Hey there! My name is Ellen McGee, I am in 2A Systems Design Engineering and I am running to be your next Engineering Society president!
I got started in the Engineering Society in 1A by going to council meetings and attending events. The next term I was a director and got to run Coffee House, Canada Day, and Novelties. In the fall, I was a Big orientation week leader. I am now Social and Events Commissioner and sit on the Board of Directors.
I’m running to be EngSoc president because I love EngSoc and I love the engineering community at Waterloo. I’ve been fairly involved over the last few terms and want to do even more for EngSoc. I’m passionate and have a lot of ideas for different initiatives and ways to enhance the EngSoc community. The main things I want to accomplish as President are to build a strong community, get more first years involved, and have more online mental health services available to students.
My goal for building a strong community is to make everyone feel welcome. Right now, engineering spaces and EngSoc events can often feel very exclusive. You’re either in EngSoc, or you’re out. I want to change that. I want anyone and everyone to feel like they belong in the Engineering Community because they do. I want to make EngSoc a welcoming environment for ALL engineering students, without losing the closeness of the community. I would like to do this by continuing the planning and implementation of the “Earn your coveralls” program that the current executives are starting. I would like to have more events that appeal to large amounts of people. One idea is to have POETS open once a week in the evenings as a quiet study space and have snacks provided.
I would also like to get more first years involved in the Engineering Society. First years are the future. Awesome first years turn into awesome upper years. So getting first years involved in the Engineering Society is pivotal for the existence of the society, but it’s often unknown to first years how to get involved, or intimidating to do so. I want to make it easier for first years to get involved in society and meet friends and upper-years within the EngSoc community.
One way I would like to do this is to revamp the shadow director program. First years will be able to get involved with directorships right in their first term of school by creating a program that advertises the different opportunities EngSoc has and help them get involved right away. I would also like to create a mentorship program that has BOT, MOT and EOT events will help them meet upper-year mentors/friends.
I would like to revamp EngSoc’s mental health online resources by moving them to a more prominent location on the website. I would also like to provide more online mental health resources so students can easily access resources when they need to.
If you see me around feel free to ask me questions or check out my website at ellen4prez.ca. Make sure you are voting at vote.feds.ca on Feb 1-5! Thanks!
Leave a Reply