We are Bristol Futures Advocates from the faculty of Life Sciences. Our role is to support you in your studies and help you expand your skills.

Aisling Mahony

Hi, I’m Aisling! I’m currently in my third year at Bristol studying Biochemistry and this is my second year as an advocate on the Life Sciences team. I decided to work in the Bristol Futures team after the pandemic caused a switch to online learning. I had used the Personal Development Plan throughout my first year of university to help plan my growth both within my studies and in my career journey, so I understood how beneficial Bristol Futures and Study Skills can be to students. My experience as an advocate has been really rewarding and I’ve really enjoyed working with other advocates in the Life Sciences team to deliver workshops and run peer support sessions.

Breanna Goff

Hello, my name is Breanna and I am a third-year Psychology student. I have been working as a student advocate for a month now and I am loving it so far. I was interested in becoming an advocate as I wanted to contribute to the ever-developing learning environment we offer to Bristol students. The job itself is also really flexible for anyone looking for a job within uni. Since being a student advocate, I have worked with the amazing Life Sciences team to create workshops and develop future plans for Study Skills as a whole. Not only has this been an enjoyable experience so far but it has also allowed me to refine my own study skills to apply to my degree.

Carol Huang

Hey, I’m Carol. I’m a year 2 Plant Sciences student from the School of Biological Sciences. Throughout my first year Study Skills tutorials have helped me break down reports and essays, it really helps to have a look from a generic perspective to stop me from getting carried away in subject knowledge and forgetting the basics.

Emily Thomas

Hello, my name is Emily and I’m a year 3 student in Biomedical Sciences. I started working as an advocate this year, I thought it would be a great way to develop professional skills whilst contributing to the wider university community. I really valued the opportunities offered by Bristol Futures as a whole such as the Bristol Plus Award and found the online resources on Blackboard have some helpful tips on how to adjust to university-style learning and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. This made me keen to get involved as I already had experience with Bristol Futures as a student.

Martina Mattioli

Hey, I’m Martina! I began my journey as a student advocate in September and it’s been a great experience so far! It’s really rewarding to be able to help students both in drop-in sessions and workshops. I really enjoy the sense of community Bristol Futures tries to build; it isn’t always easy to feel a part of something at university because there is so much going on. I decided to become a student advocate because during my first year Study Skills tutors helped me a lot in my studies and adjusting not only to studying at university but also online learning and I wanted to be able to do the same for other students.

Jasmin Rahman

Hello, I’m Jasmin, I’m in my 3^rd year of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. I have been a Bristol Futures advocate for a year and since starting my advocate role I have definitely become a more self-aware learner. It’s taught me to experiment with my learning rather than sticking to old revision methods as a force of habit. I’ve really enjoyed engaging with so many different students last year and I’m looking forward to doing more in-person advocate work this year!

Sabrina Choong

Hi, I’m Sabrina! I’m a 3rd-year Biochemistry student. This is my second year as a Bristol Futures advocate, I joined because I wanted to try something new and to feel what being a part of the university community is like as not just a student. It’s been really enjoyable being able to meet new people and help other students like myself integrate better into university life. As a student what I found the most helpful thing about Study Skills are the workshops. If you don’t use any other services or features in Study Skills, I urge you to try out workshops you think might be useful to you because it has helped me immensely throughout university.

Book a workshop with us or come find us at our Drop-in sessions from 1pm-2pm on:

Mondays online
Wednesday in the Biomedical Sciences Café
Friday in the atrium of the Life Sciences building

We look forward to meeting you!

You can find current drop-in times & locations for Life Science students on our Peer Support page on Blackboard.

We asked Iskandar Bin Suhaimi to reflect on his time as a Bristol Futures Student Advocate, promoting Bristol Futures and running peer-led workshops and drop-ins for Study Skills and Personal Development Planning (PDP).

One of the best things about being a Bristol Futures Advocate? Feeling like you are truly a part of the University community. Having been in the role for more than two years now (83% of my being a student!), I can confidently say that university was made much better because of this ‘part-time job’. Here are my reflections.

Community

Sitting restlessly with your partner-in-crime hoping for students to attend your drop-ins, trying your best to dispel the awkward silences during workshops, or even talking about your cats during monthly trainings. The little things I went through as an Advocate created experiences only the Bristol Futures team understood.

It also always excited me how closely I was working with university staff, especially the Study Skills team. Primarily, it helped me make sense of my student experience. The university was suddenly not just a bureaucratic entity you complain about on Bristruths, it’s filled with real, genuine people, working as hard at their job as me and you.

As an international student, being a part of such an inspiring and supportive team was truly invaluable. Being in a new country with a vastly different culture, developing camaraderie with the diverse team at Bristol Futures really provided me with the familiarity I needed to feel included and welcomed at Bristol. I felt, happily, part of the community.

Opportunities

One of the most memorable Advocate experiences was when Simon [Gamble, Head of Academic Study Skills] drove me and two other Advocates to a little farm in Chew Valley for a workshop presentation. Free cakes and coffee aside, the experience was particularly enjoyable because we got to engage with the wider community and appreciate the extent of our impact

I also particularly enjoyed manning the Bristol Futures booth at the Staff Welcome Fair. Instead of pitching our services to students, we were promoting it to new staff instead. Did I feel like an adult? You bet.

If there was one thing these opportunities taught me, it was definitely the importance of versatility in communication. Fun as they were, these experiences taught me how to adapt my conversations to different groups of people – and my confidence is all the better for it.

Purpose

Perhaps the main thing that drove me as an Advocate was the fulfilment I got from helping other students. Being an Advocate truly meant understanding and empathising with students’ concerns, and doing our best to help them. No matter what school, degree, or study level, if we could provide assistance, we would.

Consequently, I did not only grow as an employee, I also grew as a person. I think my fellow Advocates can attest to the satisfaction of making things just a bit easier for students. It’s the reason why I joined Bristol Futures, and it’s the reason why I stayed.

Tag: community

Meet the Advocates in the Life Sciences team