The Student Representative Council (SRC) is a fantastic way to get involved in the heart and life of Excelsia College’s community. The SRC plays an important role in fostering good communication among students and staff and, more formally, it helps to run campus-wide student-focused programs and events like student cruises and orientations. Both Zoe Sadler and Tihana Vulcik were Presidents of Excelsia College’s SRC committee during their time as students and they both have gone on to serve as valuable staff members at the College. So why should you think about joining?
For Zoe, the SRC enabled her to engage deeper throughout her experience at Excelsia, as well as providing her with opportunities for self-growth. ‘Before being a part of the SRC, I’d never been particularly drawn to representative groups and certainly didn’t see myself as the leader of one. When I was encouraged by a staff member to run for SRC President, I was very hesitant, but it ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences I had as an Excelsia student.’ Zoe learned that there was space and use for every individual skill set and strength. ‘From creative to organisational, analytical to interpersonal, I can speak from experience that you don’t need to be a confidently assertive or extraverted person to contribute, or even to lead! There are so many different types of students, so what is better than seeing them and representing them by having a variety of different types of students on the team.’
A student’s time at Excelsia is about so much more than just the unit content that they study, and being involved in the SRC meant Tihana and Zoe were actively aware of ways to complement and enhance their fellow students’ experience. Zoe shares, ‘It became an absolute joy of mine to be able to love and support the students through both advocating for them and providing time for something on the fun side (which is equally as important, in my eyes). This kind of work and perspective can be transferred to any area of your life, and this has continued in how I approach my work as an Excelsia staff member. The students and their experience are still the core focus of what we do.’ On top of this, both Zoe and Tihana formed connections with staff and students they might not have normally interacted with outside of their Bachelor of Dramatic Art course.
Like Zoe, Tihana found the SRC a good platform to practise and learn leadership skills. ‘As an introvert, I wanted to challenge myself even though the idea of being responsible scared me. At the same time, I really wanted to make the student experience super fun, so that highly motivated me! A great skill I learned to implement was time managing well whilst studying full time, which serves me well in my admin job today at the College. I also got to practise not taking being a leader too seriously so I could enjoy experiences without feeling all the pressure on me. It was nice to be part of a good team where I could also distribute the load and each member was gifted in a specific area.’ Tihana also got to use her creative flair for student events. ‘My favourite events were “Just Dance”, which we put on as a casual way to end the week; it was very popular and requested by students. Seeing students have fun after a full-on week was cathartic, for myself included! This was a big highlight of my time at Excelsia,’ explains Tihana.
Being able to problem-solve and change the student culture one step at a time was also a rewarding by-product of Tihana’s involvement in SRC. ‘As a staff member now, walking through reception and seeing a student receptionist is a small way we changed the culture by bringing up the fact that we should produce student jobs to give jobs to current students. Another small way we changed the culture was to include more plants and greenery, which seems so miniscule, but takes me back to the meetings where we suggested more greenery in the College to bring more life and oxygen into the typical office building!’
If you want to bring your personality to the table, see real changes made to the College and help be part of the collaborative nature of the student body, why not consider signing up for the SRC? With Covid-19 restrictions now over, we are excited to bring more student events and initiatives back to the campus, so now is the BEST TIME to get involved!
If you would like to know more about what is involved, please contact Nicole O’Keeffe at assistant.registrar@excelsia.edu.au. You never know the skills or friendships you will develop!
