Sneha Choudhary is running to be your next Welfare Officer.
Sneha Choudhary is currently pursuing her masters in Regulatory Affairs and Toxicology here at UCD. Originally from India, she has been in Ireland for five months studying but also working as a social care worker. Choudhary is running for the UCD’s student union’s welfare officer on a mandate to make student welfare “more accessible, more student-led and more practical.” She aims to set up Peer-led support groups for struggling students and to improve how students are informed and engaged with when it comes to the resources available for their welfare.
While her experience of UCD has been generally positive, she has found the University lacking in terms of the support it gives students. When asked how she has found UCD in terms of her own welfare, she says, "from my own experience, it's really good but as an international student, I have faced many challenges." Choudhary points to the housing crisis as the primary reason she has decided to get involved in the Student Union. She had applied for UCD Village, but was unsuccessful and unfortunately was scammed when looking for off-campus accommodation. "It's a big problem, maybe due to lack of knowledge…I was in India and I had to book it immediately." Though it was eventually solved, she went into WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages but was conscious of the same thing happening again; "It creates a doubt in a student's mind." Discussing this experience, Chaudhary criticised the lack of support from the university saying “Nobody was there for me to exactly listen and help me out through the process…I was by myself.”
In her manifesto, Choudhary outlines that she will make UCD more accessible and practical. "So many students are unaware of what UCD provides." In her opinion, someone should lead the new people into UCD and ensure everything is accessible for them, such as applications for jobs and other aspects of UCD life. One to one engagement is particularly important to her, “effort is the most important.”
Choudhary also emphasised the lack of support students get from the university particularly in relation to finding part-time jobs. "I did not get any support or tips from someone on how to get a part-time job, there were no societies helping me out with this." Speaking about this lack of support, resources and information, Choudhary questioned, "If a student lands here, what can they do to afford things?" She mentions that many international students have to take out loans when they come to Ireland; "that is a big burden over their heads."
She also clarifies that even when international students such as herself obtain work, it's not all smooth sailing, remembering her own experience with workplaces. "I could not handle the pressure, and I had nobody to talk to, to be honest."
Because of this, Choudhary "wants a consultancy, a group or a team that helps out with this. I think most students are dealing with this, but we just don’t know." Choudhary has no major criticisms of the current student union. She had met with UCDSU Presidential candidate Enzo Cruthers to discuss this issue and “would love to meet” all the other candidates. Another topic she said she had discussed with Crothers was racism which she feels ‘is a very big issue’ both in Ireland and in UCD and raising awareness about it is important.
Choudhary believes her experience as a social worker and a volunteer makes her the best candidate for the job. She currently works for Tusla, the state agency responsible for improving the welfare of children. In this job, she works with young people including refugees from Palestine. "They come with trauma…I don’t know how they are feeling but at least I understand them, they have lost their families and they have been bombed, when I listen to their stories it's really heartbreaking for me…it develops a certain type of will in you to do something for them, I want to step up for all of them." Other experiences which Choudhary says qualifies her for the role include volunteering with geriatric patients and disabled people back in India, helping to promote equality. Choudhary wishes to provide students with "somebody to talk to and lift them up and make them feel equal."
“I have the will, I have the reasons, I have the points people are dealing with and I know because I have been through it - that should be the reason people should choose me.”
One way in which she plans to achieve this is by establishing "peer-led support groups." These would encompass a test structure at first, "I would take a group of people who have had the same problem and have overcame them…make them feel like they are not the only one who is facing the problem." According to her, these would complement UCD's professional counselling services, with a more casual spirit. Choudhary plans to work with student counselling to facilitate these peer groups and in training people to oversee them, especially those with social care backgrounds like herself. To implement this, Choudhary will "engage with new students, along with students who are still facing or struggling" with issues such as exam stress, pressure from part-time work, unemployment, and more. "Everybody is included in this." Chaudhary says this will reduce waiting lists for counselling services, as this scheme would involve training students to deal with similar issues. In her manifesto she has made a pledge to have the pilot scheme for these support groups set up in her first 100 days in office.
Throughout her interview, Choudhary really emphasised the importance of students and organisations working collectively together to solve the problems facing them. Speaking on working with local housing organisations she said that “collaborating and making it big, and sharing ideas, and sharing the problems, and including more and more students in that” was important in solving the issues facing UCD’s students. Choudhary traces this instinct back to the very beginning: “From childhood I used to be the minder of the class. I love to take people with me. I like working in teams.”
Choudhary also considered issues relating to substance abuse and sexual consent, and how she plans to deal with them if she is elected. Discussing the recent news that intimate images of a medical student at UCD relating to their sexual assault were widely shared without this student’s consent, Choudhary called the incident "really heartbreaking and very shameful.” She notes that there is a lack of awareness and education provided to students on issues such as respect and consent but also that penalties should be enforced. Choudhary says that there should be more protests, consultancy groups and information circulating on the consequences of sexual crimes, which “should be very strict.” "They should know what happens if you do such things. That is important."
When asked why people should choose her as their Welfare officer, Choudhary said “I have the plan and I have the confidence and if people get with me, I’ll make sure that I do it. So it's not that I'm just speaking, it's that I have the will, I have the reasons, I have the points people are dealing with and I know because I have been through it - that should be the reason people should choose me.”