In my second year at university, I struggled to get involved and become an executive member of an association. In Concordia University, there is high competition for these positions and over 100 students submit applications. I applied a few times, made it to the interview, but then got rejected. This situation happened three times, and then I stopped applying to those societies. I started doubting myself and kept replaying the interview scenario over and over in my head to understand what went wrong. To keep myself busy during the school year, I took four courses and volunteered for a few events held on campus. I decided to focus on school and put all my time and effort into achieving better grades.
Another way I kept myself busy was by taking certifications outside of school. I realized that other than a co-curricular record, taking classes outside of school to build my skill set will also help me add value to my career profile. I signed up to obtain a certification in Microsoft Excel and continued to take online classes. This certification helped me learn necessary formulas and practice a variety of cases as well.
In my third year, I didn’t apply to any societies and continued to focus on school and other certifications. One day on Facebook, I came across a post about Her Campus, which said that they were recruiting writers. This post instantly brought a smile on my face, as I was looking for an opportunity on campus involving writing. I applied and ended up getting the position. I was very happy, as I’m very passionate about writing and wanted a platform to voice my opinions and share my experiences with everyone. My first article (Five Major Reasons to Get Involved on Campus) was about a topic that interests me a lot. I was able to share my experiences to motivate people to get involved on campus. So far, I’ve been enjoying writing and sharing university and life experiences through my articles.
It’s funny, because I learned about another opportunity related to writing the same way. I was browsing through Facebook and came across another society at JMSB that was looking for writers. I applied with my cover letter and got accepted the next day. I was happy and excited to write business articles. This is an opportunity that allows me to use knowledge and concepts I learned from classes. The Association’s mandate is to discuss trends and allow students to become knowledgeable about the industry. While writing about different trends in the business industry, I have to research to relay the right information, which allows me to learn new facts about many companies as well.
I didn’t intend to become a writer, as I was keen on becoming an executive member. Initially, I applied to multiple societies without realizing which society and position was the best for me. Even though I didn’t get accepted for any executive positions, I am still very happy. Writing makes me happy and helps me destress. It puts me in a good mood and helps me concentrate better to study for other courses as well.