For the first two years of her undergrad, Ilhaam Al-Harazi (BSc ’24) didn’t think she was smart.

There were times when she questioned her ability to keep up in the competitive Medical Sciences program and eventually her negative self-talk began to affect how she saw herself.

Her fellow Medical Sciences grad Raneem Kalbouna (BSc ’24) had a similar experience with learning, occasionally seeking extra support from her professors and peers.

Despite their initial struggles, Al-Harazi and Kalbouna ended up embracing their individual learning styles and flourished in their courses.

Both graduated in June and returned to campus Friday, Oct. 18 for Fall Convocation to receive one of the country’s most prestigious academic awards: the Governor General’s Silver Medal, which is presented annually to two Brock undergraduate students who achieved the highest academic average of the University’s graduating class.

Big changes came for Al-Harazi during her third year. After two years of focusing only on school while also believing her mind’s own negative narrative, she changed her perspective.

“I had to work a lot to get out of that mindset,” she said. “It was OK that I didn’t understand something right away in lecture. It’s what I did with it after, because when the test came around, I knew what I was doing.”

Al-Harazi started volunteering her time with initiatives related to her degree, such as Brock’s Supporting Neurodiversity through Adaptive Programming (SNAP), the Human Anatomy Lab and a local physiotherapy clinic. She also took on leadership roles, including mentoring students who were transitioning from high school to Brock, and worked part-time as a medical office assistant at a doctor’s office.

To her surprise, she was getting better grades even though she was spending less time studying.

“I think it had a lot to do with my mental health and life balance, which prevented me from experiencing burnout,” said Al-Harazi.

Kalbouna also found extracurricular activities helped her well-being and success. She too was involved with SNAP and the Human Anatomy Lab and volunteered with local vaccination clinics, worked a part-time retail job and participated in campus activities.

“Things changed for me once I started doing things outside of studying and I learned how to take a break,” she said. “Participating in something like intramural sports helped me take my mind off of school.”

When focusing on coursework, Kalbouna found the more enjoyable a class was, the more effort she put in and the better she excelled. She focused on enrolling in classes she knew she would like.

“My marks are more of a representation of my interest in the topic rather than my abilities,” she said.

Al-Harazi and Kalbouna are both currently enrolled in graduate programs. Al-Harazi is at McMaster University pursuing a physiotherapy degree, and Kalbouna is at Brock pursing a Master of Science in Applied Health Sciences under the supervision of Karen Patte, Associate Professor of Health Sciences and Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Inclusion.

Looking back at their undergraduate experiences, the biggest advice Al-Harazi and Kalbouna can offer current Brock students is to not compare themselves to others and to develop their own learning styles.

“Getting high marks, it’s not like we’re super smart and we know everything,” said Kalbouna. “No one goes into their program knowing everything. Don’t be scared to ask for help. We’re all here to learn.”

“It took us hard work and dedication and figuring out our learning styles, so figure out what works for you,” said Al-Harazi. “There’s no one-size-fits-all for learning.”