{"id":64489,"date":"2020-03-05T14:48:46","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T19:48:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=64489"},"modified":"2021-04-23T15:24:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T19:24:48","slug":"canada-games-community-spotlight-student-volunteer-reflects-on-first-year-of-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2020\/03\/canada-games-community-spotlight-student-volunteer-reflects-on-first-year-of-service\/","title":{"rendered":"CANADA GAMES COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: Student volunteer reflects on first year of service"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the quiet murmur of conversations with his colleagues to the enthusiastic roar of a wrestling crowd, Jason Xiao has heard it all in his time with the Brock University Volunteer Association (BUVA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Founded in September 2019 as an initiative leading up to the 2021 Canada Games, BUVA is a group of trained Brock students committed to improving the local community by volunteering for at least 20 hours each year.<\/p>\n

After seeing the association advertised at a booth during Brock\u2019s clubs week in September, Xiao, a Business Administration student and aspiring police officer from Guangzhou, China, knew the diverse training and available opportunities could help open new doors while also allowing him to follow in the footsteps of other volunteers in his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father has always instilled in me a responsibility to give back to the community I am in,\u201d Xiao said. \u201cAnd I now know a lot more about how other people think and get involved. Being part of BUVA is not just helpful for the community, it also helps your career in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

To put his skills to the test, the 21 year old volunteered at several events throughout the winter, including the Canadian Wrestling Trials from Dec. 5 to 7 in Niagara Falls.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my first time doing something like that,\u201d he said. \u201cI was in a group taking charge of access control. We checked people\u2019s accreditations, which was fun and very helpful for the security career I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the association\u2019s volunteer initiatives are closely aligned with the upcoming Canada Games, opportunities span well beyond sporting events to encompass issues affecting populations throughout Niagara and around the world.<\/p>\n

To prepare members to effectively take on those challenges and represent the University, BUVA meets once a month to engage guest speakers on various topics.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Julie Rorison.<\/p><\/div>\n

On Friday, Feb. 28, the group heard from Brock graduate and Chief of Staff to the Mayor of St. Catharines Julie Rorison (BA \u201910) on the topic of professional communication, which she said was a key component of the volunteer experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolunteering can present all kinds of opportunities to learn something different, develop your skills, build your network and communicate in all kinds of settings,\u201d she said. \u201cVolunteer opportunities can also evolve into paid positions, so honing your professional communication skills is critical to success in any field.\u201d<\/p>\n

After hearing Rorison\u2019s presentation, Xiao reflected that he had already used many of the skills she had talked about during some busier moments at the wrestling trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we had to speak to athletes after they lost their matches, even when they were upset,\u201d he said. \u201cLuckily, BUVA provided us with training about customer service and how to exercise self-control while working with people who might be emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though she was at the meeting to present, Rorison said Xiao and the rest of the BUVA members provided inspiration for her as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to connect with such an engaged group of students who are passionate about Niagara,\u201d she said. \u201cBrock University is one of the greatest assets to the Niagara region. Having students get involved in the community is a huge opportunity to leverage their knowledge and talent and create opportunities for them to continue to build their lives and careers here. It is inspiring to meet such an awesome group of people who care about our community enough to share their time.\u201d<\/p>\n

With BUVA\u2019s inaugural year nearing its end, Xiao is already looking forward to the opportunities the association will offer him next year, and he hopes more students will embrace the chance to join him and become more involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would strongly recommend BUVA to students who want to see more of the region, meet people and help those in need,\u201d he said. \u201cI love Niagara, and I think it\u2019s important for me and other Brock students to be thankful for what we have and to always do our best and give back.”<\/p>\n

To learn more about BUVA, visit the association\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the quiet murmur of conversations with his colleagues to the enthusiastic roar of a wrestling crowd, Jason Xiao has heard it all in his time with the Brock University Volunteer Association (BUVA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":64500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,1,4],"tags":[8754,8755,6789,10235,8756,5912],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64489"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64505,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64489\/revisions\/64505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}