RN says volunteering is about creating a sense of community

To honour National Volunteer Week we’ll be highlighting a select few of the great volunteers from our nursing community. Throughout the week expect to hear from nurses and students who manage busy schedules yet still find time for causes close to their hearts.

Leadership isn’t about acquiring titles or “building up your resume.” To me, it’s about those fun and fulfilling feelings you get when you create a sense of community, radiate infectious energy, and give back to others in ways that are meaningful to them.

In retrospect, I smile when I think about my experiences as vice-president academic for both the Year One Nursing Council (YONC) and the Undergraduate Nursing Society (UNS). Amongst other things in YONC and UNS, my team and I introduced the inaugural anatomy and physiology mock exams, and it put us in high spirits to hear the positive feedback, and to see the high level of engagement and camaraderie.

Too often, I found myself missing the nursing community at UCalgary, and so, determined to re-engage my fellow alumni as well as current students and future alumni, I shimmied my way back and was happy to have found a place on the alumni executive committee.

Given that we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel all of our events, including the much anticipated alumni and student joint mock job interviews.

Notwithstanding, I’m not only hopeful that everyone’s staying as safe and healthy as they can be, but also optimistic that as soon as we can resume our work, we’re going to divulge innovative ideas and re-energize our communities.

MJ Calungcaguin is a child and adolescent mental health RN who currently works as a collaborative care lead for all the inpatient adolescent psychiatry units in Calgary.