Looking back on an extraordinary year of volunteering, it is a time to celebrate the resilience, the strength of community spirit and the desire to support and help fellow OU students that shines like the brightest of beacons. With face to face community meetings and social gathering such as our iconic meet-ups cancelled, we have all had to embrace online video calls on a variety of platforms. And what a source for good these have become!
We are all so grateful that Association volunteers have stood up, embraced the changes thrust upon them and turned it to the greater good. So, we are not able to meet OU students in our area in a coffee shop right now, but we can meet online! We can still connect and chat about all the issues and triumphs that connect us as OU students, as we now have Online Meet-up Hosts to help us.
And we can reach out to even more OU students! The Online Association Host role was born as we all looked to support each other and learn new skills hosting meetings on online platforms.
A new cohort of Central Committee Reps and a new Senate Reference Group will not meet each other or attend a face to face committee for a while yet but have good-naturedly embraced the online committee world. Our Peer Supporters steadfastly carry on their good work supporting students online as they have always done, and as we use our volunteer Slack channel and forums even more, Moderators are there to ensure these online places are fun for all.
Some roles, such as our Graduation Volunteers and Resi Reps, will have to wait until safer times. But they will be back, with a fearsome determination to make these special OU events even more so.
So, as we come to the end of 2020, we celebrate our terrific Association volunteers and look forward more than ever to the New Year. Everyone’s got their mountain to climb more than ever now, but Association volunteers are climbing it together, supporting each other and looking out for everyone as they have always done. Here’s to another great year of volunteering!
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