VP Finance: Things Tu Be Thankful For

If you have any fourth-year friends, you may be led to believe that they are all under a contractual obligation to constantly remind everyone around them of how old they feel. However, as my 3A term rapidly comes to a close, I think I get it. By the time you’re in fourth year, you’ve been through a lot – and I mean a lot.

Now, I’m not quite that old… yet. However, my term as an Engineering Society Executive has definitely put me through a lot. There have been a lot of things that I’ve done and gotten to experience that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

Over the 16 months that I’ve been VP Finance for the Engineering Society, I’ve had the privilege of looking after over $100,000 in funds. That money has gone into running events, funding student teams, and improving student services such as the C&D. Considering the fact that I had never done anything as financially involved as this prior to university, it’s been a very eye-opening experience for me! The best part of this has been talking with student teams that have been funded during my term. There are so many talented and driven people on student teams, and it’s amazing to see what kind of ideas they can turn into reality.

I think that my fondness of speaking to teams that were successfully funded speaks to something more general that I loved about being an Executive: making a difference for people. At the beginning of this wild journey, what I really wanted to do was to be in a position to make Waterloo Engineering a better place. I had been so impressed with the people I had met during my first three terms that I couldn’t wait to find a way to give back and to match their passion with my own. Looking back at troves of emails, the meetings, and all of the work that was put in, I’m really glad that I was able to make a difference to some peoples’ time at the University of Waterloo.

And, of course, I can’t forget the people that made a difference in my life over the past 16 months! I’ve worked with some truly amazing people, including directors, commissioners, members of Council, and of course… my fellow Executive. It’s been an amazing time with you, Hannah, Anson, Teresa, and Kieran! From the Council meetings, commissioner interviews, and extensive planning sessions, you’ve always been there to support me through thick and thin. Thank you so much for all of the energy that you’ve poured into the team. I will never forget it.

Now, after that little episode of reminiscence, it’s time to get back to work. This term, we still have ECIF and Sponsorship proposals to deliberate over! Although the Sponsorship deadline has now passed, ECIF proposals will still be accepted until July 15^th! Until then, you know that you can still reach me at vpfinance.b@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca. Again, thanks for reading!