Katie McIntosh is a Queen’s School of Business alumni, who graduated with a B.Comm and a Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility in 2010. She is from Markham, Ontario, but loves to travel. She is currently living and working at a microfinance institution in rural Sierra Leone for eight months.

Hi everyone,
I am a new addition to the Queen’s Commerce blog, so please check out my bio if you would like to know a bit more about me. I began an 8 month internship working at a microfinance institution in Kabala, Koinadugu District, Sierra Leone at the beginning of April, 2011. The internship is part of the Canadian International Development Agency’s (CIDA) International Youth Internship Program (IYIP), which helps post-secondary graduates to gain practical experience in development work. Through this program, CIDA funds Canadian NGO’s to hire interns who work with their partner organizations in various developing countries. My internship is with a Canmore-based Canadian NGO called CAUSE Canada, which funds and operates programs in Central America and West Africa. CAUSE Canada has a partner institution in Sierra Leone called the CAUSE Canada Sierra Leone Partnership, which launched the Salone Women’s Empowerment Trust (SWET), a registered microfinance institution, a few years ago. SWET is the program I am interning with, although I am also closely connected to CAUSE’s other programs in Kabala, in particular the Women’s Integral Empowerment Program, which aims to build the capacity of women to become more effective leaders, businesspeople and caregivers in their homes and communities.

SWET’s mission is “to improve the quality of life of economically active poor and marginalized women in Sierra Leone by offering sustainable financial services from an integrated community development approach”. It does this by operating business training and support classes to businesswomen within the rural communities of Koinadugu District, and offering select participants of these classes microcredit to grow their businesses. With the help of their SWET loans, many women report the growth of their businesses, as well as an increased capacity to support their families by contributing towards the costs of food, school fees, medical expenses, etc. SWET has seen substantial growth within the past few years, and it continues to grow with a recent expansion to Kamakwie, Bombali District. Operational challenges here are vast, including poor road conditions (especially in the rainy season), high illiteracy rates, high energy costs (because the office runs on a generator), and higher rates of illness and death than are seen throughout the developed world. Much of my role at SWET is to help build the capacity of the organization and its staff to operate sustainably in the long-term. I also help to write reports and beneficiary stories and to cross-check loan applications and accounts.

Although it is certainly not for everyone, I am really enjoying my experience here in Sierra Leone. There are numerous personal and professional challenges involved in working in a developing country, but that is what I love about it. I also value the relationships I am building, the lessons that I am learning and the new ways in which I am applying my knowledge and skills. I am finding the skills and the method of thinking that I learned in Queen’s Commerce to be very useful in both understanding the organization I am working with and finding ways in which I can help to build its capacity. For example, my knowledge of how to create and analyze an income statement has helped me to revise SWET’s loan application forms to better analyze the long-term sustainability of its clients’ businesses. Given that my career interests were more related to economics and international development than the more traditional directions of accounting, finance or marketing, at times I feared that I was taking the wrong degree. The truth is, however, that a business education can give you valuable preparation for a variety of different careers. I continue to find the knowledge, skills and way of thinking that I learned in Queen’s Commerce, as well as the people that I met, to be very valuable to my personal and professional development.

I am talking about the APSC 400 Technology, Engineering and Management (TEAM) course hosted by the Queen’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering each year. TEAM is an eight-month (two semesters) course that offers students the opportunity to work in multifunctional teams to consult on real industry issues. You may have heard me already talk about it (and about how it basically took over my life in the winter semester) on the blog previously but I want to define it more clearly for you.

To be honest, I didn’t even know about TEAM until late last July when a write-up was posted on the Commerce Portal. I’m really glad I opened up that news item though because it completely changed my life (I’m not exaggerating!).

I will say it upfront to you: TEAM was the most extraordinary experience I’ve had since I first stepped foot on the Queen’s campus. Through TEAM, I have had the opportunity to work with incredibly talented individuals, liaise with willing industry professionals and meet a variety of people from a number of different backgrounds. On my team, I was paired up with two chemical engineers, one mechanical engineer and one law student. Having lived on the Commerce floor in first year and then only worked with a limited number of non-Commerce students, I’ve been pretty much subjecting myself to be confined within the “Commerce bubble.” However within TEAM, I was basically forced to work with these people from these faculties whom I have never interacted with before, and who think completely differently from the way Commerce students think.

Imagine yourself at 4 in the morning in a study room on campus with four other cranky, hungry students and five laptops typing away simultaneously. That was us multiple times this year. I was surprised we didn’t kill each other, or give up. All of us pulled through it together and still managed to get up the next morning to meet again at 10 for conference calls with our advisor and client. The friendships that I have made through this program have been so valuable to me. You know your friendship will last when you are able to pull through difficult issues together and still come out laughing and having a good time.

All of that “soft stuff” aside, the academic part of TEAM has also been rewarding. Being able to work with engineers and law students mean that I was exposed to a lot of technical material. When they are talking about BTUs or PSI, I was sitting there clueless. I had to catch up quickly, oftentimes by searching Google or Wikipedia (I later learned that BTUs and PSI was british thermal units and pound per square inch, respectively). The learning curve was definitely there, but it was appreciated as I was exposed to new materials everyday.

Our project was based on doing research on implementation of compressed natural gas vehicles in a natural gas company in Calgary. I was responsible for the Cost-Benefit Analysis which was particularly frustrating because as the information was updated every day, the numbers also changed. Excel definitely sped things up a lot, but in the end I still spewed out probably 50 different versions of it. My teammates were also incredibly helpful in getting information to me and helping me complete my part (and vice versa), which I found comforting because I felt this is what real collaboration should be about.

Through TEAM, I found myself talking to Vice Presidents and Managing Directors of companies. I was given the opportunity, and a legitimate reason, to liaise with industry professionals. It was a great way for me to develop my network of contacts and to develop my professionalism skills. TEAM offered us the chance to consult real industry professionals, which was both rare and exciting for us as students. The final presentation in April was a great way for me to develop my presentation skills as well because we presented in front of senior management of the company we consulted for. They were very kind and provided us with a lot of feedback which we took to heart. Much of this experience just doesn’t come from the classroom or a textbook, which is why the TEAM experience is so valuable.

Remember last time when I talked about my super busy day at the end of the semester where I earned 1/5 of my entire semester’s grades? Well at the end of it, I met up with my TEAMmates and we had a “last meeting” to celebrate the end of the semester. I truly believe that if we can go through 1000 hours of work together, we can get through anything, and I will be able to rely on them in the future if anything came up where I needed help. Because of TEAM, I am also more certain that I will succeed in the workforce. I strongly recommend this course to everyone in their 3rd and 4th year. It is application based, meaning you need to send a resume and cover letter to the professor who hosts this, but this year everyone who applied was offered a spot (it depends on the number of projects they have available that year). Honestly, just apply, or even just e-mail the professor for more information.

And with that… I bid you goodbye for the very last time! Thank you for all of the great memories, Queen’s University. I will miss you!

- Sheila, COMM 2011

I’m officially done school. Convocation was last week but I didn’t go because I had something else on the upcoming Monday in Vancouver so I knew I would probably not make it on time. I’m really sad to have missed it though because from looking at everyone’s photos, it looked like it generated some more good memories and was a lot of fun.

March and April were insanely busy for me, which is why I didn’t update as often as I would have liked. I had my TEAM presentation to our client in Calgary at the beginning of April, which meant I missed an entire week of school (the last week, actually) to fly to Calgary and then back. It was an incredibly rewarding experience though, which is why I fully recommend it to everyone (I will write more about TEAM later, it really is an exceptional program!). Then I came back and had my first exam on Project Management a few days after I got back from Calgary. I had a whole week and a half break between my first and last exam (and presentation), so I took that time to pack up my apartment and also prepare for the presentation. The last day of undergraduate was a whirlwind and looking back at it, I have no idea how I survived. I had a 65% presentation that day, along with a 40% final, which meant 1/5 of my entire 4th year 2nd semester mark came from that one day.

So what is new with me… really nothing much. I came home to Vancouver near the end of April after I had done all my exams and presentations. I took Project Management this semester, which means I am eligible to take the Certified Associate in Project Management exam. I will be doing that later in June and then I will be dedicating my entire summer to look for a full time job, which would preferably start in the fall. Yes I am still looking for a job. I have been submitting applications here and there but I really am waiting for the right fit. I’ve submitted a few in the past couple of weeks which I am waiting to hear back on, so fingers-crossed!

In other, non-academic related news. I’ve got myself a new camera! My parents bought me a Canon EOS Rebel T2i as my graduation/22nd birthday present and I’ve been playing with it for a few days. I am really excited because not only am I done school, I finally have some time to focus on doing some things I really enjoy, one of which is taking photos of the beautiful Vancouver scenery.

This will probably be my second-to-last post on the Queen’s Commerce blog. Hard to believe, but I’ve been writing here since first year, which was September 2007. People came and went, but I’m glad I stayed because it has been a great experience sharing my life with you, something I will always treasure. As this story is ending, another one is just beginning and I hope that I will encounter many of you in the next part of my life!

- Sheila, COMM 2011

Again, thanks to everyone for your questions and e-mails. And congrats to those of you who are joining the Commerce family in September! Thinking about the Comm’15 class makes me feel pretty ancient, but I’m so excited for the year that you have ahead.

I’ve heard vague mentions of something called QC “buddies;” what exactly is this?

What are the requirements for being in orchestra? When are auditions and rehearsals and concerts?

There are different orchestras/bands at Queen’s. Symphony Orchestra rehearsals are twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays 4-5:30pm. You may have a class that conflicts with rehearsals, but it usually isn’t too difficult to switch into another section of a commerce course. Feel free to e-mail the conductor, Prof. Gordon Craig if you have any questions. Performances are usually 4-5 times a year.

Auditions are in the first week of school (by-the-by, Gordon plays clarinet and has a soft spot for wind-sy blues pieces). While it is technically a credit course for music students, you can audition just to play for fun. Here’s the site: http://www.queensmusic.ca/music/?q=programs/courses-offered/462