ALES increases its members in 2021
Raring to go with an abundance of ALES and Property Pirate branded drink bottles, bucket hats, and pub crawl tickets, the executive committee was excited to greet new and returning ALES members at the annual O-Week promotion stall. However, COVID-19 managed to put a dent in the schedule once again, delaying in-person sign-ups and our 'golf pros and tennis clothes' themed pub crawl, creating a slow start to the year. Despite this, ALES pushed through with these events later, providing opportunities for students to sign up and meet people in a more social setting.
Additionally, in Semester One, ALES kickstarted the Junior Mentoring Programme for the year, allowing mentees to meet other mentees and mentors in person. This programme connects first and second-year students with students further along in their degree to assist them with help on courses and give advice on getting the most out of the degree.
Semester Two kicked off without a hitch, with ALES gaining significant growth and exposure, taking the membership roll to over 170 members for the year. This was evident in the most recent 'downtown denim' pub crawl that sold out, building a strong camaraderie among the students and helping to develop a strong student culture within the department.
It was also evident in the Networking and Panel Discussion event, which had over 60 students attend. The event introduced a panel this year for the first time, which was a great success. The five panellists, Jordan Parratt, Divya Patel, Chris Farhi, Milly McArthur and Peter Touch, shared their insights and advice to aspiring Property graduates. This was a great help to the students to learn about the wide variety of opportunities and experiences the Property degree at the University of Auckland can lead to.
So far, the Property Pirates have competed in the Interfaculty sports competition in touch, ultimate frisbee, indoor netball, basketball, futsal and indoor cricket, with a range of results. However, we found our sportsmanship and camaraderie always came away as the winner, with relationships growing as we gave it our all in sports. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, ALES still has a few exciting events in the pipeline to further enhance the student experience. If you would like to join us, make sure to check out the ALES Facebook and ALES Instagram pages for timely communication and event updates.
ALES Committee Members: Holly Mace (President), Molika Touch, Elliot Brown, Crystyn Pask, Filip Ograbek, Mack O'Brien, Neeral Raniga, Micah Lawson, Lillie Cripps and Max Hoonhout.
