More Than Marks: What It Means to Advocate for Education

Education has always been deeply personal to me. I was raised with the belief that if you want something, you work hard for it. That value has shaped the way I approach my academic journey, my Honours year, and now, my role as Vice President of Education at the Deakin University Student Association (DUSA)

But being Vice President of Education is not only about celebrating academic excellence. It is also about fighting for an academic experience that is fair, accessible, inclusive, and supportive for every student.

In my role, I advocate for education-related projects, policies, and initiatives across campus. This means bringing the student voice into important conversations about learning, assessment, academic support, and university-wide policies. Since 2025, I have had the privilege of contributing to advocacy work that reflects my passion for education and my belief that students deserve systems that help them succeed, not systems that make success harder to reach.

One of the most meaningful parts of my role is serving as a current member of the Deakin Academic Board, alongside academics, university leaders, and key decision-makers. In this space, my responsibility is to offer the student perspective and represent the DUSA voice when important academic policies are being discussed. These conversations matter because they shape the university experience for thousands of students.

Through this role, I have advocated for policies such as 24/7 library access, fairer academic processes, more time for appeals, and automatic short-term extensions for students experiencing unexpected challenges.

At first glance, some policies may seem obviously positive. For example, a three-day automatic extension sounds like a simple and compassionate solution. If a student’s laptop breaks on the day an assignment is due, or their house floods because their washing machine suddenly breaks, they may not need long-term support. They may simply need a short buffer to submit work they had already completed. In those moments, an automatic extension can reduce stress and remove the burden of having to provide documentation during an already difficult situation.

But advocacy is rarely that simple.

A policy that helps one group of students may create new challenges for another. What about students who struggle with time management, or neurodivergent students who rely on clear and fixed timelines to function well? What about teaching staff, who may face delayed marking timelines or increased workload if large numbers of students use the extension? What happens in large units where hundreds of assessments are submitted at once?

These are the questions I have learned to sit with.

To me, good advocacy is not just about pushing for something because it sounds good. It is about asking who benefits, who might be left behind, and what unintended consequences might emerge. As Vice President of Education, I do not want to advocate for policies that only support some students while creating harm or pressure for others. I want to bring a balanced, thoughtful, and inclusive student voice to every table I sit at.

That is the mindset I carry into my work with DUSA: education should be accessible, but it should also be sustainable. It should support students in crisis, while also recognising the needs of students with disability, neurodivergent students, international students, students experiencing financial hardship, and the staff who help deliver our education

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Beyond policy advocacy, I have also been involved in projects that help students navigate a changing academic environment. One example is my work supporting conversations around Deakin’s AI framework. In the past, AI use was often discussed mainly through the lens of academic misconduct or contract cheating. Now, the conversation has become more nuanced. Ethical AI use can be part of a student’s learning journey when used responsibly, transparently, and in line with academic values. For students, this framework is important because it helps clarify what responsible AI use looks like. It encourages students to think critically about how they use technology, how they protect their own learning, and how they remain mindful of academic integrity, environmental impact, and the purpose of education itself.

I have also supported work connected to the Deakin Disability Resource Centre and improvements to processes for students who need test plans. For students with disability, long wait times can create unnecessary stress and uncertainty. A more efficient system means students can access the support they need sooner, allowing them to participate in their studies with greater confidence and fairness.

These projects have taught me that education advocacy is not only about big policy wins. Sometimes, it is about the practical changes that make a student’s life easier. It is about reducing waiting times, clarifying confusing processes, improving access to support, and making sure students are not left to navigate complex systems alone.

Throughout this role, I have learned that leadership requires both passion and patience. It requires the courage to speak up, but also the humility to listen. It requires believing strongly in student rights, while also understanding that meaningful change often involves negotiation, compromise, and careful consideration of different perspectives.

Most importantly, I have learned that advocacy is a responsibility. When I speak in university spaces, I am not only speaking for myself. I am carrying the experiences of students who are overwhelmed, exhausted, excited, ambitious, disadvantaged, uncertain, or simply trying their best. That responsibility has made me more thoughtful, more empathetic, and more determined.

As Vice President of Education, my goal is to continue advocating for an education system that recognises students as whole people. Students are not just assignment submissions, grades, or enrolment numbers. They are people with emergencies, disabilities, financial pressures, cultural backgrounds, caring responsibilities, mental health challenges, and dreams for their future.

Education changed my life, and that is why I care so deeply about protecting access to it. My role at DUSA has given me the opportunity to turn that passion into action: to advocate for policies, projects, and initiatives that make education not only excellent, but also fair, inclusive, and humane.

For me, that is what education advocacy is really about.