Connections Archive

Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations editorial intern

Outgoing Avondale Student Association (ASA) president Imogen Menzies and incoming president Natalie Verehoven have similar aspirations for the student body at Avondale College.

Imogen, who will be graduating next year, found it difficult to balance the responsibilities of her role as president with her studies. However, she learned a lot--how to network, how to organise and prioritise, and, most of all, about the internal workings of Avondale--in the position. What would she do differently? "I would try to promote ASA earlier rather than later in the year," she says.

Imogen is happy with the progress she made this year on improving communication between ASA and staff members. "We've opened the lines of communication between the administration and the students, which was one of my main goals this year." She is also happy with the efforts of staff members and students to improve communication, but she would like to see both make more progress in this area. She will continue to contribute as a communicator and serve as a leader next year in her new role as editor of the student journal, The Voice.

When asked what advice she would give to Natalie, she said, "Prepare everything before the academic year, be assertive and, above all, don't be afraid to ask for help from your team and from the faculty."

Natalie is studying primary education and will be graduating at the end of next year. She is "definitely worried" about her studies. "Academic achievement is very important to me," she says. "Imogen and I are both 'yes' people, so I expect, like Imogen, it will be challenging to find balance, but with the support of my team, it should be a good year."

She supports Imogen's call to improve communication but extends it to include communication with staff members and students on the Sydney campus. "If we work as a whole, we can achieve more," she says. She would also like all counsellors to be more accessible to on- and off-campus students.

Director of student services Kevin Judge is looking forward to working with Natalie. "The students made a good choice. It is going to be a good year."