2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 EDITOR KRISTEN HARPULA Cws . BILL EVERITT photo Megan Richardson (right) hands out leaflets with another VOLT volunteer at their fair, held in the main hall of the A building Volunteer opportunities grow Langara volunteer program VOLT brings experience, personal growth and the opportunity to travel abroad while volunteering By BILL EVERITT tudents looking for volunteer ex- perience need look no further than VOLT, a Langara group which provides a way to get in- volved with local and international non-profit projects. VOLT is focused on volunteering for the sake of volunteering and providing resources for students who need work experience for transfer programs. “The purpose of the volunteer fair is to connect students with organizations and causes that are of interest to them,” said program coordinator Me- gan Richardson. Valentina Alzueta-Coccaro is trans- ferring to Simon Fraser University and needs work experience for the educa- tion program there. “You meet fascinating people, you do interesting work, and it feels good,” said Alzueta-Coccaro. Volunteers with VOLT are not paid and receive no Langara program credit for their work. It’s all about participating for per- sonal growth and experience. If a Langara student requires volun- teer hours for a social work certificate or diploma, VOLT projects will not nec- essarily fulfill this requirement. How- ever, VOLT does provide many services for members. “Beyond the volunteer experiences, there is a chance for students to exhibit leadership skills in planning events and giving feedback,” said Richardson. “There are also VOLT exclusive scholarships available and we are working on a formal system of recogni- tion so our members can get their vol- unteer hours onto a transcript.” Founded two and a half years ago, VOLT now boasts more than 700 regis- tered volunteers. The program is still developing, but Richardson’s ambition is pushing VOLT to new heights every year. “Volunteering abroad is becoming huge,” she said. In partnership with CARE, a Vancou- ver-based volunteer abroad program, students pay a small fee to go abroad and support non-profit causes. Last summer a group of eight stu- dents went to Nepal to volunteer, in- cluding Langara student Jade Arignon who said she “found the experience very rewarding.” Richardson stressed that the trips are focused on volunteer work and are not designed to be a cheap way for stu- dents to go on vacation. “We do not promote ‘volun-tour- ism,” said Richardson. The volunteer fair, a joint effort be- tween VOLT, the Langara Bookstore, the International Education depart- ment and the Langara Students’ Union, was on Oct. 3. Students looking for more informa- tion on volunteering with VOLT can go to http://www.langara.bc.ca/student- services/volt/ and register. 66 Beyond the volun- teer ex- perience, there isa chance for students to exhibit leadership skills in planning events and giving feedback” MEGAN RICHARDSON ESUME ips Resume workshop draws an audience of one Workshop coordinator HE include all your vontaet information explains the importance including phone number,emailand Of @ good resume to attract home adress potential employers HM Use the same key- words that appear By JESSE LAM in job descriptions a angara College’s department of co- = Peres ane cone esi education held a resume- most important writing workshop for students at and relevant ex. The Hub last Wednesday. perience is listed The workshop was originally intend- first, with key ed for the business, computer science, accomplishments and bioinformatics departments, but listed at the top students from other faculties were wel- MM Use a high quality come to join. type of paper to set your resume apart in astack Source: jobsearch.about.com/ However, of the five people that signed up for the workshop, only one person showed up. Heather Workman, instructor for the department of cooperative education suggested the timing of the workshop affected the turnout of the event, blam- ing midterm exams and projects as the reason why only one person showed up. Langara accounting student Ella Lit- vak was the one student who went to the workshop, and believes she gained the knowledge in writing a better re- sume. “I was laid off,” said Litvak, “so I started to work on my resume. I want to find a chance to improve it. I think this workshop helped.” During the workshop, Workman pro- vided tips in giving good first impres- sions to employers. “You write a resume to attract the at- tention of a potential employer,” Workman said. “It’s to make the em- ployer want to interview you to find out more about you.” Workman also suggested having a master resume, in which students list all previous work experiences in a long version copy, before settling the infor- mation on a one-two page resume. While having a good resume is a key in getting a job in the future, Workman believes it’s not the only thing that’s im- portant for finding work. “You can’t just be a student,” said Workman. “You have to be exploring your in- dustry and getting to know people to start building your professional net- work. “A great source of professional net- working is your instructors here at Langara,” Workman explained. The department of cooperative edu- cation will hold their next event at The Hub on Thursday Oct. 10, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on what to expect and do at a career fair. LGBT rep plans for change New gender adviser at Langara hopes to revitalize the LGBT community By JENNY PENG versity adviser, if elected, plans to pump new life into the LGBT com- munity, using social media and posters to rally social gatherings. Before running, it was hard for Eva Snyder, who identifies as a queer, to find any evidence of a healthy LGBT community on campus. Driven by a vi- sion of a vibrant crowd, she signed on as a candidate for the role. “The first thing Pd like to have hap- pened is to bring back the queer alli- ance that was together a few years ago and the first step to doing that is have an online presence,” said Snyder. Snyder stressed that the key to more participation is anonymity if someone doesn’t feel comfortable disclosing his or her identity. Both queer liaisons from last year resigned, leaving one queer student with less-optimistic views. “Hopefully whoever gets in lasts a bit longer than most people, but there needs to be a lot of changes with the LSU, before we could actually see peo- ple stick in those positions and staying in there,” said the student, who asked not to be named for fear of cyber abuse from the Langara Students’ Union. Langara’s former queer liaison, Son- ja Sandberg, said one of her biggest achievements was sailing around union politics to revive the old Queer Resource Room. Toward the end of her term, she saw more activity in the once “underuti- lized” room, although she emphasised a need for the LSU to be more transpar- ent. Her advice to the incoming candi- date is, “Work with whatever resourc- es you can get and don’t try to engage too much with the LSU governing body. Just work for what you need to accom- plish.” Despite roadblocks her predecessor faced, Snyder insists on positive queer activism. Instead of criticising homo- phobic behaviour, it’s about “embrac- ing the diversity we do have and all the victories that the LGBT community as a whole has made in the past.” After years of soul-searching, and cycling from Vancouver to Mexico, she found self-acceptance during a year spent in an ashram in interior B.C. The remedies that soothed her struggle as a queer were writing and self-reflection. “It’s really a process of learning, and that’s what I continue to do,” said Snyder. I angara’s new sexual and gender di- JENNY PENG photo Eva Snyder is the sole candidate for the sexuality and gender diversity adviser role in the LSU election.