Our Stories

By Eddie Chow, student leader

Nearing the end of my four years in my undergraduate, it’s wild to think that I’ve been volunteering with Student Open Circles for over ...

By Elizabeth Zhou, student leader

It’s amazing how the people we surround ourselves with influence who we become. In Student Open Circles, we intentionally create communities of belonging and service, the kind of spaces that ...

By Elliot Fung, student leader

I asked my mentee to read the word “each.” He paused to think about it, frowning and fidgeting, a million thoughts running through his ...

After two years of Zoom screenshots, we're excited to share photos of some of our recent in-person gatherings and weekly volunteer groups. Students are loving being together “IRL” and so are we!

by Jay Patel, student

Above photo: Jay (middle) tells other students about Open Circle at a Welcome Week event (first time in a long while we’ve been able to do this ...

Madeline and Shunmathi have been involved in Student Open Circles for long enough to remember our pre-pandemic, in-person ways of being together. Most of the current students in this community ...

by Madeline Koo, student leader

Volunteering with Student Open Circles (SOC) has taught me so much more than just giving back to the community. It has taught me how ...

by Abhiraj Minhas, student leader

Having volunteered with the Reading Rocks program for over a year, I have been able to provide students who identi-fy as having a learning disability ...

by Shunmathi Shanmugam, student leader

During these challenging times, Student Open Circles is supporting resilience in students and in the Hamilton community, continually adapting to changing needs with new programs starting up this spring. Resilience ...

by Yashasvi Yadav, student leader

I got involved in Student Open Circles in the fall term after the pandemic started. In the midst of persistent lockdowns, global grief surrounding ...