We’re already well past the halfway point of this year. I could describe it in so many ways, beyond a normal board year.
I genuinely believe that what you meet in life meets you for a reason. For me, this year has been a quiet experiment in capacity: how many “roles” can one person carry while the world feels like it’s shaking a little? Two boards. Two jobs. Honours. Trying to show up for friends. Trying to show up for myself. And still, the question that keeps returning, almost like a chorus, has been: “How do you do so much?”
Passion? Obsession? Probably a mix of both. But if I’m honest, it’s also something simpler: a refusal to let opportunities pass me by just because they look intimidating at first. I see everything I do as puzzle pieces I’m collecting, small, imperfect fragments that don’t make sense on their own.
My role in the University Student Council gives me space to arrange those pieces into something that matters beyond me. It’s not just “extra activities.” It’s being close to the heartbeat of the university: hearing what students need, translating that into action, and realizing how much change can start from one conversation that someone took seriously.
With elections coming up, I wanted this blog to be an honest note to anyone who’s ever wondered whether doing something outside your studies is “worth it.” It is, because it changes your relationship with yourself. The University Student Council isn’t just a line on a CV. It’s a training ground for becoming the kind of person who doesn’t wait for permission to contribute.
The council means for me not only new opportunities, but a whole different world. I will dare to say it’s the best experience you can have in your twenties. What this year taught me is that this experience will shape your whole future: as an individual, as a future worker, as a friend, as who you choose to be when the world tries to shape you differently.
So if you’re reading this and thinking, “I could never do all that”, you don’t have to. You just have to start with one step. One small puzzle piece. And then another. Because sometimes the most surprising thing isn’t how much you can do, it’s how much you can become when you finally let yourself try.