{"id":81221,"date":"2022-10-14T15:29:24","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T19:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=81221"},"modified":"2022-10-17T14:16:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T18:16:05","slug":"balancing-act-pays-off-for-governor-general-silver-medallists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2022\/10\/balancing-act-pays-off-for-governor-general-silver-medallists\/","title":{"rendered":"Balancing act pays off for Governor General Silver Medallists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For Domenic Alfieri (BBA \u201922) and Jordan Masi (BSc \u201922), balance was the key to success.<\/p>\n<p>The strategy paid off for the recent Brock graduates, who were each recognized during Friday\u2019s Fall Convocation with the University\u2019s Governor General Silver Medal. The award is presented to the two undergraduate students with the highest academic standing of their class.<\/p>\n<p>Despite receiving recognition for achieving one of Brock\u2019s top academic averages in 2022, Alfieri describes his academic experience at the Goodman School of Business as challenging.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany of the courses throughout my time at Goodman challenged me to go above and beyond what I thought I was capable of,\u201d he said. \u201cAs I\u2019m sure everyone experiences at least once in their academic journey, there are times you just want to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But his perseverance paid off. The Governor General\u2019s award comes in addition to the Outstanding Award of Excellence he received for having the top overall undergraduate academic average at the Goodman School of Business Spring Convocation where he received his BBA specializing in Finance.<\/p>\n<p>During his studies, he found the best way to stay motivated academically was to break down the degree into smaller and more achievable goals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found that celebrating the small successes and balancing that with extracurriculars and social events outside of school helped keep my motivation levels high,\u201d Alfieri said.<\/p>\n<p>Now working as a Project Manager for Windrush Hill Construction, a custom home renovation company, he\u2019s putting the skills he learned during his degree to use every day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only did my degree provide me with the foundational knowledge needed for my position but it taught me countless transitional skills that I leverage on a daily basis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Alfieri describes his time spent at Goodman as life changing with the experiences both inside and outside of the classroom helping to shape the person he is now.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_81224\" style=\"width: 570px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81224\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-81224\" src=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/2022-GG-award-fall-morning-1050x703.jpg\" alt=\"A woman and a man in graduation robes hold a red certificate between them.\" width=\"560\" height=\"375\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-81224\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brock University Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Lynn Wells (left) recognizes Governor General Silver Medallist Jordan Masi (BSc \u201922) during Brock&#8217;s 112th Convocation Friday, Oct. 14.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think that I would view the world through the same lens if it wasn\u2019t for the foundation of knowledge I gained at Goodman and through countless influential people I met along the way,\u201d Alfieri said.<\/p>\n<p>His best advice for students looking to succeed in their business studies is to get involved at Goodman whether it is with student clubs or case competitions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese activities will not only build your network and nurture friendships but will teach you invaluable skills that will set you apart in a classroom environment and in the workplace,\u201d Alfieri said.<\/p>\n<p>Masi, who graduated from Brock\u2019s Medical Sciences program in June, credits his high academic standing to a strict dedication to studying during the first two years of the program.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t until third year when he realized he could successfully balance schoolwork with hobbies and socializing with friends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn first and second year, I didn\u2019t really do anything besides study,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t appreciate how doing other things could add value to my undergraduate experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In third year, Masi began to spend more time on activities besides coursework. He worked out at the gym, played video games and picked up drawing.<\/p>\n<p>He and a friend also started the Brock Cancer Awareness Society. As Co-Presidents, the pair organized fundraising initiatives such as Movember, and invited professors and cancer survivors to speak to club members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a lot of fun and a really good experience for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI put myself in a leadership position, which was new to me and taught me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During his courses, Masi appreciated the hands-on learning opportunities Brock\u2019s Medical Sciences program offered him, including lab work using advanced technology in specialized instructional spaces such as <a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/applied-health-sciences\/brock-university-human-anatomy\/#spaces\">Human Anatomy Labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lab work gave me some time to apply the concepts from class and gain a deeper understanding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Masi also enjoyed the freedom the program offered to choose electives and tailor his degree to what he was most interested in. At first, he thought he\u2019d pursue medical school, but when a PhD student spoke to him in his second year about immunology research, Masi was intrigued. He enrolled in related courses and switched his career path.<\/p>\n<p>With his Bachelor of Science complete, Masi plans on enrolling in Brock\u2019s Master of Applied Health Sciences and researching human immunology under the supervision of Professor Adam MacNeil.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the importance of immunology and knowledge translation within the field,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is an amazing time to become involved in this discipline. I enjoy being able to understand how our bodies can defend against infection and communicate this information to the general public. I hope to study host-pathogen interactions and the role mast cells play in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Domenic Alfieri (BBA \u201922) and Jordan Masi (BSc \u201922), balance was the key to success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":81223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,36,39,7484,3319,4052,1,4],"tags":[8559,28,156,12083,7488,1368,214,594,8346,10374,761],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81221"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81221"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81276,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81221\/revisions\/81276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}