{"id":66650,"date":"2020-06-26T08:47:27","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T12:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=66650"},"modified":"2020-06-26T11:29:33","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T15:29:33","slug":"classics-graduate-julie-sun-kyung-receives-spirit-of-brock-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2020\/06\/classics-graduate-julie-sun-kyung-receives-spirit-of-brock-medal\/","title":{"rendered":"Classics graduate Julie Simmonds receives Spirit of Brock medal"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Julie Sun-Kyung Simmonds began her studies at Brock University in 2015, she was focussed on just one thing: her academics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on a mission with a one-track mind,\u201d says Simmonds. \u201cI never anticipated the people that I would meet, the friendships that I would make along the way, or the many wonderful experiences that I would have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simmonds, who has graduated with an honours bachelor of arts in Classics, came to Brock as a mature student after her children left home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been working with my husband, a contractor, for 10 years,\u201d she says. \u201cI felt that it was the right time to go back to school and change my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her experience at Brock went beyond just academics. She has been a regular presence in the Department of Classics and at events across campus, as well as volunteering in the community. She is this year\u2019s undergraduate recipient of the Spirit of Brock medal for the Faculty of Humanities.<\/p>\n

\u201cJulie\u2019s dedication to both academics in the classroom and service outside the classroom makes her a very deserving recipient of the Spirit of Brock award,\u201d says Department of Classics Chair Angus Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides being a top academic student in the department, Julie volunteered<\/a> to be part of our Peer Mentor program, which makes our upper year students available for consultations to students for academic advice about everything from essay writing to Latin and Ancient Greek grammar.”<\/p>\n

Simmonds, who also volunteered with\u00a0the Brock University Archaeology Society, found time to go above and beyond in her coursework. In 2018, for no extra credit, she reworked a class assignment into an exhibition titled \u201cThe Courtesan at the Feast\u201d at the department\u2019s Cypriot Museum.<\/p>\n

While completing the Campus-Wide Co-curriculum, Simmonds has volunteered for events such as the Vendor Fair in Welcome Week, Move-In Day and campus blood drives.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favourite activities was dressing up as Boomer, Brock\u2019s mascot, for the Niagara-on-the-Lake Santa Clause parade,\u201d she says. \u201cNever in a million years would I ever have dreamed that I would dress up as the school mascot!\u201d<\/p>\n

As event co-ordinator for the Golden Key Brock Chapter, Simmonds was a key part of the team that brought<\/a> Golden Key\u2019s national CANCON Leadership Summit to Niagara Falls in 2019.<\/p>\n

When she wasn\u2019t busy studying for her Classics courses or volunteering at Brock, Simmonds could be found volunteering with the Fenwick Lionesses, which she joined after her daughters Kira and Megan had left home for university.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a service club, we raise funds which are then donated to help organizations within our community,\u201d says Simmonds. \u201cI enjoy the time I spend with my fellow Lionesses in volunteerism and socially.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simmonds is glad she stepped out of her comfort zone and got involved in the activities and opportunities Brock has to offer, and thankful for the support she has had from her husband and family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these experiences enriched my life through the people and friends I made along the way,\u201d she says. \u201cI no longer confine myself to a certain notion of what to expect and what must be done to get from point A to point B.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simmonds will be carrying her new outlook into her next academic adventure as a law student.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeeping an open mind and considering all the opportunities and possibilities that are available with any endeavour in life is my new outlook when approaching a new venture,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Julie Sun-Kyung Simmonds began her studies at Brock University in 2015, she was focussed on just one thing: her academics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":66658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,37,1,4],"tags":[7380,9184,8912,144,156,9196,7715,1583,384,5700,30,9183,9124],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66650"}],"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\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66650"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66770,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66650\/revisions\/66770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}