Hi, Lakeside! I’m Isabelle, a PhD student in the French department, and after my previous role as the Lakeside Secretary, I’m now running to be the committee Chair for the 2024-25 year.
For the past two years as Secretary, I’ve facilitated communication between Lakeside residents and admin by taking detailed minutes at the Town Halls and responding promptly to committee emails and Slack questions. But beyond this role of relaying information, I’ve also sought to be an active advocate on behalf of residents, by taking the initiative to follow up with management about ongoing issues and to implement student suggestions: to give one example, last year, I
helped spearhead the initiative to purchase sports equipment for the Lakeside property (which can now be found near the volleyball court for anyone to check out). One of the Chair’s main duties is to ensure that committee decisions are carried out, and I believe my efforts as Secretary have prepared me to take on this leadership.
As Chair, I will have a greater organizational role in planning and running Town Halls, and will make sure to send on-time reminders to residents to encourage greater participation. I will also be happy to be involved in coordinating social activities––I’m already hoping to bring back the extract-making event around the holidays, and would love to collaborate with the Garden Coordinator to do a vegetable pickling event next season!
Finally, one of my main goals as Chair is to continue the partnership we’ve already built with the Office of Sustainability and hold donation drives on a more regular basis, in addition to the one we already do through the Greening Move-Out initiative. Especially around move-in and move-out time, there is always confusion about miscellaneous items left around the mailrooms––are they donations, or trash, or do they belong to someone? I would love to find a systematic solution for this, perhaps by setting up an ongoing designated donation area at Lakeside, so that our community can be cleaner, more sustainable, and more respectful of everyone’s property.
Thanks!