You may be thinking that Spotify has the most highly anticipated end of year wrap up, but you would be wrong – mine is.

2022 brought with it some dramatic ups and downs. We had a chaotic start to the year with the floods that evicted thousands of students from their homes, left hundreds without power and worsened the rental crisis. But the floods also helped us band together as a community with students cooking meals for each other and the grassroots mud army being at the forefront of the cleanup effort.

There were many setbacks this year but each challenge was met head-on.

We have seen students volunteer countless hours to the free food services, food co-op and exam support programs. We have seen students band together with the NTEU to support the teaching staff. We saw students get politically active in the May election and saw the government change hands. We have seen hundreds of club executives do hours of unpaid work to support and entertain their members.

This is the spirit of being a UQ student and I could not be prouder to have been your president this year.

I ask that you stay engaged with your Union next year. Only when we band together can we affect change.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and take a moment to breathe. When we return next year let’s continue to support each other in the spirit of being a UQ student.

Please enjoy a few of my personal highlights from the year.