Meet the new BTMSA president: Pery Au

Sept. 7, 2023

The Business Technology Management Students Association (BTMSA) is a student-run association at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics that serves students within the Business Technology Management (BTM) program. The BTMSA offers a wide variety of initiatives and services to help enrich the educational experience of BTM students.

The 2023/2024 school year will be welcoming Pery Au, a fourth year BTM student as president of the BTMSA. Au has been involved with BTMSA since first-year, where she started as a first-year representative. She has also held several other volunteer roles in association with Laurier and its Students Union.

What initially drew you to BTMSA and what motivated you to stay involved?

I joined BTMSA initially because I wanted meet other BTM students. Given I started my undergraduate journey in 2020, during the peak of the pandemic, it was difficult to interact with other BTM students. However, I’ve managed to stay involved in BTMSA because I wanted to continue providing the support BTM students’ need to thrive both in and outside of classroom and to establish a platform for student connection.   

Why did you decide to run for president? Was there a specific moment that made you realise you wanted to take on this leadership role?

I decided to run for president because I saw the need for change in terms of the event operations and support system, and knowing I have the experience and knowledge for it. I took the initiative to run for this position while aiming to expose a wider range of relevant opportunities for BTM students. I also wanted to give the experience I’ve had and enjoyed from the past three years on BTMSA to the incoming team. I saw this as an opportunity for learning and growth, not only for me, but for the entire team.

What specific initiatives or changes do you hope to bring to BTMSA that will positively impact the student community?

I am looking to provide more adequate academic support for BTM students, but especially for the first and second years. It can be difficult transitioning from high school to university, but the hope is that BTMSA will be there for students to guide them along their academic career. To incorporate this, our vice-president, Joshua Shiman, has brought up a great idea to establish a BTMSA website. The website would consolidate all the great resources provided from the school and externally for student convenience.

Could you tell me more about your presidential platform and what that entailed?

On top of academic support, I hope to be able to provide opportunities for BTM students to connect and build relationships that can extend beyond the classroom. This could potentially include social events, movie nights and sports days! Being a BTM student can be stressful at times, and I hope the BTMSA will be able to provide fun and interesting events that allows students to relax and just have fun.

What advice or message would you like to share with aspiring student leaders who may be considering taking on leadership positions within their own clubs/organizations?

DO IT! It doesn’t matter if you can land the position or not. If you succeed, you learn, if you fail, you also learn. The whole process of putting yourself out there and taking the initiative to search for opportunities to grow, is a very rewarding and valuable experience.

How do you envision leaving a lasting impact on BTMSA after your term comes to an end?

A lasting impact I hope to leave on BTMSA after my term, is for my team to continue the work that will bring BTM students closer and offering a variety of enriching experiences for BTM students.