Being Involved in Clubs at U of T While Doing a Virtual Exchange

While I’ve been doing my virtual exchange at the University of Western Australia (UWA), I’ve also been involved in two student clubs at U of T. I am currently the Vice President of Business Development at the Law and Business Association (LBA) and the Vice President of Finance at the Cancer Society at the U of T Scarborough Campus (UTSC). Even though these two roles do come with a lot of responsibility, I think that being involved on campus while studying abroad is a great arrangement and I will share why.

While doing an exchange, virtual or not, it makes you become caught up with the work and environment of the exchange university. It detaches you a bit from the activities and occurrences at U of T, and that’s why I think being involved in U of T student clubs during an exchange is so great. It helps to stay immersed with the culture at U of T and stay connected with all that's going on. Therefore, although I am studying at UWA, I am still aware of all that’s happening at the UTSC campus and am always engaging with my fellow peers for club-related activities. This helps me feel connected with both the communities of U of T and UWA!

For LBA, we recently had our flagship case competition called Lawyer Up! and I got the chance to help out with the competition and see how the whole event functioned online, which I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten the chance to experience while studying at UWA.

Being involved in two clubs and studying at UWA at the same time can definitely get hectic sometimes but it’s completely manageable if I create detailed schedules for myself and prioritize my tasks, which I have shared a lot about in my previous blogs. It's important for me to ensure that I am able to meet all my priorities for both my studies abroad and my involvement in clubs. Through time management and organization of my tasks, I can now happily say that this semester has been very successful as I was able to tackle my responsibilities at both universities – U of T and UWA.

There are many great ways to get involved on campus and that’s why if you’re interested, it’s important to stay updated on the clubs you’re interested in and apply for a position when they're hiring. I have so far been involved in five student clubs during my time at U of T and it has helped me develop many core skills and experiences and build long-lasting friendships as well! At the end of it all, you will feel a great sense of accomplishment and that’s why I highly recommend everyone to join student clubs on campus!