What it means to be a citizen of Victoria College
In 2015, the Victoria College application asked: “What does it mean to be a good citizen?” As another year begins, I think it’s important to take a moment to reflect on this question and how we can implement the answer on our own campus.
Whatever your connection to the university, reading this paper is engagement with the Victoria College community. We all share this space, and participating in this community comes with rights and responsibilities.
Victoria College offers students a myriad of resources: academic supports, clubs, levies, and more. In exchange for these resources, we have a responsibility to respect our community, and to contribute where and when we can. In the spaces in which you live, you have the opportunity to learn and to teach. Some of that teaching is as simple as leading by example and laying the groundwork for future community members.
The benefits of extracurricular involvement are touted far and wide. It’s probably the advice that I’ve received most since entering university: join things! You’ll meet friends, you’ll find a healthy work-life balance, and it’ll get you out of your comfort zone. You’ll get to know people outside of your program and form connections that can help you even beyond your undergrad. While all of these are valid reasons to become involved with our community, they focus on how you, personally, can benefit. Becoming an active member of your community, however, also means that you’re helping weave the fabric of a community of student support.
You can become a part of something that will enrich someone else’s student experience. When you attend a Vic event, think about all of the students that volunteered their time to give you that experience. Often, getting involved on campus means joining an organization run entirely by students. Student government organizations see high turnover: if you have the time, energy, and commitment, holding a leadership position is entirely feasible. Not everyone has the time or the resources to be able to devote enough time to sit on the VUSAC executive or to run a levy, but there are so many different ways to be involved.
Contributing to the community is as simple as voting in the upcoming VUSAC elections. In the Spring elections of 2018, 83 percent of Victoria College students did not vote. When you hear criticism of the college and our student government, ask yourself: what are you doing about it? Voting in the Fall and Spring elections and following student politics is about understanding and shaping the decisions that affect what resources are available to you as a student.
When I’ve heard students complain about the Victoria College community, they’ve usually not been interested in doing anything about it. They have problems with our student government, but they would never go anywhere near the VUSAC office. They have problems with the ideas being promoted on campus, but they aren’t using their voices to try and change the dialogue. The burden is not on any single individual to change everything, but how can we change anything without conversation?
Campus engagement is about conversation. University campuses have proven time and time again to be an effective locus for social change, but how can that happen without an engaged student body? Join a club, cast your ballot, and ask questions: there is room for everyone to make a difference. The best way to get what you want out of your university experience is to put the energy in.
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