Introduction

Fellow Students,

My name is Seye Abrahams, and I am a graduate of physics with a master's degree in petroleum engineering. I am currently enrolled in the School of Geoscience's master's program in petroleum data management. I have years of experience in business development consulting services that span the petroleum industry, data management, and digital integration.

I am excited to announce my candidacy for the position of ASUA President. I began student politics during my undergraduate days, where I served as the President of the National Association of Physic Students (NAPS) at UNAD (now EKSU). Having identified the challenges students faced trying to gain industry experience prior to graduation and the issue of combining academic pursuit with financial obligations are my many reasons to make myself available as a servant leader to create internship opportunities for students through an industry problem-solving approach and the establishment of a student community co-op model where students can co-help each other to meet weekly bill payments.

I am committed to representing your interests, fostering innovation-driven capacity development, creating strategic partnerships with organizations to promote the student UK experience, establishing student community co-ops to gain financial stability, and running an all-inclusive governance system.

What are your three priorities for the year?

1. Student Capacity Development Through Innovation:

• Innovation rules the world through job creation. As your president, I will upscale your skills through the following strategies:
• I will create student industrial engagement in alignment with department courses to promote hands-on experience (Internship opportunity).
• I will form strategic partnerships with organizations to promote student involvement in solving real-life industry problems through innovative thinking and execution.
• I will create a monthly sponsored departmental session to brainstorm on industry challenges in alignment with student academic curriculum to drive innovation and personal development. This will serve as a UK work experience for students.

2. Student Financial Stability and Engagement:

Your financial wellbeing is important. As your President,

• I will establish a student co-op society (SCS) to support student financial challenges while in school. This will help student with the payment of monthly bills.
• I will create a monthly engaging mentorship program with industry players to foster innovation and problem-solving skills among students.

3. Diversity and Inclusion:

As your president,

• I will ensure sport and social clubs’ activities to promote professional and career development through competitions with other institutions, and social club’s programs for networking purposes.
• I will champion initiatives to celebrate our diverse cultures, and combat discrimination in all its forms.
• I will ensure all-inclusive governance to build student confidence.

What unique skill/knowledge can you bring to the role to stand out from the other candidates? 

My distinctive contribution to the student union would be to introduce strategic collaborations with organisations to address the challenges encountered through monthly sponsored departmental brainstorming sessions. This will help the student to think innovatively and give them industrial placement while in school and hands-on UK project experience after school.

What do you think is the biggest issue that students are facing at the moment and how do you plan to tackle it?        

The biggest issue that distracts most students is finance. My approach to solving this is to establish a student community co-op where students can help each other to pay weekly bills to ease financial burdens.