Brock University Student Bloggers

“What are your plans for the Spring/Summer?”

This spring and summer I have a lot to accomplish. At the end of this month, I will be going to New York City to compete in the NYAC wrestling tournament. I am excited to be in a familiar place and compete against wrestlers I have not seen since last year. Since starting at Brock last September, I have become an entirely different athlete, and I cannot wait to prove it to my coaches, family, and myself. Afterward, I am going to be preparing for the US Open in Las Vegas, Nevada. That is one of my favourite tournaments because well… it is in Vegas. If I place top eight in this tournament, I will go on to compete at the United States Wrestling Nationals in May. Throughout the summer, I will also be going back and forth between Brock and New Jersey so that I can train.

Aside from my wrestling, I have some academic plans as well. I plan on taking some business classes at Brock this summer in the hopes of getting a few of my course requirements taken care of before September.

I’m also very excited to be taking my first trip to Italy in June. I will be going with my family and my best friend since Grade 7. While we are there, I plan to explore Rome and enjoy some great Italian food (my favourite)!

After Italy, I plan on spending a time at home and reconnecting with family and friends. I am excited to see all of the friends I made at Lafayette College last year and asking them about sorority life and school.

The things I am most anxious for, are to see my dog and sisters, as well as eating my mom’s food. It is quite odd living without a pet, and I miss the cuddle sessions that I always have with my Goldendoodle, Lilly. Seeing my sisters is also an exciting occasion because I have not seen them since Christmas. My family is pretty close in general but the bond I have with my sisters is unbreakable. Lastly, like every college student, I am excited to enjoy one of my mom’s home-cooked meals. I am so tired of the mediocre food that I make for myself and am looking forward to being spoiled by my Italian mother!

I can not wait to see what the next couple of months have in store. It will be nice to get away from the workload of four classes and focus my energy on other things. I hope that your summer is as busy and exciting as mine!

“How have you made the most of your Brock Experience? What will you miss when you’ve graduated?”

I am a firm believer that everything is as good as you make it. Coming to a new country was overwhelming to me at first, but Brock has been the best decision I have made. I am usually quick to look at the negatives in a situation and ignore the positives, but my experience here has made it very difficult to be pessimistic. I love every aspect of Brock. I love the professors, the people, the environment, the coaches, the maintenance crew and the whole community in general. That being said, I have taken every opportunity the school has afforded me both athletically and academically.

From the academic aspect, I use all of the resources that are available to me. Many students complain that large schools make it difficult for individual attention, but what they fail to recognize are the resources they actually do have. For example, last semester almost all of my classes were five hundred people, however, I was still able to seek individual attention despite the size. There were a few scenarios that my professors were too busy to meet, but instead of giving up, I turned to other options. I was able to acquire a lot of help from my Macroeconomics TA and the tutors provided to me by Academic Zone Learning Services. As you can see, Brock has all of the tools but it is up to the student whether or not he or she wants to take advantage of them.

From a wrestling aspect, I truly believe that Brock provides me with everything that I need to become my personal best in the sport. Even though athletes at Brock have their own lifting centre, I still take full advantage of the treadmills and ellipticals in the zone to better my cardio. I also take advantage of the small wrestling/ squash room to go over wrestling technique with my coaches in any free time that I have.

Besides wrestling and school, the Brock experience has also welcomed me to a totally new environment. I am from a small town called Blairstown and have never experienced the suburban lifestyle. I am actually getting a little too used to having so much to do and having it only be a five minute car ride away. Recently, I have found a new hobby of thrift shopping. My roommate and I take weekly trips to the Goodwill store and Plato’s closet to find great deals. The city of St. Catherines adds to my Brock experience because there is always a new thing to try or a new place to explore.

Thinking about my life without Brock is a tough one, but I know that there will come a day when my Brock days are concluded. I know this may sound cliché, but I will miss everything about Brock. I will miss being a student athlete. I will miss the professors who love their job and contribute their valuable time to benefit me. I will miss the cage staff that always makes sure the laundry is done and ready for the wrestlers. Simply put, I will miss Brock and its entirety. Thank goodness I am a first year and missing Brock is not in my near future!

Do you want to improve your university experience? Get involved at Brock!

Brock provides many events and activities to help improve students academic and social life. You will not only make friends from these opportunities, but you will also gain more experience.

There are many ways you can participate at Brock. The following are some of my suggestions.

1. Clubs and Associations

There are over 90 clubs at Brock including academic, cultural and political. Here you can find a group of people with similar interests. Clubs often hold some interesting events, which is a great opportunity to develop cooperation, organization and communication skills.

2. Brock programs

At Brock, you can find various projects. For example, Brock Student Life and Community Experience encourage students to take part in many volunteer opportunities. Furthermore, you can choose short-term or long-term exchange opportunities around the world through Brock International to add a global edge to your resume.

3. Workshops

Workshops at Brock are a helpful tool. A-Z Learning Services and Brock International will hold several workshops to provide students with everything from study tips to improving their academic achievement. In addition, there are events held by CareerZone, which is a great way to add experience to your resume and gain ideas about your future career aspirations.

4. Recreational Sports

If you love sports, you can consider participating in Brock’s intramural programs. It’s a great way to stay active, meet new friends and learn a new sport you might not have previously considered.

When I have watched movies or television shows in the past, they always depict university residence as one of the best experiences that you will have in your life. So far, I have lots of great memories of my time on residence and still look forward to making more.

From the beginning of the year, you already know that your floor or housemates become your second family. Orientation week was a great time to get to know everyone, and it is near impossible to not make friends, especially since you share a living space with them. You also always have people to go grab something to eat with and don’t have to worry about getting lonely.

Each week, we have these activities called “crew events” where we go to mini-competitions or bonding activities such as trivia or painting. All of these events rack up points for your floor, hall, or house. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year wins an amazing trophy and gets to leave some type of art display in their common area which will remain as their forever-lasting legacy. I hope the Dufferin Hall G’nomes (my floor in Vallee Residence) can win this year, so we can put our handprints or footprints on the walls of the common room!

I also have met some people that I hope will never leave my life! Next year, I made the decision to live off-campus to get a taste of what it’s like to truly live on my own. All of my roommates currently live on my floor with me and I cannot wait to move in next year! Without residence, I wouldn’t have met these amazing people and shared the fun times that made my first-year unforgettable!

For more information on applying for residence, click here

Hi Badgers! I’m sure the semester is in full swing now and everyone is up to their ears in school work 🙂

Something that I have always enjoyed every semester is my extra-curricular involvement. Getting involved in student clubs was one of the best decisions I made in my university career. Right from first year, I got involved in business clubs like the Business Students Association and a Christian group on campus called Power to Change.

During the next couple of years, I had the opportunity to hold executive positions like the Vice President of External Affairs role with the Goodman Human Resources Management club and the International Assistant role with the Goodman Career Development Office. Now, in my fourth year, I am leading a weekly group meeting with Power to Change, involved in the Brock Conversation Partners program, and representing Brock as an International Student Ambassador. I also enjoy participating in case competitions and have had the chance to win medals at different competitions. All these experiences have taught me so much and have helped develop many skills!

Roles like the International Ambassador and VP of External Affairs helped me develop communication and interpersonal skills. The phrase “practice makes perfect” is quite accurate when it comes to public speaking. Through all the opportunities I have received to present in front of large and small audiences, I have improved my presentation skills. Participating in case competitions and representing the Goodman School of Business at competitions such as DECA U Provincials has helped as well. This past January, our university received 17 medals, and my partner and I placed second in the B2B Marketing category at the provincial DECA competition.

Coming in as a new student to Brock straight out of university, I did not have many experiences that I could showcase on my resume or in a job interview. These extra curricular involvements gave me valuable experiences that I can use in interview conversations to display the different skills that I have developed so far. During my interviews for my co-op terms, I was able to share different work situations that I had faced and described how I solved problems that arose during the course of a business club event, for example.

Apart from the benefits that involvement on campus can do for your professional growth, it does wonders for your personal and relational development too! Getting involved in clubs like Brock Power to Change right from my first year opened doors to a very supportive, loving, fun community of university students. Being new to Canada and not knowing anyone at Brock, I was thrilled to meet like-minded people that I grew very fond of, through the weekly club events and different social activities during the week. Now being in my fourth-year, it’s great to see that most of my closest friends are people I met at a Power to Change event in first year.

I would encourage every Brock student, whether you are in your first year or almost ready to graduate, to get involved in events on campus. Ten or twenty years down the line, it is these experiences that you will remember and cherish, so why not make some more of them? 🙂

University life can be very different from high school, so it is important to know how to stay organized. Below I have listed my four most useful tips during your studies at Brock:

1. Get a planner, use the Outlook app, and buy a wall calendar

What keeps me most organized is that I’m constantly reminded of all that I have to do. I write down all of my assignments and events I have to go to in my planner, on my wall calendar (I suggest you get a four-month one) and on my phone with the outlook app. This makes it nearly impossible for me to forget to do an assignment. What is great is that at Brock both the wall calendar and the planner you can get for free at the vendor fair during orientation week. The Outlook app is also free and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.

2. Write down all of your due dates as soon as you know them

The planner, wall calendar and Outlook app are very useful, but only if you actually use them effectively. As soon as you have your course outlines spend some time inputting all of your due dates and test dates into your calendar. Adding in mock due dates for when you want your assignments to be done are also helpful. Make sure to also add in any extracurricular commitments or events you know you will have.

3. Plan out your week on Sunday Nights
   When I first came to Brock I struggled a little bit with my time management until I started planning out my weeks on Sunday nights. Here is the best way to do that:
   1. Start by writing out what is due during the week
   2. Next write down when your classes are and any other commitments you have that week. Use this to figure out how much time you have to do work each day.
   3. Once you know how much time you have, assign a day to do every assignment that you have due that week. Make sure to be realistic about how long each assignment will take and plan to do what is due first before you complete other assignments. A good tip is to break down larger assignments into smaller ones and spread them across multiple days, so you do not feel too overwhelmed.
   4. Add in any readings you have to do for the week. Some readings (like seminar readings) are more important to do than others, so keep that in mind.
   5. Take a look at what you have due next week and add in that work where you have time gaps. Pay special attention to the assignments due at the beginning of the next week.
   6. Make sure you still have some time for leisure every day!
4. Follow your plan

The most important thing you need to do to stay organized is to stick to your plan. What is the point of making it if you are not going to follow it?

This reading week, I participated in the Brock Abroad: Florida program, which was a fantastic and unforgettable experience.

We went to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, the biggest amusement park in the world. Disney World consists of four theme parks including Magic kingdom, Animal kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood studios, as well as many resorts. We lived at an all star sports resort, which has different sports themes like surfing, basketball and football.

We spent three days in Disney World, but there were more places to explore. Disney did a fantastic job on the details from the mountains to the lakes, trails and even restrooms.

This program was not just about having fun, but also about learning. We had three workshops held by casts of Disney where we learned about leadership, teamwork and culture. We visited the costume room and the cast tunnel where thousands of costumes are organized. We also walked through the underground tunnel of Magic Kingdom to understand the history and operations behind Disney World.

Additionally, we visited the University of Florida. The environment of the campus is amazing, and their football stadium is unbelievably large. We met students and staff from different faculties of the university, so it is a great opportunity to make friends.

Plan your next great adventure and connect with Brock University’s Exchange and Study Abroad office.

Reading week is coming! Do you have any plans? After stressful midterm exams we could all use the break for adjustment.

For me, Chinese New Year celebrations fall during the same time as the reading week. While I’m unable to spend this time with my family, I’m planning a party with all my friends. We will cook together, play board games and exchange gifts with each other.

I’m also going on the Broad Abroad: Florida trip through Brock International’s Exchange & Study Abroad office. It’s a five-day program that combines a unique blend of academic, business and cultural experiences. We’ll visit the University of Florida and have several seminars at Walt Disney World Resort. I think I’ll learn a lot from this experience!

If you’re not sure what you’re going to do during Reading Week, here are some suggestions:

Experience Canada
Reading week is a great time to explore Canada. If you like history and architecture, you can go to the Montreal and Quebec City. If you like to be active and experience the outdoors, then head to Blue Mountain in Collingwood where you can experience snowboarding, skiing and other fun activities.

Apply for Brock program
Brock always provide students with opportunities to make their break more interesting. For example, Brock Student Life and Community Engagement will provide many volunteer opportunities to get involved in local and international hands-on community projects.

Prepare for upcoming exams
After reading week, some of us will still have midterm exams, so while on reading week, it is important to set aside time to review and create a study plan.

Hope everyone enjoys reading week!