Round Square - First Impressions & Thoughts

This year I have decided to join the Round Square group at ISK. I actually found out about this group last year, and my friend lucie and I had originally been very interested in attending the conference - however, it didn't happen and we were slightly disappointed. Nevertheless, this month I am attending the Round Square conference in South Africa! During this conference I assume that other students and I will be coming together to discuss world issues and the IDEALS of Round Square, also venturing out to learn more about the environment and culture of our location. The IDEALS of Round Square are as follows:

I - Internationalism
D - Democracy
E - Environment
A - Adventure
L - Leadership
S - Service

These IDEALS will be incorporated into all of our conferences, and in our club at ISK we will be trying to incorporate them similarly into all of our clubs. I think that this is an extremely valid and crucial goal - so many students here at ISK view CAS as a monotonous chore that they must complete merely for CAS, while it is so much more. I think that we should appreciate where we are living in the world and all that we have, becoming more worldly and developed individuals. The IDEALS will spread out like an umbrella over ISK, and so this club is the core to all other activities. We hope to gather more students to join, as not many came to the introduction meeting. We want this to be a very open and friendly group, it will not be a "secret society" of sorts!

In Round Square at the moment we will probably be focusing mainly on democracy in the IDEALS. This is because student elections are coming up and, unfortunately, the students that are elected to become leaders are generally the extroverted popular individuals. The more introverted and quiet students are really very good leaders, and I think it's really a shame that they don't get presented with more opportunities. I am personally not extroverted and I've experienced this frustration with wanting to lead, but not having the support. I think if we manage to get elections to be more democratic and fair a great deal of students will benefit and be able to grow in their new roles.

I'm really excited to be part of this group. I'm in quite a few groups and I've seen many of the IDEALS lacking in them. I think if Round Square manages to gather momentum and take effect it will be incredible to see the changes that occur in the mindset of the students and club activity. I am excited to finally be able to make more of a difference!