It is said that the most successful and well rounded students are those who get involved.

Laurier Brantford offers a variety of campus activities and organizations; they are beneficial to students as they provide learning opportunities that cannot be found inside of the classroom.

Campus activities and organizations provide the opportunity for new friendships, personal growth, the learning of new skills and abilities. Campus volunteer experiences can also be added to one’s co-curricular resume, which is helpful when looking for jobs down the road.

There are many volunteer opportunities at Laurier Brantford including giving tours to potential students and their families, being a peer mentor, being a volunteer note taker, being part of student leadership team, Foot Patrol, MyRespect Team, Laurier Brantford Rainbow Alliance, the Best Buddie’s Program, WLU Students’ Union, or Peer Support Programs – programs that assist non-native speakers of English with the opportunity to meet other Laurier Brantford students and improve their English language. Throughout the school year, first-year students will find out about many more activities through their dons, classroom professors, word of mouth, posters around school buildings or online.

Ross Fraser is Laurier Brantford’s Student Support Specialist. When Fraser attended university he was an active volunteer for many different programs. Remembering his volunteer experiences especially his favourite, Foot Patrol, Fraser says, “I personally had a lot of fun volunteering for Foot Patrol. That’s where I met my girlfriend and some of my closest friends.”

Holly Kaiser is the Executive Vice President of the Wilfrid Laurier University Student Union Brantford. When asked how Kaiser got involved she said, “I started out as a volunteer note taker and that gave me a window into the Student’s Union.”

Kaiser encourages students to get involved and says that, “students won’t regret it if they dive into it.” She wishes she got involved sooner and says that, “it took me full year to reach out to all of the Facebook messages and information [about volunteer opportunities] and I regret that it took me so long to do so.”

In addition to campus clubs, the Athletics & Recreation Department also offers opportunities for students to get involved. There is a wide range of competitive and recreational intramural sports teams (for male and female students) at Laurier Brantford including dodgeball, basketball, ice hockey, indoor soccer, volleyball and baseball.

Mike Fickle, a criminology student who will be entering his fourth year at Laurier Brantford has been heavily involved with intramural sports. Fickle played dodgeball during his first year of school, volleyball every semester and hockey ever year during the fall and winter terms. He urged first year students to get involved and said that the benefits of intramurals in particular were that, “it helped me to meet people outside of residence and classes, and it was nice not focusing on school the whole time and helped [me] stay in shape.”

An upcoming campus event worth mentioning is the 3rd Annual Laurier Brantford LEAP conference (August 5-7). This is where students who are entering their first year at have the opportunity to develop leadership skills and meet other incoming students. The weekend gives incoming students the opportunity to have a first-hand look at what it’s like to get involved at Laurier Brantford and how to better utilize already existing leadership skills.

The weekend is packed full with fun activities, challenges, and games, and is a great way to learn about Laurier Brantford. The LEAP Delegates also spend two nights in residence, so they get a feel for res, before moving in.

Fraser is helping to organize the LEAP conference and says that, “the students who go to LEAP feel more confident during Orientation Week.”

Fraser encourages all students who participate in O-Week, arguably the best way to get to know other students when arriving at school, to, “use the opportunity to ask questions. Build a support network.”

Kaiser would also like to encourage first year students to, “never be afraid to ask. Everyone is here to help students… It’s just taking that first step.”

So go ahead, get involved!