Getting to Know QSIA’s First-Year Representatives
By: Madeleine Castiglione - Communications Director
One of my favourite parts of being on QSIA’s executive team is having the opportunity to meet like-minded and passionate individuals within the Commerce program. During my two years on the club, I have had the opportunity to get to know (and become friends with) so many incredible people. Although I am biased in saying this, I feel as though our club’s culture, especially throughout the pandemic, has been second to none.
We recently welcomed Carmen and Emily to our group as our first-year representatives. They both will have the opportunity to work with each of our portfolios throughout the year (and will be posting on our blog - stay tuned), and we could not be more excited for them to join the team. I had the chance to meet with them a few weeks ago to discuss their backgrounds, opinions on social impact, and hopes for the year. Our conversation was very insightful, and I hope it gives you a glimpse of who they are and why we felt that they would be incredible representatives of our team.
The first question that I asked was your standard run-of-the-mill interview question: Tell me (and our readers) about yourself? Here’s what Carmen and Emily had to say:
Emily: Hi, Readers! My name is Emily, and I'm from Abbotsford, BC. It is a bit of a farm town which is why I am really excited to be here in Kingston. Growing up, I was a competitive dancer for eight years, and in that time, I attended the Joffrey Ballet School in San Francisco. That experience was a really great opportunity for me to learn a lot about myself and grow as a person. I was very heavily involved in leadership in high school, and I even got to go to the Canadian Student Leadership Conference, which helped highlight my love and passion for helping others.
Carmen: Hi Everyone! I'm Carmen, and I am from Markham, a city in the greater Toronto area. I'm really passionate about all things mental health advocacy, student government, and social justice. A lot of my main motivations in life come from giving back and making as much of a difference as possible. I was super involved in extracurricular activities in high school and held leadership positions in many nonprofit organizations and student councils. I've always tried to be a personal advocate for social impact through my social media, and I'm excited to expand my knowledge and advocacy through QSIA.
After talking about competitive dance and the GTA, we moved on to life at Queen’s. I then asked, “Why did you decide to apply to QSIA?”
Carmen: Last year, when I told people that I was applying to business programs, I consistently got the same response; people would say: “Really, Carmen? You don't seem like a business person”. I think that the reason I got this reaction was because of the fact that most people associate business with capitalism and people like Jeff Bezos, whose values differ from my own. I would often respond to these conversations by saying that I want to change the system from within. Even though I don't stand for a lot of the surface-level interpretations of what business is, I do think business has the power to change the world. I was so fortunate to find out about QSIA because I feel like the club, and the students on it, share my values and goals. I think that as a first-year representative, QSIA will give me the opportunity to actively participate in furthering this change within the business world while meeting new people who also care about the same things that I do. So I guess that you can say that I applied to learn how to be a better student, business leader, and person in general.
Emily: Wow, that was very well put, and honestly, my answer is similar. Basically, I wanted to be a part of QSIA because, as Carmen mentioned, it seemed like a really good opportunity to be an active part of a movement of change. Not only that, but the opportunities that QSIA provides for students are opportunities that I'm in need of, and I wasn't aware of until looking into the club. I also feel like QSIA is a great platform for students at Queens to get involved within the community and really make a difference. For example, the Social Internship Program (SIP) has partnered exclusively with local nonprofits, and working with the community is something that I'm really passionate about. As Carmen also mentioned, business generally doesn't necessarily have the best reputation, and I wanted to be a part of the mission to change that. I believe that through QSIA, I can use the power of business for good, which is why I really wanted to be a part of the club.
Next, we discussed social impact and what it means to each of them. Here are Emily and Carmen’s interpretations of the term:
Emily: To me, social impact involves taking opportunities to connect with your peers, professionals, and experts to combine forces and create positive change in your community and the world in general. This can be accomplished through continued education and by furthering your own knowledge. You can learn and grow as a person through these opportunities, enabling you to contribute to the greater good.
Carmen: In my opinion, social impact is just simply people helping people. I guess in the context of QSIA; it would involve businesses looking at problems such as inequality, discrimination, and oppression and finding sustainable solutions to these issues.
While staying in the realm of social impact, I then asked Emily and Carmen to describe a cause that they are passionate about and how they have supported it.
Carmen: One cause that I've always been really passionate about is mental health advocacy. I personally relate to it and have been surrounded by peers who have confided in me with their mental health experiences. In high school, I decided that I wanted to do something to contribute to the mental health conversation and co-founded an organization called “The Student Health and Wellness Council.” It was super cool since we started out really small and built it up to be an extremely impactful club. I think that we really made a meaningful difference in the mental health conversations at our school by creating initiatives that highlighted conversations and discussions about mental health and the stigma surrounding it. I'm looking forward to continuing my passion for mental health advocacy at Queen’s and integrating that with QSIA’s values as well.
Emily: I actually have a similar story! In the past, my friends and I have struggled with our mental health, so it's always been a cause that's really fuelled my passion for helping others. In Grade 9, I joined my high school’s “Mental Wellness Week” committee, a small student-run council that organized a yearly mental health conference. We had over 30 different presenters come in and hosted meditation ceremonies and soap-making sessions. I think that made a significant difference because it allowed our students to start talking about mental health issues, which is really important because they are so common. So yeah, I'm very excited to continue to be a part of that movement at Queen’s.
I ended our discussion with one final (and perhaps the most important) question: “What are you most excited about this year?”
Emily: There are so many things that I'm excited about, honestly, but regarding QSIA, I'm really excited to learn and to grow my skills in the social impact department. I think that being in this club will allow me to learn more about what it means to be a part of a team that's so driven. I can’t wait to hear more about everyone’s experiences and am so excited for our future. The executive team has been extremely welcoming so far, and I can’t wait to form connections with every person in our club.
Carmen: I am super excited to get to know like-minded students on the team and through our events. I am also really excited to meet leaders in the business world who are passionate about social impact and EDII and learn about how they incorporate it into their roles. I think that these discussions can shed light on how they have been successful in the social impact sector while in a high-pressure and competitive business environment.
I couldn’t help but feel Carmen and Emily’s excitement about QSIA and this school year throughout our discussion. Although they just joined us, I can already tell that they will be terrific additions to our team.