As a student who’s family has always pushed towards corporate Canada, getting accepted into the co-op program at Brock University was a huge accomplishment. It would allow me to try my hand at working for some the Canada’s largest organizations to gain valuable work related experience. So when the time came to apply for my very first work term, I naturally did what I anticipate many of us did while applying for our first placement. Applied to anything that sounded interesting or was with a large firm. I mean, the logic checks out. If you want to be the best, why not learn from the best?
So I submitted applications to all the major banks, sales positions and potential marketing jobs that interested me over the course of the summer. Thankfully, one of those potential marketing jobs I applied to was at the University for BioLinc as a Student Ambassador. In all honesty I hadn’t thought much of a university job because as far as I was concerned I wanted to work for corporate Canada. Brock University didn’t exactly fall into that category.
Thankfully the stars aligned and I was able to secure an interview with Dan Lynch, Manager at BioLinc and Cassie Price, BioLinc Coordinator. After completing a mock interview with the co-op department I felt confident enough to give it my best shot. Thankfully they decided to take a chance on me and I was offered the position alongside my fellow ambassador Ian Farr.
The first week was so fast it felt like a blur. Table top displays, networking events and presentations followed in quick concession for the first month. Not only did I have the opportunity to speak in front of hundreds of my peers many a times informing them of BioLinc, I was able to also give guided tours of not only our establishment (End of the Cairns Complex, feel free to stop by for a tour), I had to give tours of our campus to alumni during homecoming. Considering I had never taken one myself it was quite the experience. I was quickly learning that this University had so much more to offer than just an education. It is the passionate people who work and volunteer at Brock that make it such an amazing place to attend.
That was something I had never thought of before this amazing opportunity, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it changed my life for the better. The connections you establish with the students and faculty within our institution is invaluable. The corporate culture was amazing. Being surrounded by students from all faculties of Brock, each more driven than the last and everyone working together is something you truly must experience to understand. No where else I can think of has Not-for-profits working beside start-ups working beside scientists developing new technology. To make it even more pleasurable, imagine every morning walking in to smiling faces and loving people who truly care about your success and well being. Being a BioLinc Ambassador allowed me to help out my peers reach their goals and dreams, while also expanding peoples knowledge and awareness of BioLinc within Brock. I was invited to events with guest speakers who have walked in our shoes and having the opportunity to mine little tidbits of knowledge from them is something I will forever be grateful for.
Coming from someone who quickly overlooked a position on campus when I came across it on the job board, I feel almost naive admitting it. Understandably hindsight is 20/20, but the skills and values I obtained while working within our institution far surpass anything I could have obtained from a giant conglomerate. These are connections I can continue to grow on a daily basis. I am able to continuously help out entrepreneurs reach their dreams, volunteer in all facets of the university and more importantly, I am able to still see those amazing smiling faces on a daily basis. Anything I had hoped to obtain from a job placement, I learned from this placement. The unexpected part was how much it made me grow as a person, and for that I will forever be grateful. So fellow students, as you read this, please don’t make the same mistake I did. Give school positions a serious thought, because the payoff is more than you or I could have ever imagined prior to the work term.
Mitchell Cowan,
Former BioLinc Ambassador signing off.
