It’s another new (school) year!

Today’s post comes from Taniya Nagpal. Taniya is a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Health Science, Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario. She is also the current Chair of the OC-SNP National Executive.

We celebrate a New Year on January 1^st but don’t you think we should also celebrate on the first day of school in September? Since Kindergarten, a “new year” often refers to a new school year. In fact even after you complete school, September still may give you all of the “new year” feelings! Well, that’s the same for us. September means another new year for our Students and New Professionals chapters across the country. This year we even have a new name, we are the OC-SNPS, representing Obesity Canada at our post-secondary institutions.

A big welcome to all of our new members at the individual chapters! We wish all of our chapters the best of luck as they go ahead with planning and organizing another year of great events, initiatives and more! We also would like to welcome this year’s executive council, please visit the OC-SNP page to meet the executive and stay up to date with our upcoming projects this year: https://obesitycanada.ca/snp/.

The national executive team hopes to continue some of our initiatives from previous years including The Pedometer Challenge (March 2019), The Infographic Competition (October 2018) and The Mentorship Program (Ongoing). Additionally, last year we had a strong focus on Women in Science. We shared motivational quotes from female scientists on our social media, and hosted a series of events at the Canadian Obesity Student Meeting to highlight Women in Science including a mentorship breakfast and panel discussion. This year, we hope to add on to what we have done by also focusing on Diversity in Science. To do this, we will be sharing blog posts that highlight and celebrate the diversity in Canada at large, but also specifically within our Obesity Canada community. The executive team will be continuing to brainstorm and plan new and exciting projects. If you have any ideas you would like to share with the team please email us at con.snp@gmail.com (please note that this email will be changing shortly, please visit the OC-SNP webpage for further updates https://obesitycanada.ca/snp/). Stay up to date by following us on social media (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SNPOC; Twitter: @SNPOC).

Obesity Canada provides students and new professionals with many opportunities including: 1. Space to share your research (e.g. the Canadian Obesity Student Meeting and The Summit); 2. Opportunities for mentorship (e.g. The Mentorship Program); 3. Educational and networking events (e.g. Obesity Summer School); 4. Leadership roles (e.g. OC-SNP chapters); and more! Obesity Canada connects students to their peers across the country and also provides a space to connect with professionals in various fields related to obesity. Our “new year’s resolution” is to keep growing and contribute to the Obesity Canada mission – To improve the lives of Canadians affected by obesity through the advancement of anti-discrimination, prevention and treatment efforts.

Here’s to another New (school) Year!