Evelyn Schottner lets you know how services provided by the SA, like her role as VP Internal, helps students everyday.

Being a student myself, I understand the struggles we can face every day with the stress of classes, assignments and working to support ourselves. Sometimes things can get overwhelming and you may need that extra help. I know that some students may feel shame in failing an assignment or a class but that is why I am here to help you.

As your Vice President Internal, I will provide you with guidance and support if you feel that you may have received a grade that you do not deserve.. I will help you find out if you are eligible to go through an informal or a formal grade appeal by going over the four grounds for proceeding with a grade appeal. These grounds are:

1. Unforeseen extenuating circumstances
2. Merit of Work
3. Procedural Irregularity
4. Discrimination

We will also be holding mobile offices around the college this semester to make ourselves more visible and to answer any questions students may have. If you see us at our table, don’t hesitate to stop by and ask questions. We will have some goodies and information at our table to hand out, so please come see us.

Some days we hear, what does the Student’s Association do? With the whisperings of making student association fees optional, we have decided to give those of you who are unaware a little more insight of our services and how we add value to students with weekly blogs from the Students’ Association team. Starting with President of three years, Beth Lewis’ gives insights on what her job looks like.

As I begin to wrap up my three years in office, I have been spending more and more time reflecting on what I’ve accomplished, what I haven’t accomplished and what my legacy will be. When I won my first election in March of 2016, the main goal I set out for myself was to leave the organization better off than it was when I took office in May.

Like many new student leaders, I had big ideas with a very limited understanding of why things were the way they were. I quickly learned that I would need to put my priorities to the side for a while to deal with bigger issues that I was walking in to. Within my first week as President, our General Manager left the organization. The learning curve was extremely steep for me. How do I regain staff morale, keep the organization moving forward and move on from this? At the time I only had one year of studies under my belt so to say I had no idea what I was doing was fair. I leaned on my Executive team at the time and worked to rebuild the culture to one that focused on hard work with a focus on students.

The job description for the President position is relatively vague and talks about major roles rather than day-to-day responsibilities. While I may have been arrogant and thought I knew exactly what to expect and what type of leader I needed to be, I soon figured out that what the organization truly needed was different than what I thought it needed. I spent the first few months working with the team of staff that we had and trying to find my way around my new role. I quickly gained a strong appreciation for each of our staff members and the unique skill set that they each contribute to the organization. I eventually got to make positive changes that I had campaigned on and all was good. But to say that along the way I had no curveballs, would be a lie.

Over the past three years my leadership style has changed dramatically, and I think the biggest change is that it developed further. I came into this position as a bright-eyed and bushy tailed, naïve and excited student leader, and I think I will be leaving as a more thoughtful leader with a renewed appreciation for team work, that isn’t as afraid of change… and has the odd grey hair. I am looking forward to reflecting on my three years as President in my upcoming blog posts. Stay tuned as I am sure to discuss my fight to be taken seriously, how politics make me want to poke my eyes out, how I learned that being a leader isn’t about yourself and much more.

We are looking for 6 dedicated students to join our team as Social Media Ambassadors.

The Social Media Ambassador is a stellar way to connect with your fellow students at MHC. As an Ambassador, you will keep students “in the know” with the inside scoop on SA Events, clubs and happenings at Medicine Hat College. The goal of this position is to maintain an engaging and relevant social media presence, while offering a variety of viewpoints.

What we are looking for includes a strong sense of style, photography skills, graphic design, writing skills, video editing knowledge, social media presence and most importantly- an outgoing personality! It does not matter what year of study or program you are in, this can be for anyone!

What exactly does an Ambassador do? Ambassadors will use Instagram to post stories of their college life. This will vary in content depending on the person, for example: someone brushing their teeth at a booth in finals, meals in Crave or a selfie at an event. Depending on their skill set, Ambassadors can blog on our website, create posters or vlog as well.

Incentives to join include:

• Positive work experience with a team
• free SAMHC swag
• participation in SAMHC events
• monetary value of $75/semester (when requirements are met)

To become a Social Media Ambassador:

• must be a current student with a GPA of 2.0 or greater
• vetting of current social media profiles
• must align with SAMHC values and mission statement

If you can check all these boxes and still on the fence if this position is for you or not, stop by our offices and we can chat! To apply, please email a basic resume including your student number and social media account names for review to Shelby at SA_External@mhc.ab.ca by September 25th.

Crave reduced summer hours Monday- Friday 11:00 am- 2 pm.

Crave will be closed for the summer starting Monday, June 11th.

Join us for Mental Health Week

Starting on January 30^th, from 11:00am to 1:00pm in the Den we will be serving David’s Tea and providing some much needed pet therapy.

January 3^st is Bell, Let’s Talk day where Bell will donate more towards mental health initiatives in Canada, by contributing $0.05 for every applicable text, call, tweet, social media video view and use of their Facebook frame or Snapchat filter. #BellLetsTalk is how you can connect.

February 1^st come join us for a Mocktail in the Den from. We will serve from 11:00am to 1:00pm.

It’s that time of year to roll out the red carpet and celebrate the second semester! Come to Crave on January 26 and be transported back to the 1920’s with our Great Gatsby Ladies and Gents Gala! Don’t forget to bring your government ID.

Doors open at 7:30pm, our FREE hors d’oeuvres will be rolled out, ready for you, and we have prizes for best dance, best dressed couple and best dressed individual. Prizes so far include tickets to the Canalta Centre and tickets to the Esplanade. Stop by our photobooth on the way in and have your picture taken on the red carpet.

Tickets are $5 in advance – they can be purchased at the SA office anytime during regular working hours (8:30am – 4:00pm) or you can stop by our booth during the noon hour in the Common Grounds hallway on January 22, 24, and 26. Tickets at the door are $10 so be sure to pick up yours early!

Nationwide suicide crisis hotline now available in Canada

Launched November 28, 2017, the Canada Suicide Prevention Service (CSPS) is Canada’s first nationally available, regionally delivered suicide prevention service providing support for voice, text and chat methods.

CSPS doesn’t replace, but complements existing local services to ensure that all people in Canada have immediate and equitable access to free and confidential support on the device of their choice, available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.

• Phone: toll free 1-833-456-4566
• Text:     45645
• Chat:    www.crisisservicescanada.ca