Heading north
Hey Fanshawe!
Feeling the heat yet? I sure am!
This past month has been insane; school, family, friends, work, traveling = no free time.
It's been awesome though, with all the work comes much deserved fun. This past month, Coop (FSU president) and I had the pleasure of heading north for a conference. We road tripped it up to Sault Ste. Marie for the Canadian Student Alliance October conference hosted by Sault College alongside St. Lawrence College, St. Clair College, Conestoga College and Centennial College in the Belleville Bulls tour bus.
It was a nice refresher and great time to get away; I think I needed some recoup time after my first month back at school. This particular conference was an eye-opener that's for sure. We held sessions on time management, meeting protocol, delegating and assigning tasks (of particular interest since I don't know how to say no... hah), information on the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act (a.k.a. October 19 vote at Fanshawe for part-time college staff), credit transfer discussions, student housing issues, election policies and procedures, post secondary education strategy and we had a great Q&A with Leah Myers executive lead PSE secretariat, Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities. All in all a great conference!
I always feel so pumped after these conferences: Think about it, you're in a room full of student leaders, with the same ambition and drive. You meet so many great and talented people and share so many laughs and nights with them, it's unreal to know that each one of them is what keeps student governments together. Many shared stories about how their SA's were falling apart, but they were ready to pull it all together, others shared stories of victory and how they had leaped through all these burning hoops. When it came to FSU's turn to share with a room full of colleges from all over Ontario, and answer whether we were sinking, treading or swimming — Coop and I answered: “We're swimming baby.”
It's been an interesting six months and it's been a lot of work. Nothing is perfect and we don't pretend that it is. I'm still learning a lot about this whole organization, who to go to and what we can do for the students we represent. A lot of this is done behind the scenes; we attend committee meetings acting as student voices and representing Fanshawe College students. Myself and the other members of the FSU make sure that we get heard, whether it's at a College Council meeting, Academic Appeal Policy Task Force Meeting or S2B committee meeting. Sometimes it's hard to step in and speak on behalf of an entire student body, however it's what we were elected to do and that's what makes it so much more worth it.
It pays to go to these conferences and talk with other colleges and see their issues, we definitely get another perspective and it gives us another angle; 50 plus heads are better than six. It's important that our student body know what we represent and what we do for them at home and while we're away.
Questions? Concerns? Give me a shout — FSUexternal@fanshawec.ca or 519.452.4109 ext 6309.
- Vero
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Feeling the heat yet? I sure am!
This past month has been insane; school, family, friends, work, traveling = no free time.
It's been awesome though, with all the work comes much deserved fun. This past month, Coop (FSU president) and I had the pleasure of heading north for a conference. We road tripped it up to Sault Ste. Marie for the Canadian Student Alliance October conference hosted by Sault College alongside St. Lawrence College, St. Clair College, Conestoga College and Centennial College in the Belleville Bulls tour bus.
It was a nice refresher and great time to get away; I think I needed some recoup time after my first month back at school. This particular conference was an eye-opener that's for sure. We held sessions on time management, meeting protocol, delegating and assigning tasks (of particular interest since I don't know how to say no... hah), information on the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act (a.k.a. October 19 vote at Fanshawe for part-time college staff), credit transfer discussions, student housing issues, election policies and procedures, post secondary education strategy and we had a great Q&A with Leah Myers executive lead PSE secretariat, Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities. All in all a great conference!
I always feel so pumped after these conferences: Think about it, you're in a room full of student leaders, with the same ambition and drive. You meet so many great and talented people and share so many laughs and nights with them, it's unreal to know that each one of them is what keeps student governments together. Many shared stories about how their SA's were falling apart, but they were ready to pull it all together, others shared stories of victory and how they had leaped through all these burning hoops. When it came to FSU's turn to share with a room full of colleges from all over Ontario, and answer whether we were sinking, treading or swimming — Coop and I answered: “We're swimming baby.”
It's been an interesting six months and it's been a lot of work. Nothing is perfect and we don't pretend that it is. I'm still learning a lot about this whole organization, who to go to and what we can do for the students we represent. A lot of this is done behind the scenes; we attend committee meetings acting as student voices and representing Fanshawe College students. Myself and the other members of the FSU make sure that we get heard, whether it's at a College Council meeting, Academic Appeal Policy Task Force Meeting or S2B committee meeting. Sometimes it's hard to step in and speak on behalf of an entire student body, however it's what we were elected to do and that's what makes it so much more worth it.
It pays to go to these conferences and talk with other colleges and see their issues, we definitely get another perspective and it gives us another angle; 50 plus heads are better than six. It's important that our student body know what we represent and what we do for them at home and while we're away.
Questions? Concerns? Give me a shout — FSUexternal@fanshawec.ca or 519.452.4109 ext 6309.
- Vero
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
