For Goodman students, the summer months aren't synonymous with relaxation. A number of business students are still writing papers for classes or building connections at their co-op jobs. Others, like Aqib Zia, who is entering into the fourth year of his Bachelor of Business Administration program, are spending the summer getting ready to welcome back students to a jam-packed year full of events, competitions and spirit. Aqib is the president of the Business Students' Association (BSA), the student group that represents all undergraduate business students and is the umbrella organization for all undergraduate Goodman student clubs. He'll be at the helm of the BSA for the second time this year.
Congratulations on being a two-term BSA president. Why did you decide to run for a second term as BSA president?
This is my third year being involved with the BSA and over the course of the three years, the experiences that I have gained from the BSA have been an influential part of my Goodman experience. Once you get involved with the BSA or any of our Goodman student clubs, it’s hard to stop!
This past year was a really big year for the BSA, we made a lot of changes to improve the services and events we put on for our students. Coming back for a second term would ensure that all these changes are being followed through and that we can take what we learnt this year and improve on our successes for next year.
Can you tell us what a “day in the life” of a BSA president is like?
Every day is different and that’s something I love about the BSA. As president, I have the opportunity to be thrown into a multitude of different situations and that has really helped me develop a lot of core skills that I will use throughout my life. Typically in a day I attend classes; being a student leader, the STUDENT part will always come first so I need to ensure that I am attending classes. Another large chunk of my time during the day goes to meetings with my executive team or our many stakeholders. This includes stakeholders such as the faculty, student groups, BSA’s across Canada, and other organizations. Apart from school and the BSA, I also work for the Goodman Career Development Office. Every student can relate when I say that you always need some money throughout university. Lastly, I try to attend as many events that the Goodman student clubs host. The BSA and the clubs put on over 100 events in a year, I try my best to go to as many events to support all the great initiatives that our students put on.
What’s your advice for school/work/life balance?
To be honest that’s a hard question to answer. For me I’m still developing my own system for the perfect balance. With classes, work, BSA, at times it does get very difficult to manage everything on my plate. The best piece of advice I can give about balance is to understand your limit so you don’t get overwhelmed with everything. Start with a few things that you are really passionate about, organize your time so you achieve them to best of your capability and go from there. Lastly, take some time every week to relax.
What has been the highlight of your Goodman experience so far?
There have been multiple things that I’ve been a part of throughout the year that have been highlights to my year. If I had to rank my top 5 Goodman Experiences it would be:
- Competing at Goodman JDC Central
- Seeing all the accomplishments of our Goodman Student Clubs during Recognition Night
- Networking with business leaders across Canada
- Raising a record breaking $13,005 for 5 Days for the Homeless Campaign
- Seeing our Goodman students excel every day!
All these experiences were a few of the highlights of an amazing year!
How do you show your #GoodmanSpirit?
By living the dream. I try my best to have a positive, work hard play hard attitude towards whatever I do. Whether it’s representing Goodman at conferences and competitions all across Canada in front of dozens of business schools all across Canada or just a typical school day. As cliché as it sounds, every day is a new day with an endless amount of opportunities, you never know who you will meet, what you will do or get involved with but it may just change your life.
