Shape Futures, Build Friendships: Volunteer for REACH
Do you want to make a meaningful difference in London? Get involved with the USC? Gain experience as a mentor? Find like-minded friends?
Apply to volunteer for The Early Outreach Conference (REACH) to make a lasting impact on London’s youth! Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Taking 70 to 80 student volunteers from Western, REACH is a three-day conference in May hosted by the USC.
Each year, seventh- and eighth-grade students in areas with high drop-out rates visit Western, enjoying a free stay in O-Hall and all-you-can-eat meals.
Designed to motivate these young students to pursue post-secondary education, REACH lets them explore university life in a safe environment.
Interested in helping out? The application deadline for REACH has been extended to December 9, 2024! You can read more about the program and apply for one of 70 to 80 volunteer positions on the Early Outreach website.
Why Should You Apply?
As a volunteer Leadership Developer (LD), you’ll lead activities like a campus-wide scavenger hunt, a group dance at the Wave, and a talent show for the young students—also known as delegates.
Throughout your time at REACH, you’ll introduce your small group of delegates to life as a university student and the opportunities it provides. Responsible for their well-being and enjoyment, you’ll also be their role model during their stay at Western.
Central to the conference are “Elective Talks,” where delegates rotate between various lectures on subjects of their choosing, such as medical sciences, business, and nursing. As an LD, you’ll get to see your delegates discover new interests and dreams.
Still on the fence? Listen to Arani Harimohan, the USC’s Early Outreach Coordinator who oversees the program’s operations, describe some of her experiences.
Volunteers Share Their Experiences
Harimohan has been involved with REACH all four years she’s been at Western. Climbing the ranks year after year, she started by volunteering as an LD and now works as the Program Coordinator.
Urging students to get involved, Harimohan explains why she keeps returning to the program:
“The main reason I keep coming back every year is because you never really know what you’re getting into! Every year, I meet new delegates with so much optimism but also so much going on in their lives. It helps me gain a lot of perspective.”
For Harimohan, REACH stands out among the other volunteer work she’s done. To explain how meaningful her REACH experience has been, she tells a heartwarming story from her second year as an LD.
“I had a delegate who was honestly a huge pain to deal with. He tried to run away any chance he got, and I know people who sprained their ankles chasing him,” she recounted. “Then, one night before bed, he came up to me, gave me a hug, and said ‘I know I’ve been a hassle. Thanks for sticking by me.’ It was so moving.”
If you need even more reason to apply, Randall Tacata, the program’s Director of Marketing and a fourth-year student at Western, has more to say.
Immigrating to Canada from the Philippines in 2018, Tacata was taken aback by the opportunities he found in university.
“I felt so privileged to be able to achieve my dreams,” he said. “At Western, I was able to pursue the career I wanted and finally be somewhere I wanted to be.”
Tacata wants more of London’s youth to be able to achieve their post-secondary dreams too. Having grown up in financial disparity, he also felt a duty to give back to young students going through similar struggles. For Tacata, REACH is deeply personal.
“As someone who’s been in a position where I had nothing, REACH is close to my heart,” he explained. “I see myself reflected in a lot of the delegates. It really resonates with me because I can say, ‘Oh, I was once there too!’”
The connections both Tacata and Harimohan made at REACH lasted far beyond those three days. Tacata went bowling with the executive team recently, and Harimohan still has some of her delegates’ Snapchats. They both describe the people they met as their “second family.”
So, what are you waiting for? Apply now and meet your second family!
