September to Remember
The great rush of 2012 is among us. It has been very busy month at the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU) as we have been leading up to the flood of students come early September. The first week is arguably the busiest week of the year for us. We will be assisting the students whom will be moving into residence, attending the first year Orientation in the Bowl (which I will attempt to MC), the Live Expo in the Education gym, the Aboriginal Student Centre Orientation, International Student Welcome at the International Student Study Abroad Centre, Royal West Campus Orientation, multiple tasks for Welcome Week, and the orientation for the University Students Council members. While we as a group will be very busy at these events, we will as a result, be inherently active meeting new students, their parents, and addressing and answering any concerns or questions they may have. Events associated with Orientation and Welcome Week have a strong influence on the social dynamics on our campus- particularly with most first year students. I am confident with the work that has been done that this year will not disappoint.
Starting September 12, I, along with others from the Saskatoon community, will participate in the week long Food Basket Challenge. The Food Basket Challenge is a week-long awareness event that is intended to generate discussion about poverty in our community. The participants will pick up our food baskets on the Wednesday afternoon at 4:30pm from the Saskatoon Food Bank $ Learning Centre. The content of these baskets will be identical to that of any person using the food bank. In addition to the basket we are allowed to use five basic pantry items (flour, sugar, coffee, etc.) and $5.00 to supplement us for the week. If we are in need of additional assistance, we are only allowed to access the soup kitchens and other meal programs. During the course of this week participants are asked to keep a daily blog, which will be set up by the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre. This week long event will wrap up on Wednesday September 19th with a community dinner and forum where participants will interact and share their experiences. I am not fully aware exactly what I have gotten myself into, however I suspect it will be personally thought provoking. Stay tuned for updates. Thank you for reading, and I hope Orientation and Welcome Week treat you well!
J-Brown
