Volunteer spotlight

Why does volunteering matter to you?

Volunteering is important to me because of its pedagogic nature for challenging and shaping my beliefs and values with hands-on experience. Having volunteered with the Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) for 10 semesters, it solidified my deep desire for creating community, understanding the intimacies of community and for bringing together individual strengths towards a greater, common vision.

My devotion as a volunteer with the WRC was based on the Centre’s encouraging environment to continuously (un)learn and be inquisitive. As such, volunteering with the WRC matters to me, since it has been a substantial source in providing a secure space for the exploration of myself and my layered identity, in how I cultivated interpersonal relationships, and how I contributed to gender, social, racial and LGBTQ2S+ equity with feminist activism.

What is your most memorable volunteer experience?

Many moons ago, I co-created and co-hosted a spoken-word poetry event with another volunteer from the WRC. The event, simply named Feminism Speaks, advocated for racialized, gendered, queer, and diverse/minority voices, stories and identities.

I was fairly new to feminism and activism at the time, so the fact that a feminist poetry night — with a good turnout, might I add — was the first event I ever produced and executed, makes this experience entirely memorable.

Furthermore, with the support of the WRC staff and my peers, this unforgettable opportunity taught me invaluable skills such as creative problem-solving, marketing techniques, detailed project management planning and overcoming timidity.

Thinking about your time as a UCalgary student, what was your favourite hangout on campus?

Six reasons why I spent the majority of my university career at the WRC:

1. Upon entering the big, bright and beautiful space, with greetings from the lovely staff and friendly volunteers, my general mood could instantly be boosted.
2. During the Centre’s busy hours, I could usually find myself engaged in lively conversations at the main table.
3. Conversely, the Centre’s lulls were the perfect time to de-stress — a.k.a. climbing into the hammock (yes… it’s as wonderful as it sounds) and napping in the sun’s warmth.
4. The WRC was almost always hosting educational and free events, training and workshops under their three pillars of wellness, leadership and diversity, so the space was a great way to meet many walks of life.
5. If I required privacy for a wee cry, or for some “me” time, I had the option to occupy a Safe Haven room without judgment, plus the space always had free tea, coffee and accommodated drink accessories such as soy creamer for people with a restricted diet, like myself.
6. Honestly, 98.4 per cent of my visits served the purpose of quenching my thirst with their (literal) miracle water.

Do you have any special memories from your time as a student?

Many of my unique memories revolve around the WRC and the community it fosters. My relationship with feminism, recognizing my internalized racism, accepting my mental illness(es) and celebrating my queerness has been an accumulation of meaningful memories and learned lessons from my time as a student and volunteer with the WRC.

Another fond memory of mine was being co-team lead for the Volunteer Engagement and Development (VED) Team for four semesters. Additionally, some other beloved memories are of my best and long-lasting friendships with the most amazing, passionate and successful people I have the honour of personally knowing — whom I doubt I would have encountered if it weren’t for the WRC community.