by Daniel Loduca, First Year Advisor

Hello everyone!

My name is Daniel Loduca and I will be Schulich’s First Year Advisor this summer! This means that I will be helping to make your transition into university as smooth as possible. I’ll be starting my third year in the BBA program next year, with an intended specialization in marketing. In my free time, I love to play or watch sports with my friends.

The most significant thing that I learned about the Schulich community from my very first day of Frosh is that it is filled with extremely welcoming people. My first memory of being welcomed into Schulich was my upper-year Frosh leaders reassuring me that they were available 24/7 on Facebook to answer any of my questions. Since then, I’ve felt comfortable at Schulich knowing that I have caring peers around me. One lesson that I took from this experience and that I hope you can learn too is the importance of using your support systems. These support systems come in many forms, such as upper-year mentors, professors, campus resources like the Career Development Centre, or your First Year Advisor!

My Frosh family that welcomed me into Schulich in my first year!

In the spirit of giving back the help that was given to me, I would love to share with all the incoming first-year students my secrets to success at Schulich. After two years as a Schulich student, I’ve recognized that there are three main areas of student life that contribute to success – and only one of them is linked to the classroom. Each area deserves an equal focus because each one of them leads to a happier and healthier work-school-life balance. Let’s dive into each area separately so that you know exactly what they consist of:

 

 

📚 Academics

This area involves being diligent in your studies by attending lectures, completing assignments, and setting aside time to build your knowledge of course concepts outside of the classroom. A big tip for students beginning university involving the coursework to remember is to “understand first and memorize later.” Many incoming students worry about the university workload being drastically higher than that of high school, but I can assure you that all of you have the capacity to excel academically at Schulich. There is a reason that you were accepted after all! Dedicating the appropriate amount of time for the purpose of understanding course concepts and not trying to memorize the entire textbook will go a long way in all of your classes.

 

💼 Professional Development

This area encompasses all of the information that you learn about the business world while being a Schulich student. If you’re like me in my first year, you may feel that your current business knowledge is limited. Don’t worry- I promise that you’ll pick up a lot of information quickly through workshops, events, and the Career Development Centre. A big myth that incoming students have before starting university is that everyone knows their career aspirations at Schulich. This is definitely not true. Many students have an idea of what they want to do throughout their four years, but this idea changes over time as they are exposed to more business industries. The best part about Schulich is that it gives you the support and resources in order to make evolving career decisions.

 

🏆 Personal Growth

Last year I played intramural soccer and it was a great way to make new friends and new memories. Taking a break from school work helped me to de-stress and re-energize mentally.

Pursuing your interests is essential to student success because it’s proven that people do better in tasks that motivate them through passion. Taking a mental and physical break from academics not only allows you to dodge those 5-hour straight study sessions, but it also makes your studying more efficient when you get back to it. You might join an intramural team to play a sport once a week or join clubs with like-minded individuals to organize or attend events. I’ve personally always loved to represent Schulich, so in my first year I joined the Schulich Ambassador Program. This program allowed me to visit my old high school and hold a presentation telling grade 11 and 12 students all about my Schulich experience. These extra-curricular experiences will help you build soft skills like teamwork and leadership that you will use throughout the rest of your life.

Hopefully, after reading this post, you have a better understanding of why being a well-rounded university student leads to success. If you ever have any questions about the three areas, the BBA or iBBA programs, course selection strategies, student life in the Schulich community or anything else, feel free to reach out and I will be glad to help!