Ella Guy interviews Emi Martin about the joys and challenges of her role as SJCR President.
Reaching the Bailey on arrivals weekend, I was more than nerve-racked, but along with over 200 other freshers, I was welcomed with an unexpected enthusiasm that dispelled many of my worries. This is the feeling that Emi Martin hopes can be found throughout St John’s College as a whole. After studying a four-year engineering course at Durham, Emi is now the President of the SJCR. Emi’s vision for the college is centred around community, and towards the end of Michaelmas term, I had the pleasure of hearing more about her plans.
St John’s is a small community in itself, the second smallest college in Durham, but there are even smaller sub-communities within the college, promoting expression within small-scale, unintimidating environments. Emi was the LGBT+ representative last year and she is focused on making sure that there is plenty of space for communities. The SJCR provides opportunities for social groups to form through its sports and societies, providing these freely for members. Community through accessibility is the goal here, and clarity is what makes that possible. Something which Emi has been working on behind the scenes is improving communication within the SJCR. She is clear that the job can be less than glamorous, and a lot of work goes into figuring out the best ways to convey information without flooding inboxes with emails. Emi is also determined to keep SJCR events financially accessible. One of the biggest challenges has been rising costs, but there have been no increases in the price of Bailey Ball tickets, for example, and Mega Christmas (all other events on the evening of the Christmas Mega-Formal) were free.
On speaking about her university experience, Emi told me how the Presidency has shed a different light on Durham, and that being in the same place but in a different role has provided her with a new perspective: “It is interesting being in Durham not as a student but still very connected to students”. She has loved being a part of the SJCR and so finds being able to work on the charity full-time amazingly fulfilling since she says that even the less exciting jobs fuel big, exciting events. One of these events is arrivals weekend, for which months of work goes into planning. Emi told me that the entire summer was consumed by planning for Freshers’ Week, and events like this can be stressful since at any big event something happens that needs to be dealt with. However, this doesn’t seem to put a dampener on things for the SJCR President since she is quick to answer that arrivals weekend has still been her favourite moment so far: “I think to a lot of people, arrivals weekend sums up what it means to be John’s”. Clearly, it is these moments that make all the hard work worthwhile.
When I asked Emi to explain a bit more about the role for anyone who might be interested in taking up the presidency, she emphasised that it is a big decision. The role is not 9-to-5, and it takes up many of her weekends and evenings. She also said that it is a position of responsibility where “a lot of people look to you”. The presidency is the only full-time job in the SJCR, which is why it is such a big job because everyone else is part-time and volunteers. Because of this, it is required that anyone considering the role speaks to the current president beforehand so that they understand what is to be expected.
Having said this, Emi reaffirmed that the presidency is very rewarding and went on to explain the selection process. At Epiphany I, about two or three weeks into Epiphany term, the President it elected. To all that are considering applying, there will be a deadline to submit a manifesto, for which a proposer and a seconder are needed who will be able to say something about the campaign, and the proposer is expected to give a “character reference” at the meeting. There are two weeks of campaigning in total, one before the meeting and one after, during which time voting is open.
After having achieved a Civil Engineering masters and spending this year as SJCR President, Emi is planning to work in the civil engineering field, specifically relating to railways, and is currently waiting to hear back about job interviews, so we wish her well! Up until the start of her fourth year, the presidency was not something that Emi had even considered, and so it seems that it is not something a fresher needs to start thinking about straight away. There is plenty of time to get involved with the SJCR in so many ways, and Emi’s main piece of advice to any SJCR President applicants is to speak to as many people as possible, whether that be family members, friends, or a college mentor, and certainly the current President.
Image Credit: Emi Martin
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