This past Saturday, January 10th, 1200 student delegates gathered for the annual Student Leadership Conference (SLC). It’s one of Canada’s largest student-run conferences, taking place at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus every January. Through a series of inspiring speakers and interactive workshops, delegates are provided with resources to help them develop as leaders to thrive within the campus community.
A group of Enrolment Services Professionals were lucky enough to attend – including Luke Dawson, Joanna Ludlow, and Mandy Thiessen who presented (twice!) on how to Be Your Own Financial Advisor. Read on for their highlights from the conference:
Eleni Korres:
My favourite part was the student project learning about doing a garbage audit and recycling – more green power! Find out more about Common Energy UBC here: http://students.ubc.ca/slc/register/schedule/highlighted-projects
Jordon Lovig:
My highlight of the day was featured presenter Brian Postlewait. Brian is the Executive Director and CEO of Mission Possible, a non-profit organization that is creating jobs for people challenged by homelessness and poverty.
It was pretty cool to hear Brian talk about the experiences he’s had working in Vancouver’s downtown east side, but the most interesting thing about his presentation was the level of student engagement. The lecture hall was packed, and the students were hanging on Brian’s every word. But the most interesting part was at the end of the presentation when Brian received a standing ovation and they opened the floor up for questions. Many students were asking how they could get involved in helping out with the kind of work that Brian does. It wasn’t just lip service- they were asking for names/suggestions of specific organizations in the DTES that are looking for volunteers, asking what specific skillsets are needed, hours required, etc. Students were taking notes and asking for recommendations for further reading on the subject. Everyone was so engaged that the presentation ended up going over time, and some even stayed behind to talk with Brian in more detail after the presentation ended.
Rachel Wu:
I enjoyed my first SLC very much and will come back next year. The keynote speakers at the opening and closing ceremonies were very inspirational. I felt the excitement in the air of the Chan Centre and left the conference asking myself how to keep up with this energetic, young generation.
Mandy Thiessen:
I somewhat selfishly enjoyed the fact that our two presentations were so well-attended – it was really rewarding to meet dozens of students who wanted to feel empowered about their finances. The students we talked to were engaged, excited, and ready to take charge of their financial future. Another highlight was the fact that we had students from UBC Okanagan, UVic, and Douglas College attend! It’s not just a UBC Vancouver thing!
Paul Poole:
I enjoyed the opening keynote, Shaifali Puri, who spoke of her own varied career path, and shared her belief in increasing personal possibilities by maximizing adjacencies. It was a new way (to me) to express a familiar concept.
I enjoyed the closing keynote speaker, Derreck Kayongo.
He spoke with enthusiasm and hilarity about his journey from being a child refugee through his experiences leading him to establish his NGO the Global Soap Project that brought together so many of the threads of the day, and the conference theme ‘the next step’.Dr. John Robinson spoke about regenerative sustainability.
He believes that sustainability may not be enough at this point in our planet’s environmental situation. We will need to work to make things better at the same time as making sustainable choices (ie – CIRS building).
Two students showed a waste audit of a bag of garbage from Angus (where the session was held), and it served to highlight the lengths we still have to go to ensure that our waste and our effect on the environment is minimized.
The professor in residence, Dr. Michael Griffin, spoke with a great deal of enthusiasm about his work as a Professor of Classics and Philosophy, placing it in a context that was easily understood by attendees. He was very open to questions from students about their next steps, and provided concrete suggestions for students considering graduate work in their field of study.
Tam Uden:
Highlight of my day-The closing ceremony where Derreck spoke with such joy and fervor about his cause. It really made you want to get out there and do something worthwhile. The song at the end was a lot of fun as well (even though my singing left much to be desired!).