Presidential welcome

WHAT MORE CAN WE say about 2020? This year has been a once-in-a-generation experience and yet, despite the challenges that have popped up over and over again, we as the president and vice president of UTSoC could not be prouder of the team that has adapted and thrived through this unprecedented period. At the start of the year, we set out to support and provide meaningful experiences for our members. The way we needed to go about this quickly changed and gave us the opportunity to convert these experiences into the online space. We were physically distanced, yet socially connected.

This year provided us with obstacles that we hurdled over with innovative ideas that engaged our members. We were the first ActivateUTS society to host an online trivia, where we had 88 participants playing with us. We also held an online escape room, a Strava club (for all of our sporting enthusiasts!), and a mask-making event to give back to the community.

We also provided plenty of networking opportunities for our first-year members through our Big Orange Little Orange (BOLO) program, where we held weekly zoom calls to catch up and make new friends. Our First Year Representative also helped out by running the UTSoC First Year Communications page and providing support, encouragement and advice. We were stoked to be able to connect with first years and introduce them to the campus with our First Year Meet and Greet and the Know Your Clubs trivia night event.

Another proud achievement for our society this year was our Job Truth Series careers panel with ActivateUTS. We were extremely privileged to have communication professionals from Samsung, AFL, Buzzfeed and Depop share their insights to the 65 attendees. This panel was the highlight of our careers portfolio, who also provided ongoing job opportunities and LinkedIn tips.

Finally, our publications team have revolutionised The Comma in 2020, reaching a phenomenal 250 articles published and there’s no stopping them! The publications team provided students with prompts, support, editing, an amazing platform on Facebook, the website, this physical magazine and a competition, to bring light to their work and add value to their degree.

This summary has not given our team justice for the countless hours behind the scenes to provide you, our members, with the opportunities to enhance your university experience. This year was not the year we expected, but if there is one takeaway that we learned from all of this, it is that not even a bloody global pandemic can stop any one of us.

Calvin Lu President

Ainsley Jones Vice-President