Guest blog by Helen He and Christina Chen
Hello! We are Helen He and Christina Chen, and we are the co-presidents of the UWaterloo Culture and Language Exchange Club (UWCLEC). UWCLEC is a Federation of Students club run completely on the dedication of fellow student volunteers. Every week, students from different programs at the University of Waterloo get together for a minimum of an hour to learn and practice a language of interest. Our club received the Feds Awards of Excellence’s Club of the Term award this past fall.
Each session is very casual and is structured to suit the interests of the class. Depending on what students are interested in learning, tutors tailor their lesson plans accordingly. As language tutors, volunteers have the opportunity to gain invaluable leadership experience in a friendly and supportive setting while students have all the more to appreciate by learning a new language in the presence of classmates with the same interests!
As previous tutors ourselves who have also acted as Head Tutor and Marketing Director, we have been able to first-handedly experience the growth and success of UWCLEC during our time at the club. We believe that students are not only able to expose themselves to a new language and its culture, but also to meet like-minded people with whom one would normally not cross paths.
From diversifying our selection of languages to implementing lesson notes to facilitate each session, UWCLEC has developed from a simple idea of unifying the student population through the love of languages to a club geared towards the interests of tutors and students. It’s with this driving passion of volunteers and participants alike that UWCLEC has been awarded “Club of the Term” in previous terms.
Come visit our booth at Clubs and Societies Day on January 15 and 16 in the Student Life Centre. We hope to see you soon!
