Student council’s give students an opportunity to develop leadership by organizing school activities and service projects.
The student council is the voice of the student body. They help share student ideas, interests and concerns with the school wide community.
Protestors raising fists high above heads. Concept of protest, human rights, fighting/Pixabay
Student council serves as the voice for an entire student body and actively works with teachers and advisors to promote a better learning environment. It gives young people the opportunity to foster skills like leadership, communication, teamwork, organization and public speaking.
Katie Thakur is currently the Fanshawe Student Union President. She’s passionate about serving people and likes to stay actively involved in the community.
“I got to Canada, and I was a bit lost as our most international students, as we need to travel to another country. My mom actually recommended since I’ve already had past experience in the field. She recommended I get connected with the Student Union in a volunteer position, like she never thought that I’d always run for office. But luckily, there were by elections that were planned and you will do them if you’re looking for directors, and I applied, and I ran for it, and I won. That’s something that really was a great win for me in terms of my strong endeavor to help people. I think it was a great step for me to get involved in the Student Leadership at Fanshawe and in Canada. So that’s how the whole process began. And then there was no looking back. I ran for president next year, and then I won, and I’m currently serving in that position.”
Many students today are facing many challenges, especially with most colleges and universities moving to full-time online classes.
“Students might be experiencing some sort of zoom fatigue, or they might not be wanting to contact us or engage with us on social media platforms, which was a great challenge for us in the beginning. But then we have an excellent publications and communications team that sort of, you know, figured that out. We have better student engagements than we did a pre-covid. Another challenge would be for us to let the students know that we are still there for them.
While being a student leader comes with many benefits, there’s no doubt you will run into a multitude of problems.
“It was a bit tricky for me to begin with since I don’t have any past managerial experience. But I think the most important piece there would be to listen to both sides of things, try to be as empathetic as possible. That goes a big way in solving all conflicts. I think the most important thing would be to just listen to both sides and try to be as empathetic as possible. But then again, doing what’s best for our students. I think that’s the beautiful thing about the FSU with students serving students. I think, ultimately, all decisions have to be taken in the best interest of our student population.”
Kayla Han, one of the Directors of the Student Union Board at Wilfrid Laurier University, explained why she wants to take part in student councils.
“I was the Prime Minister of my high school and when I was younger, I really liked the idea of representing student bodies helping other students become leaders. So I kind of knew that coming into university knowing that, I love doing this, I could see myself doing it again. So that’s why I was running. I decided to run for the board of directors at the end of my second year, and I got elected and to represent the Student Union along with 11 other members. With this representation, I still have a lot of fun knowing I get to communicate and collaborate with so many other Laurier bodies and talk to them about what their vision is for the school. I like that we’re also appreciated, because we are a representation of the student body, we know what the students want and we try to voice those concerns. I always appreciated having my voice heard, and being represented as a voice for students for time now.”
Behavioral theories suggest that leadership skills aren’t ingrained and can be taught. People can obtain leadership qualities through teaching and learning these skills over time.
“I think what makes me a good leader is that I am willing to see what I can do for the best interest of the people that I represent. I try to give 110% into everything I do. So I try to make sure that whatever extracurricular I’m doing, it would be something for the people I represent. Unfortunately, it’s tough because I know a lot of students have been there, they’re saying things for the Students Union, where they’re, like, this is a poor representation of what we do and you’re going to start hurting. But we want to support that. we want to do everything we can in our power to make sure that you are heard, your voice matters. So I want to do everything in my best capability to ensure that that is offered to them.”
When we are inspired, we aren’t thinking about the final end state. In fact, when we are filled with inspiration, we want to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible.
“I was an icebreaker in my first and second year university. So I was helping the first year. during orientation week, get involved with all the activities going on on campus. not everyone came up to all these events. However, there were two or three who did and they always enjoyed it. They were telling me that it was such a great time and one of them messaged me on instagram after she followed me and then she was like, you know, I really like what you did. I really enjoy spending time with you this week, I really want to do the same thing. And I want to apply to be an icebreaker and I was like, okay, that’s really awesome. I think that’d be so fitting for you. That’s just something that I think I put a lot of effort into that orientation week. To make sure that they had a good week, I like what I did for those students was absolutely worth it.”
A safe and structured student council is an excellent place for cultivating leaders of tomorrow. Roles and responsibilities of the student council will differ slightly from school to school.
Not only do you get to advocate for your student body and pursue causes you’re passionate about, but you also get the chance to learn from others and develop skills that will help you in both university and on the job.
Student leaders provide the student body with an opportunity to voice their questions and ideas, making the school truly student-focused.
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