On April 19th 2023, UVU Rotaractors Tristin Smith, Alitha Thompson, Stephan Atkinson, and myself presented to Orem Lindon Rotarians about UVU Rotaract’s trip to the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 67). Rotaract is a student club that works with Rotary International to provide students service opportunities in their community. As a student club Rotaract provides opportunities for students like me to be involved in different activities through a Student Engaged Learning (SEL) model. SEL places focus on providing students hands-on experience in their field of study, and makes my education feel more practical by showing me how I may apply it after graduating. UVU Rotaract is a member of the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at UVU which advocates for sustainable mountain development in the State of Utah and globally.
McKay Brooks speaks about experiences at the United Nations
Our trip to CSW 67 was entirely funded by the Rotaract club. Part of this funding came from the Orem-Lindon Rotary Club from some of the funds raised by the annual orange fundraiser. The Rotarians have been supporters of UVU Rotaractors since our club reformed in 2017, so we try to keep them up to date on club activities - especially when they have supported those activities.
Tristin, Alitha, and myself prepared a presentation about our parallel event, the Kyrgyz Republic’s side event that we helped host, and the people we met at the UN. Tristin was the delegation lead, so we decided it was most appropriate to let him speak about the parallel event. The parallel event was organized by students and its goal was highlighting the knowledge and experiences of our delegation members.
UIMF has collaborated with Kyrgyz politicians for a long time since its establishment. These connections allowed us to get a foot in the door with the permanent mission from Kyrgyzstan to the UN. As the UIMF president, and the main correspondent between our delegation and the Kyrgyz Mission, we decided Alitha could best speak about the role of Rotaractors in the side event.
When at a major UN event like The Commission on the Status of Women, it is an excellent opportunity to meet people. This could be high level diplomats, or NGO members that have common goals. Alitha and Tristin were always busy ensuring the events would go as planned, so they didn’t get many opportunities to network. While I spent most of my time helping them as best I could, the opportunities I had made us feel that I was best suited to speak about that.
The Rotarians are always supportive of what our Rotaractors do, and this was no exception. They were impressed by the fact that we had been able to attend such a high-level event, speak at it, and connect to powerful people. What frustrated me about their reactions was the humility behind it. The Rotarians almost put us on a pedestal because we managed to do high level advocacy instead of the local outreach that they focus on. While high level stuff is important to influencing positive change, I consider grassroots action much more important.
Orem-Lindon Rotarians and UVU Rotaractors after presentation
The further you get from an issue, the slower things move around it. The fastest way to bring positive change to the lives of individuals is at the local level. While the things we did at the UN were impressive, the work that the Rotarians do has immediate impact on the lives of people. Something like Coats for Kids is very small scale, but the winter coats we provide for those elementary schoolers can have a greater impact on their lives than we will ever know. Despite my best efforts, I’m not quite sure I succeeded in convincing the Rotarians they’re as cool as I think they are.
SEL is as much about teaching others as it is learning from them. The nature of being an inclusive process means taking expertise from wherever it is available and using it as best you can. Most of the SEL education I have gained from my studies at UVU has placed me in the role of learner, and it was a wonderful change of pace to be the teacher this time.
McKay Brooks - UVU Rotaract Vice President
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STUDENT REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
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