A Strong Voice

Western has another President of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA). On Wednesday the USC’s VP UA Alysha Li was elected to be the President of OUSA for the 2012/13 year. Alysha’s Presidency will provide OUSA with a passionate leader with a vision for stable, consistent and effective advocacy efforts. Alysha’s belief in the importance of post-secondary education and her belief in the student population of Ontario will serve her well as OUSA President. Western and the USC will also greatly benefit from Alysha’s term as President. The USC will have a strong voice at the table to discuss the priorities of Western students. Myself and the entire USC Executive are incredibly proud of Alysha for showing such a strong commitment to representing Western and Ontario students. I can’t wait for the rest of the province to see the Alysha that all of us believe in. We have every confidence in her and know that her role at OUSA will give us an even stronger presence in the post-secondary community. Congratulations Alysha, you make us proud!

Windermere Cafe Gig Renewed for November

Tom McIntosh and I will continue to play our Friday night gig at Windermere Cafe through the months of October and November. Join us every Friday night for live music from 5pm-9pm. Let us know if you have any song requests!

Engagement: More Than a Buzz Word

Okay, so last issue I got the formal welcome thing out of the way. From now on I’m not going to give you some sort of generic Students’ Council missive. In fact, what I want to do is give you a window into some of the things that I’m passionate about. Ultimately, you probably don’t really want to hear about every one of the issues that I stand for, but I think that I can communicate many of them within a Huron context.

One thing that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is the idea of political engagement. WAIT! Don’t just turn the page because of that horrendously boring catch phrase. The word ‘engagement’ is, without a doubt, one of the most overused words in today’s political discourse. Unfortunately, it has been tossed around so much that it doesn’t really mean anything anymore. I myself have been guilty of using the word as a crutch to explain the concerning level of apathy towards all levels of politics.

But seriously, what does it even mean to be engaged? I mean, aren’t we all to some extent engaged in politics, just by virtue of living our lives? Does engagement really mean that we have to religiously follow the news or subscribe to the latest updates from CPAC (that random channel that broadcasts the House of Commons debates)? Is it possible that being politically engaged is actually just observing the problems that face our friends, our families and us? Instead of putting politics on a pedestal I think that it might be valuable for us to realize that at a basic level, politics are merely the representation of the natural challenges of our lives.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that we should absolve ourselves of our civic responsibility just because we experience politics everyday. In fact, what I’m saying is the opposite. Shouldn’t political engagement, or whatever you want to call it, be intuitive and the easiest thing that you’ve ever done?

Think of it this way. When you were in kindergarten, to whom did you go when your friends were being mean to you? Well, unless you were one of those kids who took justice into your own hands, you probably ran to your teacher. You knew that she or he was going to be your best support and best help for solving the problem at hand. In a rudimentary sense, this expression of concern was your first foray into the political process. You had a problem, you recognized it, and then you asked someone to fix it. Shouldn’t this be the way that we look at politics in the broader sense?

Follow me for about three more paragraphs…

The way I see it, our role, as the Huron University College Students’ Council, is to somehow make you believe in us enough to trust that we are your best support; or at least one of many good supports that can help you when you need to solve a problem in your life. Obviously, it would be ridiculous for me to suggest that we can solve every problem that you encounter during your time at Huron, but I will say with absolute confidence that we care too much to let any problem go unaddressed. Just the other day, someone mentioned to me that there really needed to be a Canadian flag flown outside of the College. In this case, an individual stepped up and spoke to me because they knew that I might have a decent chance of solving their problem. I have since contacted the College administration, which has begun to explore the possibility of having a Canadian flag flown.

This one little example isn’t meant to act as a self-inflicted pat on the back, it’s designed to illustrate just how easy political engagement can be. All it takes to be engaged is an expression of concern to the right person about something that bothers you. Somehow we have to get people to start doing this at Huron. If you have a problem, don’t just sit on it. Come and talk to us. Knock on my door until I can’t ignore you any longer or get in touch with me in anyway you can, because we do have the ability to help you reach your goals and solve your problems.

Okay, well, there you have it. I don’t know whether I’ve been interesting or thought provoking, but at least I’ve given you something other than the generic babble that comes out of most Students’ Council messages. I don’t deny I’ve babbled, but to be honest, I don’t think that it has been generic. Anyway, if you’ve read this far in the article, thank you. I’m very grateful for your dedication to reading, however, I am only going to be truly proud of you if I see you in my office or read an email about something that you are passionate about.

Talk to you soon!

 

Adam

 

 

 

Vampire vs. Zombies

The FORT HOPE Video

These are the links to the videos we made in Fort Hope with the kids!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9InpbMz05A&feature=fvsr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEMsJ7EYGCs&feature=related

The Residence Life Begins

Despite only being back in London for a grand total of 6.5 days, I am now officially back at Huron University College. This week I am being trained to be a member of the 2009/2010 residence life staff. The next seven days will take me through the finer points of what it takes to be a Huron ‘don’ and will hopefully prepare me for the year I have ahead of me. It was kind of strange to once again be packing my bags and heading out the door once again. I hadn’t really had a chance to get used to being back home after my summer abroad so it was a bit of a shock to be moving again. I’m not going to say that I would prefer to still be at home, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t wish I had a couple extra days to restart the ‘London Life’ that I suspended for the last two months!

Anyway, for those of you that followed my adventures in Fort Hope this summer, I would like to sincerely thank you. It was amazing to have a constant link to home and in all honesty; it was nice to know that people cared enough to read! I will not bombard you with a daily entry for the remainder of my life, but I am going to do my best to stop by every once and a while.

Last Day in Thunder Bay & Back to London…

Day #62

Well, I shouldn’t be awake right now. I should be sleeping because I fly out of Thunder Bay at 8:50am. I have to be coherent enough to negotiate my way to Wasaya baggage claim to get my guitar and then on to Air Canada baggage check-in. My flight from Toronto to London is scheduled to land at approximately 12:10pm, so hopefully all goes according to plan. It’s a little weird thinking that all that has happened this summer will be in my past as of tomorrow. I think that it will only be in the past in a ‘time’ specific sense however. I know that I will carry this experience with me for the rest of my life. I said goodbye to Jenette, Courtney, Nanajean and Esther this evening. It was a little sad for all of us, because we really did come together as a team and ended up having a great time together in Fort Hope. Perhaps we will all meet again someday. But if not, we will always have the memories of a great summer of 2009 in Fort Hope.

See you in London!

Back to Reality…

Day #61

I’m back to reality. I’m sitting in my Lakehead University dorm room awaiting the start of my final day away from home. I won’t even begin to describe the feelings I had today, because at this moment I cannot put them into words. I am happy as anything to be only one day away from returning to London, but I have never felt closer to Fort Hope than I do right now. So many conflicting emotions are running through me right now. The end result is a warm feeling, one that is slowly helping me to realize the truly important things in life. As we flew from Fort Hope today, in perfect sunny weather, I allowed myself to feel the weight of this summer sink in for a moment. The immensity of what has happened, and is still happening to me as a result of my experiences is still revealing itself. I don’t really know what else to say right now.

Lastly, as our plane traveled high above the Canadian wilderness, I found myself feeling closer to my country, and despite its flaws, more proud of it than ever.

The Last Day

Day #60

Well, there you have it folks. Camp is officially over here in Fort Hope. I’m exhausted, but pleased. The day was crazy. Some things went according to plan, and some didn’t. People came to our party. People enjoyed our party. The Chief and I had another amazing talk. Have I mentioned that I’m tired? I fly out of Fort Hope at 6:30pm tomorrow night. I still haven’t started to pack. I must pack when I awake. I must sleep now.

Blueberry Hunting…

Day #59

In the words of 5 year old Aaron, today we went ‘blueberry hunting.’ Today was our final day of camp, so we took a large group of kids out to pick blueberries. Aaron decided that this excursion amounted to a serious blueberry hunting trip. We piled into the school bus and a couple of pick up trucks and went out for a great morning of fun. We also had a wiener roast with the kids for their lunch. It was a really great way to end camp, and we had a marvelous time. Unfortunately, as soon as we got back we had to get right down to work. We still have incredible amounts of stuff to do before tomorrow night’s final party. We’re slowly getting closer to the end of the work though. Part of my job today was to go and interview Harry Papah and Chief, Louis Nate about their impressions of the literacy camp. Both of my conversations were fantastic, but the talk I had with the chief was nothing short of incredible. I ended up spending about 45 minutes in his office, conducting what was supposed to be a 5 minute interview. We got talking to each other and ended up having a great chat. I learned more about Fort Hope and the challenges facing aboriginal peoples in Canada within these 45 minutes than I have all summer. I feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to speak with him. If all goes well I am going to have another talk with him on Saturday before I leave. He offered to spend some time with me and to give me some, as he put it, ‘straight’ answers about Fort Hope. I spoke to him about my potential future aspiration to be involved in politics. He was extremely supportive, and has promised to answer my questions via email if I want to send them his way.

After conducting these two interviews I got back down to the serious business of portfolio designing, movie editing and slideshow making. It’s been a hectic few days, but the end is near. I am nowhere close to being done everything, but I have faith that I will be able to get it done. I’m going to avoid pushing my brain into overdrive tonight, so it is time for me to go to bed. If everything goes according to plan, I will be ‘up and at ‘em’ early tomorrow!

This Morning I Burnt the Bannock

Day #58

I woke up this morning and attempted to boil water…I have boiled water successfully every morning since arriving in Fort Hope. Well, I failed this morning. Instead of boiling the water, I accidentally burned the bannock. I turned on the wrong heat element on the stove. Our house is currently de-smoking.

I am tired…I have so much work left to do and not enough hours to do it. Someone please make the days longer! Alright, I did not want to break the streak of posting something for everyday, so this post is merely for show. We have to head out right now to go berry pick with the kids. Then I am going to come back and work straight through for the next 36 hours! I will be alright, we just have lots left to do before we leave…Oh yeah, and I have to pack…