Rep of the Month: Andrei Mitroi

To celebrate all the hard work and dedication of our Academic Reps, each month we highlight one rep who has really gone above and beyond to improve the experience of the students within their department.

Academic Reps are voluntary positions elected by you, the student body, and they exist with a specific remit to represent you and give you a voice in your educational experience. Individually and across the four levels, these reps achieve a large number of positive changes to students’ education on a regular basis.

This month, we're celebrating first-year Politics and International Relations Rep, Andrei Mitroi.

Why did you want to become a rep?

I had a similar role during my A-levels and found that I was always helping students wherever I could whether someone missed a lesson or needed to catch up, I was always helping. Helping others doesn’t take any extra time for me and I enjoy talking to people and seeing what feedback they have and what changes they want to see. At uni, there’s more freedom to be able to do this and I know that student input is really appreciated so it’s good to listen to what students want, what they want to see change, and relay this information back to academic staff.

What are your plans for the rest of the term?

I plan to meet with my professors on a 1:1 basis to relay larger pieces of student feedback to them. I attended last term’s departmental meeting where I shared feedback but it’s good to have the opportunity to share specific feedback, especially as a joint honours student. Not only for my own benefit but also for other students, if there’s anything I can do to ease anxieties around upcoming assessments then I will be happy to help.

Aside from my rep role, I want to campaign for mental health, which is outside of my comfort zone, but I want to continue to talk to lots of people and show them it’s possible to make friends at uni even if they’re not confident or feeling lonely. After submitting an essay to the philosophy magazine, I will be continuing to learn and write for the rest of the term.

How do you see being a rep impacting your future?

I enjoy working with people in a leadership role, and will definitely be able to use the skills I've picked as a rep in the future. Both in and out of my rep role, I always help people whenever I can, and I like to think that I’m now in a position where people can come to me for help throughout the rest of my studies and beyond.

What’s the best thing about being a rep?

Meeting with other people and hearing what they have to say, what they’re doing, and how they’re creating change is great. It’s also good to speak to reps in older years to see what they’ve done and what I can learn from them.

Well done Andrei!

Not just as an academic rep but also as a student, Andrei has always been keen to approach professors not just to build a strong student/ professor academic relationship but to gain useful insights to improve students' experiences. Andrei strongly believes that any academic-related concern should be raised and discussed in order to reach a solution. No matter how big or small, he always relays information from staff to students.