Alumna of the Month - March 2017
Temi Ahmadu
BA Tourism & Hospitality Management, 2015
Temi has always had a strong connection to LSBU’s students. She has served as LSBU Student Union President for the past year and is motivated by providing a better experience for LSBU students. Temi decided to come to university to move forward and achieve her own life goals.
“I saw university as a great opportunity to seek out my passion and achieve something at a higher level. Before I chose LSBU I did my research and discovered the content of the course was perfect for me. When I joined, it was exactly as I expected.”
Temi wanted to improve the experiences black students have in education and became involved in the African Caribbean Society. She was recognised for her work in the society and was voted as BAME Students’ officer and then the LSBU SU President for 2016. “Getting elected by my peers, to be trusted to look after their affairs and given the power to impact their student experience and graduate opportunities is really quite a humbling experience.”
“I passionately believe education is the best leveller in society… I wanted to be part of bettering the student experience and developing a university with a great track record for widening participation.”
Representing current students in such a large organisation can be challenging, especially where an institution has such a diverse student body. Keeping note of the positive changes, no matter how small that has improved the student experience and taking pride in her role as president is what keeps Temi motivated.
“I’m proud to be part of a Union that has helped me grow and develop; I have been able to engage with students from every demographic, creatively thinking and weighing up the benefits and impacts on a broad range of students. I thrive off helping students, adding great things to the student experience. I know I have mentioned the student experience many times, but I’m so passionate about this; coming to university should never solely be about the degree, the experience in itself should amazing and formative.”
“I’m confident that I’m in the position to put things into place for the future, so the next generation can have an even better experience when attending London South Bank University.”
With the student elections approaching, Temi is planning her next step and is hoping to start a Master’s Degree to break into the hospitality industry.
Having used her last years at LSBU campaigning for change around the student experience, Temi got thinking about other issues she would campaign for, which includes increasing “self-love”.
“Women face new pressures to be ‘insta-gorgeous’ 24/7, the pressure to be a wonder woman dogs us all, you’ve got to be a great mum, a good business women to meet some artificial standard of excellence. What we are missing out on is time for ourselves”
Her advice for current students is to seize the opportunities that come your way “just go for it… have confidence, everyone is apprehensive but you’ll never win if you don’t get involved.”
Thanks to Temi for sharing her experiences and for being so involved in the student union! You can connect with Temi via LinkedIn.