Meet Anthea Zeng! This third-year Arts and Sciences student is the co-chair of Red & White, an event spanning the month of April that aims to prepare graduating students for the real world. Read on to find out more about how she became involved with Red & White, and what we can expect from the event this year.
Maya Koparkar for HerCampus McGill (HC McGill): How did you become involved with the planning of Red & White?
Anthea Zeng (AZ): I was able to become co-chair of Red & White through my involvement with SSPN. SSPN, or the Students’ Society Programming Network, is a committee of about 20 students who work under the portfolio of the SSMU VP Internal. Our job is to work with SSMU to organize large campus events. These range from very large, talked-about events like 4Floors, Grad Frosh, and Faculty Olympics, to smaller ones, such as organizing a game of Capture the Flag on Lower Field. While we all work together to plan most of the events throughout the year, each member has the opportunity to co-chair one event for the year, so I was chosen as one of the co-chairs for Red & White.
HC McGill: What is Red & White?
AZ: Red & White is kind of the last big event (besides Grad Frosh) that we put on specifically for students who are graduating from McGill. Our aim is to give people a bit of experience for the “real world” to help them gear up for life after college. To do this, we work in conjunction with Campus Life and Engagement as well as the McGill Alumni Association.
HC McGill: When is Red & White, and what sort of activities can we expect to see this year?
AZ: Our first wave of events is April 12th and 14th, where we are offering LinkedIn Headshots and CV review sessions. We will also be holding a panel with McGill Alumni who are currently employed in fields like Human Resources and Recruitment to talk about what stands out when applying for jobs. The rest of our programming is at the end of April, where we will be featuring a Recognition Reception for nominees of the Community Impact Award, Last Chance Lectures with all-star professors, and an alumni networking brunch.
HC McGill: What are some of the other ways to get involved in Red & White besides attending events?
AZ: We’re featuring our Bucket List Challenge, where people post their list of the Top 5 things to do in Montreal/McGill before graduating and nominate 3 of their friends to do the same, using the hashtags #mcgillbucketlist and #redandwhite2016. All participants will be entered into a draw to win prizes. We also have the Community Impact Award, which is a staple in the Red & White event agenda.
HC McGill: What is the Community Impact Award, and how can someone get involved?
AZ: The award recognizes projects that are run by graduating students, which have had a positive impact on the community and will continue to do so. Contenders are asked to submit a short video outlining their project name, goals, and impact before April 10th. A semi-finalist shortlist will be chosen, at which point the rest of the McGill community can vote on a project. Whoever has the most votes will be the winner and recieve their award at the Recognition Reception.
HC McGill: In what ways does Red & White look different than previous years?
AZ: This is only the third year Red & White has been part of our events portfolio, so it’s definitely still a new event on the McGill sphere. That said, this year we’ve managed to make the event free for everyone, which is great on the inclusivity front. We’ve also managed to pack in lots of professional development-oriented activities so that all graduates can hit the ground running.
HC McGill: Where can we find more information about upcoming events?
AZ: You can visit our website or find out on our Facebook event page.
Images provided by interviewee.