Resources
I know you’ve got a busy term lined up, but I’m about to make it busier, I hope. You’ve got classes, readings, and assignments, but there’s a lot of other things going on at the university. I’m going to make you aware of them, and you should go. University is an educational experience, and much of these are educational, but it’s also a social experience, and finally it’s an employment focused one. So some of these will make you smarter, some of them will make you more employable, some of them will help you make friends, and all of them will be a pretty good time. I’ve included a link to a calendar of events for the Fall term in the sidebar, and I’ll give you the highlights here.
CMS Events
The Classics and Medieval Student Society plans all kinds of events during the term. Tomorrow night at 7pm, there’s a CMS pubnight at the Molly Blooms in the plaza. Head out and get to know your fellow classicists and medievalists, as well as getting the skinny on other upcoming events in autumn. Get together at McGinnis Frontrow on Thursday, September 27th, and join the other students in the department at Meet the Profs. Most, if not all of the professors will be there. Take the time to get to know them outside of class. It’s well worth it.
Student Leadership Program
The university’s office of Organizational & Human Development (OHD) offers a student leadership certificate. By signing up for and attending twelve workshops, you’ll learn a lot of excellent leadership and team management skills, as well as getting something to put on your CV for after you graduate. Lots of employers are looking for fresh graduates with leadership training, and this can put you a head above the rest. It’s not just a certificate, either. The workshops will teach you some valuable things, and after you’ve finished them there’s an opportunity to get advanced training and become a facilitator. I had a great time in the student leadership program, and met some really interesting people from a lot of different faculties there. The first sign up deadline is today, but the next one isn’t until October 2nd, so get your name in soon!
Departmental Lectures
Professor Andrew Faulkner is this year’s lecture coordinator, and he has some great scholars coming in to give talks. The first talk is on September 27th, just before Meet the Profs. Professor Kroeker, who you might have already met, will be giving a lecture on Xenophon and his (Sub)version of history. Later this term the department will host Canada Research Chair and Latin poetry expert Dr. Susanna Braund, and independent scholar and academic entrepreneur Dr. Mildred Budny. Don’t miss any of these. they’re a chance to talk with experts and meet academics from outside the department.
The Centre for Career Action
The Centre for Career Action runs a ton of workshops every term. On picking career paths, using social media, hunting jobs, working at jobs, everything imaginable. The university has a vested interest in you being employed afterward. I implore you to take advantage of these, because you’ll learn a lot of tips and tricks once you’re on your job hunt. As a recent graduate myself, not a day goes by when I don’t remember some lesson from one of the workshops there, and use it. Doing so has gotten me more interviews and made me more valuable connections than I ever would have gotten otherwise. They have workshops for both undergrads and grad students, so if you’re thinking about grad school, go to some of their grad workshops to get a better picture of what it’ll be like.
Hopefully I’ve just made your term more crowded. The University of Waterloo offers all of these programs, but it doesn’t make you go to them. In the end, it’s up to you to recognize the value of them and get there. These workshops and lectures are one of the ways the university invests in you, so take advantage of them, even if you can only fit in one now and again in your class schedule. I did.