McGill SOS lends helping hand on campus and abroad
By Neale McDevitt
McGill SOS put the win in win-win. A Students’ Society of McGill University club, Students Offering Support has been in operation since 2008, offering people a variety of exam-preparation services for a nominal fee. And what could be better than getting a little help to ace that upcoming Principals of Taxation final exam? How about knowing that your $10 is going to send SOS volunteers abroad to help with a myriad of much-needed work in everything from earthquake recovery efforts to bridge building to community development?
Typically, Exam-Aid sessions range in size from 20-50 students and are led by a fellow student who has previously excelled in that particular course. Each three-hour session covers midterms or exams and includes major concepts and theories, definitions, possible questions, focus areas and common errors. Students also receive a review package to study with afterwards.
“Right now, our executive committee and volunteers are gearing up for finals,” says Evangeline Seganathy, of McGill SOS. “Ultimately the goal of SOS is to reach as many students as possible in order to provide as much assistance as we can to our outreach trip in Latin America.”
Students Offering Support was born in 2004 as a student association at Wilfrid Laurier University. The SOS initiative has been consistently growing for the past eight years, having raised over $130,000 for communities in need in Kenya, Belize, Honduras and Jamaica. In 2008, McGill established the only SOS chapter in Quebec. Over the past four years McGill SOS has tutored over 1,200 students and raised nearly $15,000.
McGill SOS is always looking for tutors. For more info, visit www.mcgillsos.ca or write to sosmcgill@gmail.com