Rotaract news

Posted by Jessalyn Lim on Aug 07, 2023
Rotaract
Rotaract news this month comes from the Presidents of our Rotaract Clubs of Whitehorse and Monash.
In this article, we hear from each club about their priorities and goals for the coming year.
 
Rotaract Club of Monash
My name is Philip Liberatore, and I am excited to be President of the Rotaract Club of Monash for 2023-24. I joined Monash Rotaract in 2021 and served on the Board as a Director for 2022-23. I look forward to working with Vice-President Jennfier Clarke, Secretary Netania Lim and Treasurer Lucy Shao, as well as all Club Board and District Board members in making the Rotaract year a productive and enjoyable one for all Rotaractors in the District. Monash Rotaract meets at the Clayton Hotel on the first and third Mondays of every month. We have an expanding membership at present and I look forward to welcoming new members officially to the club in the near future.
The club’s priorities this year include:
1)    Finding ways to provide service to the community
2)    Engaging the community with Rotaract activities
3)    Ensuring social engagement between members
4)    Connecting with Rotary Clubs
5)    Strengthening bonds between Rotaract Clubs in the District
I was fortunate to participate in RYLA 2023 at the end of June and have fond memories of meeting all the passionate RYLArians and learning some leadership ideas that can be implemented in Monash Rotaract. Whitehorse Rotaract Club co-President Matthew Gibney also attended RYLA, and I look forward to working with him and Kaylan Kurkure to develop the bond between our clubs and engage socially at the District level. Monash Rotaract and Whitehorse Rotaract have already run a joint fundraiser on 29 July with a double screening of Oppenheimer and Barbie in Mount Waverley.
 
I found that these films have relevance to the Rotary International Presidential theme of “Create Hope in the World”. Oppenheimer is a reminder that the actions and decisions we take can have significant and sometimes devastating impacts on the world around us but the film also suggests that there is hope that people will care about our common future and standing up for what is right. Barbie speaks to the hope for a better shared future for all when all people are empowered to be true to themselves and their abilities. In Monash Rotaract, I hope we will work as a club to allow all members to realise their potential and make a positive difference in the community together. 
 
Rotaract Club of Whitehorse
Hi there, my name's Matthew, and I'm one of the 2023-24 co-Presidents of Whitehorse Rotaract. I held this position last year alongside Alice Terrill, and continue to do so this year with Kalyan Kurkure.
As for a bit of an introduction to myself, I'm currently studying my Masters of Environment and Sustainability at Monash, have 4 cats (yes, I know it's a lot, and yes, they do shed a lot of fur), and love spending time in my veggie garden (often to get away from my cats). I've been a part of Rotaract for about a year and a half now, and somehow continue to love it more as time passes.
Now I'll pass you along to Kalyan.
Hello wonderful people! I'm Kalyan Kurkure, and I am the other co-President of Whitehorse Rotaract who is absolutely delighted to be here leading the club with Matt.
I have completed my Bachelors in Cyber Security from Deakin University, and am currently working as a System Admin for a media company based in Melbourne. I play a lot of video games, fix broken tech, learn new things about computers and somehow find time to help the community as a part of Rotaract.
Rotaract for me started as a very personal journey, where I joined as a shy member who would barely speak to others, and with time it has boosted my confidence enough to know I can make a difference in the community, do my best for my fellow Rotaractors and facilitate having meaningful bonds within the community.
Back to Matthew.
Both Kalyan and I have set some really strong goals for the year. Unsurprisingly, a lot of these align with our District Rotaract Representative's goals. Of these goals, our most important are:
1. Increase collaboration and communication on a Rotaract club to Rotaract club scale, as well as on a Rotaract to Rotary level.
2. Provide our current members with the opportunities to grow and lead, both personally and professionally/ within Rotaract.
3. Develop strong connections between interactors and RYLArians to Rotaractors, and through this, provide ample opportunity and reason for these individuals to partake in Rotaract events (both social and volunteer-based).
As you can probably tell, these goals specifically focus on enhancing the experiences of our current members while also building strong relationships between our club and other clubs. Unfortunately, this is something that was somewhat lost over COVID.
Of these goals, we believe we'd already made some strong steps in the right direction. Just over a month ago, I attended RYLA, and since then have continued to maintain a strong connection with many of the RYLArians. Excitingly, many are keen to, and many have partaken in our meetings and events, once again both social and volunteer-based.
Furthermore, two of our newer members, Tahlia and Viraj (both past Interactors) have begun to visit local Secondary School's Interact Clubs with the aim of increasing communication and collaboration between the two entities. This is still a new pursuit, and still in early development, but I believe it will do a lot of good for both Interact, Rotaract, and the volunteer work we do.
To the Rotarians reading this, always feel free to shoot me an email with any ideas, or even just to say hi. Even after 18 months, I still only know such a small proportion of Rotary members! 
Contact Whitehorse: whitehorse@rotaract.org.au