Finding a crew at York University is an important step to settling into university life. You may be wondering where to find your future peers, mentors and colleagues — we asked ourselves the same question. In our case, we met our crew at our Work/Study position in the Communications & Marketing Department in the Division of Students!
The Division of Students are partners in student success at York U. They are committed to seeing us succeed academically, socially and personally, while working alongside us as we navigate university life. We currently work with them as student writers for the #YUBlog, a student-run blog where we share useful information and interesting experiences from a student perspective with you, the York U community.
Before continuing our story, let’s introduce ourselves:
Hi, my name is Lauren Dick, a fourth-year student majoring in Professional Writing while completing a Professional Certificate in Marketing. I love to curl up with a good story and a warm cup of tea (only English Breakfast, mind you), and I hope my blog posts encourage current and incoming students to learn more about York U and its community.
Hello! I am Sophie Morgan, and I am currently a second-year Professional Writing and French Studies double major at York U. I am an avid writer, a baking enthusiast and a full-time cat-sitter. I hope that my posts help you, whether you’re a first-year looking for resources or a fourth-year keeping up to date on what’s happening at York U!
After starting off as Communications Assistants & Bloggers in May 2018 and transitioning to YU Life Ambassadors during the 2018/2019 academic session, we’ve had many experiences, laughs and lessons that we are excited to share with you. Over the past year, we’ve created our own crew not only through our friendship, but also with the many colleagues that we have met and learned from.
Here’s a collection of some our favourite #YUBlog posts that we’ve worked on together in the past year that have lead to our most memorable experiences and useful lessons!
Becoming Social Butterflies
One huge benefit of a Work/Study position is having the opportunity to get to know so many different people from across campus and to make lasting connections. Our first opportunity to get to know the York U community was at the 2018 York U Pride Reception! We saw people from across campus at the event itself, and we met even more of you online through our first Snapchat takeover.
Throughout the event, we took photos, interviewed guests, ate rainbow cake and Snapped, of course! What made this experience particularly unique was being able to cover an event live for the first time and share it with you, our fellow York U students. Receiving positive feedback and messages during and after the takeover really warmed our hearts!
Did you know? Are you interested in becoming a social butterfly and winning a $200 gift card to the York U Bookstore? Share a photo on Twitter or Instagram showing your “Crew” using #MyCrewYU! This photo contest closes March 22 at 11:59 p.m. and is open to all York University students.
Branching Out with Technology
Even though we primarily work as writers for the #YUBlog, we have always taken the opportunity to explore and develop new skills. For the #YUBlog post “On-Campus Shopping Options,” we collaborated with our Web Developer to really amp up the quality of our blog posts. This involved learning how to use a 360-camera for the first time, improving our WordPress coding abilities and encouraging online reader engagement.
We can’t move on until we tell you how much fun the 360-camera was! We travelled across campus taking 360-shots of York U’s on-campus shopping options, and, we have to admit, there was a bit of learning curve. You may think that we are not in any of the 360-photos because we hid behind walls, corners, doors, plants and the like to ensure that you guys could get a nice, clear view of our surroundings. But, we couldn’t always tell when the camera was done taking a photo, and if you look hard enough, you may be able to find Sophie peeking out of her hiding spot too soon!
The Sweetest Video Experience
Who knew that we would be able to eat delicious, chocolatey treats while on the job? Over the course of December and most of January, we would meet with our #YUBlog crew to film the creations featured in our “Holiday Baking on a Student Budget” and “Valentine’s Day Treats on a Student Budget” blog posts!
This may sound simple, but it involved a lot more work and skill-building than we initially thought. We learned how to storyboard ideas, prepare shot lists, organize filming days, set up camera and lighting equipment and film and edit the final product. Not only did we learn a ton, but we also had fun and got to enjoy our tasty treats too!
We could go on about all of the amazing experiences that we had as #YUBloggers, but we feel that these blog posts highlight our key experiences and reflect some of the very best of what we’ve learned. We hope you’ve enjoyed a peek at our #MyCrewYU — stay tuned for our next post where we’ll be sharing some of the amazing resources that we have had access to as Work/Study students!
Who is in your #MyCrewYU? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us at @YorkUStudents.
