By: Tejaswini Shah
Hi Bruins, I am Tejaswini Shah and I am the Board member representing the HMC Campus! I am in my third and final year of the Business Administration Human Resources program. The reason I decided to join the board is because I wanted to make sure that the student body is being heard, and they have the chance to reach out and express their concerns (which creates more inclusion). Secondly, I want to create more transparency between the decisions of the board and the way it impacts the student body. It has been a great journey so far being a board member and I have had the chance to be a part of various committees, events, orientation sessions and work with the amazing and supportive team of SSU.
Take Your Sheridan Life to New Heights:
I would like to share a fun fact about myself. I love heights! I did the CN Tower Edge Walk back in 2019, and in many ways hanging off the edge of Toronto’s tallest building was like running to become Director on the SSU. It was an amazing experience. I started off the walk with my hands trembling and me being extremely scared. Once I started indulging in the process and the different ways of fulfilling the experience, I became comfortable and confident with the whole process. I felt my heart, racing with excitement and uncertainty but I also felt supported and free. It was a unique experience and I’ve learned a lot because of it.
Here’s how it all connects. Since everything was being held virtually, it did add a fair amount of challenges during the campaigning week. I was nervous in the beginning during the candidates meeting, but at the same time I was familiar with the process because I was a candidate for the 2020 by-elections. It was a great meeting with all of the candidates and we were provided with the pre-ready templates that could be of assistance during the campaign week. It was very challenging for me personally because I changed my campus to HMC and I have never been there before, yet I was running for the position of HMC Director . I did not really know a lot of students who study at HMC, but I tried my best and reached out to a lot of students, attended the events during the campaign week and got elected as the HMC director with the highest number of votes. Additionally, I experienced a lot of emotions from being nervous to stressed to excited and being relived of being elected. I got to meet the executive team at SSU who were so supportive and always ready to help, the pre-ready templates from campaign week helped a lot. I made a lot of connections and had the chance to meet all candidates who were competing from different campuses. Overall, it was a great experience and helped me to be in the position I am in today.