I obtained my undergraduate degree, a B.Sc. in Environmental Science, at the University of Guelph.

I love Guelph. I say “Guelph” meaning the University, mostly, but the city itself and it’s people are wonderful too. There are a lot of people with really big hearts in that city. Back when I lived in Guelph, I volunteered/worked for an organization called Guelph Environmental Leadership (GEL). A good portion of my job was spent with a portable GEL booth set up at public events or outside local stores. I met so many environmentally-conscious citizens – really thoughtful people who thought locally. A lot of my peers and the professors I met during my studies were equally as awesome.

Anyway, I was just researching some things on the internet and stumbled across this article, linked from the UoG webpage. I had to shake my head in a kind of motherly satisfaction: of course Guelph is the only city in its region with a student volunteer centre. Of course UoG is having a free one-day conference aimed to connect students with volunteer opportunities and inspire the general public to take positive social action. Of course this is something Guelph does, because positivity and outreach suit Guelph naturally.

I am so happy to have stumbled across this article. I have now discovered that one of my great true loves, Guelph, is intersected in a beautiful Venn-diagram-like way with one of my other great true loves, Volunteerism.

Ugh. Perfection!

Here is a link to the Student Volunteer Connections website, in case anyone out there is interested. I just signed up for their weekly newsletter. Inspiration does not have to be found locally.