Nominee: Nicole Cousins

Undergraduate Nominee: Nicole Cousins, Neuroscience, Faculty of Science 

How have you been a leader at the University of Calgary? What qualities do all good student leaders possess?

I have been extensively involved in the campus community throughout my four years here at the University of Calgary, and am so thankful for every opportunity that has been presented to me.

I love fall orientation and the sense of community and pride that starts off the fall semester, and have been an Orientation Leader twice. I was also one of this year’s Team Leaders and was part of the wonderful committee that was responsible for a truly epic O-Week. Continuing on with my work in the first year experience I have been an Emerging Leaders Peer Helper and am a first year experience Peer Helper this academic term. I also spearheaded a mentoring program for first year Neuroscience students geared at providing support and guidance for students new to our wonderful campus community and the new Neuroscience program.

Besides orientation I have been involved with Service Learning, and in my first year I was lucky enough to travel to Vancouver to learn about poverty and homelessness in the Downtown East Side. This past summer I travelled to Chira Island, Costa Rica with Project Serves International. We spent two weeks building the first basketball court on the island at the local school, living and learning from our host families, and I learnt even more from the wonderful student leaders I travelled with. I am also currently one of three coordinators for the Wellness and Health Awareness Team (WHAT), the great team that provides students with information and resources on health and wellness related issues, and we hand out free fruit! And lastly, I am also one of four co-chairs planning the upcoming Canadian Conference on Student Leadership (CCSL), a conference bringing student leaders from all across Canada together to learn from each other.

With all this leadership experience behind me, I believe that a good student leader is able to engage and motivate students while having fun. As well, all student leaders are passionate for their cause, and are involved because they truly enjoy it. I dedicate my time and energy to everything I do because I love it and firmly believe that all my and other student leaders hard work is for the benefit of the campus community. Finally, student leaders are masters of balance. For how rewarding leadership and community engagement can be, we understand the value of the classroom!

How have you been involved in the community during your university career?

I cherish the university community and have been involved through my commitment to the student population. Whether it be my involvement in the first year experience starting the neuroscience mentoring program, being an orientation team leader and peer helper, or in my commitment to student health as coordinator of the Wellness and Health Awareness Team, I have shown diverse leadership and commitment at UCalgary.

Besides the university community, I have also been involved within my home community as well. I have been a tutor and mentor for young students from new Canadian families, and have volunteered with Kids Cancer Care Foundation. My most meaningful and life changing commitment has been with a youth group that travels to Tanzania to build windmill water well systems in remote villages. I was fortunate enough to travel to Tanzania for six weeks in the summer of 2007, and have remained active in the group ever since promoting the cause. I have also remained connected to the global community and traveled to Thailand in the summer of 2010 where I worked in a village and taught English at the local school.

Whether the community was the UCalgary community, or the global community, I have remained committed and connected.

How have you balanced school with your other commitments on campus and in the community?

The most important aspect to balancing school with out of class commitments is to focus on activities you love. I enjoy every activity I have been a part of during my undergraduate career, and when you are doing things you truly love and enjoy, it is easy to make time for everything. At times I may forget that I am actually attending the UCalgary for an education and am not only a full time student leader, but the education I have received has been extremely rewarding and invaluable. I enjoy being a neuroscience major and a student leader, so it is easy to continue doing the things that I love each and every day.

University is what you make it, so how have you been making the most of your university career?

Making the most out of every university experience is up to the student. U of C is largely a commuter campus, so to truly make the most out of the experience, the most important aspect is to get involved on campus, which I have most certainly done! The trick is to stay after classes and participate within the community, whether that is joining a club or attending one of the great events put on such as the Last Lecture Series. Take every opportunity that is presented to you and make the very most of it. Even if you end up not enjoying it, at least you tried it and now you know, and you can move on to finding something else that you are passionate about. Also, to make the most out of my university career, I made a bucket list of things I wanted to accomplish before graduating. It included tasks such as painting the rock, attending all Kick-off games, travelling to another country with a university group, high-fiving Rex every time I pass him on campus and getting my face on the homepage.

Class Ambassadors are permanent representatives of their graduating class. What is the role of University of Calgary alumni in the community and how will you represent the university to alumni and future alumni?

The role of an alumni is continue to support the UCalgary community. As an alumni I will share my amazing experience and stories, and remain proud to be a UCalgary graduate, and will continue to be a representative for this university. I hope to use the knowledge and experience I gained from the classroom and in leadership roles to truly make an impact and become a global citizen. The role of an alumni is to inspire and strive to get back on the homepage as an graduate making the university proud and changing the world.