Levels of Stress as a Volunteer (#CUopenhouse)

This Saturday (Nov. 7th) was Concordia’s Open House, where the university invited potential students from all over to come and learn everything there is to learn about the university.

As I’ve volunteered for the orientation, I was pretty familiar with the general idea of interacting with people and sharing stories. What I was not prepared for was the chaos that came with a public event – students of all ages coming in, speaking different languages (not limited to French or English) and coming from all parts of the world.

I had never seen that level of chaos before and, as a volunteer, had to quickly adapt. I found myself switching between languages (lots of stuttering) and momentarily meeting people of different backgrounds.

I was assigned to Loyola, the second campus in St-Laurent (if memory serves), where they were having free beaver tails. I don’t know if it’s a Canadian-exclusive pastry snack, but it’s a simple pastry that can a variety of toppings (cinnamon, nutella, banana, maple…) and it tastes amazing (all the while being messy). It felt so warming for a morning that ranged between 5 &10 degrees celsius (probably ~4 in the shade). Because it was so cold, We were given a bigger t-shirt to accommodate a Jacket being put under, which felt silly, but was needed.

While volunteering,  I started to appreciate my being fluent but also realized how lacking my vocabulary was in French (Mandarin might be a little bit obvious). I also appreciated looking at the university at a different angle (a volunteer introducing the university) rather than as someone who was guiding new students.

The other campus (Sir George Williams), as I quickly found out, was an entire different level of chaos. Being in downtown, people (students, parents & children alike) were coming from all directions, and questions of all sorts were asked. Similar to Loyola, volunteers were up and about, answering questions and guiding newcomers.

While both campuses had their own reasonable level of stress, I became somewhat appreciative the amount of patience that everyone had in trying to manage most, if not all, of the individuals who came by the booths. Some had very specific questions, while were unsure of what it is that they were looking for. Among us volunteers, many came to ask where to find a specific department’s booth as well as what our experience has been in the university thus far.

Packing up the day, I looked back at the t-shirt that we given as part of the Welcome Centre. Although the same shade as that of a minion, it was enough to shine a new light on the university I thought I knew.

The Unusual Weather & Influence of Media

Ever watch a movie where the setting consists almost entirely of rainy environments? Ever see such a movie where bad things happen? 

  There’s something about a rainy morning in autumn that gives me a bad feeling. Maybe it’s because I watch too many shows that take place on or around Halloween. 
I’m usually the kind to feel calmer when watching rain, but hearing almost nothing and seeing almost no one… Flags are raised in my mind. 

Times like this make me think about the influences that the media has on the audience. With so many movies taking place around Halloween and the autumn season, many might have grown somewhat cautious when it becomes rainy, cold and/or approaches October 31st. 

Any other time and I would like the change in scenery, but I can’t help but think of all the bad things that happened in movies…

But they’re movies. Sure TV shows have Halloween episodes as well, but they’re all stories that someone wrote. There’s no way that any of them will come true… Right?