Introducing Vivian Chiem, OUSA President & VP Government & Stakeholder Relations at Wilfrid Laurier University

Hi everyone!

It is an honour to reintroduce myself as the OUSA’s President & WLUSU’s Vice President: Government & Stakeholder Relations. I wrote my first blog about a year ago as the previous Advocacy & Communications Intern here at OUSA. It was an amazing experience and I look forward to continuing my work with this organization.

I am soon to be a graduate from Laurier, majoring in Political Science with a double minor in North American and Environmental Studies. Throughout my four years, I have seen and met with numerous students about post-secondary issues that have impacted their academic successes. Out of the many issues that I have learnt over the years, the one that resonates with me is the work that OUSA does and continues to do. 

Something I am proud of is my Capstone Project which captures the emotional depth of student mental health, affordability, and sexual and gender-based violence through photos. This led me to pursue the Campus Advocacy Committee Coordinator role within my Students’ Union during this past school year. I was able to attend both the Fall and Spring General Assembly as a delegate, truly seeing the power of student-led advocacy. This encouraged my team and I to take on Local Advocacy Week in the Waterloo region, where we met with MPs, Regional Councillors, and the Mayor to discuss food insecurity, housing, and community safety.

All these experiences have been so fulfilling. I cannot wait to take on this year with pride knowing the importance of lobbying, advocating, and slaying. Besides that, if you are ever looking for someone to watch trashy reality TV shows with, explore new restaurants/foods with, go to any kind of market with, and carpool karaoke with, you can count on me!

This is just the beginning, and I look forward to writing to you more in the future. Please feel free to reach out and connect with me here - [email protected] & [email protected]. Thanks for reading and joining along. Talk soon!