Written by Leah Henrickson.

My name’s Leah, and I’m the Doctoral Researcher (DR) President for the 2018-19 academic year. Vice-President Hugh and I are here to make sure that DR interests are represented across the University, and to ensure that you’re aware of all the on- and off-campus services available to you as Loughborough students. While Hugh’s role focusses on managing the DR Rep system, mine is more about welcoming new students, liaising between DRs and University bodies like the Doctoral College and LSU, and just being my usual charmingly loud self.

‘Tell me more about that that self!’ I hear you thinking. Because I can sense how interested you are in this post, here’s a quick rundown of who I am:

• I’m in my third year in the School of the Arts, English and Drama, writing a thesis about reader responses to computer-generated texts. (Yes, it bothers me that there is no Oxford comma in my school’s name.)
• When I was little, I wanted to perform in musicals. These dreams were squashed when it became apparent that I couldn’t act or dance. Now I just sing along to the Rent soundtrack when there’s no one else around.
• I hold a diploma from the Iceland Álfaskólinn (Elf School) in ‘Elfs- and Hidden people-research-study’.
• My accent is Canadian.

With that, get stoked for a good year, folks! You’re at a fantastic university – enjoy it.

tl;dr: I’m here to make sure you have a good time at Loughborough. Are you reading this and not having a good time? Feel free to get in touch. I’m nice, I swear.