Schulich Recruiting: Quantity or Quality?

Picking university was all about the name. How many people know it, how much  do they love it, and how many companies hire you because of it? It’s without a doubt that Schulich is a name that most recruiters place near the top of their list. Also, Schulich itself, through CDC and our student clubs, gives its students numerous opportunities throughout the year to network with individuals that have the power to offer you a job. But does this high quantity of recruiters equate to a quality recruitment experience?

The only way to be successful during recruitment season is simply to stand out. This can either be through academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, networking skills, or other personal attributes. For lack of sounding like a douchey Schulich kid, we have way too many students that excel at either one or more of those categories. Our students are naturally over-achievers, and almost everyone has something about themselves that makes them an asset to any company over the summer.

Imagine being the student you are now at another university that’s not regarded at the same calibre at Schulich. Your achievements sound that much greater, your GPA would be that much higher, and you’d stand out more because your competition isn’t as high as it is here. At the same time, there seems to be higher expectations from our students – making everything we do seem less impressive. Sure, the quantity of opportunities for recruitment and subsequent hire would be lower, but the network you would develop would be of a much higher quality than would be possible at Schulich, making your own personal prospects more promising.

Yes, Schulich does give more people opportunities, and that’s fantastic, but at the same time, on an individual basis your chances seem to be more slim. Companies go to schools to look for the best students available, and in my opinion, it’s easier to fall in that category at most other schools than it is at Schulich.

Obviously, there are a multitude of ways to get an internship – this blog post is simply targeting direct recruiting through Schulich. I am a huge believer in finding opportunities for yourself and pursuing whatever you want to do on your own, because that initiative is what’s going to make it more likely to get the job anyway. But, it wouldn’t hurt if recruiters simply salivated after Schulich kids and begged us to work for them (I know, I live in reality).

In terms of an actual career after graduating, there is no doubt that the Schulich name is such a huge asset on your resume. In terms of summer internships, I project that I’ll be working my awesomely shitty golf club job for a little while longer…

York Is Beautiful

In 2006, Schulich won the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture (thanks Wikipedia). Naturally, admin made sure this information was conveyed to me multiple times, either during the building tours, mentioned by speakers, or through their website. It’s no denying that our building really is a gem within the York campus (minus the dreary concrete walls), but it seems insinuate that any other place in the university is old and ugly.

Not only are Schulich kids confined in our building 99% of the time, but being located on the edge of campus, amidst all the construction, there’s little opportunity to explore the rest of the campus. It’s really a shame, because it truly is beautiful. Sadly, the campus layout doesn’t really highlight its best assets in the common areas, but if you explore just a bit, you’ll see that it’s really not a big of an eyesore as most people claim it is.

Sure, we don’t have the Hogwarts-esque feel of UofT, the lakefront view of Queens, or the castle structures of Western. We’re two seconds away from one of the most dangerous areas in Toronto, or so reputed by the media: Jane and Finch. Established in 1959, we don’t have sufficient history to accredit any broken-down structure as “vintage”.

But we still have attractive greenery, some cool-looking structures, and really nice focal points. The fountain in front of Vari Hall is surrounded by a nice courtyard, the area surrounding Osgoode is beautiful, and there’s even a nice meadow overlooking the pond close to Calumet. The nice weather we’ve had lately despite it almost being October helps in realizing how nice our campus truly is.

In risk of disproving my point, here are some shitty quality pictures I took of random areas of York on my phone:

Get a pond-front view by sitting on these conveniently-located couches.

One of the entrances to a York residence..looks impressive in uniformity.

The Hart House

One of the surprisingly many courtyards within York.

Best place in Schulich to be on a nice day.

Quite possibly the most beautiful thing I've seen on campus.

One sunny day I’m gonna have a real camera and take more relevant pictures and edit the hell out of this blog post. Eventually.

Feature: Luca De Blasis

While this is a requested blog post by the man himself, I couldn’t resist not writing about Luca De Blasis. He’s currently across from me pumping straight beats in the UBC office. He has about 5 MacBooks surrounding him, and is head-bobbing while (illegally) installing Parallels.

In first year, this great man took it upon himself to be the unreligious saviour for all the 2014s. Instead of panicking like the rest of us in MGMT 1000 after we learned DyKnow was not compatible on Macs, he somehow found the time and the resources to update everyone’s laptop with Windows and ensure we got our participation marks (cause let’s be serious, that’s the only thing DyKnow is good for).

You think that’d be enough, but now that Excel is a crucial tool needed in MGMT 2000 (not even slightly resembling the bird course that was MGMT 1000), he comes to the rescue again for all the fellow Mac users. It is thanks to him that my love towards my laptop never diminishes, even when it ends up being useless for half the things I need it for.

If that wasn’t enough, and ladies, this is directed to you, Luca is quite possibly in the top 10 best cooks I know, including my nonna and my own mother. Spurred by his authentic Italian descent, the meal he conjured up at Frosh retreat was nothing short of amazing.

And his style? Yeah, suit jackets on the daily. If you miss the curly hair, you can easily spot him with his signature LV bag. The swag level (I hate saying ‘swag’ but he uses it so why not) continues to increase by the fact that he’s also a DJ. Go figure.

Luca is one of the few people that you can actually consider to be a genuinely nice person. There are no ulterior motives, no “you owe me one”s, and no impatience. As if the willingness to help wasn’t enough, the fact that he possesses so many talents makes me (and the rest of his friends) incredibly lucky to know him. A true Schulich gem.

So, Luca, thanks for everything, officially.

First Day Reflections

Traditionally the first day of school is supposed to be a somewhat momentous day in where you take extra care picking out your outfit, pull open the Schulich front doors for the first time in months, and look forward to seeing everyone in the halls after a long summer.

But, since Frosh took care of most of that, there was nothing to focus on except for the things that unfortunately got on your nerves.

TTC Construction

Every time I visited Schulich in the summer, the heavy construction surrounding almost every side of the building would without fail cause me to be late. The only thing that tranquilized my rage was the belief that once school started, they’d tone it down. But no, traffic is still blocked, the parking lot is still lacking entrances, and the teeming crowds just add to the chaos.

To add insult to injury, while we have to bear the burden of putting up with a 4-year-long construction period, the amazing benefits of having a TTC station right outside our doorstep will only come in effect after we graduate. I have the urge to write a strongly worded letter.

Booked-out Information Sessions

I tried to avoid seeing a swarm of black suits for as long as possible this school year, but nope, only the first day and the marketplace is already roped off, with almost everyone I know dressed to the nines with a name tag around their necks. How did everyone find out how to log into CareerLeader, know that the accounting firms were all coming this week, and have time to actually sign up and prep for them? I’m used to feeling inferior and clueless all year round, but I didn’t know I’d experience these unpleasant feelings so early on, especially now that I’m a second year. Older and wiser? Guess not.

Redundant Course Syllabus Lectures

Why professors feel the need to read out the course syllabus word for word and stretch it out to an hour boggles my mind. Boring “lectures” such as these cause me to fool around and sleep in class, and even when lectures start becoming important, I’ve already gotten used to these these terrible habits. It’s not high school anymore; you’re not responsible for making sure we know the mark breakdown and how to spell your name correctly.

Acquiring Textbooks

The long lines, the high prices, and the difficulty of finding other people to buy or sell textbooks to is one of the worst things about university.

The Weather

Alright, can’t directly blame anyone for this. But as if the end of summer isn’t hard enough to deal with as a symbolic thing, it also has to feel literal. The pathetic fallacy that occurred today was so strong it was almost tacky. I don’t want gloomy clouds and chilling winds, I want summer breezes and sunshine. Already regret not having packed my winter coat, and it’s only September.

____

On the whole, though, I’m excited for the school year to start. I’ve rid myself of the fear that came with being a first-year, and I’m ready to make the best of university life. And somewhere in there, maybe focus on getting some decent grades. We’ll see.

Oh My Frosh

Thanks to Jeremy and Hyunsoo for beautifully preserving this year's Frosh.

Because Schulich is pretentious and its students don’t generally like or feel the need to converse with other York students, we obviously have our own Frosh. Coming into it last year, I was super hesitant, mainly because I didn’t want to be solving business cases or answering math questions, thinking that’s what Schulich students considered to be fun.

But after experiencing Frosh 2014, becoming a leader for the new froshies was a must for most of us. Needless to say, 2015s completely annihilated us in being the most rowdy and I can’t wait to see how Schulich changes with them in the building.

Having gone through two frosh weeks now, here’s some observations I’ve made:

Gender Matters

I feel uncomfortable saying this, because I have quite a few feminist qualities in me, but being a guy during frosh and a being a girl doing frosh are considerably different. The more crazy and obnoxious guys get, the more fun everyone has. But for girls, there’s a fine line between being froshette-worthy, and just plain annoying. I don’t know if it’s our high pitched voices, or the double standard that we’re supposed to be more composed and delicate, but the craziness that comes with Frosh just goes better with the male gender.

Perfect example: the proliferation of WAAAAAHHHH. Suffice to say, Danielle and I apologize greatly for that.

Dry Froshes Work

It’s so ironic that the initiation into university is welcomed by a whole week in where alcohol isn’t allowed. However, Frosh is one of the only events where you can have just as fun, if not more. Imagine cheering non-stop with a pounding hangover, or blacking out and forgetting how much fun you actually had. The only bad side is that you can’t blame certain questionable actions on the fact that you were intoxicated.

Ps. The shots at Casino night? Amazingly tasty.

Admin Come Across as Killjoys

Considering how hard they came down on Frosh leaders, I can’t even imagine how difficult it was for UBC/Frosh Exec to deal with them. However, they’re the ones who preserve our reputation and make sure that Frosh is safe and comfortable for everyone. Also, the fact that Keisha put on a Frosh shirt, whereas Praveen dressed professionally (or at least that’s how I remember it), was pretty awesome.

To create a Frosh week that pleases admin and is fun for the Froshies, especially at Schulich, seems impossible, but somehow this year it was successfully done. Kudos to everyone that played a part in making the best frosh yet; no other university can pull that off.

There’s Academic Benefits

While I can never understand, I accept that certain people come to Schulich with the mentality of studying their ass off for four years, getting their diploma, and getting out as soon as they can. But as I tried to convince some kids at Summer Symposium, Frosh helps in that, a lot.

1. The N-word. Networking. I love to hate it, but without it your life is so much harder. No first year can survive MGMT 1000 without taking an upper year’s BPTP or PCDP as an example. Sharing notes, making study groups, and getting questions answered requires one thing: friends.

2. Team Building. Master Ping is awesome. That’s it. It’s a beautiful thing to see people bonding.

3. Familiarity. Frosh takes you all around campus, and even introduces you to admin. Not a good impression to introduce yourself while you’re giving a Frosh leader a lap dance (still lol-ing at that), but besides that, it’s a good thing. Because I was introduced to most things and most people during Frosh, I had absolutely no nerves when I started uni last year.

Deodorant is a Must

No explanation necessary.

Everyone Wants to Have Fun

Using my team as an example, this is something important to realize. First day of frosh, everyone was hesitant and shy, and this was made evident by our extremely awkward skit. But by the third day, everyone got comfortable enough to go all out and take the title of Frosh team of the year!

This is where uni and high school are fundamentally different. Anyone can party, be outgoing, and have a good time. Doesn’t matter who your friends are or what clique you’re in; just go for it and I guarantee you’ll find what you’re looking for.

___

Nothing in university will ever compare to Frosh. That ball of nerves mixed with hesitant excitement is one of the best feelings to experience. Frosh is what makes me proud to go to Schulich and York, what makes it worth working hard for during the school year, and what creates some of the best memories. Here’s to a great year ahead!

At an attempt to clean up my internet image and conform even further to our repressive society, I am stripping myself of the right to free speech. That is why, as of today, my angry-at-Schulich (while entertaining) blog posts will be put as private. This is not necessarily for personal reasons, but I wouldn’t want to be responsible for someone getting the wrong idea about Schulich through reading this blog if they choose to only read certain posts. Jokes and exaggerations can easily be misinterpreted and since I’ve noticed this blog being posted on certain pages I wouldn’t want it to be posted on, I’m just being cautious. Again, this blog was solely created to humour myself and to log my experiences; definitely not meant to be influential in any way. And, if anything on here ever happens to offend anyone, please just let me know.

I apologize for being a wet noodle.

EDIT: Doing this was actually incredibly easy, I only deleted like one thing. I have never felt the truthfulness of my blog’s title more than I do at this moment.

Perspective

While this blog has undoubtedly alienated me from the rest of the Schulichers, I guess with the looming mandatory uni acceptance date (June 2nd, I believe?) I’ve noticed quite a few hits spurring from studentawards.com and whatnot. It must suck if you had to go to Prom with the heavy and bothersome weight of still having to decide on a university – however, if you’ve already chosen and are just Google-ing Schulich for the hell of it, congratulations! :)

I haven’t posted in forever, purposefully because the day I created this blog I immediately fast forwarded to the end of first year and imagined writing a long review about it. I guess I’m not ready to fully face the past year right now – a lot of things happened, a lot of things changed, and many of those things are still exerting a certain effect on me to the point where I can’t step back and analyze just yet.

However, I have spent a lot of time thinking (while going through old prom pics) about where I was at this exact moment a year ago. It’s amazing how much more clearly you can see yourself when you’re looking back, rather than when you’re in the midst of making life-changing decisions. It’s sad to realize that while I didn’t think so at the time, I definitely knew myself well enough to easily figure out what I wanted (but luckily it worked out, I think).

This time last year, all my thoughts and expectations lied toward the future. Whether it was just two months ahead for the beginning of my first year, four years ahead for my graduation, or finally being able to see myself concretely in the business field, I had little time and little concern to focus on what used to be the present. Now, just a year later, my mentality has changed such that I find myself looking at my past self to find answers for the present.

When I was in high school and I imagined my future self, the person I envisioned seemed so detached from who I was, as if it was a complete stranger. It made it easier to broaden my perspective, since this homogenous symbol of me could be materialized in every kind of environment or situation I conjured up. On the other hand, it overlooked the consideration of some crucial aspects, aspects of myself that I now know will never change, that could have really helped make my planning easier.

This is all very vague, and I’m writing more to myself (which really defeats the purpose of writing at all), but I guess the one thing that’s changed about me in this past year is the fact that I’ve come to terms with who I am, what I believe in, and the things I stand for. I know my passions, I know my faults, and I know my desires. But as a high school kid, I tried to satisfy the aspirations of my future self rather than the person I was, believing that the 18-year-old version of me was too immature and childish to be considered. I always used to think “ok, so by the time I’m in university I’ll want this, this and this – and I should have already experienced this and this, so I’ll probably focus on this.” Even when I think back to when I was 16, the person I thought I’d be by the end of high school never really showed up. The thing is, that future self I used to adhere to never ended up existing, and never will exist. It’s easier to face the person you think you’ll become, because it’s open to interpretation and you can load it up with any features you want. But, the most important thing one can do is truly get in touch with who he or she is. Because that’s the only person you’ll ever really be.

So to those that are still going through agony trying to guess what the university-version of them  will want in the next four years, the only way to know is to ask the person you are now. Yes, you’ll change and grow and mature and evolve, but those changes will always take you by surprise. So instead of guessing what I’ll want and who I’ll be, from now on I’ll ask myself instead.