<div class="fr-view"><p>Some mornings, before I’ve even opened my eyes, I can feel the day pressing down on me. Fibromyalgia sends pain shooting through my muscles, my chest aches from costochondritis, my back feels unsteady, and my head is wrapped in a thick fog. But I still reach for my phone, open my Apple Calendar, and look at the colour-coded blocks that shape my day — study, meetings, rest, pain management, parenting. It’s not perfection – it’s survival.</p>
<p>I’m a full-time second-year BSc Psychology student at The Open University. I live with fibromyalgia, chronic back issues, costochondritis and autism (ASD). I sit on the OU Senate, I’m the ECYS Student Representative, Events Officer for the Disabled Students Group, and Co-Lead of the Welsh Club. I’m also a mum of two teenage boys — one at university, and one in his final GCSE year who is autistic and has ADHD. I don’t do all of this because it’s easy, I do it because it matters.</p>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">Why I became a Student Rep</h2>
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 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);display: inline !important;float: none">I became a Student Rep because I know what it feels like to be invisible. Chronic illness and neurodivergence often mean fighting to be heard, to be understood, to be believed. I didn’t want other students to feel alone in that. I wanted to be someone who said, “Your voice matters – and I’ll help carry it if you can’t.”</span></p> </div>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">A day in my life</h2>
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 <p>My day always starts with pain. Before anything else, I stretch so my joints don&rsquo;t lock, take my medication and assess my energy levels. Then I open my Apple Calendar. It&rsquo;s colour-coded with everything &ndash; study slots, committee meetings, rest times, meals, deadlines, and recovery breaks. Without it, I would lose myself to exhaustion and overwhelm.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Because of fibromyalgia and brain fog, I study in small, manageable chunks &ndash; usually 25&ndash;30 minutes at a time &ndash; followed by rest. Beside me is always my favourite tool: my erasable highlighter. I use it to gently highlight anything in my module books or notes that might help with my next TMA. On days when concentration is hard and everything hurts, those highlighted lines are like breadcrumbs left by a kinder version of myself.</p> </div>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">The pain people don’t see</h2>
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 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);display: inline !important;float: none">Fibromyalgia isn&rsquo;t just &ldquo;being tired&rdquo; &ndash; it&rsquo;s pain that feels like bruises under the skin, exhaustion that no amount of sleep fixes, and brain fog that makes words disappear mid-sentence. Costochondritis makes breathing painful. My back pain makes sitting unbearable some days. But meetings still happen, assignments still exist, and people still need help. So I pause, breathe through the pain, sometimes cry in private &ndash; and then I keep going.</span></p> </div>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">My biggest win so far</h2>
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 <p>One of my proudest moments wasn&rsquo;t an award &ndash; it was receiving a message from a Welsh student who felt unheard and uncertain. They found one of my support videos and said it made them feel seen, informed and brave enough to speak up about their concern. That message meant everything to me.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">I&rsquo;m also proud of the articles I&rsquo;ve written &ndash; pieces that give a voice to students who feel they don&rsquo;t have one. If even one person reads them and thinks, &ldquo;Someone understands me,&rdquo; then I&rsquo;ve done something worthwhile.</p> </div>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">Balancing it all</h2>
 <div class="zf_description">
 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);display: inline !important;float: none">Balancing study and representation is hard &ndash; but balancing it while being a mother is something else entirely. My eldest is at university, and my youngest is autistic, has ADHD, and is in his final GCSE year. Some days, I&rsquo;m writing a Board of Studies report while helping with revision. Other nights, I&rsquo;m calming sensory overload while my own pain is screaming for attention. Motherhood doesn&rsquo;t pause for chronic illness &ndash; and chronic illness doesn&rsquo;t pause for motherhood. So I do what I can, when I can, with love, patience, alarms and Apple Calendar reminders.</span></p> </div>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">Working with staff and making change</h2>
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 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);display: inline !important;float: none">Working with university staff has taught me that real change doesn&rsquo;t just come from policies &ndash; it comes from stories. When I speak about accessibility, mental health, disability, or representation, I&rsquo;m not just speaking for myself &ndash; I&rsquo;m speaking for every student who feels too anxious, too ill or too overwhelmed to speak.</span></p> </div>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">Communication skills I’ve gained as a Rep</h2>
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 <p>Before I became a rep, I doubted myself constantly. Pain, anxiety and autism made me question everything I said. But through committee meetings, emails, writing articles and listening to students, I&rsquo;ve gained communication skills I never expected.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">I&rsquo;ve learned how to speak clearly &ndash; even when I&rsquo;m scared. I&rsquo;ve learned how to write in a way that makes people listen. I&rsquo;ve learned the power of listening to others. Being part of the Open SU community has made me feel less anxious, more confident and more motivated. I don&rsquo;t feel alone anymore &ndash; I feel part of something meaningful.</p> </div>
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 <h2 class="zf_title">Encouraging others</h2>
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 <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family: Cabin, sans-serif;font-size: 17px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 400;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: start;text-indent: 0px;text-transform: none;background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);display: inline !important;float: none">If you&rsquo;re reading this and thinking, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to help, but I&rsquo;m not well enough, confident enough or experienced enough,&rdquo; you are exactly who student representation needs. Representation isn&rsquo;t about perfection &ndash; it&rsquo;s about heart, lived experience and courage.</span></p> </div>
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