Olivia Henderson is already thinking about how she’s going to welcome students to Wilson College – even though she just went through the experience herself a few months ago.
For Henderson, a first-year student at the Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement who was recently chosen as its Welcome Week planner, having that experience so recently is an asset: “What I’ve just taken away from [it] is what I can apply to what we’re going to do in this coming Welcome Week.”
Welcome Week planners are normally upper-year students. But Wilson College doesn’t have those yet – the program welcomed its inaugural cohort this year. Regardless, it’s an opportunity that suits Henderson.
“I like to stay involved on campus,” she said. “I have a very long list of extracurriculars.”
That includes: general member of the MACaws, vice-president of events for Artists of Colour, tutor and academic mentor, mentee with the Black Student Mentorship Program, Wilson College ambassador, member of the Food Dining Advisory Council and YWACA Steering Committee, and running events with the Black Student Success Centre.
A long list, indeed.
The opportunity to become deeply involved with the McMaster community was one of the things that drew her to Wilson College, with its emphasis on building leaders. Other draws included the small class sizes, working with like-minded people, and the ability to explore majors in both the Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Social Sciences.
She also remembers seeing that it was a “good base to build upon if you were interested in working in policy, community, administration, civic engagement.”
Henderson has several long-term ambitions, but the top two are project management and working in housing development policy, particularly on sustainability and affordable housing.
“That’s always been what I’ve been interested in – leadership and advocating for your own community.”
Culture and leadership
On a winter’s evening in February, Black artists from McMaster gathered in Togo Salmon Hall for the Black & Bold Art Exhibition, organized by the Black Students’ Association. The exhibits included fashion, music, and visual art; Henderson’s work was among them.
“I’ve always wanted to have my art in an exhibit,” Henderson said. “It was really inspiring to see other people who were where I want to be in the future, art-wise and also major-wise, extracurricular-wise. It’s really good to get to talk to these people and gain insight into the artistic scene at McMaster.”
Through the BSA and BSSC, Henderson has forged strong connections with Black student communities on campus. “Culture and leadership is where I am very comfortable,” she said. “Getting to meet new people who are, again, like-minded, leadership-oriented, and just interested in advocating for their community is definitely something that I’ve connected with.”
She’s excited to do even more in her next few years on campus. Wilson College students get a Combined Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Leadership and Civic Studies along with another major in Social Sciences or Humanities. Henderson is leaning towards either Anthropology or Environment & Society for her second major.
She’s also excited for the community engagement course that Wilson College students take in their fourth year, and all of the coming opportunities they’ll get to be out in the community working on projects, working with people and really putting the leadership and civic engagement into practice.
She’s going to bring that same ethos into the Welcome Week activities for the incoming Wilson College cohort this fall – engaging them with the core concepts of the college, including leadership, community engagement, advocacy and public service, and drawing on ideas from her classmates to build the best introduction for the incoming students.
“One thing that I’m excited to do is really pay attention to who of the students are engaged in our Welcome Week activities, and who looks like they’re a bit more reserved, but want to be engaged – so I can really focus on making sure that everyone’s included,” Henderson said.
“That’s definitely something I’m interested in as someone who used to be a little more introverted than I am now.”
Being a Welcome Week planner as a second year feels “crazy” to her on some levels. The planners she’s met have exclusively been third- and fourth-year students.
“But also, Welcome Week [is] more about introducing people to McMaster and having fun and keeping it light. So I think it’ll be really cool.”