{"id":61376,"date":"2019-10-18T16:45:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T20:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=61376"},"modified":"2019-10-18T17:05:27","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T21:05:27","slug":"hard-work-plus-time-management-equals-near-perfection-for-math-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2019\/10\/hard-work-plus-time-management-equals-near-perfection-for-math-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard work plus time management equals near perfection for math student"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Rachel Van Herk walked across the Brock University Convocation stage Friday afternoon, it was her second time in 2019.<\/p>\n

The first, at Spring Convocation in June, was to collect her honours degree in Mathematics Integrated with Computers and Applications (MICA). The second, during Brock\u2019s Fall Convocation, was to receive a Governor General\u2019s Silver Medal as one of the two graduates with the highest academic averages during their undergraduate studies.<\/p>\n

For 22-year-old Van Herk, the award is the result of four years of early mornings, late nights and a dedication to academic achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really a reflection of how much effort I put into my degree, so I\u2019m truly honoured to win this award,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to end my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Herk finished her degree with a 99 per cent average. Of the 40 classes she completed, she had 100 per cent averages in 21 of them and 98 or higher in another 13.<\/p>\n

Asked if there\u2019s one course that stands out that she\u2019s particularly proud of, Van Herk recalled a third-year Computer Science class where most students were Computer Science majors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning I found it overwhelming and thought I had to put in a lot more effort than everyone else, but in the end, I think I was most improved and finished with 100 per cent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t just the extra effort to get the perfect score that makes that course special to her. It\u2019s also the class in which she met her fianc\u00e9, Nick Blais. The two are preparing to wed in May 2020.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ashley Kapoor, left, and Rachel Marie Van Herk receive their Governor General Silver Medals from Greg Finn, Vice-President, Academic.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIn the beginning of the semester he was helping me along and then in the end I beat him on the exam,\u201d Van Herk said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Leaving enough time for relationships, friendships and volunteering was a key part of her time at Brock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely difficult, but it was important to me that when I looked back, my degree wasn\u2019t all just studying and exams,\u201d said Van Herk, who volunteered with the Lincoln County Humane Society throughout her degree.<\/p>\n

That balance all came down to hard work and not wasting any time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to get ahead of things and used my time-management skills so I wasn\u2019t having to finish things at the last minute,\u201d she said. \u201cI tried to stay on top of assignments and gave myself time to talk to the teaching assistants and professors.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her studies, Van Herk completed a co-op work term at Meridian Credit Union. After graduating, it led to her landing a full-time job as a credit reporting analyst at the company\u2019s St. Catharines headquarters.<\/p>\n

Other student award winners Friday:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Governor General Silver Medal: Ashley Kapoor, Mathematics.<\/p>\n

Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock Medals: Sophie Hassanali, Media and Communication Studies; Larry Nie, Master of Education \u2013 Teaching, Learning and Development; and Aniqah Zowmi, Master of Arts \u2013 Social Justice and Equity Studies.<\/p>\n

Department of Political Science Fall Convocation Book Prize: Sorayyah Chityal, Political Science.<\/p>\n

Badger Award for Leadership in Extracurricular Activities: Jacob Stickel, International Dual Degree Co-op.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Rachel Van Herk walked across the Brock University Convocation stage Friday afternoon, it was her second time in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":61461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,7,3319,4052,41,1,4],"tags":[120,156,884,1368,8346,91],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61376"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61478,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61376\/revisions\/61478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}