![\"image_2025-12-14_143046818.png\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/image_2025-12-14_143046818.png?resize=904%2C678\")
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I used to think \u201cleadership\u201d at uni was for the sort of people who love committee meetings, keep immaculate to-do lists, and somehow remember everyone\u2019s name without checking their notes.<\/p>\n
Then I got involved at York and learned the truth: student leadership is mostly you volunteering to be mildly uncomfortable in public, repeatedly, until it stops being terrifying and starts being normal. The best thing about these opportunities is realising how they all connect.<\/p>\n
If you want the leadership route nobody explains, here it is in one line:<\/p>\n
Say yes to something that makes you a bit nervous, then keep showing up until you get better.<\/strong><\/p>\n I sit in three spaces that look different on paper but feel connected in real life:<\/p>\n Department Rep (Education)<\/strong>: the everyday leadership, representing students and translating chaos into something useful.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n SUmmit<\/strong>: the Union\u2019s political body, where you learn how decisions get made and how accountability works.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n NightSafe<\/strong>: volunteering on nights out, where leadership stops being a LinkedIn word and becomes \u201ccan you keep your head and help someone safely?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Each one has taught me the same lesson in a different accent: growth happens right after the moment you\u2019d rather vanish into the wallpaper.<\/p>\n The first time you speak up in a meeting as a rep, you don\u2019t feel like a leader. You feel like a student who has decided to risk being perceived.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got that internal monologue going full volume:<\/p>\n \u201cIs this a stupid point?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cWhat if I\u2019ve misunderstood?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n \u201cWhy is my voice doing that thing?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n And then you say it anyway. That\u2019s the leadership bit. Not the confidence. The decision to contribute even when you feel under-qualified.<\/p>\n Rep work taught me that a lot of \u201cleadership\u201d is actually translation. Students give you feedback in raw form: frustrated, vague, emotional, sometimes contradictory. Your job is to turn that into something staff can act on, without losing the heart of it.<\/p>\n That means learning to:<\/p>\n ask better questions without sounding like a robot<\/p>\n<\/li>\n spot patterns across different people\u2019s experiences<\/p>\n<\/li>\n write things down properly (painful, but necessary)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n follow up and close the loop so students know they weren\u2019t ignored<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n It\u2019s not glamorous. It\u2019s honest work. And it\u2019s where you build the foundation: the habit of being reliable.<\/p>\n Nothing activates imposter syndrome faster than an agenda titled \u201cItem 4: Policy amendments\u201d as if I\u2019ve been amending policy since Year 7.<\/p>\n SUmmit is where I learned a very specific leadership skill: how to challenge something without turning into That Person.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the Union\u2019s political body, so you\u2019re dealing with policy submissions, topical issues, and updates from Sabbatical Officers. This is not a vibe-based setting. People want clarity: what\u2019s the problem, what\u2019s the proposed change, what happens next.<\/p>\n At first, it feels like walking into a room where everyone knows the rules except you. You learn them fast.<\/p>\n Leadership here is:<\/p>\n reading properly, not just skimming<\/p>\n<\/li>\n asking questions that are fair but firm<\/p>\n<\/li>\n amending ideas instead of just criticising them<\/p>\n<\/li>\n keeping the focus on impact, not ego<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n And here\u2019s the funny part: the \u201cpolitics\u201d isn\u2019t the scary thing. The scary thing is speaking when you\u2019re not 100 per cent sure you\u2019re right. SUmmit trains you to do it anyway, because real decision-making never waits for perfect certainty. You learn to be thoughtful, not timid.<\/p>\n SUmmit has: When You Realise \u201cStudent Voice\u201d Needs Subtitles<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve learned to translate between three languages: student frustration, committee-speak, and \u2018what can realistically happen by next week<\/p>\n NightSafe is where discomfort becomes practical.<\/p>\n You\u2019re out in the city centre, working in small teams, wearing hi-vis, using radios, liaising with venue staff, security, and sometimes emergency services. You train for it: first aid, active listening, conflict management, safeguarding, river safety, homelessness awareness. There\u2019s a DBS check too, which keeps things grounded: this role matters.<\/p>\n NightSafe has taught me the leadership skill everyone claims they have and few people practise: staying calm when something is going sideways.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no script. You\u2019re making judgement calls in real time. You\u2019re balancing compassion with boundaries. You\u2019re supporting someone who might be upset, intoxicated, scared, or simply overwhelmed. Your ego is irrelevant. Your tone matters. Your decisions matter.<\/p>\n And honestly, it changes you. After you\u2019ve handled a tricky situation on a night shift, a seminar presentation feels\u2026 manageable. Still unpleasant, but manageable.<\/p>\n On shift, you learn to communicate properly. Not dramatic speeches, just clear, quick check-ins, with a mix of fun and responsibility. Leadership becomes less about being the hero and more about being useful.<\/p>\n \n<\/blockquote>\n Here\u2019s what ties all of this together.<\/p>\n Leadership isn\u2019t a personality trait you either have or don\u2019t have. It\u2019s a set of behaviours you practise, usually in moments where you\u2019d prefer to opt out.<\/p>\n At York, the leadership route is basically a series of small discomforts that level you up:<\/p>\n asking the question you\u2019re worried is obvious<\/p>\n<\/li>\n turning up to a meeting where you know nobody<\/p>\n<\/li>\n saying \u201cI don\u2019t think that works\u201d politely, with reasons<\/p>\n<\/li>\n taking responsibility for following through<\/p>\n<\/li>\n learning to be calm when someone else can\u2019t be<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n And each time you do one of those, your confidence shifts slightly. Not into arrogance, just into competence.<\/p>\n From a leadership and employability standpoint, I\u2019ve gained three big things.<\/p>\n 1) Real confidence (the quiet kind)<\/strong> 2) A working understanding of systems<\/strong> 3) Transferable skills that employers recognise immediately<\/strong> Pick one role that makes you slightly uncomfortable, but not unsafe or miserable.<\/p>\n Say yes. Show up. Be awkward. Learn the rhythm. Get better.<\/p>\n Because the funniest thing about leadership is that it often begins as a series of \u201coh no\u201d moments. Then, one day, you realise you\u2019re the person helping someone else through their \u201coh no\u201d moment.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the route. That\u2019s the growth. And it\u2019s available to far more people than the confident ones.<\/p>\n I used to think \u201cleadership\u201d at uni was for the sort of people who love committee meetings, keep immaculate to-do lists, and somehow remember everyone\u2019s name without checking their notes. Then I got involved at York and learned the truth: student leadership is mostly you volunteering to be mildly uncomfortable in public, repeatedly, until it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,979,9,8,1031,887,745],"tags":[31,237,111,1390,144],"class_list":["post-34401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-life","category-choosing-a-university","category-future-focus","category-study","category-ug","category-whats-uni-like","category-why-york","tag-careers","tag-employability","tag-making-friends","tag-student-leadership","tag-student-life"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
Leadership starts when you stop trying to look cool<\/h3>\n
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Imposter Syndrome: Sponsored by Meeting Agendas<\/h4>\n
SUmmit: where you learn to disagree like an adult<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nNightSafe: leadership with a hi-vis and no script<\/h3>\n
![\"image_2025-12-14_141929802.png\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/image_2025-12-14_141929802.png?resize=780%2C678\")
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The “Teamwork is Real” Moment<\/h4>\n
The secret curriculum: discomfort is the entry fee<\/h3>\n
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\u201cBut what do I actually gain from this?\u201d<\/h3>\n
Not \u201cI\u2019m amazing\u201d confidence. More like \u201cI can handle this\u201d confidence.<\/p>\n
You start seeing how change actually happens: where student voice goes, how policy gets made, and why some issues take time.<\/p>\n
Communication, accountability, teamwork under pressure, safeguarding awareness, stakeholder thinking, reliability. These are not fluffy skills. They are the basics of doing any serious job well.<\/p>\nIf you want to start, start here<\/h3>\n
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