Have you ever needed to give a presentation on something you truly aren’t that knowledgeable about? I don’t mean something that you can say a few big words and roughly describe it in order to get by. I’m referring to those presentations where the professor knows your subject better than your group so every idea and statistic needs to be flawless. That is the only way I could adequately describe my reaction when I was told part of my job as BioLinc Ambassador requires me to travel to the Ontario University Fair (OUF) at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre downtown Toronto as a representative of Brock University.
Now I don’t want to give off a false impression, as a proud badger, I marveled at the opportunity to represent my institution and speak to potential students about the amazing experience that is Brock. The only downside was that apart from my personal experiences here and my time at BioLinc, I knew almost nothing about Brock. Thankfully, like any good group members, the members of the Brock community did their best to prepare me for the event. From meetings, to training sessions, handouts and packages to read and a guided tour of the campus, in the span of a week I went from feeling completely overwhelmed to Mr. Brock, ready to tackle any question asked.
In terms of the actual day we went to OUF, I travelled downtown on the Badger Bus with some of the most highly respected faculty from our institution. The entire bus ride, I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I am to be on the same bus as these people and in awe they were taking time out of their busy schedules to come recruit for Brock.
It wasn’t until we arrived at the convention center and got settled at our booth did I realize why such high profile faculty came to represent our university. To put it quite simply, it’s because they truly care about our school and more importantly, each student’s success. I doubt any of the grade 12’s who spoke to an associate dean of a faculty understands the magnitude of how important said dean is to our institution. To them it was just another face representing Brock. To a current Brock student such as myself on the other hand, it solidified that I had made the proper choice for post secondary education. Not only had the facts and numbers I had learned through my research affirm my believes in Brock academically speaking, but the quality of people we sent to represent us, and how polite and approachable they were to anyone who had questions just boggled my mind. It was a far cry from the intimidation I had felt on the bus ride down only hours earlier. Once I finally had the time to sit and speak with some of these high profile faculty members, I was amazed by how much they wanted to know about me specifically. I’m not referring to my classes or grades, but they wanted to know about me as a person. It was in that moment where I truly understood that any student in that convention center, myself included, would be truly lucky to receive and education at Brock.
Mitchell Cowan
BioLinc Ambassador
