There is no wisdom to impart here but to be yourself and have fun being yourself, no matter what you do.
Many people have asked me how I got into OUSA during my 2.8 years as your Manager of Operations, aka your event person. My smart answer will be that I worked in the student government (Queen’s AMS ) for four years of my undergrad, and my minor in Political Studies aligns with OUSA’s advocacy work. But the better answer is that I fell in love with student-run events and had so much fun running events, that I accidentally made it my personality, and then I got hired to do events as my big-girl job.
Not everyone understands why I would stay in student government for so long; my own very Asian parents have gently nudged me to redirect the energy I was giving to Orientation back to school. To which I replied, "Hey, UNICEF hosts events all the time!"
My truth from drinking the student union kool-aid is that you really have to believe that what you are doing is impactful and fun, and that is true for advocacy. You might not see a bill past the same year you make a recommendation, and you might not see the full impact of your new initiative until two years later when the next board brings it back from the dead. Even if 10 out of 10,000 students come out to my event, use my service, have fun, or even take home a stressball that will, unbeknownst to me, get them through three more exam seasons, it is worth the effort.
One of the biggest things I learnt through being in student government and OUSA is that caring can be the most essential thing to success. And care is likely the most memorable thing I leave behind. I hope everyone who came to WelCon+StratCon, GA, SAC, PiHED had fun with me. Maybe it is running toward you with a whole vegan pizza, the Tylenol/Gravol I always carry, getting a million pictures of you while you’re speaking or a morbid joke I unintentionally made, that in my own little ways, you felt cared for.
Thank you, Malika, for moving me out of Kingston to Toronto and being the adultier adult when Airbnb tells me I am not old enough to book. Thank you, Octave, for revealing the beauty of interpersonal dynamics that I would never have given a second thought to alone. Thank you, Ananya, for keeping up with our office blabber and proving that the physical limitation of casually running a 10km is only a matter of will. Thank you, Abi, for always pulling out your phone to record unhinged footage that I hope no one will EVER have access to. To our newest member, Tobi and whoever will become the new me: I hope OUSA continues to be one hell of a rollercoaster ride for you, in the best way possible. Thank you, SC’23, SC’24, SC’25, for all that you have done for me and for always saying yes to my new ideas, big or small.
I am off to have more fun telling people where to be, what to eat and who to meet!