Sessions Coordinator Portfolio 2007-2008

Wow, as cliché as it sounds, time does fly by oh so quickly. A year ago, I never thought of running for this position as I felt that I would have difficulties coping with the additional workload. Also, there was this preconception that this role requires a vast knowledge of the Church and its teachings. However, after some discussion, much pondering, coupled with praying, I decided to contest for this position. Now, one year later, I can say with great conviction that I truly enjoyed my work as a session coordinator and the time spent in the committee.

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Sessions are a major aspect of COSDU and the role of the session coordinator is to determine the content of the weekly sessions. This may seem overwhelming initially but really, it’s very manageable. A few tips that I have learnt from my predecessors and some that I’ve picked up along the way may be useful to those who are thinking about running for this role.

Start planning early!
Decide upon the theme (if u wish to have one) for the semester, come up with topics & find relevant speakers (if applicable) during the holidays. That way, u can have more time when semester starts.
Prepare your speakers!
Give them advanced notice and remind them about their sessions. Speakers can be busy at times and it’s important to keep them informed.
Seek help!
There are always people around to help u if u need it. Talk to our spiritual advisors (Sr. Delma & Fr McKenna) if u need ideas for sessions. Get aid from ur committee in preparing logistics for sessions. Speak to cosdu to get feedback on sessions. And of coz, feel free to approach myself or any previous session coordinator.

An important point to note is ur role in the committee is not simply overseeing sessions. The committee functions effectively when each member strives to do more than what their portfolio describes. A vital focus is also to keep in mind the motto of COSDU: a family away from home, growing together with Christ. God is the center of our community and the desire to serve with love is our action.

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It is always satisfying at the end of each session for me. Talking to cosdu and finding out how they felt about it. There are hits and also misses, but everyone does gain something out of each session.

There are countless fond memories I have of COSDU and many of them occurred while serving the community. Our committee was a very chapalang/rojak mix but that made it interesting as we bonded through time, either via good or bad ones. I love the committee that I’m in and I truly thank each one of them for the joy they brought me.

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That said, I’m indeed excited about the new era/generation of COSDU. With WYD coming up, I have a positive feeling that it will be an exciting year ahead for COSDU. Therefore, the challenge for the committee would be to catch the wave… and ride it. In particular, for those considering the position of session coordinator, I encourage u to spend some time pondering and praying over it. I also challenge the incoming coordinator to continually bring cosdu to greater heights in spiritual growth. :)

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wah, I’m really getting old and long-winded sia. Better not say so much oredi. Anw, to the new session coordinator: me will have a nice long chat during the handover. Heh heh heh…
This year’s AGM better be more exciting than last year’s..

Okay, good luck! tata…adios.... ciao.. sayonara.. peace out..

Liturgy Coordinator Portfolio 2007-2008

The duty of Liturgy Coordinator is to prepare Mass. This includes:
- Get a priest
- Get readings for Mass
- Get readers and volunteers
- Set up the altar for Mass
- Assist Father during Mass

Being the Liturgy Coordinator was not as easy as I thought. At the beginning, I did not have any contact with priests and I did not know who to invite. Fortunately, with the help of the previous Liturgy Coordinator and President, Ramesh, and previous chaplain, Sr. Theresa, I was able to obtain a list of contact details of priests.

Before I became the Liturgy Coordinator, I thought it would be easy to get a priest as priests are usually nice and always willing to help when people ask for help. It is true that priests are nice and all the priests that I have contacted with are most willing to celebrate Mass with us. However, sometimes priests are busy too. They may not be available to celebrate Mass with us on the day we want. So I actually need to look for priest. I will advise my successor to allow sufficient time for him/herself to get a priest.

I also thought that COSDU members were more willing to be readers for Mass. Later I found out that not everyone wanted to be reader nor they would like to sing in front of other people. This made it harder to find different readers for every Mass. Again, I would advise my successor to prepare for Mass earlier.

Preparing for Mass is not a problem if I do it earlier. I feel lucky and glad that there are usually more people come to Mass than I expect. I do not need to worry about lack of participants at Mass. However, I may worry about insufficient booklets. Even though I have made a lot of mistakes as a Liturgy Coordinator, I have tried my best. Thank you for everyone who has helped me and I have learnt a lot since I had no experience as an altar boy until I became Liturgy Coordinator.

All the best to the next committee, especially the next Liturgy Coordinator, and I hope to see more different priests celebrating Mass with COSDU in the future.

Music Coordinator Portfolio 2007-2008

The role of a music coordinator is to act as a mentor and leader to guide and lead the group in all music related aspects of COSDU in the course of his/her duty. It is his/her responsibility to prepare appropriate songs/hymns for Mass as well as for praise and worship sessions. The Music Coordinator will get the readings from the Liturgy Coordinator to aid in his/her preparation for songs/hymns choices.

Having a good leadership quality is essential and imperative to achieve group cohesion, unity and control. The primary role is to lead and be in control of situations at all times. In order to gain a successful and fruitful practice session, early planning and preparation for each session and giving sufficient notice to musicians and singers for practice dates are compulsory. He/she also needs to arrange and organise reasonable number and duration of practices to ensure a smooth flow of deliverance for the events. He/she will aim to encourage more members to be part of the music group. In accordance to that goal, it is the duty of the music coordinator to teach and guide the musicians in the style of performance and playing.

Music coordinator also needs to fuse authority with musicians’ views. It is necessary to create a safe and friendly environment for members to voice their comments and ideas, in a constructive and respectful manner. Feedbacks will be taken into consideration and new ideas explored. Upon deliberation, the music coordinator, bearing the role of a leader, will emerge with a final decision.

Music coordinator also acts as a facilitator to members in the group. He/she needs to nurture members’ interest in music and strive to build members’ self esteem and confidence in performance. By providing a supportive, motivating and a stable framework, it will encourage members’ ownership of performance and an increased level of group commitment.

The music sessions should be one that aims to be people friendly, fun and enjoyable for everyone to attend and bond. It should be an avenue where members come to bond and build upon stronger relationships with one another and to grow in faith and love together.

Publicity Coordinator Portfolio 2007-2008

Synthesis of Publicita Coordinata

Background

More than a year ago, I joined COSDU, and after Easter Camp, COSDU was becoming more homely and warm day by day, and I wanted to serve God by serving COSDU. So I decided to run for the position of Treasurer at AGM. No other positions really appealed to me, and so I never considered any other alternatives. Until AGM that day. One way or another, I found myself with the position of Publicity Coordinator.

Aims

The aim of this role is to publicise COSDU and to publicise God, to members within and people out of COSDU. It is making known to others about COSDU as a platform towards love, friendship and support. The objectives include increasing the number of COSDUans, making the newbies feel welcomed, informing on COSDU events, and encouraging people to go for it. Publicising God entails all these plus the effort to make and maintain friendships with all indiscriminately.

Method

1) Send emails that are informative, attention seeking, yet concise. Emails must be punctual to allow time for members to plan ahead. Emails must always be in a positive tone and bring a positive message. cosdu.melbuni@gmail.com

2) Maintain the blog. Information on the blog includes our history, our session programmes, links, pictures, current updates on events and sessions, and write ups on our activities. Blog audience includes those who cannot be bothered to check my emails, those whose emails are lost in their inbox, those not on our mailing list, or those who do not remember details from emails but do so from the blog. The blog should be informative, attention seeking, and can be long winded. http://cosdu.blogspot.com/

3) Work closely with the Socialia Activita Coordinata, on the major events such as Scavenger Hunt and Sports Day, especially regarding getting sufficient numbers. This is where Publicity kicks in.

4) Orientation. Getting numbers for COSDU in general. Setting up the booth and getting as many current members to help and participate in expanding our gang.

5) Exam Prayer Calendar. Once the exam timetable is out (this week..), everyone's exam dates should be collected and tabulated into a calendar so that we can all pray for each other.

6) The Committeeed Member. Being a member of the comm, regardless of post, race and religion, means that we should work closely with each other, support each other out of our own portfolios, and strive for greater bonding, fellowship, unity and faith to make things happen.

Results and Discussion

Fulfilment in achieving the aims I set myself out with, which includes getting sufficient numbers for this sem. Seeing the vibrancy of our current members make me feel happy and youthful (but elderly in comparison..) and full of hope for COSDU's future. I am really glad to have had the chance to be in this committee. Working for COSDU with them gave me closer friendships and a greater attachment to this family than I ever imagined. We've not only have had fun but lots of ups and downs as well, which makes it all the more memorable and to be cherished.

From the start I've thought myself as shy and not sociable (but now that I'm writing this that statement can hardly be convincing), so taking on the role of the Public Relations Officer of the COSDU corporation seemed daunting. The first thing I did was to define what Publicity Coord meant, and that is clearly stated in the Aims. My first step involved overcoming fears to type emails (which is equivalent to electronic mass speaking) and writing blog posts to a seemingly wide audience, and to be confident in doing so in my own style. I had to learn the ropes of how gmail works, the intricacies of our current blog layout, the convenience of flickr and its slide shows. I learnt that uploading and desizing hobart's pictures takes a lot of time, but are worth the effort in every while when you see them speaking thousands of words. I've had to learn punctuality in sending out emails in time, posting on the blog asap, and in arriving for comm meetings and COSDU events. I learn that orgainizing events and liasing with people are nothing to frightened of; that reaching out and talking to people and creating conversations come with practice and a genuine self to want to know a person who is in God's image. These are some of the few challenges that I faced.

Conclusion

My point being, don't be afraid of running for any position. You may not feel you have any of the characteristics required for a certain position, but as long as you are serious about doing your best, are open to learning the ropes, and have the time and discipline to commit to this job, synthesis of Publicita Coordinata should yield a high percentage. And don't forget that you should always communicate and run to your comm for help, just as they can when they need you. On a side note, just make sure your president finds his own PA from outside the comm.

Social Activities Coordinator Portfolio 2007-2008

One year has gone past, but a year wiser nevertheless. In May 2007, I was given the chance by the COSDU members to act as the Social Activities Coordinator and it was one wild roller coaster ride. Fast, scary, but fun. During my term, I learnt to have a balance between being a student as well as a committed committee member. Why, you might ask would I want to put more pressure on myself? Isn’t studying hard enough? Paradoxically, the answer is yes and no. Yes, studying is hard, and no, it will never be hard enough to stop me from serving COSDU who has done so much to enrich my life.

As for my experience as a maturing person, I learnt a few things although not everything was rosy and sweet. The one thing that I found out about being a committee member is that you have to be much more sensitive to how others feel and what you may do with good intention might not be perceived that way. I would not trade that whole experience for anything and neither should you. Learning to be sensitive to other’s feelings, having your eyes opened to things that you previously took for granted, and in the mean time growing together as an individual and as a team doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

COSDU has given me bonds of friendship that I will treasure forever and most importantly, growing as Christians together. Me being a Methodist, I gained an insight on the Catholic theology and was never pressured nor threatened by the wonderful COSDU members. Personally, I grew spiritually, reaffirming my faith and breaking down pre-conceived ideas about the Catholic faith and other religions in general. So the question is not why would you want to serve COSDU, but why wouldn’t you?

As the Social Activities Coordinator (SAC) implies, one of your main tasks are to organize major events such as Sports Day, Scavenger Hunt and the weekly dinner avenue. On top of that, you will be helping on other major events like Night Market and Festival of Nations. Committee meetings will be held occasionally and you (or any other committee member in fact) will be expected to attend it. Why? It’s because COSDU’s future are in your and your committee’s hands. With great powers come great responsibilities. Abusing your powers or neglecting your responsibilities is not a very good way of showing your appreciation to COSDU.

Of all the challenges I faced, its funny that I found the booking of the weekly dinner avenue the most challenging. I was constantly stressed when I booked a restaurant and people say it’s too far. When it’s closer by, they say it doesn’t taste good or why we’re going there again; all that with a constant voice at the back of my head urging me to keep on challenging the members’ taste buds. Besides that, organizing events was just pure fun except from the fact I couldn’t participate in them…sigh. The highlight for me was Sports Day which I helped organized. There were logistics like where the event would be held, food and drinks, medical kits, official forms to fill up and last but not least, team member distribution. Thinking up games was also a challenge. There was a debate whether to introduce a complete set of new games or stick to the used but popular ones. In the end, there was a mixture of old and new and it turned out alright with some help from other members.

The only one thing I regret not accomplishing in my term as SAC is not being able to bring the COSDU members for a bushwalk, even if it’s just a day trip. I had a hard time finding a walk that was short enough or cheap enough in terms of transportation. In that, I regret not being able to bring COSDU as a family, experiencing together the beautiful exquisite delights that God has created and still creating. With that, I would like to challenge the next SAC to bring my dreams to reality by realizing it in your term to come.

The whole organizing and planning experience was extremely rewarding with a sense of achievement. For all who are interested in running for SAC, remember, becoming a committee member means one is to serve the COSDU community for the better good and not for one’s own self interest. For Jesus once said, one will be a leader when one serves the people and the Lord. Come serve the Lord. Come serve COSDU.

Sexuality Links and Resources

Fr Robin sent us an email following-up on the session of 'Sexuality', containing links and resources that we might like to refer to, and they are below:

Natural Family Planning and Contraception
Websites:
Billing Ovulation Method: http://www.woomb.org/
Couple to Couple league: http://www.ccli.org/
One more soul: http://www.omsoul.com/
(On this site you can listen to a very good mp3 presentation by Dr Janet Smith: "Contraception: Why Not?" Well worth listening to)

Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v56Z1DIMI58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti9ZBGRf9qc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0UomDP6ExM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ch8rdg9HE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqtx0IX8X7Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN8j2ILe_Gc

Homosexuality
Books:
David Morrison Beyond Gay One man's journey from gay activism to Catholicism. A summary version of Morrison's story can be found at: http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9407fea1.asp
Jeffrey Satinover Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth
Thomas Schmidt Straight and Narrow: Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexual Debate

Websites:
http://www.narth.com/
http://couragerc.net/
http://www.peoplecanchange.com/

Evangelism and Night Market 08

Our first session after coming back from Easter Camp was held in the Alan Gilbert Building, our first there as well. It was on the topic of 'Evangelism'. James Macdonald brought us into discussion on what Evangelism meant to us, and shared with us some of his experiences of doing God's work. We explored what loving all people meant, and how it was possible to love without even knowing that person. We analysed why we want to Evangelise, how it helps us, and how we think we should go about it. This session highlighted Evangelism as being part of our lives and our love for God, and reminded us of the importance of it.

Following that, we trooped down to Uni for dinner: Night Market! Stalls set up by the clubs and societies of Melbourne Uni sold food and drinks, and we had a ball of time looking out for our favourite cuisines. And how could COSDU not have a stall? The churros and chocolate dip we churned out sold out before half-time, thought the gado gado did not do as well. Nevertheless, we all enjoyed ourselves, especially those who helped out in setting up the stall, cooking and serving. Kudos to them for making our sales!

For pics, turn to Hobart's blog here.