Adding on to what both Michael and Vanesse said, getting involved in the extracurricular life at Queen’s is one of the best ways to spend your time.  I know that personally, I enjoy all my classes; however, what really makes my experience unbelievable is how I can branch out and become part of something that I am interested in.

I am very interested in International Business, and luckily for me, 2008 is the first year that the Queen’s Conference on International Business (QCIB) is happening.  Over this three day conference, students from all years are coming together to discuss many of the different aspects of the field, as well as listening to executives speak from such companies as RIM, American Express, Barclay’s Capital and Disney.  One of the best parts of the conference is that there are plenty of opportunities to network with these executives, and that many of them in fact are interested in meeting students.

I’m very excited to be part of the conference this year, but if international business is not your thing, there are nearly 15 other different conferences that you can take part in.  The conferences are held all throughout the school year, and they cover topics such as the sports industry, the fashion industry, marketing, accounting, finance, entrepreneurship…and many more as well.

If you decide to come to Queen’s Commerce next year, I strongly suggest that you get involved wherever you can.  Taking part in areas outside the classroom has definitely enriched my experience here so far, and I’m sure that it will undoubtedly make your time here better as well.

 Cheers

Just to add a quick note to what Michael said – for sure, play.  No matter which university you’re at, whichever faculty, there are bound to be parties (which was one of the things you asked about) on top of whatever extracurriculars you feel you’re interested in.  I think Queen’s ranks right up there in terms of club variety and number - I remember last year’s brochures having a whole section listing out clubs on campus, and every club will have its socials, to get know fellow club members, and definitely events happening in residence.

 Personally, I just feel like what I’m involved in with regards to QSB and workload and all that would be more interesting, rather than what party I went to last night, because anywhere you go, there will be play.  I also make it a point to talk about what extracurriculars I’m involved in, as well as any conferences or competitions I went to in my blog posts, so feel free to check back or even ask me about what there is, but trust me on that there’s definitely opportunity for work-play balance.

I saw a blog comment that pointed out we do a fair bit of talking about the “mountains” of work we have to do. I am here to break this cliché and add some balance to the discussion to show that we are not always bombarded with work and there is indeed time for extracurriculars.

To put a realistic perspective on this, to the chagrin of many I am sure, here is my weekly work schedule. For any given week I usually spend 10 hours doing work including class readings. I have 15 hours of class, and another two hours for meetings. If you add that up it leaves plenty of time for life. My marks are certainly not anything to marvel at, but I prefer a balance to my life. We are not a bunch of academic robots and you are not expected to be one either.

The business school encourages you to, and provides you the time to do things other then school work. Why else would we base the admission process on the PSE and not strictly on your marks. We want well rounded students to come to Queen’s and want to keep the students well rounded while they are here.

The point of this post was to simply show that you are not expected, nor do you need to be a workhorse spending 8 hours a day in the library to come or to stay at Queen’s. School work will be only 50% of the learning you do here and only 10% of what you will remember 10 years from graduation.

Any more specific questions you would like answered can be posted in the comments. Any questions that need a speedy response can be emailed to 5dma@queensu.ca

Contrary to popular belief, time actually passes pretty fast when you’re not doing anything. For example, last week’s Reading Week, the week that university students gets time off that is similar to Spring Break, flew by faster than a regular school week. It was quite sad because I was looking forward to spending time snuggling up in bed, watching movies or going shopping. Even though I was the few that stayed in residence during Reading Week, I still had a great time because I got to catch up on sleep and do a lot of relaxing.

Anyways, we are back and already we have 2 Commerce assignments due within the next few days and I also have a Political Science essay due next Wednesday. Also my marketing team vs. team is next week, so my team is scrambling to get that completed as well.

Time passes so quickly. It felt like only yesterday that I arrived at Queen’s and moved into my residence, but now we’re already starting to worry about 2nd semester finals!! Just the thought of having only half a semester left makes me quite happy, because that means I am 1/4 done for my undergrad!!!

I’ll post again sometime later… now I have to go get my laundry.

- Sheila

p.s. I know approximately at this time is when you submit your PSE’s (if you have not already done so) and start accepting offers to different universities. Please do not hesitate to ask any of us any questions regarding Queen’s life, Commerce life or just anything in general. Please do keep in mind that we all look for different things when we choose the university that we want to attend, so use your best judgement when actually making your own choice. =)

Oh the joy of reading week. I know it has been quite awhile since my last post but it goes to show you how busy we actually are here at Queen’s. Midterms were last week and as a first year student we had four consecutive exams monday through thursday. They weren’t as bad as the first semester midterms but that is probably because we were just getting into the swing of things.

Well, I’m assuming you want to know what is going on in my life? I am relaxing from the stress of school and visiting with old high school friends back at home. It’s nice to take a break from everything. I have a presentation in COMM131 (Marketing) as a ‘team vs. team’ presentation next week when I go back. In a team I need to formulate a marketing strategy plan for Starbucks. Each team presents their case then it leads into a debate over the issues. The class decides which team wins and that contributes to your mark. In non academic news for me, I am currently in the running for ComSoc Senator. The position is a voting seat in the Commerce Society and also the senator sits on Queen’s Senate with faculty and administration. The elections are on the 26th and 27th so wish me good luck.

 Check out my website for my campaign at http://harrisonrboyd.googlepages.com/

That about concludes my recent life here at Queen’s and I look forward to meeting those who are reading this blog at our March Break Open House.

Take care.