Each summer, the bulk of Dal鈥檚 students put down their books and face the task of finding full- or part-time work for the summer.
It鈥檚 rarely an easy task, which is why Dalhousie鈥檚 multitude of supports鈥攖he Career Services Centre and myCareer website, student co-op programs, and volunteer opportunities鈥攈elp students make the connections to find their summer employment.
Amy Devereaux is a biology major who鈥檚 spending the summer mutating microalgae in the labs of the Dartmouth-based research and development company Ocean Nutrition. One of her goals during the summer months is to gain valuable work experience.
鈥淵ou can go to the beach on the weekend,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 here because I want to be here.鈥�
Ocean Nutrition, an Innovacorp affiliate recently purchased by Dutch firm DSM, specializes in producing Omega-3 for food. Ms. Devereaux is there as part of the Dal Science Co-op Program, as is chemistry major Joe Rodrigues, who鈥檚 spending his summer doing a pilot study on finding new ways to reduce moisture absorption in Omega-3 encapsulation.
鈥淒oing a co-op helps tell you where you want to be,鈥� says Mr. Rodrigues. 鈥淎t first I was like, 鈥楧o I want to do research all my life or do I want to do something else?鈥� and being here has told me, 鈥楾his is right.鈥欌��
Ms. Devereaux agrees. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly why I came here. I was trying to figure out, 鈥楧o I do research? Do I do field work?鈥�
When she first came to Dal, Ms. Devereaux was a microbiology major. Finding the subject 鈥渢oo specialized鈥� for her tastes, she switched to biology, which she describes as 鈥渁 really good program. There are a lot of branches you can go into.鈥�
Considering she鈥檚 now doing microbiology for the summer, perhaps fate is trying to tell her something. 鈥淚 know!鈥� she says.
Mr. Rodrigues enjoys applying his education in a practical environment, even if he doesn鈥檛 always know where the knowledge comes from. 鈥淎fter a while, you realize there are some little things that you learn in school that you find in the lab, but you don鈥檛 necessarily remember where it came from. It just comes naturally and you鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, right, I studied this!鈥欌��
Getting involved
Not all science majors spend the summer months working in their field. Neuroscience major Chris Parent is working in Dal鈥檚 Career Services office, developing a conference on student leadership, offering career advice, and drafting materials for various campus events and programs.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know Career Services existed a year ago,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd now I鈥檓 doing some pretty amazing work with them. I saw what they were doing and wanted to get involved.鈥�
Mr. Parent began volunteering with Career Services in January, eventually being offered a job in April. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a great service for students. We offer things like one-on-one advising, resume and cover letter critiquing. Students who take advantage of those services come back and thank us because they get jobs.鈥�
Transferring to Dal from the University of New Brunswick, Parent originally lived in residence. 鈥淚 came here all alone and I didn鈥檛 know anyone,鈥� he says, a problem that was quickly remedied through volunteering. 鈥淒al offers so much in terms of experiences not only on campus but out in Halifax as well,鈥� he says.
These experiences included ongoing stints volunteering at the pediatric and emergency units of IWK hospital, taking photos for the Gazette, and co-chairing the inaugural East Coast Student Leadership Conference in November.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty swamped,鈥� he says. He鈥檚 planning on attending med school once he graduates and is currently studying for his MCAT exams. He says having a lot on the go, for him, is a good thing.
鈥淚 thrive on constantly being busy. When I wasn鈥檛 involved at UNB, when I focused purely on academics, I did much worse. When I came to Dal and started getting involved, my marks went up.鈥�
Developing skills for the future
Across campus in the Henry Hicks Building, Madeline Driscoll is busy doing research for the Human Rights, Equity, & Harassment Prevention office. 鈥淗aving a job on campus is a great thing,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he Equity office does important work and the schedule is flexible, which is ideal for a student.鈥�
Ms. Driscoll, a double major in the Master of Public Administration and Master of Library and Information studies programs, balances her work at Dal with a job as a librarian in the Anchor Archive Zine Library at the Roberts Street Social Centre.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to do records management as a career,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 what my job at Dal is about. I鈥檓 working with records management and government policy. The job is perfect for my future professional goals and the office is very supportive of helping me develop my skills for the future.鈥�
Ms. Driscoll describes the Hicks building as 鈥渂eautiful鈥� and says that 鈥渨alking through the quad to the building every day is like being in a movie.鈥� Seeing the school from the perspective of an employee rather than a student 鈥渋s very different. As a student, it鈥檚 easy to forget that the university is like a tiny city with layers of infrastructure and the hundreds of people necessary to make it work.鈥�
And does she still find time for the beach? 鈥淚 actually just took the Robert Street Social Centre鈥檚 artist-in-residence (Amber Dearest) to the beach 鈥� as part of work.鈥�