Rishabh Rastogi

Rishabh Rastogi International Officer

I am Rishabh and I’d like to be your next International Officer. As a first­year international postgraduate at Queen's, I have noticed and personally experienced that settling in as an international student isn’t always easy. I believe a lot more can be done to improve the support available for the students who live thousands of miles away from home. No one should feel isolated; just because you haven’t grown up here, it doesn’t mean you don’t belong.

Experience

•  Head of Empowerment on the Global Concerns Executive at my school; supervised and advised 20 fundraising groups.

•  Member of the HUHC(Help Us to Help the Child) a non-profit organization in India that aims to provide education to an underprivileged child and working under the motto of " Every Child is a Divine Opportunity".

 A Smooth Transition For International Freshers

I will create a standardized system across colleges for holding international freshers events prior to freshers week. This will allow international freshers to get to know each other first, adjust to the new culture, and form an international community. I will also create a mentoring system for international students where older students can advise freshers on setting up bank accounts, phone contracts, and adjusting to Irish culture.

Improved International Welfare

I  will ensure all international reps are welfare trained so that they can be the first port of call for international students and/or at least one peer supporter in each college is an international student. I will also organize regular meetings for international reps across colleges so reps are aware of what their role entails and can share ideas between colleges. I will campaign to increase access to vacation residence and storage space for international students.

Greater Racial Diversity

I will campaign for increased funding and more scholarships for international students to come to Queen's, and increase the number of social events for international students to create an international network for when they arrive. I will integrate the activities of multiple cultural societies in order to form a more cohesive international environment, and increase cultural awareness and celebrate racial diversity by holding more events, both culture-specific (e.g. cultural balls/dinners) and multicultural.

Just because you haven’t grown up here, doesn’t mean you don’t belong #keepingitreal