Carmen Wong, the current president of the Science Undergraduate Society, is a fifth year Integrated Sciences student. I sat down with her this week to discuss her role as the Society’s President. She explained that she has been involved with the Science Undergraduate Society since she first arrived at UBC. “It was the only thing I did in my first year,” she says, “and pretty much since then I’ve really just launched into SUS head first.”Many of the Science Undergraduate Society’s executives are new this year, and Carmen says that definitely influenced her decision to run for President. “I saw that as a way to give back as much as possible.”
Her interest in the well being of her executive team is obvious – in fact, she cites supporting her executive team as one of her main goals as President. “Ultimately, at the end of the day, if we don’t have a great team, we aren’t able to achieve those goals that we have as a Society,” she points out.
With regards to the biggest challenge she has faced as President, Carmen says it has been “learning to manage my team in a way that best reflects their strengths, while improving upon [their] weaknesses. I think that there’s so much value in having a team that functions, and honours each other, and really reflects the best in each other. As President I am essentially the spokesperson. I represent all of Science at the end of the day, so there’s a little bit of weight on the shoulders…but taking pride in that responsibility has really helped me to think about why I’m doing what I’m doing, and how the role I have in my team can best allow for benefits for the Science population.”
I ask her what the most rewarding part of being SUS president has been for her. “The most rewarding –wow,” Carmen pauses. “I think there could be so many things.” She settles on the opportunities she has to inspire her fellow students, her passion for students obvious. “The most exciting thing for me is when I meet first year students and I see them starting to get interested in getting involved.”
Carmen’s advice for students interested in taking on leadership roles is to understand the transferrable skills they gain in each role they take on. “Students who are able to communicate [their transferable skills] are consistently hired more than students who don’t see connections between different positions they’re interested in.” And for those who currently serve as leaders, she says, “As a student leader, you’re going to be faced with challenges, there will be professional challenges and personal challenges. My advice is to embrace those challenges and see what you can gain from them.”
“It’s difficult,” she says of juggling her role as SUS president with her responsibilities as a student. “It’s a challenge every year, and every year it becomes more of a challenge, I would say.” She explains that she also volunteers at the hospital and works for Collegia on campus. “My google calendar looks packed every single day,” she laughs, but adds, “what gets me through the day is remembering why I’m doing the position and who I’m doing it for.”