My name is Charissa Feres, I identify with the ‘she’ pronoun, and I am a second-year student in law and psychology with a minor in neuroscience. I was born in Cambodia and adopted when I was a (really cute) baby. I grew up in Quebec with my two brothers and sister, before moving to Ontario and starting university. I really like to tweet (probably too much) and I play on Carleton’s Ultimate Frisbee team.
I am currently the VP (student issues and equity) for the Student Alliance for Mental Health and am the founding member of the Student Mental Health Advocacy Council. Through these positions, I am frequently engaging with a variety of students to learn about the issues that exist on campus, and to work with them and the administration to bring about improvements which will be reflected in Carleton’s next student mental health framework.
As your CUSA councillor for the faculty of arts and social sciences, I will make sure your needs are being heard by CUSA and you are aware of exactly what kinds of initiatives, programs, and decisions your tuition money is going towards. I will do this by holding regular open meetings for you to come and voice your comments, as well as by maintaining an active social media presence with easily accessible information about what CUSA is doing.
This will give me the opportunity to engage with students, get to know their needs, and advocate around the issues that affect them the most. I will also commit to making sure the CUSA executives are accountable to the student body for their promises and actions.
Students deserve to feel like their money is going towards an association that does something for them. Whether this be by improving its service centres and businesses, providing clubs with the funding they need, advocating against tuition increases and for mental health coverage in our student health plan, creating a free breakfast program, or addressing any other issue on campus, I will always strive to make sure that CUSA gives students something that money can’t buy—excellence.
Website: http://charissaferes.blogspot.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CharissaFeres
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charissa.feres
