Third-year accounting student Ciara O’Connell wants to share her passion for the Goodman School of Business student experience with future students.

The Keswick, Ont. native recalls spending time at Brock University in Grade 7 during a class leadership trip. She says when making the decision to come to Brock, she remembered liking the campus as soon as she set foot on it. Learning about Goodman’s CPA accredited accounting pathways cinched the deal for her and now she wants to give future students a similar opportunity to get to know Brock’s campus and friendly atmosphere.

O’Connell has experienced student life at Goodman to its fullest, and has fit many co-curricular activities into her academic commitments. She has volunteered at Spring Open House, on the Goodman JDCC team, and has held executive positions with the Goodman Business Students’ Association as O-Week Director and the Goodman Student Ambassador Association as Vice President Human Resources.

This year, O’Connell is the Vice President of High School Transition for the Goodman Student Ambassador Association (SAA), a student organization that helps tell the Goodman story to local high school students.

Part of this role is organizing the annual A Day in the Life of a Goodman Student event being held on Nov. 22.

“It can be scary for a first-year student coming to university and not knowing anyone,” she says. “I went to a high school of only 3,500 students so coming to a larger school for university meant there was an adjustment period.”

“I only knew two people when I came to Brock. I made many friends in residence, my first day of class and through getting involved in clubs. I think Goodman student clubs make it feel like home here,” she says.

The event will give participating high school students the opportunity to get to know the campus through a scavenger hunt, network with current student leaders and attend a mock lecture delivered by a Goodman professor.

“Team leads will share their stories and hopefully that will resonate with students so that they can see themselves here in another couple of years,” she says.

Students will also attend the PepsiCo Apprentice Challenge, an internal competition hosted by the Brock Marketing Association (BMA) at Goodman that will see teams of current students present their recommendations to a real business challenge that was given to them as a live case by PepsiCo a few weeks earlier. A panel of PepsiCo representatives will judge the competition.

“We work in partnership with the Goodman School of Business because we love this school and we want potential students to have the opportunity to spend a day on campus before they hopefully spend the next four years here,” she said.

Interested high school students can download the application form on the Goodman SAA website and apply by Oct. 31, 2016.