President's Perspective: Looking back on Thomson's year as FSU President
“Hey, look at that poster. Student Council. You should run for it.”
The statement above proves that students read posters. It was my friend Erin who said that to me, on about our third day of classes while waiting for Accounting to start. I really had no idea what it entailed, so I figured give it a shot. I went up to the FSU office, and yes, I remember ringing the bell and Carol Balzer came out to help me. She gave me the package and some information and I was on my way. Within two weeks, I was successful at becoming the FSU's next VP of Internal Affairs. And so it began…
I have been on Student Council since my first month at Fanshawe. FSU has been a synonym with being at this College. To be honest, I had no idea what the heck was going on when I even got the position. But luckily, with the help of a great team and great staff, I was able to catch on quick.
This is my last President's Perspective ever. When I won last year I was even thinking about how sad I would be writing this article and what I would write about. Thank yous, accomplishments, etc seem to have been the norm, so I hope I can take it one step further. (Or toe over the line if you will, as the majority of my time here as been spent.)
Over the past three years, as my knowledge grew, the College became more of a home for me. The ins and outs are more apparent, the people behind the desks have names and no one seriously rolls around in student's tuition money, wondering how much more they can charge next year. This is a campus that looks out for its students. And coming from someone in the know, it should mean a lot. Fanshawe students are so lucky, and it's hard to understand in what ways unless you can see other colleges and see how they operate. But we are growing quickly, we have top of the line equipment, the funds to try new things and we have a strong backing from our community. Fanshawe is more of a community college than any other College in Ontario and we should be very proud of that. But we should also be proud of the administration working for us because I commonly hear in meetings (and as said by Joy Warkentin just this morning) “But is that what's best for the students?”
My goals this year were many. All year I have been crossing things off the list, and as it whittles down, I hope that students can appreciate some of the bigger things we completed for them.
1. Dental Plan - c'mon you know this is a HUGE one!
2. Internet Café in SUB
3. T Building Lab
4. Comment boxes across campus
5. SC2001 installed a handicapped door
6. Raised profile of the FSU
7. Campaign for SAC candidates brought out 28 students
8. $10,000 raised for Cystic Fibrosis - Shinerama
9. $2,000 raised for World Vision — 30 Hour Famine
10. Start of FSU Myspace
11. First year of the Mighty Falcon Dancers
12. New Student Life Fund policy
13. Major website updates
14. Newspaper exchange with Ontario Colleges
And those are just a few. But this year has not been without its challenges, and being the face of those challenges has been difficult.
1. Fanshawe's fence
2. Student protestor repercussions
3. Two resignations of SAC members
4. The break-ins on Fleming and general neighbourhood issues
5. Ombuds teaching
But a goal of a good leader should not be to see how much they can grow, but to see how much they can teach others and how much they can grow with the environment created and initiative and opportunity to take initiative given. And my five VPs this year were a dream come true.
On day one, I took each one of them aside and gave some personal advice. Something I told Pat Maloney was to not “f**k off. Because it's easy to just concentrate on Entertainment and ignore everything else. If you do that, you will feel left out. And to this day, Pat has been involved in many aspects of the Student Council workings. Pat, you took this advice to heart, and I thank you for that, because I wanted you to get the most out of the job that you could. You really brought different perspective to the table. Pat you went above and beyond this year and I am so happy you were part of this team. And I like your coloured hat. And your hair is sexy.
When I talked to Travis, I said that VP External is a great position to create initiatives and to be in a supporting role to other VPs. With Travis's initiative, we ended up doing the Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone (you know you loved the picture in the fire truck), and creating the FSU Myspace. Travis helped raise our profile this year, and that was a big personal goal of mine. So thank you for your help and thank you for always saying hello and goodbye when you come in and out of the office. It's nice to be acknowledged in my little corner. You are going to have a great time as Prez, but don't tell Arif about your secret sleeping place.
JP and I talked for almost 45 minutes. JP, you were so excited and you had so many ideas and you got to implement a lot of things this year. You took some fantastic initiative when it came to 30 Hour Famine and Shinerama. I always laugh because you are more chatty than I am, and one of the best things you can do in a student leadership position is talk to students. You were very successful as VP Internal, and I have a special spot in my heart for that position, so I am glad you were able to do many things with it. Thank you for being such a sweetheart this year, you are so kind, and I have a lot of your emails still, because your genuineness shines through every time. And now I can forever think of “Gitis” and how the man who scorned me was nicknamed by you to make me feel a bit better.
Mike, to this day, whenever you come up to the front desk, girls literally stop everything they are doing and are staring at you. It's insane. (I bet they get jealous I am talking to you!) I remember teaching you about the FSU in a hotel room at Blue Mountain, and Blake came in to give me a Niagara College thong, which I am wearing today in fact. There we talked forever and ever and if there is one person who I think grew a lot in confidence and decision making skills it was you. You are way bitchier about Student Life Funds and you know exactly what I mean, and you know it's a good thing. You took your position seriously and students should know that their money was safe in your hands. I have loved getting to know you this year and I can't wait to see where the future takes us. And my mom says hi.
Rubelyn. The only person on the Board I could talk about boys with. This has been a great year. You are a great support system, and I swear, it's because of your positive attitude that I was able to attempt to wrangle up the boys and lead this team. Even though you buy quite a few McDonalds ice cream sundaes without me, thank you for becoming one of my best friends this year, and for your laughter, your listening and your stories. I look forward to drinking my Malibu and using my martini shaker quite a bit in the future with you. That's how we can drown our sorrows when Jeff and Nathan make plans without us. I am so happy for the friendship I made with you this year, and I hope you can feel the single tear I have right now writing this.
Council was hardcore this year. This team took things so seriously and I finally believed there were other serious people in the world. SAC, you guys did fantastic. What a great team. You guys only wanted the best for students. We filled every committee we ever created! Your input on many tough decisions this year hopefully helped you get a sense of what the FSU is all about and for those who are continuing onto Executive positions, good luck. I look forward to working with you. For those who are continuing classes in the fall, I hope you will run for the Board again. The students would be lucky to have the same team next year! So congrats on all your hard work, and thank you for everything.
I know that as much as I will miss the FSU I hope you will miss me too. For those students and staff who did not see me everyday, I thought I would list a few things you will no longer be getting next year, mostly because it's an all-male board, but also because I can only explain the things I do by saying it's “how I roll.”
1. No longer will you be asked if my bra is showing through my shirt and then to be told I don't care.
2. No longer will on some days, the President's clothes not match.
3. “Ass-ing” the window dies with me.
4. You won't be able to visit the Highbury/Dundas Wendy's anymore
5. Who else is going to ride dirty in a Dodge Magnum as their rental?
6. Face it — no one has my spending habits.
7. Who else brought Paul Masse a candy necklace thong?
8. H-dawg was my creation….I don't know if men can pull that off.
9. Hairy Balls won't be funny if anyone else says it
10. Who is going to be sick at work? But keep working? The dental plan MUST be implemented! LOL
11. I'm probably the only one who made-out with any other staff managers.
12. There go the pregnancy rumours!
On that note, I need to send some staff thank yous.
Main Office: Laya — thank you for being everything the front office needed. Holy crap. That's all I can say. And also, thank you for telling me it's ok to get engaged. Or ok to make my own decisions. I really loved bonding with you and being able to talk to you about so many things I didn't used to have anyone around for. And for calling Nathan a piss-ant. You put him in his place!
Carol- Well, I know you want tears on the last day and I will try to give you some. It's too bad you weren't here all year, because I know we would have had so much fun. We definitely did while talking and laughing about various subjects I probably shouldn't write here. You might have been off having FSU babies, but don't worry I won't try to do that too.
James — This is where I am publishing how you said I have always been your favourite! The secret is out! But seriously, I am never going to that Wendy's ever again without you. Thank you for being such a good friend. There is so much more I want to write here! I already miss jiggy hugs, our “Family Guy” conversations, and of course, you are the other biggest “24” fan. Don't miss me too much the next time someone is getting towed.
Brandy — you have made such a great addition to the FSU team! I love that you always have such a great attitude here and your upcoming wedding is going to be beautiful. You better post pictures on Facebook. And hopefully Travis will like signing all the cheques you gave him as much as I did!
Melissa — Though not an office worker, thank you for your support this year. You brought great advice to the Board, and we were lucky to have someone who wanted the level of involvement you wanted to give. Again, there is so much more I want to write, but Diana is probably already wondering how I have so much to say!
Paul — I don't even know where to start. I am unsure of whether I made you laugh, or cry, grow grey hair, or swear a lot more, but I know I definitely left my mark when I spent all the money. You are always the last one to leave, even when you are supposed to be leaving early. Your dedication to student life is unbelievable and I truly felt the chance to grow and build my confidence in this position because of the opportunities you gave me. Thank you for being my London dad. I hope my Burlington dad isn't jealous. Thank you for letting me grow, and make my own decisions, my own mistakes, and for watching me with my own triumphs. I had a very successful year directly related to many things you did and to how you made me feel. Thanks London Dad. Managers — Turbo, Ryan and Chelsea — Thank you for taking my last minute requests and all the extra time you put in at the Oasis. It is becoming more and more successful because of you.
John Said and Publications — Again, thank you for not yelling at me with my last minute requests and for really giving me a chance to represent students and be a spokesperson for the FSU in many articles. I was really happy with that this year!
Rodney- You fixed everything I couldn't fix, even when you didn't want to fix it. So thank you for coming to my rescue pretty much, twice a week at least!
Greg- Thank you for all your hard work in the Shack this year. You always have so much energy and it's awesome. I am glad you were able to come to the Gala as well and the picture of you using the fork for your teeth was truly one of my favourites.
Mike H — Well, I can thank you for the appropriate things, such as keeping in the loop about things at the Shack, bringing me yummy fudge cake, etc, but what I really should thank you for, were our magical nights together. (Kevin, looks like we are going to need another past due nickname…haha) But seriously thank you for being a good friend this year, and for helping me learn more about the OBS, a place that sometimes is far to walk to from the main office.
Kevin — From “Recycle Boy”, to “Norm”, you effectively nicknamed all of my Flavours of the Week. Unfortunately though, with me leaving it will be hard to keep that going. But thank you for making me laugh all year and for keeping the embarrassment to Greta and not me at Manager's Meetings.
John Y — Congrats on your 25 years with the Student Union! I know I will miss being so honest with you and making you forever tell me “I'm not even going to go there.” I'll try to finish out my term by not making you shake your head, and just an FYI, I have retired the shirt I wore to the Lingerie pub. (Oops, already made you shake your head)
Mark - Thank you for being so honest with me. You told me what you hate, how you felt and you also made me laugh quite a bit. I will definitely miss your descriptive reports of upcoming events on campus, most recently noted, the winner from Campus Idol last weekend.
Also I need to thank Howard and the rest of the College for taking me seriously, for letting me make you laugh in my speeches, for not yelling at me, for never noticing my unmatching shoes and for letting me learn from you. The skills I acquired from you are something that I would have never learned otherwise, and that I can use and transfer to any job or career I have. You gave me chances this year, and let me shine.
As a product of a university transfer, Fanshawe gave me more than I would have ever learned at a university. Thank you everyone who gave me a year I will never forget. And thank you to those who read my articles and wrote to me about them, I had a blast writing each week. To quote Borat (the FSU quoted movie of the year) to sum up how I felt about my entire FSU career, it would definitely have to be “VERY NICE!”
The statement above proves that students read posters. It was my friend Erin who said that to me, on about our third day of classes while waiting for Accounting to start. I really had no idea what it entailed, so I figured give it a shot. I went up to the FSU office, and yes, I remember ringing the bell and Carol Balzer came out to help me. She gave me the package and some information and I was on my way. Within two weeks, I was successful at becoming the FSU's next VP of Internal Affairs. And so it began…
I have been on Student Council since my first month at Fanshawe. FSU has been a synonym with being at this College. To be honest, I had no idea what the heck was going on when I even got the position. But luckily, with the help of a great team and great staff, I was able to catch on quick.
This is my last President's Perspective ever. When I won last year I was even thinking about how sad I would be writing this article and what I would write about. Thank yous, accomplishments, etc seem to have been the norm, so I hope I can take it one step further. (Or toe over the line if you will, as the majority of my time here as been spent.)
Over the past three years, as my knowledge grew, the College became more of a home for me. The ins and outs are more apparent, the people behind the desks have names and no one seriously rolls around in student's tuition money, wondering how much more they can charge next year. This is a campus that looks out for its students. And coming from someone in the know, it should mean a lot. Fanshawe students are so lucky, and it's hard to understand in what ways unless you can see other colleges and see how they operate. But we are growing quickly, we have top of the line equipment, the funds to try new things and we have a strong backing from our community. Fanshawe is more of a community college than any other College in Ontario and we should be very proud of that. But we should also be proud of the administration working for us because I commonly hear in meetings (and as said by Joy Warkentin just this morning) “But is that what's best for the students?”
My goals this year were many. All year I have been crossing things off the list, and as it whittles down, I hope that students can appreciate some of the bigger things we completed for them.
1. Dental Plan - c'mon you know this is a HUGE one!
2. Internet Café in SUB
3. T Building Lab
4. Comment boxes across campus
5. SC2001 installed a handicapped door
6. Raised profile of the FSU
7. Campaign for SAC candidates brought out 28 students
8. $10,000 raised for Cystic Fibrosis - Shinerama
9. $2,000 raised for World Vision — 30 Hour Famine
10. Start of FSU Myspace
11. First year of the Mighty Falcon Dancers
12. New Student Life Fund policy
13. Major website updates
14. Newspaper exchange with Ontario Colleges
And those are just a few. But this year has not been without its challenges, and being the face of those challenges has been difficult.
1. Fanshawe's fence
2. Student protestor repercussions
3. Two resignations of SAC members
4. The break-ins on Fleming and general neighbourhood issues
5. Ombuds teaching
But a goal of a good leader should not be to see how much they can grow, but to see how much they can teach others and how much they can grow with the environment created and initiative and opportunity to take initiative given. And my five VPs this year were a dream come true.
On day one, I took each one of them aside and gave some personal advice. Something I told Pat Maloney was to not “f**k off. Because it's easy to just concentrate on Entertainment and ignore everything else. If you do that, you will feel left out. And to this day, Pat has been involved in many aspects of the Student Council workings. Pat, you took this advice to heart, and I thank you for that, because I wanted you to get the most out of the job that you could. You really brought different perspective to the table. Pat you went above and beyond this year and I am so happy you were part of this team. And I like your coloured hat. And your hair is sexy.
When I talked to Travis, I said that VP External is a great position to create initiatives and to be in a supporting role to other VPs. With Travis's initiative, we ended up doing the Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone (you know you loved the picture in the fire truck), and creating the FSU Myspace. Travis helped raise our profile this year, and that was a big personal goal of mine. So thank you for your help and thank you for always saying hello and goodbye when you come in and out of the office. It's nice to be acknowledged in my little corner. You are going to have a great time as Prez, but don't tell Arif about your secret sleeping place.
JP and I talked for almost 45 minutes. JP, you were so excited and you had so many ideas and you got to implement a lot of things this year. You took some fantastic initiative when it came to 30 Hour Famine and Shinerama. I always laugh because you are more chatty than I am, and one of the best things you can do in a student leadership position is talk to students. You were very successful as VP Internal, and I have a special spot in my heart for that position, so I am glad you were able to do many things with it. Thank you for being such a sweetheart this year, you are so kind, and I have a lot of your emails still, because your genuineness shines through every time. And now I can forever think of “Gitis” and how the man who scorned me was nicknamed by you to make me feel a bit better.
Mike, to this day, whenever you come up to the front desk, girls literally stop everything they are doing and are staring at you. It's insane. (I bet they get jealous I am talking to you!) I remember teaching you about the FSU in a hotel room at Blue Mountain, and Blake came in to give me a Niagara College thong, which I am wearing today in fact. There we talked forever and ever and if there is one person who I think grew a lot in confidence and decision making skills it was you. You are way bitchier about Student Life Funds and you know exactly what I mean, and you know it's a good thing. You took your position seriously and students should know that their money was safe in your hands. I have loved getting to know you this year and I can't wait to see where the future takes us. And my mom says hi.
Rubelyn. The only person on the Board I could talk about boys with. This has been a great year. You are a great support system, and I swear, it's because of your positive attitude that I was able to attempt to wrangle up the boys and lead this team. Even though you buy quite a few McDonalds ice cream sundaes without me, thank you for becoming one of my best friends this year, and for your laughter, your listening and your stories. I look forward to drinking my Malibu and using my martini shaker quite a bit in the future with you. That's how we can drown our sorrows when Jeff and Nathan make plans without us. I am so happy for the friendship I made with you this year, and I hope you can feel the single tear I have right now writing this.
Council was hardcore this year. This team took things so seriously and I finally believed there were other serious people in the world. SAC, you guys did fantastic. What a great team. You guys only wanted the best for students. We filled every committee we ever created! Your input on many tough decisions this year hopefully helped you get a sense of what the FSU is all about and for those who are continuing onto Executive positions, good luck. I look forward to working with you. For those who are continuing classes in the fall, I hope you will run for the Board again. The students would be lucky to have the same team next year! So congrats on all your hard work, and thank you for everything.
I know that as much as I will miss the FSU I hope you will miss me too. For those students and staff who did not see me everyday, I thought I would list a few things you will no longer be getting next year, mostly because it's an all-male board, but also because I can only explain the things I do by saying it's “how I roll.”
1. No longer will you be asked if my bra is showing through my shirt and then to be told I don't care.
2. No longer will on some days, the President's clothes not match.
3. “Ass-ing” the window dies with me.
4. You won't be able to visit the Highbury/Dundas Wendy's anymore
5. Who else is going to ride dirty in a Dodge Magnum as their rental?
6. Face it — no one has my spending habits.
7. Who else brought Paul Masse a candy necklace thong?
8. H-dawg was my creation….I don't know if men can pull that off.
9. Hairy Balls won't be funny if anyone else says it
10. Who is going to be sick at work? But keep working? The dental plan MUST be implemented! LOL
11. I'm probably the only one who made-out with any other staff managers.
12. There go the pregnancy rumours!
On that note, I need to send some staff thank yous.
Main Office: Laya — thank you for being everything the front office needed. Holy crap. That's all I can say. And also, thank you for telling me it's ok to get engaged. Or ok to make my own decisions. I really loved bonding with you and being able to talk to you about so many things I didn't used to have anyone around for. And for calling Nathan a piss-ant. You put him in his place!
Carol- Well, I know you want tears on the last day and I will try to give you some. It's too bad you weren't here all year, because I know we would have had so much fun. We definitely did while talking and laughing about various subjects I probably shouldn't write here. You might have been off having FSU babies, but don't worry I won't try to do that too.
James — This is where I am publishing how you said I have always been your favourite! The secret is out! But seriously, I am never going to that Wendy's ever again without you. Thank you for being such a good friend. There is so much more I want to write here! I already miss jiggy hugs, our “Family Guy” conversations, and of course, you are the other biggest “24” fan. Don't miss me too much the next time someone is getting towed.
Brandy — you have made such a great addition to the FSU team! I love that you always have such a great attitude here and your upcoming wedding is going to be beautiful. You better post pictures on Facebook. And hopefully Travis will like signing all the cheques you gave him as much as I did!
Melissa — Though not an office worker, thank you for your support this year. You brought great advice to the Board, and we were lucky to have someone who wanted the level of involvement you wanted to give. Again, there is so much more I want to write, but Diana is probably already wondering how I have so much to say!
Paul — I don't even know where to start. I am unsure of whether I made you laugh, or cry, grow grey hair, or swear a lot more, but I know I definitely left my mark when I spent all the money. You are always the last one to leave, even when you are supposed to be leaving early. Your dedication to student life is unbelievable and I truly felt the chance to grow and build my confidence in this position because of the opportunities you gave me. Thank you for being my London dad. I hope my Burlington dad isn't jealous. Thank you for letting me grow, and make my own decisions, my own mistakes, and for watching me with my own triumphs. I had a very successful year directly related to many things you did and to how you made me feel. Thanks London Dad. Managers — Turbo, Ryan and Chelsea — Thank you for taking my last minute requests and all the extra time you put in at the Oasis. It is becoming more and more successful because of you.
John Said and Publications — Again, thank you for not yelling at me with my last minute requests and for really giving me a chance to represent students and be a spokesperson for the FSU in many articles. I was really happy with that this year!
Rodney- You fixed everything I couldn't fix, even when you didn't want to fix it. So thank you for coming to my rescue pretty much, twice a week at least!
Greg- Thank you for all your hard work in the Shack this year. You always have so much energy and it's awesome. I am glad you were able to come to the Gala as well and the picture of you using the fork for your teeth was truly one of my favourites.
Mike H — Well, I can thank you for the appropriate things, such as keeping in the loop about things at the Shack, bringing me yummy fudge cake, etc, but what I really should thank you for, were our magical nights together. (Kevin, looks like we are going to need another past due nickname…haha) But seriously thank you for being a good friend this year, and for helping me learn more about the OBS, a place that sometimes is far to walk to from the main office.
Kevin — From “Recycle Boy”, to “Norm”, you effectively nicknamed all of my Flavours of the Week. Unfortunately though, with me leaving it will be hard to keep that going. But thank you for making me laugh all year and for keeping the embarrassment to Greta and not me at Manager's Meetings.
John Y — Congrats on your 25 years with the Student Union! I know I will miss being so honest with you and making you forever tell me “I'm not even going to go there.” I'll try to finish out my term by not making you shake your head, and just an FYI, I have retired the shirt I wore to the Lingerie pub. (Oops, already made you shake your head)
Mark - Thank you for being so honest with me. You told me what you hate, how you felt and you also made me laugh quite a bit. I will definitely miss your descriptive reports of upcoming events on campus, most recently noted, the winner from Campus Idol last weekend.
Also I need to thank Howard and the rest of the College for taking me seriously, for letting me make you laugh in my speeches, for not yelling at me, for never noticing my unmatching shoes and for letting me learn from you. The skills I acquired from you are something that I would have never learned otherwise, and that I can use and transfer to any job or career I have. You gave me chances this year, and let me shine.
As a product of a university transfer, Fanshawe gave me more than I would have ever learned at a university. Thank you everyone who gave me a year I will never forget. And thank you to those who read my articles and wrote to me about them, I had a blast writing each week. To quote Borat (the FSU quoted movie of the year) to sum up how I felt about my entire FSU career, it would definitely have to be “VERY NICE!”
