Bodwell's Career & Co-op Conference - Saturday, April 5th 3-5.30pm

Purpose

The goal of the event is to help Bodwell students understand how to combine career and academic studies at university as well as explore career opportunities in Canada after graduation. The conference will bring staff and co-op students from a diverse selection of universities to Bodwell to share their experiences.  

Panel Speakers and Presenters

1.     University of Waterloo advisor and engineering co-op student

2.     UBC’s Sauder School of Business co-op advisor and co-op student in accounting/finance

3.     SFU’s School of Interactive Arts & Technology co-op advisor and co-op student

4.     Capilano University advisor and co-op student in tourism

More information about presenters will be posted shortly.

Tentative Schedule

3:00-3:15 Introductions

3:15-4:00 Panel of speakers answering questions prepared by Bodwell's University Exploration Leaders

4:00-4:30 Break out Session #1 (4 rooms)

4:30-5:00 Break out Session #2 (4 rooms)

5:00-5:30 Break out Session #3 (4 rooms)

Breakout Sessions - Panel speakers would have 20 minutes to present and 5 mins for Q&A. 

Online Registration:  HERE

Amanda Chinemelu - Part II

I will tell you for a fact that it really hasn’t been an easy journey, the stress, time and effort that goes into exploration for the right university is no joke. But with the help of Mr. Philip, Mr. Boris and my fellow exploration project leaders, I sailed through the whole process with grace and ease. 

University guidance club and exploration leaders had its first meeting in the early weeks of September, we all got to know each other and what our different goals were. Personally, before I joined the club I had a good idea of what I wanted to study in the university but I had no idea on how to go about it. Mr. Phillip and Mr. Boris have been a huge help to me as well as my peers in this club. 
 

My coming to Bodwell was to make the transition from high school to university an easy and smooth one. I want to be a medical doctor and specialize in being a cardiologist or an Oncologist, I’m still not very sure though. As an internationale student, it is not possible to enter medical school without becoming a Canadian or a Permanent Resident. My exploration project is to find co-op program, and the easiest and safest way to achieve my goal in becoming a medical doctor. I am sure that some of you understand the difficulties seeing as we are mostly international students. 
The universities I am interested in are McMaster University, University of Toronto, University of Calgary and University of Alberta. My main goal in the university is to find a program that encompasses a wide range of sciences which will help prepare me for medical school. 

McMaster university has a really interesting program called Life sciences, it is a very broad program that touches all areas and is best suited for people like you and I who are not yet sure of where exactly they want to specialize and offers a co-op program. 

My advice is to start research into universities as early as possible so as to give you room to discover the various programs they offer and which one suits you best. It is also wise to check out their co-op programs. Co-op is like an internship but you get paid and have work experience. You should also put into consideration  the place where you are most likely to spend four years of your life. 

The past two months were one of the toughest for me, due to the deadlines and supplementary forms that I had to meet in order to complete my applications. Here are the links to the universities I mentioned before; http://future.mcmaster.ca/, http://discover.utoronto.ca, http://www.ucalgary.ca/prospectivestudents/ , http://admission.ualberta.ca/. For these different universities I applied to various programs to keep my options open. 

The exploration club really helped to make research clearer and more accessible for me. This is my email if you are interested in knowing more: mandiie261@gmail.com.  

Bodwell students excel in the Ivey High School Business Case Competition

Read more HERE

Guest Lecture with UBC’s Professor Dr. Barnes and Enrollment Professional Mr. Ly Dich

Read more HERE

University of Waterloo and Bodwell Launch a Partnership

Read more HERE

University Revenue - Financing University Education in Canada

As a follow-up to our sessions on university costs, the Exploration Leaders explored university financing.  Many universities in Canada provide students (including international students) with a broad range of options for generating revenue (money) to help finance (pay for) their university education.  The two biggest categories of revenue available to students at canadian universities are:

1) Scholarships and Bursaries

2) Work: Co-Op, Internships, Part-Time Jobs and more.

Here is a small selection of links to university web sites that describe in detail some of the revenue sources available to students who study at canadian universities:

University Revenue Source Examples

Scholarships and Bursaries

In-Course Scholarships - Scholarships available after you enter McMaster.

 

Bursaries at the University of Toronto - Money for students with financial need (based on your financial resources and your family's resources).

Work

Co-Op at University of Victoria.

University of British Columbia Program that gives you opportunity to work part-time (mostly on campus) while you are attending classes.

University Tuition and Fees

Earlier this month, the University and Career Exploration Leaders explored the costs of university education in Canada. We made three important discoveries:

1) The cost of university varies greatly, depending on the university, and on the specific program of study.  This is especially true for international students who are faced with much higher tuition fees than Canadian citizens.

2) That in many cases, international student tuition and fees are expected to increase.  Which means that Bodwell students entering university in the future may pay much higher fees than students did just a few years ago.

3) That the total costs of university studies depends greatly on the decisions that students (and their parents) make. This not only includes decisions about which university to attend and which program to study, but also decisions about where to live (in Vancouver or Halifax, in university residence or in off campus housing etc.), decisions about course load (number of courses per year), and decisions that determine the length of time at spent at university (many students take 5 years or more to complete an undergraduate degree in Canada).

One of the guiding principles of the University and Career Exploration Leaders program is that the best way to learn about universities is to go directly to the source.  So here are a few web site links to help you explore for yourself university costs at three of Canada's leading universities: U of Toronto, UBC and U of Alberta.

University Tuition and Fees Examples

University of Toronto - Budget Plan > 2014-15 Tuition Plans

This is a large document, but it provides a very good understanding for how the tuition planning process at U of T works.

University of British Columbia - Tuition, Fees and Other Financial Information

This is a great website to explore tuition and other fees at UBC.

University of Alberta - Tuition Information

This shows you the fees per course at U of Alberta.

How to Write an Excellent Personal Statement

Konstantin Kostikov

Konstantin Kostikov

My name is Konstantin Kostikov and I am from Russia. In this blogpost I will tell you about my experience in the University exploration club. 

I was really encouraged to do an exploration project on Co-op programs and, actually, what co-op means in general. I was interested in exploring on that because Co-op gives a lot of opportunities to students to find out what kind of job they prefer and try themselves in different positions. 

Every meeting we discuss  many aspects of students' life, especially,  first year success. Moreover, our meetings has helped me to choose  universities, where  programs are highly competitive. As I found out, engineering program is one of the most difficult to get in, and, definitely, this is the hardest one to study. 

First year success is very important for the students in the engineering program because in many universities the first year is general for all students, and the biggest challenge is to be competitive enough in order to get into the second year. If you are successful in your engineering studies, you will be able to find a good job which requires a lot of effort. To conclude, the university exploration club gave a lot of knowledge about university life and I hope I will be able to share my knowledge with  many students at Bodwell.

Nataliia Morozova

Nataliia Morozova

My name is Nataliia. I’m graduating from Bodwell and I’m really excited about opportunities that are about to open to me in the near future. I have resolved to focus on studying architecture and engineering at university. However, I’m still open to a variety of other opportunities: for instance, I’m really interested in taking different courses as a part of a Liberal Arts degree. The idea of studying Liberal Arts is so appealing to me that I have decided to do a research on this topic(will be posted soon).

As a senior student, I’m very much aware of those controversial feelings and devastating thoughts that come to mind when you are exposed to the responsibility of choosing your future path. You probably feel thrilled and overloaded at the same time, you’re lost in this tangled ravel of choices and possibilities and, moreover, you’re afraid. But hey! Don’t worry! We have created this blog especially for you! Our purpose is to help you to find a right university that responds to all your goals and demands, by providing useful information we gathered from multiple sources. So join us, get started and be ready to face the best journey of your life!

Amanda Chinemelu

Amanda Chinemelu

Hello everyone, if you don’t know me well here’s your chance. My name is Amanda Chinemelu from Nigeria 17 years of age and a bit tall. I am currently in Grade 12 at Bodwell, this is my second semester and the next semester is going to be my last. This prompted me to join the University Exploration Projects and Mentorship club.  Right from my childhood I’ve always wanted to be a neurosurgeon because of one of my role models Ben Carson. But as we all know, as children we are sheltered from difficulties. So choosing a career was quite an easy thing for me. In my head, I imagined that after high school I would enter straight into the university and become a neurosurgeon.

But as I grew older my eyes were opened.  It is not that easy to choose a career, it requires critical thinking, research and time. You have to know your weaknesses and your strengths before going into something that shapes your life. My interest lies in the sciences. Biology is my best subject but I also have to be really good in chemistry which is not as easy as I thought. I enjoy learning things about the human anatomy and helping the sick which is why I know that my career has to be in that field. However, back home in my country, the system is quite different from the Canadian system. In my country, you can read medicine directly but that is not the same here. To enter medical school is really competitive and the bar is raised higher for international students such as myself and most of Bodwell students. When I first joined this club, I was quite sure of what I wanted to study but after attending university fairs and doing some research, I am not so sure anymore. I am not saying this to discourage anybody or anything like that. I am just telling you my story and how this club has helped me.

 While doing research, I found out that I do not have to be completely sure of what I want to do in the university. I heard about a course called Liberal Arts from a colleague of mine right here in Bodwell and also in the mentorship club. This program allows you to be diverse in your first year for students who aren’t really sure of what they want study. The program enables you to pick courses form every field and hopefully while studying in your first year, you will become familiar with where your interest really lies. This program is really good because you have a wide variety of subjects to pick from rather than just going head in without really understanding what you signed up for.  I had a talk with Mr. Boris and Mr. Philip about this route I’m thinking of taking rather than going straight into the medical field and they both thought it was a really good and smart idea.  My exploration project questions include; what do you want from a "Liberal Arts" first year? For example. Do you want the opportunity take a diverse set of courses; the opportunity to keep your options open, is there anything else you want from a "Liberal Arts" first year? Are their specific courses you want to take in your first year? For example: Economics, Public Health related courses, "Pre-Med" courses, anything else? Do you want to combine Arts and Sciences as part of your Liberal Arts first year? 

Hopefully as I continue my research I would be able to make a choice on what I want to study.