I’m sitting at a coffee shop located on the land of Mi’kma’ki, and I’m grateful to be here. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, I’m sipping an iced matcha, and my roommate is napping in front of me. It’s warm outside and I find myself longing for another Wolfville summer; maybe this is an experience you share or are looking forward to creating soon. Having spent my most recent summer working at The Rolled Oat on Main Street and coaching a local youth swim team, I developed a richer appreciation for the Town of Wolfville and a deeper love for the East Coast. If you told me at my high school graduation that in three and a-half-years I would be in my third year at Acadia, having switched degrees halfway through my time here, joined the Varsity Swim Team, and become involved in student governance, I would have been speechless. Although my experience at Acadia has been relatively simple and positive, I would be naïve to assume that every student could say the same. They say that “you’re only as strong as your weakest link”, and although it’s cliché, in the context of our postsecondary institutional setting I believe this reigns true. Every system has areas that can and should be improved upon: unlearning a system that was established through colonization and rebuilding one that supports an equitable and inclusive environment for all students must be put into action. It is our job as a Students’ Union to assess the wants and needs of the student community, and this is highly achievable through increased consultation with the student body. Your ideas and voices are what will propel the ASU forward into creating a transparent, harmonious, and sustainable Students’ Union for yourselves and generations to come.

Sadie McAlear for ASU President 2022/23