On March 22, the Student Success Office (SSO), Waterloo Undergraduate Student Assocation (WUSA), and the Graduate Student Association (GSA) held the first Waterloo @ the Intersections event. The inaugural “On Belonging” was a thought-provoking and engaging event with the over-arching goal of bringing together the Waterloo community to discuss one important question: How has the experience of community shifted for you, for me, for us since the pandemic began?
The event took place in the Black and Gold room, Student Life Centre (SLC), and had a fantastic turn-out of over 70 active attendees including staff, students, and community members from the Waterloo and surrounding region. Attendees watched two intriguing community speakers, Fallon Farinacci, speaker, survivor, and advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; and TK Pritchard, SHORE Centre Executive Director, and six live student performances, each of the six exploring different aspects of “On Belonging” through poetry, music, and spoken word.
TK Pritchard addresses audience about developing a sense of belonging through feeling at home in their body.
The Student Success Office is proud of the students for embracing the opportunity to amplify their voice, share powerful and emotive stories, and create a space for all different Waterloo community members. It is truly the students themselves, through their vulnerability and authenticity, who created an atmosphere of community and safety. This encouraged and allowed attendees to reflect on their own experiences of belonging, both positive and negative, in this time of change.
Students felt safe sharing their own stories, sometimes even expressing feelings of a lack of belonging, throughout the event. Experiences were shared with community speakers one-on-one post-presentation, with peers in smaller facilitated group discussions, and with the community through adding sticky notes to a large board answering the question “where do you feel like you belong”? Answers included “queer spaces”, “volleyball team”, “with my found family”, and more highlighting the diverse and unique ways students find belonging on campus
Thaissa Kubo Arruda shares personal narrative with the audience.
“On Belonging truly showcased the power of art and conversation in promoting a sense of community and ultimately, equity,” says Jazz Fitzgerald, Manager, Student Equity, “The student performers’ creativity and passion inspired and challenged attendees to think deeply about not only their own community, but others’ experience of community as well. Thank you to all the participants for taking part in co-creating such a beautiful space.”
We hope this event will continue to be a demonstration of the power that comes when student’s ideas and perspectives are centered.
Overall, the success of the event has resulted in the Equity and Community team at the SSO exploring new Waterloo @ the Intersections events for the fall 2023 term. Take some time to participate in a short survey and let us know what important topic of community we should explore next at Waterloo.