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29| O akville B eaver | T hursday,July 5,2018 insidehalton.com headed a host of initiatives during her two years in student government and in her roles within OSTA-AECO, including get- ting student representation on a number of board-level committees and transform- ing the student election process, but one of the achievements she is most widely known for is working with student trust- ees across Ontario to create a "student platform" of 16 government recommenda- tions that include a strong focus on mental health and suicide prevention. "It's the first major platform that stu- dents in this province - maybe even in Can- ada - have put together to say to the govern- ment, here are policy recommendations that you need to implement in your elec- tion platforms, particularly for education, and it had a very significant impact in terms of making mental health a priority," she said. "I'm really proud of all the work that went into making that report and all the work we put into making sure the voic- es of students were heard." Metropolitansky says her main goal in getting involved with student government was to represent a variety of student voices and to make sure their individual opinions and concerns were heard. Prior to her in- volvement as a student trustee, she spent years competing as a debater on Canada's national team, travelling to national and international competitions, and the skills she acquired there propelled her into her next role. She says she realized she could speak confidently and had a knack for persua- sion, but she wanted to hone her skills and really make a difference. "I really love debate; I love it because it's intellectually stimulating ... but I think what it made me realize is when you do de- bate, you can give the most incredible speech in the world, but there really is no impact to the speech," she said. "I think the transition to student gov- ernment was really important for me be- cause I wanted to use the skills I had actu- ally learned in debate to impact things, particularly for students." At her final board of trustees meeting on June 20, Metropolitansky received the Jack A. MacDonald Award of Merit for a sound academic record and outstanding community service and leadership. She says she hopes future student trust- ees continue building upon some of the leg- acies being left behind, but also that they continue to put forward projects that they themselves are passionate about. COMMUNITY lContinued from page 28 Harvard-bound student 'loves' what she does 3136 Dundas Street West, Oakville, ON (Bronte Rd & Dundas St.) verveseniorliving.com CALL TODAY FOR YOUR PERSONAL TOUR! 905-582-0395 *CONDITIONS APPLY 1 in 4 women experience abuse.e1 in 4 women se.xperience abu For as little as $5, text RUBY to 45678 to help. YOUR DONATION CAN CHANGE LIVES.OUR DONATION CAN CHANGE LIVES.OUR DONATION CAN CHANGE LIVES.YOUR DONATION CAN CHANGE LIVES.Y TO DONATE GO TOTO DONATE GO TOWWW.RUBYCAMPAIGN.CA Made for Seniors *some conditions may apply. Request your FREE Menu 1-844-409-0050 HeartToHomeMeals.ca Over 200 convenient frozen meals, soups, and desserts delivered directly to your home. Simple. Free Delivery.* No Obligation. Convenient and ready.