The ED unit

      Today I was confronted with a ‘tough’ choice: should I write a blog post about how tired I am after spending nights and days revising for my EU law exam, or should I write about something else. So, in order to get going through the day and not bore you with my complaints, I decided to write about something really dear to my heart: the ED unit.

     The ED unit is a free academic advice service provided by the University of Leicester Students’ Union, and delivered by trained, friendly advisors. The service offers support to every Leicester student that needs advice on issues like mitigating circumstances, appeals, complaints, or any other problems that they might face. Even when the ED academic advisors cannot directly advise you on a matter, they can at least signpost you to the right department. To get in touch with them, you can visit their office, call, send them an email, Skype or message them on Facebook – so you can choose the mean of communication that suits you best. Details on how to get in touch with them can be found here: https://www.leicesterunion.com/support/education.

     Now, let me tell you why this service is so close to my heart. During my second year, I have worked as an academic advisor for the ED unit and my experience there was amazing. The team that I worked with was formed of lovely people, who were genuinely dedicated to helping others. The work in itself was extremely rewarding. There was something about being able to help other students that made my work feel truly valuable. I have enjoyed every single minute of working there and I have learnt so much, not only about university rules and academic issues, but about people in general, about how to approach them and how to approach sensitive situations.

     But I did not want to write this post just to tell you how great it was working for them. I also want to tell you how important it is to speak up when you have a problem. Don’t be afraid to do so, and be assured that there are plenty of people out there that want to help you. The Students’ Union has recently started the #LeicsTalk signposting service, which encourages students to talk about their problems at an early stage, no matter what these problems are, so they can get the help they need (look it up at: http://www.leicesterunion.com/support/leicstalk). From my experience as an academic advisor, I can tell you that people face every day all sort of problems, so you should never be ashamed or scared to talk about the things that are bothering you, no matter what they concern.

     Were you aware of the ED unit and what they can do to help you before reading this post? If you were not, then I hope you find it useful to know that such a service is out there for you. I also hope all of you are enjoying your courses and getting all those essays done. I will be back shortly to tell you about my little trip to Belgium. 🙂