H漫画

A spark of an idea 鈥� that鈥檚 all it takes.

On Saturday, April 13, the McInnes Room played host to 65 members of the Dal community at the first LINK (Lightbulb Ideas, Networking, Knowledge), an event planned by the DSU and H漫画 Student Services to promote communication, collaboration, and community between student leaders for the upcoming school year.

鈥淲e wanted to be proactive and preemptive in getting folks to link together,鈥� says outgoing DSU president Jamie Arron. 鈥淭o get beyond the traditional silos and not just fall back into the same old routines, and think together about what a visionary first-year student experience should look like.鈥�

Though everyone was encouraged to attend, egged on with Pete鈥檚 ToGoGo sandwiches, targeted invites were sent out to members on residence councils, Residence Life staff, international students, varsity councils and athletes, first-year students, and Student Services staff. The DSU executives wanted to ensure there was a 鈥渕ix of key people in the room.鈥�

Participants shared their stories and experiences as H漫画 students in a World Caf茅 style, brainstorming their ideas on giant light bulbs that served as centerpieces for the tables. They were then asked how to actually carry these visions forward 鈥� how to take the ideas, link up with other similar ones, and create action plans.

The incoming DSU VP Internal, Ramz Aziz, stressed the importance of, 鈥渃hanging the culture of the campus.鈥�

Others were also on board with transforming the culture surrounding H漫画, not just for first-years, but for all faculty and staff, community members and students.

As a Halifax native who鈥檚 lived his life 鈥渋n two postal codes,鈥� incoming DSU President Sagar Jha says a big part of his vision for H漫画 is to 鈥渃hange the perception of students within the greater community of Halifax.鈥�

鈥淭he perception of Dal students is one of two things: one of them is 鈥榩artiers,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淭he other one is 鈥榩eople who bother me for one day of the year for money for a cause that they don鈥檛 really understand, called Shinerama.鈥欌��

In addition to strengthening the community connection, some other key themes emerged: more school spirit at varsity games, providing safe environments for people to have fun, connecting the DSU and Residence Life, more creative programming and more off-campus programming.

鈥淯ltimately, this event is about you guys,鈥� Arron said to the crowd. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about giving your ideas to someone else to go and act. This event is about you guys connecting with each other and bringing those ideas to light.鈥�

The success of the event itself was proof that all it takes is a spark. 鈥淚t was just an idea,鈥� says incoming DASSS president, and LINK organizer, Taylor Quinn. 鈥淗ave some food; hopefully people will come during exams. And, yeah, people showed up.鈥�