Just imagine if you knew then what you know now, how different your life would be. You learned a lot in your time at the U of A, much of it beyond the lecture halls. While you can't turn back the hands of time, you can share your wisdom with new students getting ready to put on the green and gold.
Come to On Your Way to the U of A - a student send-off where alumni volunteers chat with incoming students and their parents. Alumni share what it's like to be on campus, live in residence or just impart a few tips gleaned from their own time as students.
On Your Way events take place May 13 in Calgary, May 22 in Vancouver and May 28 in Edmonton. They are just a few of the opportunities alumni have to make an impact on campus and in their communities. Watch the video above to see how you can be one of the alumni making three decades worth of impact as part of the Do Great Things Alumni Volunteer Challenge.
In addition to the On Your Way events, you might choose to get involved in other volunteer opportunities, like:
• mentoring current U of A students;
• volunteering with one of the many U of A Alumni chapters
• participating in community service initiatives with fellow alumni
You can also share your volunteer story or spearhead your own volunteer initiative anywhere in the world with support from the Alumni Association.
Since this past September, U of A alumni have already reported 767 volunteer experiences toward the association's goal to involve alumni in 2,015 volunteer experiences by 2015 - the same year that marks its 100th anniversary.
"There are so many opportunities to give back. It makes such a difference, and it makes you feel great," says Jane Halford, '94 BCom, president of the University of Alberta Alumni Association. "We're a third of the way to our goal, but we want to see more alumni get involved and represent their alma mater."
More important than the goal is the potential to have a significant impact, says Halford. "If every alumnus volunteered just one hour, the result would be three decades worth of change in the world."
The commitment of alumni is obvious, says Indira Samarasekera, university president and vice-chancellor.
"I regularly see alumni volunteering their time on campus and in their communities. Giving back to our students, or to people in need around the world, passes the spirit of our vision from generation to generation, and the promise of the U of A to 'uplift the whole people' is fulfilled," says Samarasekera.
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