I don’t think anyone would disagree with me when I say that the last year has been a whirlwind. During these unpredictable times, the opportunity to bring together the diverse and inspiring community at UCL School of Management is an absolute pleasure.

The move online has been a weird one for everyone, including the society. We are used to hosting the traditional series of fresher week events; bowling, movie nights, rock climbing etc. Instead of planning basketball or football tournaments, our Sports Director has created a Discord account for the society to host E-sports events. Instead of looking at venues for the annual Christmas Ball, I am planning a Christmas cook-a-long/cooking tutorial. Over the summer break, I thought about how we would manage to adapt and the change worried me, but I have come to realise the unique doors that this situation has opened for the SoM community. Before 2020 we never thought of running E-sports events. Before 2020, summer meant leaving our London family knowing there would be little interaction until the term started again. Now we do not have to be in the same location to feel connected and virtually get together. Thank you Zoom, you really are our new best friend.

Panel Discussion 

Recently the SoM Society hosted a postgraduate panel on Zoom. We had a fantastic turnout! The ease of this event opened my eyes to the possibilities that are available to the society right now. For one hour we were given the honour to host 6 SoM alumni studying as Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, UCL and Imperial College London. I particularly enjoyed interrogating my old classmates about their recent experiences in their Master’s programmes, and it seems the students enjoyed it too! We opened the floor to give students the opportunity to ask the questions that were important to them and they were able to get their queries answered about the all too stressful postgraduate applications answered.  The best thing about planning this event was the fact that it took only six quick messages and a little bit of coordinating to get the panellists onboard – the gift of moving online! I was lucky enough that they all let me take away their lunch break to help out our fellow SoM community.

For all of those unable to attend, Justice Fong, the Society’s President recorded the event. Please let me or Justice know and we will provide the recording.

Upcoming events 

To the students and staff at the School of Management, thank you for trusting us to give you opportunities to come together. What you have to look forward to in the next few weeks:

• Among Us tournaments
• Speed meets (First years come along! It will be a great way to form friendships, especially if you are not on campus.)
• A selection of career panels (Consulting, Investment banking, Tech etc.)
• Cook-a-longs (starting with a Christmas cook-a-long!)
• Official tableau events (perks of having a president who is also president of the Analytics for Social Impact society and in Data Science Society)

We always welcome suggestions so if you want to get your friends together for a specific event, let us know and we will make it happen! Or if you just want to talk to somebody, need some advice for a module or application or anything else, you can contact myself or other members of the SoM society committee anytime. You can find out more and connect with us on our Facebook page. 

I wish you an incredible academic year, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,