternatives so that we can get the most out of our SU and your university experience.

In recent years, this position has focused a lot more on event planning, sitting on the least number of panels between all the other VPs. I want to change that; events are important but there’s so much more to this role. Our university prides itself on diversity but seems to sweep our needs under the rug.  A lot of students come to university, partially to find themselves but sadly, we swallow our individuality, culture, and traditions in order to fit in. This shouldn’t be the case.  Something that plays a role, is the racial profiling and safety on campus – this is particularly an issue with Southend. This was pushed this year, but I don’t believe it’s been enough. I want to push our safety, our education, our diversity – more events, more listening and support, more alternatives (food and otherwise).

There is a gap in peoples education resulting from different learning backgrounds. Whether it be across the UK, or abroad. I would like to focus on bridging the gap in our educations. This includes working with the university to bring back English support for its students, as well as working to diversify the curriculum.

No one should have to wait for things to become a ‘big enough problem’ for them to be resolved.

You need someone to scream at the top of their lungs for you, so scream for me.

xoxo

your Raya sunshine ;)

P.S - find me on instagram, whether it's to say hi or ask a question:) 

https://instagram.com/raya.sabbagh1?r=nametag