Some made craft kits and decorated gift boxes for children in hospitals. Others cleaned up the riverbank or teamed up with local Special Olympics athletes for an afternoon of inclusive sport.
No matter what the activity, a spirit of fun and cooperation filled the air as Western students connected with each other and the broader London community during Orientation Serves (OServes), an event held Saturday, Sept. 9, across campus.
“Orientation Serves is a program to help first-year students better understand the incredible work of non-profit organizations in the city where they will likely spend the next four years,” said Kelly Hollingshead, manager, experiential learning, Student Experience. “By incorporating community engaged learning into orientation activities, we show students civic engagement and leadership are core values and expectations at the heart of being a Western student. That behaviour is modelled from week one.
“We hope Orientation Serves inspires additional involvement opportunities on and off-campus, as students progress through their time at Western and in London.”
That’s been the experience for Kris Nyhout, gala chair for Special Olympics Ontario/London, who brought a group of Special Olympics athletes to Western to raise awareness for motionball – a national non-profit initiative that empowers young Canadians to be leaders in their communities, raising funds and awareness for Special Olympics through integrated social and sporting activities.
“It’s events like this where students get introduced to our athletes and they get hooked,” Nyhout said. “Then we get calls from them asking, ‘How can we volunteer?’
“We can’t say enough good things about Western students and what they bring to the Special Olympics organization. Motionball is just one part of it and in itself is fantastic. Our athletes love it and motionball Western raises a lot of money for our organization. About half of our volunteers are Western students and year round, we couldn’t run our programs without them.”
Fourth-year medical sciences student Daniel Roozbeh and third-year kinesiology student Lexie Delisle, co-event directors for motionball Western, organized the OServes motionball event.
“Motionball is a way for students to meet the Special Olympics athletes in our region, learn their stories, find out who they are and learn what the Special Olympics organization is all about,” said Roozbeh.
Delisle, a Western Mustangs lacrosse player, said connecting with the Special Olympians is a rewarding experience.
“Having a personal relationship with these athletes is just a great feeling. I’ve seen the smiles on their faces every time they come to Western. They recognize us now,” she said. “Building a sense of community for the athletes and seeing them come together and interact with our students is just a great opportunity.”
Roozbeh and Delisle also saw the event as a good way to build awareness and recruit new committee members to the motionball Western chapter, which raised more than $8,000 for Special Olympics Canada last year.
For first-year health sciences student Jason Ling, the best part of participating in OServes was “seeing the excitement of the athletes and trying to match their energy.” His teammate, Special Olympics athlete Valentina Mejia, said she most enjoyed “playing soccer and cheering.”
“It’s so fantastic,” Mejia said. “I had so much fun.”
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A full list of Orientation Serves activities can be found here.
