t’s September, which means we’re all back on campus for another school year! For some, that statement may be a sad one, but for the students involved in clubs and committees on campus, this is fantastic.

I’ve met many student-leaders throughout my time at Telfer, and if I’ve learned one thing from them, it’s that in order to succeed, you need to be able to rely on other people. This ability to lean on each other and successfully pull off big projects is only made possible by being a team player, open minded to working with others, and the ability to take constructive feedback. It’s important that we’re reminded of this at the beginning of the semester, and take this message to heart when we go about our lives as student-leaders and into our future careers.

Being a team player can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, but to me, in the context of student-leadership, it means being willing to help, advise, or accommodate for others even when it is inconvenient for you. In my own role as co-coordinator for one of Telfer’s case competition delegations, I find this is a constant need in order to maintain a strong team. The “delegate first” mindset has been integral in how we’ve conducted work to prepare for the competition, and it hasn’t always been easy. It’s worth the effort though, since in return I know many of the students who are a part of the delegation are also leading in their own spaces, and I am able to be supported by them when I need.

Continuing, I want you to think about your own views and opinions on working with others. Do you find that you often jump to wanting to bounce ideas from other people? Maybe you’re the kind of person who prefers to work alone and not take in any outside perspectives. Either way is fine, and there are many different work styles out there that can present great opportunities for us all. In the space of student-leadership at Telfer however, we are often forced by circumstance to have to work with others, whether that’s your personal style or not.

For my part, I love the idea of working with others, bringing together different heads and getting so much more done than I could have done on my own. I have seen how with others, we are able to create events, experiences, and projects that are on-scale to professional ones. For example, every year CASCO Charity Organization hosts a gala in honor of the kids at the CHEO foundation and raises money to support the children’s hospital. Because of the close to 50 members on CASCO’s team, we are able to find professional venues, sponsors, catering, and production teams. Without collaboration between students, this would not be possible.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on criticism and constructive feedback. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been butthurt before over some of the comments I’ve received on the work I’ve done. It’s normal to be upset when someone disagrees with the work you’ve put so much effort into, and it's easy to become defensive when receiving criticism. Really, we need to have this type of challenge before we go forward with our work so that we are always putting out our very best. In the world of student leadership, this can be an especially tough area. We all only want to see each other succeed, but nobody really holds any true place of authority over each other. We are all students at the end of the day. For us, we need to keep in mind that while at times these positions and clubs seem like the biggest things in the world, we really are only here to learn, and we can only learn through feedback.

If you take away any one message from this article, it’s that as we begin the school year, we need to stick together and support each other. Through teamwork and collaboration, we will achieve great things together this year, I can feel it.