Maisie's Story

Maisie Keogh
Biomedical Engineer Doctoral Researcher, 3rd Year
Co-Organizer TedxUniversityofStrathclyde, President of Strathclyde Speakers Society, Treasurer of Strathclyde University Hot Air Baloon Society

 Since I arrived at the university in October 2019, I have been keen to build my skills out with my degree and get more involved in strathlife.

I was involved in various volunteering initiatives and groups related to postgraduate researchers which helped me to feel part of the PhD community. I also started to get more involved with volunteering within my department and I now sit on our Equality & Diversity committee.

However, in 2020 I properly started my volunteering journey with the Strathclyde Students' Union when I became involved with TEDxUniversityofStrathclyde. TED talks can help you to learn about new topics, discover new ideas and hear from those individuals whose voices need to be heard but who you may not necessarily come across in your day-to-day life. I took on the role of co-organiser and have been working with our Lead Organiser Sheik to help shape the vision for our society and with all of our fantastic team members to deliver our flagship Annual Ideas Conference and our various projects and campaigns throughout the year. I have had a brilliant time so far in my role and I was thrilled to be able to stay on and contribute another year in this exciting position in the team.

Additionally, to this, I am also President of Strathclyde Speakers, a society dedicated to helping students improve their public speaking skills. This is such a vital skill but one that is rarely taught. We host monthly workshops with professional public speaking coaches and hold weekly meetups so that our members can practice their presenting skills.

I am also the Treasurer of Strathclyde University Hot Air Balloon Society (SUHABS) which is such a fun and relaxing society and one I would encourage everyone to get more involved with! We are lots of exciting projects coming up over the next semester which we can't wait to share with you all.

I have had nothing but positive experiences working with all of these societies as well as being a member of many more. I am so lucky during my PhD to have the opportunity to get out of the lab and develop my knowledge and skills in other areas and I would recommend that all PhD students get involved in activities beyond their research - it is a great way to make new friends from across all four faculties and to take a well-earned break from our studies.

In 2021, I was honoured to be named Volunteer of the Year at the Strathclyde Students' Union Star Awards one of the highlights of my time so far at the university. I cannot recommend and encourage enough all students at Strathclyde to begin their volunteering journey, I have got so much out of my time volunteering and I know you will too!