Welcome to the imaginatively named blog two! I write this blog as I travel from Bristol to York, (or from Developing your Members to Active Political Leadership) During the week of fun down in Bristol, it was great to see a different side to student politics, not officers vying to see who could shout the loudest, but officers who’s backgrounds lay away from union democratic procedures, with interests ranging from la cross to student media, and from rag to ultimate frisbee, I was stunned by the way that my group (team Steve, aka champions of Fibchester) developed as a group and showed an eagerness to learn. It filled me with great confidence to hear a genuine sharing of best practice, which rose above just showing off over who had the best union.

On my journey up from Bristol I stopped off at the Cropredy Music Festival, to meet with friends and family, for all things folk. Under normal circumstances this would have been a learning experience (My knowledge of folk music is limited in so much as it only includes Bob Dylan, Woodie Guthrie, and occasionally Billy Bragg!) but having watched two half hour documentaries on BBC 4 I now consider myself something of an expert in Fairport Convention. That aside I was something of a reluctant attendee, however, despite needing to wade through Oxfordshire’s seemingly limitless supply of mud and falafel the event was very enjoyable. Without a doubt the highlight was my mother buying a hat to keep my dads head warm (his hair is very limited in his senior years) unaware that the design for the hat was a cannabis leaf, thus my dad was condemned to wander around a muddy field in Oxford inadvertently dressed as a campaigner for legalised drugs, he did comment at one stage that people were giving him knowing looks throughout the day.

And so I arrive here, sat in NUS HQ, packed and ready for another week of sabbatical banter with only a finance committee meeting between me and York, whilst not NUS’s most glamorous committee (that surely is rules revision) it is probably my most influential and important commitment as a block member, since it provides an opportunity to objectively review financial decisions free from the stress’s and strains of NEC.

So I wish you fair well, and leave you with the promise that my next blog will contain something more substantial than a general update on my life!

Ed

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