-Blog Post for COMM299-
Greatest Lesson I’ve Learned from Someone Else
Two years ago, I worked for Port Metro Vancouver’s Community Relations department as a Leadership Student. A paid position, Leadership Students were given the opportunity to work with the port authority’s Community Relations Staff (CRS) in presenting harbour tours, giving classroom presentations and taking part in various other community events. On a usual event, two Leadership Students would join two CRS on the job. Many of the CRS were either in their parting years at the Port or had already graduated, and often gave us advice on post-secondary education and left us with many life lessons. Leadership Students are often picked from supposed “have not” high schools, and it was important for many of us to have mentors work with us so closely.
One member of the CRS, Chris, worked with me quite often and is credited with teaching me one of my greatest lessons. Many of the Leadership Students don’t end up in Commerce, and some don’t even end up in university, so Chris found my aspiration to get into Sauder to be of particular interest to him. During some of the slow times during events, I would ask him for his thoughts on what sort of involvement would be valuable to include on my Sauder supplemental and on resumés and such. At that this time in high school, many of my friends were involved in several . His reply, which now seems completely obvious, was a big deal for me. He told me that it doesn’t matter so much what type of involvement or work you do, but more the growth you gain from that experience. He went on to say that what is important to admissions staff or employers isn’t the number of areas in which you are involved, but the length of the involvement, and an understanding of how that involvement has grown you as a person.
This was an important lesson for me in my high school years as it gave me the peace of mind to pursue fewer involvement opportunities that truly interested and inspired me, rather than putting myself in many small, less meaningful roles. Having gotten into Sauder and into some higher profile workplaces, I can attest to the notion that when it comes to being involved, depth is often greater than breadth. The opportunities that I’ve chosen to be involved in, I feel, have definitely been a positive impact on how I see my life, and has introduced me to like minded people (many of which have become good friends). For this, I am grateful to have learned this lesson, however simple it may seem.
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