So, what can you expect when you come for a meal at Queen’s dining halls? Well, you will be surrounded with appetizing items like tandoori chicken pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, noodles, stir-fry of your choice, and steamy soups – just to name a few!

To satisfy your cravings further, dining halls also offer nutritious salad bars, grab-and-go sandwiches, daily hot soups, and Ontario’s fruits and vegetables. And oh! Who can forget the welcoming smiles of the hospitality staff, eager to serve you!

If you have alternative dietary needs, Queen’s got you covered! Halal, Kosher, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose free and other special dietary offerings are available especially for you. Check out the mouth-watering menu to see what’s cooking today! Furthermore, for your convenience, each food option is labelled with its ingredients and allergy precautions. Yes, at Queen’s Dining Halls, there is something new daily to surprise your taste buds.

Other than the three residence dining halls, there are numerous retail dinning locations as well. These include Pizza Pizza, Tim Hortons, Booster Juice, Teriyaki, and Ignite Grill all in once convenient location, Queen’s Centre. As a commie, you will find yourself grabbing coffee and snack-to-go from Goodes’ Hall Cafe. For a full list of places to grab a bite from, check out the campus food location map.

Lastly, I cannot help but brag about the friendly service of Queen’s hospitality staff. Their awards speak for themselves, so instead of me bragging about them, I encourage you to read the awards section of hospitality services website.

I encourage you to visit the newly launched hospitality services website to further explore food adventures at Queen’s. If you have any questions regarding the hospitality services, you can skim through the FAQ section or contact them directly.

- Jawwad Siddiqui, COMM’ 15

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

Last year for March Break I visited Mont Tremblant with some friends, and though it was a lot of fun I missed the opportunity to visit open houses at Queen’s and other universities. I’m sure many of you are in the same boat – whether you were vacationing down south or had trouble finding the right day to drive out to Kingston.

Though I was not able to come to Queen’s for the Open House, I was fortunate enough to visit Kingston twice during my second semester of grade 12. The first time, I got to stay with an older friend at her house in the student village, just 5 minutes north of the campus. The second time, I took a guided tour of the university on a Saturday with my parents. Both of these experiences greatly contributed to my decision to come to Queen’s. Once I had the opportunity to walk around the campus, I got a positive feel for the environment and was able to picture myself as a student at Queen’s.

I definitely encourage all of you to take the time and visit the campus, especially if you didn’t get the chance to during March Break. Here are some easy ways to do so:

1. Prospective students from all faculties can join in a guided campus tour, which gives a brief tour of the business building, Goodes Hall. You can find the information to sign up for one of these tours at http://www.queensu.ca/admission/contacts/campustours.html.

2. If you’re interested in a more in-depth guided tour of Goodes Hall, feel free to email the Commerce office at commerce@business.queensu.ca. Usually, there is a standard meeting time of Fridays at 3:00pm where anyone can drop by for info and a tour. As part of the High School Liaison Committee, I help run the tours, and I find most prospective students learn a lot about the Commerce program that they didn’t know before visiting.

3. If you do not have the opportunity to visit Kingston, you still have the ability to use the Commerce office as a resource for answering any questions you may have. Also, feel free to e-mail me at 9dvl@queensu.ca. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have about the Commerce program, Queen’s, or Kingston in general!

- Danielle Lucchese, COMM’14

Reading week is now a thing of the past and as the month of March dawns upon Queen’s Commerce students in all years, so too does the Commerce Society’s period of committee and executive hiring. “March Hiring,” aptly titled, is the time at which the Queen’s Commerce Society, or ComSoc, hires students to fill over three hundred positions at all levels within the internal arm of the organization. All students are encouraged to apply—the welcoming and open nature of the whole process makes the society particularly attractive to many first years (like myself) who, after learning the ropes a bit for the past few months, would like to further their involvement within the Commerce environment. With the team of Kelsey Paterson, Robert Hoy, and Kathryn Wizinsky being elected as ComSoc executive just before reading week, excitement as to what the 2011-2012 year has in store for all of Queen’s Commerce continues to grow.

The society’s internal arm consists of a C-level organizational team, overseeing marketing, PR, IT and financial operations, as well as five “commissions”—Academics, Community Activities, Industry Relations, Outreach, and Student Services. Each has its own student commissioner, mandate and set of sub-committees that manage everything from program-wide social events, to tutoring services for students. I had the opportunity to work with the High School Liaison committee (which falls under the Academics commission) as a frosh rep this past year, and found it to be one of the best aspects of my first year experience in the program. March will see the High School Liaison committee hiring two new co-chairs as well as a whole executive, which I hope to be a part of. I’m sure I speak on behalf of all students when I say that March is an exciting time for all as the opportunity to take a more active role in the Commerce community makes itself readily available to everyone! For more information on the Queen’s Commerce Society, and the range of activities it offers, I encourage you to visit comsoc.queensu.ca

Samir Kulkarni

Since my last post, I’d like to expand on Direct Connect a little bit more. If you weren’t able to catch my post from last time, you can read it here.

To be more specific, the career advisor that I was assigned to is someone from the Business Career Centre, which is the on-site career centre that works exclusively with students from the business school. She is working with me (and the other participants in Direct Connect) on creating a job search that is customized to the specific industry and type of work I am looking for. In addition, the program can help me connect with Queen’s alumni and recruiters who work at the companies that are on the top of the list of my “wishlist,” which is a list of companies I aspire to work for. My career advisor will also send me some job postings that she thinks I will be interested in, many of which were sent directly to the Business Career Centre and not advertised on external websites.

I hope the additional information clears up Direct Connect a little bit more for you.

Lastly, we’re having our March Break Open House again in two weeks (March 15 and 16). I’ve signed up to appear on the panel on Wednesday, so hopefully I can see some of you there!

- Sheila, BCOMM 2011