Hi Bibi, how are you? Good thank you and yourself? Good thanks.
Thanks for joining us today. Thank you for having me.
So, to get us started off, could you tell us
which program you're in, what year and your hometown?
For sure, I'm concluding my
fourth year in the Joint Honours
Political Science and Public
Administrations program here at uOttawa
and I am from Toronto but more
specifically I am from Etobicoke North.
Okay, so this past February, Bibi
represented Belgium and Mauritius while
taking part in the Quebec Model United
Nations Conference. Bibi also does a lot
of volunteering on and off campus, she is
a Vice President of Tulane beat for the
International Public Policy Student
Association. While she is off campus,
she gives her time to various organizations
including Equal Voice, the Canadian Club
of Ottawa and the Foreign Forum for Young Canadians.
Finally, she is a founder of Project Breaking Barrier Initiative.
So Bibi, to get us started, can you describe your experiences in the co-op program by expanding on
what type of placements you had and what that means when you're in a joint program?
For sure, being that I am
in both Political Science and Public Administration,
I have the options to be in work
placements that are more politically focused
or more policy focused. So I had
the opportunity to work with the
Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada in
their financial department for
salary management and then I also had
the opportunity to work here on campus
with the Career Development Center, where we planned professional development
events for students across campus and
I'm currently looking for my last
and final placement for the summer. So you have a range of options that
you could go for, it could be
anything really, as long as it fits
within the Co-op guidelines and within
the parameters of your program,
the world is your oyster and you can do it here at
home in Canada or you can be abroad as  well.
So, would you pick places first or are you given a list, how does that work?
So, essentially there's two ways where 
 you can find your placement,
you can either be put in a job
bank where there is a list of placements
that you can choose from or if you know
of places that you're heavily involved in
and they're willing to offer you a job, you can conduct your own search as well.
Okay, so you can kind of do both? Yes. That's good!
Now, you also take the time to organize
paint nights to help your fellow students
with mental wellness. Can you
explain a little bit what led you doing this initiative?
For sure.
I am the Duke of Edinburgh Award Recipient
for bronze, silver, gold
and diamond levels. I am also a daughter
of the vote delegate for equal voice, I
was inspired to start this initiative
because mental health is something that
is very personal to me and my friends.
And being that you know University if
you're coming for the first time, it is
very overwhelming and you can lose track
of things and often times you feel like
you're alone, I wanted to create a space
on campus for students and members of
the community, where they can come
decompress and learn how to practice
mental health and well-being, so that
they don't feel like they're alone and
that they have somewhere that they can
feel supported.
Yeah, because first year can definitely be overwhelming. So, what would be your takeaways or
what would you recommend to students that are starting this fall and what they should do to to feel supported?
For sure, my first tip is to get involved on campus,
find out who your Student
Association is, take a tour of campus
to figure out where these resources are,
something that I wish
I had known in the first year was to do
that walk around where they show you
where every Resource Center is, unfortunately, I didn't know where these resources were so
I didn't really have access to them at the
time but I would definitely do that.
The second thing I would do is create a
schedule for year classes and for work
if you are working part-time or if
you're doing co-op or other volunteer initiatives.
That way you have a visual
and a clear path for your day and for your week
so it gets less overwhelming
as you start your first semester and as you conclude your last year.
Okay, wonderful!
So I guess it kind of piggybacks onto my next question.
So you are able to do a lot, you volunteer, you're in a student association, you study,
so how do you do it all? How do you find time to volunteer and study?
What measurement strategies do you have to share?
Sure, I'm very passionate
about politics and public service, hence my program,
but I always love to giving back
to my community and that's something that I learned
throughout the Duke of Edinburgh's journey, 
 I'm actually wearing my pin.
Something that I learned
throughout university is like
we're here in Ottawa, for me this isn't
home, home is Toronto
and I have the incredible opportunity to be exposed to
different events and to different organizations
where I can learn and
learning doesn't necessarily have to
happen in the classroom and I've been
incredibly fortunate to learn from these
other organizations and be part of
different communities. I would definitely
again in your first week or first two
weeks even is take a tour of the city
and get to immerse yourself in to the
surroundings into your environment,
see what's around there, go to events, go to 
your Student Association, attend the uOttawa events,
you never know who you'll meet, the friends that you'll make and where you'll end up.
I never thought that I would end up working on
Parliament Hill for the International Trade Committee
and that's something that I was incredibly fortunate to be part of
because of my involvement and my commitment to volunteering.
That's
amazing! - Thank you!
So Bibi, you're finishing up your last year so I bet it
comes with a mix of emotions.
Looking back, what were your most memorable moments in Ottawa and what's next for you?
I think it's definitely a difficult
question to answer and I've been
thinking about this for a while. I
think my most memorable moment, there's a few,
there's the first reaction I ever
had stepping onto campus and realizing
that this was going to be home for the
next four years. Other moments were when
I won my election to represent my
student body and serve my community of students
which is always
very impactful for me because as I said,
I love being part of the community and
helping out and knowing that
the four years that I've spent here, I've grown
professionally, I've grown personally,
I've made a ton of memories, I could go on, for having an internship on Parliament Hill
and being the first and only student
on that Committee,
that gets to work really
closely with that scheme or
watching the fireworks on the Hill or
you know when the Prime Minister came to campus
and attending panels or even supporting the Gee-Gees at the Penn
the game and hey we won two years
in a row, so how can you not be proud and
keep those memories. I've made
a lot of friends here that, I know that
when we all cross the stage together, 
whether if it's virtually or in the next
couple of months, that we're gonna be in
contact for a while. It's definitely the community that comes with it.
Amazing! So next steps, do
you think you'll stay in Ottawa?
For next steps, I might do a
Master's in Global Affairs or even go to Law School.
My  goal is ultimately to run for federal politics and maybe one day as our Prime Minister.
like again, who knows at this point
the world is your oyster and anything is possible
I initially didn't think that I would be
in Ottawa and here I am!
I'm about to like finish and walk across the stage.
That's amazing! We'll definitely won't forget your name, Bibi, thank you so much for your answers,
very inspiring and really nice to hear!
Thank you!
