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Level 4 Reflection Blog: Our experiences in-person as an Ambassador

February 4, 2022

Jaron 

Getting out of my comfort zone and getting involved on campus was definitely a challenge for me because I wasn’t involved much in high school or college. In the beginning, I really had to push myself to attend events and workshops. Looking back, I think entering the program with a friend helped a lot. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals can help keep you on track when they might want to attend something you hadn’t planned on attending. As you attend more of these events and participate, you make more friends to engage with in the program and participate even more. Some of the most memorable moments of the program for me were the RISE workshops. It was a great experience to come to a space where people can share their experiences and their opinions and have productive conversations. 

Making sure you volunteer and participate is an important part of being an Ambassador. With targets for how much volunteering you need to do and how much participation you need to do in that year, it’s important to keep track of everything you do. It helps to create a spreadsheet where you can log your events by the name of the event, the date and time it took place, how many points you earned for the event, and whether it counts towards your volunteer points or participation points. It’s also a good idea to try to go to events that will require you to engage more with people. Time flies when you’re meeting new people and having interesting conversations. 

Hala

Getting involved with the Ambassador program during my second year at Ontario Tech has helped me to improve my communication and time management skills. I assisted many times at the info booth that was located in the UA building during the fall term to guide students to their classes and answer any questions they may have. I really enjoyed this experience as it helped me to develop more self-confidence and improve my interpersonal skills. I also made a new friend through this experience as she was also volunteering on behalf of the Ambassador program. I missed this in-person experience, especially during the winter semester as the campus shut down due to the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Nonetheless, I was fortunate to have been able to volunteer in person and was able to balance this commitment with my schoolwork.

Shannaanth

Involvement around campus with the Ambassador program during my first and second years was awesome. It helped me build new friendships and provided me with fun new responsibilities that helped me in my school life. When going to these events you meet like-minded individuals that want to help on campus and meet new people. One of the programs we have is the RISE program where there are different workshops about different topics. When it comes to interacting, you will have a live and fun conversation with others during these meetings. A tip is events that you go to count towards volunteer points so you should record them all on an excel sheet to track your points. That way when the end of the year comes you will be able to track everything, and you will thank me later for it. In terms of a balance between school and work, this will be a great experience for everyone. Just go at it, you will have a blast whether in-person or online. It is a good way to meet new friends and have interesting conversations.