Hi! My name is Shannon Kelly and I am the Vice President of Finance for OUSA while also representing Wilfrid Laurier University students. Additionally I am the Vice President of University Affairs for the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union.
I will (fingers crossed!) obtain my Bachelor of Business Administration from Laurier by the end of the summer. This program has taught me the importance of strong research when building a case. I am also incredibly fortunate to be in a program that really emphasizes experiential learning with multiple program wide case competitions as well as a strong co-op program. In my final year of my program, I decided not to specialize as I have a passion for project management and wanted a rounded background in all functional areas.
My career in advocacy and policy started when I held the position of Student Trustee for the Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board in 2012/13 where I was able to represent student needs at both the board and provincial level. While I enjoyed this opportunity, I did not think this was something I could pursue past high school. I maintain to this day that getting involved with the Students’ Union was the best decision I made in university, as I was able to pursue these passions. In my time at university, I held the positions of Board Secretary, Director of the Board, University Affairs Outreach Coordinator as well as the Associate Vice President of University Affairs. I was certain in my third year that I wanted to apply for Vice President of University Affairs and I am so humbled to be here now. These positions showed me that even as a student I could create significant changes that would positively affect the student experience. I am very passionate about enhancing the student experience and am grateful to have one more year in order to do so!
While I have multiple initiatives at the provincial level for this year, a large focus of this upcoming year will be mental health in the post-secondary education sector. It is exciting to see increased investment in mental health in Ontario. I am very interested in the improvement of early intervention as well as prevention mechanisms. The step to post-secondary education is difficult for many students and I firmly believe that students should be supported not only by their post secondary institution, but also within the community. At the beginning of my term, I was fortunate enough to represent student needs on a panel for a mental health app called Beacon.
Outside of work and academics, I enjoy camping, canoeing, reading, David’s Tea and looking at cute animal memes. Additionally I consider myself a bit of a Canadian celebrity as my face used to be on the cover of the chocolate and vanilla Girl Guide cookies box!
I am very excited for this upcoming year and cannot wait to see the great strides OUSA will take in making the student experience more accountable, accessible, affordable and high quality!