Are you a first-year interested in voting for the First Year Rep? Here are this term’s candidates and their personal descriptions and platform descriptions. Voting will take place on September 24th-26th so mark your calendar!
Voting Link:
webvote.engr.uvic.ca
Anna Parolin
![Capture](https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/ess/wp-content/uploads/sites/5544/2022/09/Capture-e1663706387410-300x300.png)
Personal Description:
I have served multiple years on my high school’s committee for “Relay for Life Cancer Fundraiser” filling important key roles including Finance Captain and Gr.12 Rep. Both these positions taught and helped me to develop valuable skills related to teamwork, communication, and leadership. Working on team projects I am known to be easy-going, driven, and dependable while at the same time I have the confidence to share my opinions with senior team members. I’m confident I would make a positive contribution to the Engineering Student Society council as the 1st-year student
representative.
Platform Description:
If elected as First Year Representative my goal would be to use my outgoing and approachable personality to help bring a voice to the council representing my fellow freshman students. I believe in making an inclusive environment for all my fellow first-year students where issues, opinions and ideas can be safely discussed. I want to make this year as enjoyable and stress-free as possible for first-year students, with no better way of doing this than through collaborative events to bring students together. Another key priority for me is to make sure students are aware of the resources available to help them as they navigate their first year at UVic. The ESS and faculty work hard to provide students with resources and tools to help them succeed and thrive at UVic. Many first-year students simply don’t know about or take advantage of these resources so I would like to bring more awareness to 1st-year students to help their success. Being an engineering student isn’t going to be easy for any of us, but my hope is that through this role I can be there to help foster connections and success in any way I can and serve not only as a representative but also as a friendly face on campus.
Kelvin Lee
![Kelvin Lee Election Photo](https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/ess/wp-content/uploads/sites/5544/2022/09/Kelvin-Lee-Election-Photo-scaled-e1663706487979-300x300.jpg)
Personal Description:
Hi everyone, my name is Kelvin Lee! I was born and raised in Victoria. I’m passionate about equity, diversity, and inclusion, and I want to foster and maintain the rich diversity I see in our incoming class of engineers. My experience working as a Student Representative for the school district has taught me how to navigate professional meetings, and my time volunteering within my high school in Music Council and Principal’s Advisory has given me a taste for student government. I hope you’ll give me the opportunity to prove myself and serve you all.
Platform Description:
If I were to be elected as first year representative, my priorities would be to increase first-year involvement and involvement with the ESS, since many are unaware of all the services the ESS provides. I would ensure that the First Year Council stayed tuned-in to the unique concerns of first-years (like the terror of PHYS 110) and communicate these issues with the rest of the ESS. I would organize events to build first-year camaraderie, since we’ll be together for the next four years… or five… maybe seven, so we might as well be friends. I’d also love to acknowledge that we’re part of a larger academic community. There are so many cool non-engineering student groups on campus, and I’d organize more inter-
disciplinary events with students in other faculties. The more connected we are, the better our student governance. I’m sure the ESS can learn a lot from other organizations on campus. Within our own faculty, I’d like to ensure that computer science students have access to all the same opportunities as engineering students.
Jasper Halvorson
![unnamed](https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/ess/wp-content/uploads/sites/5544/2022/09/unnamed-scaled-e1663720014738-300x300.jpg)
Jasper saved my life one time. I remember when I was doing a lab i asked what this strange script in the denominator meant, and without hesitation, he answered my question. This shows he cares about the community and is best suited for this position. Team Jasper.