By Joy Orande, SOS Marketing Intern Summer 2016, Brock University
September marks the start of a brand new school year, and maybe you would like to do some things more differently this year than last. It could be trying a new fitness class, setting a new goal such as learning how to cook, raising your average, or getting more involved this year.
If you are looking into joining a club, here are five reasons why Students Offering Support might just be the club you’ve been looking for.
1. Learning New Skills
Whether it’s taking over marketing, or applying your finance skills, Student Offering Support has a number of different departments where you can apply the skills you already have and implement them into real life situations. By being a part of SOS you will quickly gain leadership skill while also strengthening any personal skills by working with a number of different people. Even if you don’t have much experience, SOS encourages the opportunity for growth and learning where you can the gain hard hands on skills employers are looking for.
2. Meeting New People
Want to engage with like-minded student leaders? SOS is the place to be. Our club attracts students who want to get involved, be part of the community, and ultimately help others. Each student has their own reasons for joining but they all come out of the club having a wider network than when they initially started. Those who are part of the SOS community will get to meet more people from their school and meet other people from outside their program.
Not only that, but at the end of each year, Students Offering Support holds an annual gala where students from different chapters (i.e. Ryerson, Laurier, York etc) will have the opportunity to meet and gain recognition for their hard work throughout the year. You will also be meeting with the staff members from head office along with the board members of Students Offering Support!
3. Outreach Trips and Travel Opportunities
What is exciting about the SOS community is that you will be meeting people who have already been on our organized Outreach Trips. It’s always interesting to hear about people who have been on one of our outreach trips and what they’ve learned and experienced. Who knows, maybe you could be next!
Have you always wanted to make a lasting impact? Why not try one of our outreach trips. We hold several trips travelling to Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Talk about travel and opportunities! With over 1000 participants, 95 trips throughout 11 countries so far, you will be able to work with other trip participants to provide accessible, quality and relevant education to children. These trips may just even shift your world-view while also creating memories that will last a lifetime.
4. It’s a good cause!
We are a registered charity, and the money raised from tutoring students across our different chapters throughout North America will be used for various sustainable development projects in several countries. These projects are than built by student volunteers across Canada and the U.S. We have several projects that SOS will be building at the end of the year on volunteer Outreach Trips. We raise marks to raises money, which ultimately raises roofs. For a list of our upcoming trips please visit our Outreach Trip List .
5. Build your resume
Let’s be honest here. Maybe you want to join SOS because it looks good on your resume. We completely agree: it does look good on your resume. In fact, our club translates well over to the workplace from your experience with SOS.
This summer, I obtained a position working at a travel and tourism consulting company. They had hired two summer students including myself. As the summer went on, my co-worker and I realized that we were both actively involved with SOS. I held a marketing internship for Head Office and my co-worker was the marketing VP for her school. It’s a small world, but what I have learned from this is that the experience gained from SOS can easily be applied to the workplace, and it might just be what employers are looking for. So go ahead, work with us and write down Students Offering Support on your resume!
