Convocation 2014: the co-curricular experience

As Spring Convocation ceremonies come to a close, more than 12,500 of U of T’s 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?

“As overwhelming as the academic element of U of T can be, don't let it take over entirely – my greatest experiences at U of T have not been in the classroom, they've been in my involvement in extra-curricular activities,” 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 U of T 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 U of T Mississauga’s first ever TEDx conference.

“The 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.”

Adnan is about to begin working with Nikon as a communications and project coordinator. But she says she’ll never forget how gratifying it felt to integrate herself into the U of T community, getting involved with a number of UTM clubs and societies.

And now, there’s a way to preserve some of those memories officially: U of T’s Co-Curricular Record (CCR).

A new online searchable database that helps students find co-curricular opportunities beyond the classroom, the CCR also doubles as an official U of T 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.

“The CCR opens doors for students, whether it connects them to new opportunities, helps them build community, or even just meet new friends,” says Kim Elias, coordinator of the CCR and campus involvement. “It will broaden students’ 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 U of T has to offer.”

The “sheer size” of the opportunities available to students sets U of T’s 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.

“Tennis has been my sport forever… Both the kids and the adults in the wheelchair tennis program are the sweetest people you will ever meet.”

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

For 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 – 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’ athletic advising committee the next year.

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.

“With the top notch education and facilities I have had access to as a student of U of T, the resource inequality in our world became even more obvious to me," said Joarder. "While we U of T 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.”

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.”

U of T’s 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 U of T will have no shortage of opportunities to get involved, gain experience, and enact change, says Elias.