Beyond the bubble

Participating students were asked to share one thought for the future of Dalhousie. Here's Tracy Thompson's thought.

Weekends for most university students are seen as days of recuperation. Saturday mornings are a good time to catch up on sleep after a week’s worth of work. However there were more than 60 Dalhousie students who traded in their zzz’s for a day of adventure in and around the city of Halifax recently.

"Oftentimes, students live within a quite narrow bubble. Many first years seem to think Halifax's borders end at Quinpool Road, so this student union initiative has been undertaken to showcase the real diversity and liveliness of our community beyond campus" says Jamie Arron, one of the initiative's co-organizers.

The morning started off with a reception hosted by Mayor Peter Kelly at the HRM City Hall. From there, students had five optional field trips, each with a predetermined agenda and with a particular set of challenges and opportunities to see Halifax through a different lens.

David Verbeek's thought.

Some of the field trips included visiting Pier 21, meeting with a former resident of Africville and participating in a Bollywood workshop on campus. Themes and topics explored included economic activity, urban development, cultural understanding, sustainability in rural communities and entrepreneurship. In the evening, everyone reconvened to enjoy dinner and entertainment during a boat cruise around the Halifax harbor.

Sounds like a blast, but the whole intent of Fax to the Max is more than fun and games. It’s a part of the student leadership initiative called Launchpoint, organized through the Dalhousie Student Union, for students to connect, brainstorm, discuss, and, of course, socialize. Organizers for the event include Jamie Arron, Neil Bailey, Andrew Bateman and Julia Feltham.

“What we wanted to happen was to see Dal students who otherwise wouldn’t have known each other be connected through the program and possibly building a network of students who have ideas and projects on how to change the campus,” says Kayla Kurin, DSU’s Vice-President Internal. “We especially encourage first and second years students to come out and participate because they are the ones who will have to take the lead once senior undergraduates leave.”

“There needs to be more student advocacy, a stronger student voice, and more student involvement,” says Katie Merwin, a fourth-year history major at the University of King’s College. “There’s so much I learned today, and it gave me a better understanding of the city and hearing its problems and issues first-hand. Not a lot of students are aware that this is going on, and there seems to be a disconnect with students and the community.”

Pershing Sun's message for Metro Transit.

“The reason why I wanted to participate was because I wanted to get an idea of different diversities and see different cultures, something you really don’t get living in a small town (Amherst, N.S.),” says Terri LeBlanc, a second-year student in social anthropology. “Today was a real eye-opener, and I think there should be more open events and more information about things like this.

“I find there’s a lack of community and openness among students at Dal,” she continues. “Most just think about school and parties, but I’d rather be involved. I think if you don’t get involved, your degree that you’re paying for means nothing.”

The next event of the Dal student leadership initiative happens January 22, 2011 in the McInnes Room. For more information, visit the website for Launchpoint.