Introducing Vaishnavi

Dearest Reader, I am Vaishnavi Vajja, your Vice President for Wellbeing and Diversity for 2025-26. I moved from Hyderabad, India to the UK, where the weather keeps you humble and the kettle never gets a day off to pursue my undergraduate degree.  I am a recent graduate in BSc Management with Digital Innovation. During my time as a student, I was committee member or various societies, student ambassador for the School of Business and Management. 

Favourite book: A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern. It's a book that talks about where all the lost things go, and the journey of a girl who ends up in that place.

Why I Ran

I’ve seen firsthand the struggles students go through, from expensive food to buses that operate on mysterious schedules. I wanted to be part of the solution, not just the complaints. You know that moment when you look around and think, “Wait, surely this could be better?” Yeah, that’s what drove me.

Getting elected meant I could actually do something, and I’m here to represent your voice, ideas, and complaints (preferably constructive, but I’m open to creative rants too).

My Priorities this Year (aka the Grand Plan)

I'm the project lead for two of the eight priorities and will be working with others to make as much progress as I can.

1. Making food on campus more affordable and accessible – Because who decided a sandwich should cost more than a textbook? A few goals for this priority in the upcoming days is to have loyalty cards in more food outlets on campus, have Halal Meat & Fruit & Vegetable in the Tuesday Market, TooGoodToGo Bags at food outlets and SU Shop as well as bring awareness about Hardship and Food Poverty Support among other plans.
2. Improving local transport – It’s time buses stopped playing hide-and-seek. We're aiming for cheaper fares and more frequent services. My first stage in this priority is to align the RHU Bus timings with the Train timings, have a loyalty card for the bus tickets.

Alongside that, I’ll be working on a range of campaigns and other exciting, important, and hopefully very impactful projects to support our community.

I'm excited/looking forward to...

I’m excited to work closely with students and staff, and actually see ideas go from “that would be cool” to “wow, it’s happening!” There’s nothing more satisfying than watching change unfold – even if it’s one bus timetable at a time. I’m also weirdly excited to see how long I can keep my plants alive now that I have a desk. It's the little victories.

Top Tips 

• Get involved, join societies, sports clubs, or anything that excites you.

I spent three years at uni too scared to try out for football because I thought I wasn’t good enough, even though I loved playing. In my final term, I finally gave it a shot, joined a Sunday League team, and had an amazing time. The people were welcoming, and turns out I didn’t suck.

Moral of the story? Don’t let self-doubt hold you back. I missed out on three years of something I would have loved because I was scared. Don’t make the same mistake, never say never.

• Register at the GP
• Always ask for help, everyone is in the same boat
• Celebrate the small wins: "Like showing up to your 9 AM lecture, soaked from the rain but holding it together, barely.
• Get a part-time job: Yes, it pays, but the real bonus is learning how to deal with awkward customers, confusing till systems, and coworkers who become your besties or your daily sitcom. Consider it character development.

Contact:

E-mail: vpwellbeingdiversity@su.rhul.ac.uk

Instagram: @rhsuwellbeing