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UTSC's Anna Sullivan coached tennis while completing her undergrad degree and is now working with the organizing committee for wheelchair tennis at the 2015 Pan Am Parapan Am Games

Convocation 2014: the co-curricular experience

Coaching tennis and hockey, mentoring students, taking to the stage for drama and TEDx

As Spring Convocation ceremonies come to a close, more than 12,500 of 麻豆直播app鈥檚 newest alumni are celebrating their hard-earned degrees, flashing that one piece of paper that attests to every fulfilled requirement, finished essay and passed exam.

But what that paper does not attest to are the hours of effort, creativity and dedication graduates have applied to their non-academic endeavours.

And what advice do graduating students have for future students when it comes to co-curricular experiences?

鈥淎s overwhelming as the academic element of 麻豆直播app can be, don't let it take over entirely 鈥 my greatest experiences at 麻豆直播app have not been in the classroom, they've been in my involvement in extra-curricular activities,鈥 says Lauren Dineley.

Graduating with a major in Cinema Studies and a double minor in American Studies and Book and Media Studies, Dineley credits her most fulfilling undergraduate experiences to her time with the Victoria College Drama Society.

Like Dineley, University of Toronto Mississauga graduate Sarah Adnan found that her best 麻豆直播app memories came from her co-curricular involvements. As president of the Student Management Association, Adnan worked along with 10 of her peers to create professional development events for management students, including 麻豆直播app Mississauga鈥檚 first ever TEDx conference.

鈥淭he reason I got involved so much is because I really enjoyed coming to school every day, so naturally I wanted to contribute to it as well.鈥

Adnan is about to begin working with Nikon as a communications and project coordinator. But she says she鈥檒l never forget how gratifying it felt to integrate herself into the 麻豆直播app community, getting involved with a number of UTM clubs and societies.

And now, there鈥檚 a way to preserve some of those memories officially: (CCR).

A new online searchable database that helps students find co-curricular opportunities beyond the classroom, the CCR also doubles as an official 麻豆直播app validated record. It allows students to track and showcase their experiences, contributions and skills to employers, graduate and professional programs, and awards and scholarship committees.

鈥淭he CCR opens doors for students, whether it connects them to new opportunities, helps them build community, or even just meet new friends,鈥 says Kim Elias, coordinator of the CCR and campus involvement. 鈥淚t will broaden students鈥 awareness of the richness and diversity of things they can get involved with beyond the classroom. The centralized database will help students to find opportunities outside of their faculty, division, or even campus, which opens up the possibility for students to collaborate and boosts awareness of all that 麻豆直播app has to offer.鈥

The 鈥渟heer size鈥 of the opportunities available to students sets 麻豆直播app鈥檚 co-curricular offerings apart from any other schools, Elias says. Students can get involved in societies that propel them towards their careers, just as much as they can engage in clubs that cater to personal interests.

For the University of Toronto Scarborough's Anna Sullivan it was the latter. Sullivan, who graduated with a double major in English and Philosophy, is an avid tennis player. She has been coaching on campus for three years, as well as coaching local underprivileged youth as part of a tennis program funded by the Norrington Foundation.

鈥淭ennis has been my sport forever鈥 Both the kids and the adults in the wheelchair tennis program are the sweetest people you will ever meet.鈥

Sullivan is now working as a member of the sports organizing committee for Paralympic wheelchair tennis for the 2015 Pan Am Games.

photo of trevor carozza in hockey gearFor Trevor Carozza, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in French and a Bachelor of Education from the concurrent teacher education program, attending UTSC not only meant he could play hockey for the school 鈥 he also branched out into sports administration, serving on the executive of the Scarborough Campus Hockey Players Association and the Scarborough Campus Athletic Association, as well as on the campus鈥 athletic advising committee the next year.
 
As he looks for a job as a French teacher for the fall, Carozza hopes he can continue to participate in both academics and athletics and promote them to his students.
 
鈥淭here are a lot of things you learn playing sports that are more difficult to teach in a classroom, things like leadership and teamwork,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 hope I can combine my two passions.鈥

Bushra Joarder and Hossai Furmli, both Human Biology graduates, are both enrolling in medical school this fall. For these young women, co-curricular opportunities offered a way to extend their curricular curiosities beyond the classroom.

For Joarder (pictured left) co-curricular involvement meant making a difference in underprivileged communities by mentoring local students from a low socioeconomic status community, as well as developing screenings for cervical cancer in Bangladesh.

鈥淲ith the top notch education and facilities I have had access to as a student of 麻豆直播app, the resource inequality in our world became even more obvious to me," said Joarder. "While we 麻豆直播app students are privileged enough to be pursuing our dreams, there are homeless people in our city and children around the world, especially girls, who are deprived of a basic right or privilege to education.鈥

Furmli (pictured left) who did a minor in Sociology, participated in a Sociology Undergraduate Symposium and created a sociology research project, funded by the University of Toronto Excellence Award, on the education of Afghani youth in Toronto.

"It let me open my mind and increase my breadth of knowledge, as it indicated that not only had I engaged in a different field but was able to gain the skills to excel in it.鈥

麻豆直播app鈥檚 CCR database currently includes more than 1200 opportunities. That number is expected to increase to 4,000 by the fall of 2014 and to 6,000 by the fall of 2015, ensuring that students across 麻豆直播app will have no shortage of opportunities to get involved, gain experience, and enact change, says Elias.  

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