When Sarah Bulman came to St. Thomas University, she could count the people she knew on one hand.
But within a month, she went from counting friends to counting votes as the students’ union’s chief returning officer.
Bulman studied at the University of Prince Edward Island, but halfway through her degree, decided it wasn’t the right fit for her.
“I realized I wasn’t really getting involved on campus, which is completely different from me, because in high school, I was in everything…I came to the decision that I wasn’t growing as a person.”
That’s when Bulman crossed the bridge and headed to Fredericton, where she could study at a school that focused exactly on what she’s interested in — liberal arts.
The Islander found herself living with three roommates she found on Kijiji. But she needed to find a way to connect with campus, which is why she signed up to be CRO.
“Truthfully, I didn’t know anyone, so my main motivation was to get involved in school politics.”
The chief returning officer oversees the students’ union elections and does everything from organizing candidates’ speeches to making sure the polls are run fairly. One of the biggest responsibilities is ensuring all bylaws are followed during the campaign.
Bulman said the job comes with its fair share of challenges, but the worst one is criticism.
“You have to be pretty thick-skinned and you have to realize not everyone is going to agree with you, so you just have to stick to what your gut says and follow through.”
Before becoming CRO, Bulman had no experience in university-level student politics. She worked at the Tim Hortons Children’s Foundation for five years, where she learned how to communicate and problem solve. She also learned how small actions can have big implications down the road.
“That’s sort of a big thing with being chief returning officer, realizing that the decisions you make now will have consequences in the future.”
Bulman also shadowed family members in politics and worked as a poll clerk for a provincial election.
“My father is really strong in Island politics, so I was volunteering with his party [in] my spare time.”
Voter turnout for the students’ union spring general election only increased by 0.1 per cent, but if you take a closer look, there’s more behind the numbers, Bulman said.
Voter turnout for off-campus students dropped by two per cent, but the number of on-campus students who headed to the polls went up by nearly 10 per cent.
“If you think about it, residence students are first- and second-year students typically, so I think that even though our voter turnout didn’t increase by a whole lot, the fact that there’s more younger students getting involved at an earlier time is promising.”
Bulman will finish her second year as CRO in mid-April and graduates this spring with an honours in history. Her post-graduate plans involve anything from working on a cruise ship or teaching abroad to going to grad school.
She describes herself as “antsy,” and said she can’t stay in one place for too long and can’t imagine settling on just one career.
