As Sofie said in her LGBT blog, “I'd like to start my NUS blogging with a definite break from the style of my predecessor.” My blogging style is likely to be a bit more positive than either Daniel Randall’s or Sofie’s, but that’s not to say it will be any less honest. I’m just a pretty optimistic person all round, I guess. I’d rather suggest something positive than call out something negative – but I think that both things need to happen together for there to be movement forward.

This month has been a really odd one. It started off with four days in Southport, for the NEC induction. I travelled up on the same train as Ama, and we bumped into Ellie and Veronica on the journey, so it was a pretty sociable (and thus enjoyable) start to the week. It was pretty intensive, but rarely boring and definitely useful; if you ever get a chance to play a game do a training exercise called “Power Of Leadership,” take it! Kudos to everyone involved in organising it. I was absolutely shattered by the time I travelled back to Birmingham with Claire

After a weekend spent travelling the country (a regional Green Party meeting in Leamington Spa and a concert by the awesome Billy Talent in Cardiff), the next week was somewhat less glamorous. Driving lessons (I have my test on August 9th) and registering with seven different employment agencies in Birmingham took up most of my time. I did, however, spend a day down in London with the rest of the Strong & Active Unions team planning our campaign for the year. While we could probably have had somewhat more concrete outcomes, my personal objectives for the meeting (making sure that activism and activities got equal stage-time, trying to get some sort of accreditation for activists, and other bits and bobs) were met and I’m confident that Stephen will be able to pull together our various flipcharts and break-outs in such a way that our next meeting will see us have some definite aims and objectives for the campaign. The material we got before the meeting was good, and Stephen facilitated the session well, too. I’m really looking forward to working in this zone!

The end of the week was pretty mixed; up to Manchester to see Billy Talent again (they are absolutely awesome, and both were birthday presents, if you’re wondering why I saw them twice!) and then the Friday was my birthday, which I spent in Birmingham with my friends at the cinema and at a local hostelry. It was a really good night, and set me up really well for the weekend I spent at a Development Centre for the TUC’s Organising Academy. For those of you not in the loop, NUS is in the process of moving from its old “servicing” model toward the New Unionism-style “organising” model. This Development Centre helped me gain loads of really useful skills to push this agenda forward and help turn NUS into the democratic, fighting union I dearly hope it will one day be. The fact that I also got offered an interview to become an Academy Organiser was just the icing on the cake!

This week started with me taking minutes for a meeting of the Partnership Group of the Macfarlane Trust, a job I got through one of the recruitment agencies I mentioned earlier. The fact that this is the only paid work I’ve managed to get for the whole month (apparently lots of other graduates and vacationing students all just came onto the job market in July too!) is the reason I’ve had to apply for a loan (in respect of my honorarium) from NUS to cover my living expenses. I can assure you that I was far from keen to do this, but I have to be able to do things like pay rent and eat and suchlike if I’m to be an effective Block member!

I also went back down to London this week, on Tuesday. I had an interview with Community for a summer placement as a Student Organiser, based in London. I’m still waiting to hear back how that went, so I shan’t say anything further. I also went to the Society & Citizenship zone meeting, which was a really lively discussion headed up by Kat Stark and Jamal. While we stopped short of deciding on the final shape our zone campaign’s going to take, we pared the issues down to two basic potential foci for the campaign (one being civil liberties and the other being war) and are having another meeting just before the next NEC (August 3rd) to finalise things. After the Society & Citizenship meeting, Dave Charlesworth, Suzie Wylie and I had an E&E team meeting, where we outlined some campaign ideas and set a provisional date for E&E Conference. As nothing’s formal yet (pending confirmation on the date of the conference and also some NEC motions to give us more grounding for the campaigns) I shall say no more – but if you have any ideas or comments, please email me (see the post about my contact details).

I’ve been working some more on the E&E stuff since the meeting, as well as applying for jobs and the like. I had an interesting conversation about NUS reform with a student officer this afternoon, and I’m certain I’ll post more on that topic as time goes by! I’m away to Scarborough for a week, starting Saturday, for a “summer school” in kung fu, all funded by my mother as a birthday present.

If you’re wondering why I’m giving you so much detail, it’s because I think that blogs are best in these circumstances when they give you not just the facts but also the reasons – and I’m required to tell you about any money I receive. If you want to know more about where I’m coming from, check out my bio or my top ten links. And, if you’ve got anything to say about this blog, please feel free to get in touch with me. While I’ll probably see it here if you’re so inclined, you’ll probably get a more meaningful response direct from me.

I’m also currently loving this news story.

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