Volunteerism 101
How to survive your selfless act
I’ve done the unthinkable. Instead of doing what I usually do with my fantastically busy Saturdays (sleeping in is very important to me), I’ve gone and done something I knew I’d regret.
I’ve volunteered for Student Life 101 at uWaterloo.
Student Life 101 is an event hosted by students, for new students to help with the university transition. The event runs for the whole day with guided tours of the university campus, presentations about residence, living off campus, and tons of other events to help make the leap into university life as easy as possible.
Two students started Student Life 101 thirteen years ago. They felt that incoming students could really benefit from a tutorial day full of info about their new home. The event brought in 100 visitors its first year. This year? Over 6,000.
I went to SL 101 last year. It was definitely worth it. The place was swarming with upper-year student volunteers walking around campus in those yellow shirts, offering to answer any and all questions about the place that would become my second home. The day gave me a chance to get to know the campus before classes started.
So this year I wanted to return the favour.
The directors of SL 101 are smart. It was too easy to volunteer. All I had to do was fill out an online form with my name and student number, and feel good about myself. They even bragged up the free shirts you’d be wearing, in a very flattering shade of yellow, for the day.
But their greatest idea was to have the form available to fill out about two weeks before the actual volunteering event. It meant I had 14 days to forget about getting up early until I got an email about a training session. That’s when it all came rushing back.
Oh yeah. I volunteered. On a Saturday. And have to get up at 6:00am.
During the training session we got to meet the Student Life 101 directors, go through practice scenarios, and learn what team we would be on. There are over 20 teams, including a media and ASK-ME team. My team? Very glamourous. We’re crowd control, garbage patrol, and parking attendants.
page 1 page 2
We need more people like you at the schools…Way to go!!!
So, how was it? I’m hoping you survived and that shepherding 6000 people around (okay, well helping to shepherd them, as part of a team) was worth every second of lost sleep!
This is a great initiative — nothing calms down the parentals and excites the froshies more than a taste of what is to come.
A similar initiative takes place at Bishop’s University all year round… and most students get paid to do it – not because we have to be paid to tell others we love our university; any Bishop’s grad will tell you that for free