The great thing about political science
is that you're not kind of pigeon-holed
into one career path. I mean, I have
friends who are in law school, I have friends
who are in public policy. I'm currently in
advocacy.
Some end up in political polling and research like I
have. Others tend to get a job for
government, and still others work in NGOs.
I lived in Johannesburg and I was working at Civicus.
It's an organization that connects civil society organizations to work together.
It was just a completely new experience to actually live somewhere
and get immersed in the
culture and you really learn more than
you can learn from a textbook.
I had a great time at Laurier because I was very
involved so I was able to work with a lot of campus clubs to start my advocacy using
my political science background.
I think the culture is really student centred.
Faculty are accessible to students, are
excited to work with students.
It really has a wonderful effect on the experience
of students coming through the university.
There's so many different
topics that you're able to choose and study.
In my Introduction to Law class, we were
able to go down to the Kitchener
courthouse and watch a trial, interact with
the judges, interact with the lawyers
which was so interesting
The sorts of skills that you develop
with an Arts degree
The critical thinking and the communication skills does
equip you for the workforce
Every single day I use the skills I learned at
Laurier in my job. That's without a doubt.
All of our profs are actually doing
their own research and are very involved in
the academic community themselves so when
you discuss with them
you learn kind of the bigger picture
We develop not only a
great student-teacher relationship but a
friendship. It's two-way communication, two-way learning and I think that really forces
you to come out of your shell and
discuss ideas with each other.
I know everybody by name, so it becomes really helpful
when studying for exams
and especially approaching professors.
It's a lot easier when they see you a
couple times a week.
I'm writing my LSATs in a couple of months and
Laurier has been helping me decide that that's
what I want to do.
Political scientists - we are teachers and we are researchers.
And that sort of caring about research and teaching
really creates a winning
combination.
