Hi everyone! My name is Emily (she/her), and I am the Vice President External Affairs at Western University’s University Students’ Council, as well as OUSA’s new VP Finance.
I just finished my fourth year at Huron (one of Western’s affiliate colleges) studying Global Health and Refugee and Migrant Studies. My student advocacy journey started three years ago when I decided on a whim to run for the Huron Students’ Council for a department representative position. I loved having the opportunity to push for the change that I so deeply wanted for myself and the rest of the student body. Safe to say, I was hooked! I then became the Vice-President Students Affairs at the Huron Students’ Council in my fourth year, when I decided to set my sights on more external advocacy. My experience as a delegate at the Spring 2022 and Fall 2022 OUSA General Assemblies solidified my desire to further explore the world of advocacy and policy outside of Western’s walls. All of this pushed me to run for VP External Affairs, landing me where I am today.
All of these experiences, combined with my time within grassroots activism, reinforced to me the importance of lobbying and advocating to the government on behalf of students, and the wide-spread (albeit sometimes slow) change that can come out of it. I hope to apply all of the knowledge I’ve gained throughout the years to push both OUSA and myself to be the best advocates that we can be. I am so excited to have the opportunity to represent students in this way this year, and to work to make post-secondary education in Ontario more affordable, accessible, and of higher quality.