Shujanaa Mahendraraja with files from Elaine Smith / en Convocation 2014: the co-curricular experience /news/convocation-2014-co-curricular-experience <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Convocation 2014: the co-curricular experience</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2014-06-20T12:01:14-04:00" title="Friday, June 20, 2014 - 12:01" class="datetime">Fri, 06/20/2014 - 12:01</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">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 </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/elaine-smith" hreflang="en">Elaine Smith</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/shujanaa-mahendraraja" hreflang="en">Shujanaa Mahendraraja</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/shujanaa-mahendraraja-files-elaine-smith" hreflang="en">Shujanaa Mahendraraja with files from Elaine Smith</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Shujanaa Mahendraraja with files from Elaine Smith</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/features" hreflang="en">Features</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/convocation" hreflang="en">Convocation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">老司机直播</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Coaching tennis and hockey, mentoring students, taking to the stage for drama and TEDx</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>As Spring Convocation ceremonies come to a close, more than 12,500 of 老司机直播鈥檚 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.</p> <p>But what that paper does not attest to are the hours of effort, creativity and dedication graduates have applied to their non-academic endeavours.</p> <p>And what advice do graduating students have for future students when it comes to co-curricular experiences?</p> <p>鈥淎s overwhelming as the academic element of 老司机直播 can be, don't let it take over entirely 鈥 my greatest experiences at 老司机直播 have not been in the classroom, they've been in my involvement in extra-curricular activities,鈥 says <strong>Lauren Dineley</strong>.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Like Dineley, University of Toronto Mississauga graduate <strong>Sarah Adnan</strong> found that her best 老司机直播 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 老司机直播 Mississauga鈥檚 first ever TEDx conference.</p> <p>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</p> <p>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 老司机直播 community, getting involved with a number of UTM clubs and societies.</p> <p>And now, there鈥檚 a way to preserve some of those memories officially: <a href="https://ccr.utoronto.ca/home.htm">老司机直播鈥檚 Co-Curricular Record </a>(CCR).</p> <p>A new online searchable database that helps students find co-curricular opportunities beyond the classroom, the CCR also doubles as an official 老司机直播 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.</p> <p>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 <strong>Kim Elias</strong>, 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 老司机直播 has to offer.鈥</p> <p>The 鈥渟heer size鈥 of the opportunities available to students sets 老司机直播鈥檚 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.</p> <p>For the University of Toronto Scarborough's&nbsp;<strong>Anna Sullivan</strong> 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.</p> <p>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</p> <p>Sullivan is now working as a member of the sports organizing committee for Paralympic wheelchair tennis for the 2015 Pan Am Games.</p> <div> <img alt="photo of trevor carozza in hockey gear" src="/sites/default/files/2014-06-20-convocation-trevor_carozza.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 275px; float: left; height: 183px">For <strong>Trevor Carozza</strong>, 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.</div> <div> &nbsp;</div> <div> 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.</div> <div> &nbsp;</div> <div> 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</div> <p><strong><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2014-06-20-convocation-bushra.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 199px; float: left; height: 266px">Bushra Joarder</strong> and <strong>Hossai Furmli,</strong> 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>鈥淲ith the top notch education and facilities I have had access to as a student of 老司机直播, the resource inequality in our world became even more obvious to me," said Joarder. "While we 老司机直播 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</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2014-06-20-convocation-hossai.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 275px; float: left; height: 183px">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.</p> <p>"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</p> <p>老司机直播鈥檚 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 老司机直播 will have no shortage of opportunities to get involved, gain experience, and enact change, says Elias. &nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2014-06-20-convocation-co-curricular.jpg</div> </div> Fri, 20 Jun 2014 16:01:14 +0000 sgupta 6298 at