Love, Courtney

Dear Review Panel,

I am writing this all the way from the East Coast of the United States - yes! Believe it or not, the Social Impact Studio has reached its impact transcontinentally! My name is Courtney Windju and I was Sze-En’s very first Unicrew intern. This was back in 2014, when I was a rising third-year student at the University of San Diego. I was planning to study abroad in New Zealand and needed to take an internship class to fulfill my Leadership minor prerequisites. Contrary to most International Students who are preparing to take as few classes as possible in order to maximize their social outings and exploration of a new country, I thought, what better opportunity than to complete my internship credits internationally? And that I did, thanks to the help of one of my University professor’s who had put me in contact with someone at the Otago Uni Career Center. She, in turn, passed me along to Sze-En who had just entered her role at the evolved Social Impact Studio. It was one of those “when the teacher is ready, the student appears” circumstances. And it may be a longshot to say Sze-En was “ready” for an intern at that time, but seeing she had manifested me into existence, she thought, heck, why not?! And, I am endlessly grateful - and indebted to Sze-En - that she decided to take a chance on me (and many others over the years) in our involvement with UniCrew, Silverline and the Social Impact Studio. 

I am happy to say that since my involvement with UniCrew in 2014 for just one semester, I have connected with Sze-En in person twice and we continue to stay in contact with one another. Sze-En and I met at the Festival for the Future in Auckland in 2017 and again in 2018 when I visited New Zealand. She is one of those Salt of the Earth, kind of humans. You meet her once and you will forever be connected to her in some way, shape or form. 

I recall working with Sze-En and being enamored by her constant flow of ideas, her ability to provide both gentle and constructive feedback, and of course, the collage of colorful sticky notes and washi tape spread across her original, tiny corner office. Her vision has always been very intentional, but not so rigid as to miss out on the opportunities and curations of the students, which is the sole purpose of the Social Impact Studio’s existence. I have watched UniCrew engage and transform students’ lives, I had the pleasure to take part in Aspire, the tutoring program for local primary school students to connect with Uni students and their community and Sze-En’s tenacious and creative spirit which continues to attract and flow new energy and ideas through the Social Impact Studio. The Social Impact Studio and all of its offerings is an invaluable asset to the University of Otago Community. 

Sincerely,

Courtney Windju