BBCA John Rollock Memorial Scholarship Awards August 14 th 2013

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Camron Thomas
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1 BBCA John Rollock Memorial Scholarship Awards August 14 th 2013 Good evening ladies and gentlemen, students, family and friends. Thank you very much for that very kind introduction and I would like to thank the BBCA scholarship committee for entrusting me with the task of giving advice to the recipients of the John Rollock Memorial Scholarships on what it takes to succeed in your post-secondary studies and future careers. I was told that I had 8-10 minutes to do this but this usually takes me over 45 minutes when I spend one of my University lectures advising my 3 rd year undergrad students!! Anyway I will do my best to make this brief, informative and memorable!! As we adapt to rapid technological and economic changes in society, many questions are being raised, a key one being whether post secondary graduates are well prepared to function effectively in the workforce of tomorrow? In the next few minutes, I hope to offer a few nuggets of wisdom that will help you to stand tall, excel above your peers and be leaders of change in the workforce. Hopefully you are all excited and looking forward with great enthusiasm to this next phase of your life.some of you are probably a lot more excited about leaving home and finally being an adult who gets to do what they want when they want with no parent telling you what to do! However, please remember that those same parents have nurtured, fed and loved you and made numerous sacrifices for you over the past 18 years. They want nothing but the best for you. They want to see you succeed and excel over & beyond what they achieved. But to be truly adult, you would be paying your own way through college or university, paying all your bills and not asking your parents for financial assistance or to do your laundry! Freedom from your parents comes with responsibilities and accountability so be sure that you are truly ready to be an adult!! 1

2 Now, I am not encouraging you to continue living at home and not become an adult, but it is now time to start THINKING and ACTING like an adult so that when the curve balls of University and life hit you, you will not buckle under the pressure and go running back home to the same parents that you thought knew nothing! None of you cannot even fathom a world without cell phones, Facebook, twitter or texting. So my first piece of advice is to use technology and don t let it use you. You have all heard the unfortunate stories of teen suicide because of videos of youth in compromising positions going viral. Don t ever think that will never happen to you!! Frosh week is notorious for drinking binges, unprotected sex, and many other lewd activities, and thanks to instagram etc., your story can be told in seconds to people all over the world! So keep a clear head especially during your first term on campus! I remember my first month at Queen s University. I was also very excited to be away from home at last, to make my own decisions, party whenever etc. But thankfully the values of my parents and extended family in Barbados were tattooed into my brain so anytime I ventured near the precipice of self-destruction, their faces would appear and I heard my mother saying I brought you into this world and I can take you out if you don t behave. So even thought I was thousands of miles away, I kept a level head and enjoyed myself but never placed myself in compromising situations. To this day I don t understand why people would spend $50 or more on alcohol, then vomit it all up, have a splitting headache and forget what they did the night before!! And then say we had a great time last night! So while you are enjoying the freedom of being away from home for the first time, you must be very disciplined with your time. The professors WILL NOT remind you frequently of deadlines and unlike high school, a deadline is a deadline so you will be 2

3 penalized 5-10% per day for any late assignment depending on the lecturer or the University. There is a big leap in expectations compared to high school so get organized with your time, use your PHONE to schedule everything! Believe it or not, cell phones, and texting were first developed for BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS!! So if you really want to be an adult then just perhaps you can start using your phone in an adult manner! Just saying! So schedule your class time, study time, laundry, grocery shopping, sleep and partying! Yes, you have to schedule partying/relaxing because if you don t you will spend every free hour socializing and partying and then wonder why you failed the course!!. Another nugget of advice.. spend your breaks between classes reviewing what you learnt in the previous lecture or prepare for next class, or if you brain is just fried from an exam, then do your groceries or laundry. Just don t squander those 1-hr breaks chatting with friends and texting etc. Otherwise, when your December exams come, you will be begging for 4-10 extra hours just to study for one more course etc.!! Remember. Time lost can never ever be regained. My second piece of advice: know who you are, what your learning style is. Many students think that they can skip class and just read the notes online or from their friend. Then they see everyone studying and highlighting their notes and they do the same. However there are four different learning styles and the sooner you know what your style is the better you will be at acing your exams because you understand the course material. Four styles are visual, auditory, kinesthetic or read/write. So if you are an auditory learner and skip class, you will never do well in your courses, no matter how many hours you spend looking at the lecture notes and highlighting information!! Next piece of advice, Get to know your professors..go to office hours and ask 3

4 questions remember you are one of several hundred 1 st year students in the class, unless you are attending a small college or university with very small class sizes. You need to distinguish yourself from other students in the class without obvious brown nosing of course!! Please don t take chocolates or flowers to your professors one student told me I reminded him of his NANNY when he was a kid and he proceeded to bring me flowers! That was a bit freaky! So although he left an impression on me, it was a negative one! Your time as an undergrad should be the best time of your life, you have some level of freedom and autonomy from your parents, you can legally do most adult things but you don t have the full responsibilities of being adults, having to juggle family responsibility and work and friends. All you have to do is attend classes and get A s, because A s equal money, i.e. scholarships! You are here tonight because you did well academically and you were engaged in your communities. Continue to excel academically but don t lose sight of your community while at University. Get engaged in the community around the University itself, but don t spread yourself too thin by being involved in every club or volunteer group! Be selective, choose a club or volunteer activity that you can commit to for at least 2 years so that you can move up the ladder and become an exec member in the club, which would show your leadership and organizational skills. So I want to wrap up with one of my favorite quotes and expound on it a bit. It s your attitude and not your aptitude that determines your altitude! Many people have great skills but sour attitudes and they will never reach their full potential. Aptitude If you have not already done so, you should use the first 1-2 years of 4

5 University to identify your aptitude, i.e. what are you naturally good at! Because in this tough economic climate and uncertainty about future job options and security, you cannot waste your parents hard-earned dollars (or your own if you are putting yourself through University). So you must be shrewd and target your strengths taking into account what skills sets are considered to be likely in demand in the workforce on and after graduation. Do your best to understand trends, in the context of business interests and socio-economic indicators - do not just act on self-interests and dreams. Think and dream big! Attitude A positive attitude is the fuel for success. There is a strong correlation between having a positive attitude and positive outcomes. Keep an open mind when dealing with potential barriers, use them as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks. Remember it is not how many times you fall that determines who you are but how many times you get up. Altitude: The sky is the limit for those with a positive attitude, passion, skills and tenacity. But, please ensure you put your ladder for education achievement against the right wall before you begin climbing. Changing career paths mid-stream could be time consuming and expensive. Investing four years of your life in a degree that is not going to translate into a viable and sustainable career may be fun for a while but is it wise? Of course you have to keep your gifts and talents in mind, so if you are artistic and you really love to sing, act or dance and want to be an entertainer, then pursue that with all your heart, mind and soul! But dream big, think of owning your own production company or dance theatre, don t just aim to be a good dancer or singer and have a job! And do your own research, find out the probability of succeeding in entertainment versus the traditional careers of medicine, law, accounting, engineering etc. In choosing courses, be sure to assess not just the relevancy in today s terms but what else is a 5

6 possible fit in the education equation before expending both time and money. We are an aging population so think of careers where you will have a job regardless of the economic climate occupational therapy, physiotherapy, retirement homes, social workers for elderly, etc. etc. Finally, in closing, I would like to say to your parents, please support and encourage your kids in their endeavours! This is a time of exploration for them so hopefully you have instilled the important values in them so that as they explore and learn more about themselves and the world, they will still be grounded and rooted in the values you taught them. Your job now is provide a safety net but give them wings to fly and if you have done your best for the past 18 years, they will turn out to be everything you hoped they would be and even more! I know it will be hard for many of you to let go but please don t text or phone them everyday or drop in to surprise them! You may surprise yourself!! Most of us left our parents in an era without cell phones and the internet and we only spoke to our parents once a month, if we could afford it! We turned out pretty well I think and that independence helped build our character and fortitude. You should want the same things now for your children. Okay.I am sorry for the sermon! Thank you again for inviting me to share this evening with you and I wish each and every one of you the absolute best in your postsecondary studies! Congratulations!! 6

A photograph is usually looked at. seldom looked into. Ansel Adams. ACTIVITY: Visiting Artist SUPPLIES NEEDED: **Visiting Artist

A photograph is usually looked at seldom looked into. Ansel Adams ACTIVITY: Visiting Artist SUPPLIES NEEDED: **Visiting Artist ** Table for propping up artist s paintings (Artist usually brings easel)