Dear Members of the Selection Committee,
Standing here at the finish line of undergrad, it’s hard to believe this chapter of my life is coming to a close. To be completely honest, I was surprised when I received the email suggesting I apply for this award. Although I’ve been heavily involved on and beyond campus, I haven’t been super involved academically, at least, in a prototypical way. I didn’t even realize I had a Dean’s Honours Average until I received the message about this application. After spending some time reflecting, I believe I’m a great candidate for the Academic Achievement Award because of the intentionality and growth I exhibited throughout my degree. To give you a sense of what I mean and why I’m deserving of this award, I will talk about my university journey in terms of four major milestones: (1) becoming honest with myself in SE, (2) learning to love learning in Ki, (3) applying my degree by designing for my community, and (4) finding balance in my final year.
Becoming honest with myself in SE
In high school, I cared a lot about my grades and how I performed academically. Although high school me would not like to admit it, I did not so much invest in true learning and understanding as I did in chasing that extra percentage. This was not a path I was forced into. Growing up in a small mountain town, my sister and I had no pressure or expectations laid out in front of us. My mom pursued a career in tourism and worked seasonal jobs day in and day out. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy” that’s what she would always say. So it was a surprise to everyone when I decided to pursue software engineering at the University of Waterloo. “You’re gonna be a developer? Really? Do you really think you’re going to like that?” my mom, teacher, and friends questioned me at the time. In the history of Banff Community High School, only one other person had ever gone to UW, and Banff isn’t exactly a tech hub either. Even with no prior experience in coding or exposure to the industry, I felt confident I was making the right choice. I was going to be a woman in STEM and leave the little bubble of my small town. All those years I spent chasing grades and being so involved in school led up to this point...or so I thought.
Being in SE was a shock to the system. Along with all the challenges of being away from home, it was a rude awakening to realize I was way behind my peers in terms of education and experience. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing. On top of all of this, I did not enjoy any of my classes. Yes, it was a very steep learning curve for me and that did not help. However, I think the main contributor to my poor academic performance was the fact that I never really learned to love learning during high school. I excelled in all of my courses back then and I didn’t think twice about how I actually felt about them. As an Asian woman who did well in math and all the sciences, I’d fallen into the trap of choosing my education based on “prestige”. My one saving grace in first year was my involvement with the varsity rugby team. I trained with the team almost every day in the fall, and committed to waking up at 6:30 am every weekday to attend strength and conditioning in the winter. Through rugby, I learned about diligence, structure, and grit. After barely making it through the first semester and feeling like I was losing myself, I began to prioritize things that made me feel good. I spent more time engaging with the community, such as helping out with the St. Jeromes University Open House and welcoming Japanese exchange students through Konja. At the end of the second term, it became apparent that I could not have the lifestyle I wanted while pursuing SE. Although I had to switch programs, I went on to complete a co-op term where I worked as an iOS developer at a startup that created tech for older adults living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. During this time, I not only learned the swift language from scratch, but I also took the initiative to create a promotional video for the company that ended up winning a $75,000 prize through the AGE-WELL National Impact Challenge. Through this career-relevant work experience, I began to realize the true potential of my diverse skillsets, interpersonal abilities, and go-getter attitude.
Learning how to love learning through Ki
Going into Knowledge Integration was the best decision I’ve ever made. It was such a breath of fresh air to actually be excited about the courses I was taking. I started to not think about my grades but prioritize the things that resonated with me. What am I really interested in? How does what we’re learning connect to the real world? How can I make this more fun and exciting for myself? I went from a “follow the rubric to a T to get good grades” to a “who cares about grades as long as it’s meaningful” kind of person. I was finally starting to love learning for what it was—not for the grades or the prestige, but for true growth and understanding. I selected my courses to reflect my interests in the business and tech sector and soon decided to pursue a business option and computing minor. Being in Ki also allowed me to explore and expand my involvement on campus. Between my second and third years, I jumped at every opportunity I had to be more and more involved. I continued to be a part of the varsity rugby team and worked to implement environmentally friendly solutions as a captain for the St. Jeromes University Green Team. Within the Ki community I volunteered to run a design thinking workshop for high school students, and spoke about my career-relevant work experience at the “Summer off? Summer on!” seminar. During this time, I was also very curious about the startup scene in KW and joined the UW Entrepreneurship Society as their VP of Marketing & Design. Eventually, I became the Co-President of this club and helped my team implement various projects that enhanced the entrepreneurial ecosystem at UW. Additionally, I was one of the organizing members of StarterHacks2020—Canada’s largest beginner-focussed hackathon. In all of these involvements, I was able to apply the business, design, and computing skills I was learning through my courses and take away valuable experience in leadership and team organization. In the fall term of my third year, I also had the opportunity to be one of the environment O-week leaders, where I was able to create memorable experiences for first-year students along with my peers.
Applying my degree by designing for my community
When the pandemic hit in my 3B term, I proceeded to spend the next two years back home in Banff. When it came time to choose a topic for my capstone project, I knew I wanted to focus on implementation. To me, that is the essence of Ki. To find a real problem and solve it using a systematic and user-centric approach. The culmination of my Ki learnings is Banff Isn’t Disposable (BID). In the span of around 6 months, I was able to collaborate with the Town of Banff, various community organizations, 20+ local volunteers, and 8 local businesses to implement and launch a pilot reusable container program in Banff National Park. During the pilot, we were able to divert over 500 containers from the waste stream and generate a ton of interest from the community and beyond. Thanks to the success of this project, the town council has also approved a new single-use item bylaw in Banff, and we are excited for the future of reuse in our community. I did this while simultaneously creating an online toolkit on how to accelerate environmental action and working as a part-time knowledge integrator with the Research Institute for Aging. This summer, I will be working on a contract with the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley to continue to implement BID.
Finding Balance in my final year