I joined the World Languages and Literatures Student Union (WLLSU) because I wanted to get involved as well as make connections within my department. As a member of the executive team, my role specifically is to take meeting minutes, help organize them and other administrative work. But the beautiful thing about the WLSU is that although I may have a specific role, I am never afraid to ask for help when I need it. We all work together to make sure that we’re a cohesive unit. We also try and make sure that students in our department feel that sense of community and feel supported. We host events such as the Bob Ross painting night we held at the beginning of the semester. Since we’re a small program we were quite worried about what the turnout would look like; but we were pleasantly surprised! It was a successful event and it was nice seeing that all our hard work was actually paying off and it motivated us to hold more fun events that’ll keep hopefully, attracting more people.

I have learnt and grown so much since I started volunteering. I have made life-long friends, become more confident and also improved my planning and organizational skills. Since I am always surrounded by WL students, some of them will be in my classes so we help and support each other. I have also started making relevant connections with different professors and other people within my department which is very beneficial. So overall, volunteering has actually given me so much than I would have ever thought it would!