WSSR Program Ambassadors

What program are you in (major, minor, elective group, specialization)? Major in Marketing.

What WSSR credit course(s) have you completed? INTE 298 - EWC1: Writing a Research Paper 101 (Spring 2019).

What do you think was the most useful tool that you acquired in the INTE298 course? One of the most useful skills that I acquired in the process of writing a proper research paper was learning how to write in a more coherent manner.

What was your favorite part of your WSSR experience? I enjoyed the positive and comfortable environment between the students and the speakers which made the learning experience enjoyable. They encourage you to participate and to push yourself.

What would be a key piece of advice that you would give to future WSSR students? Although it may look overwhelming at first, stick to it and feel free to ask questions or request feedback. Try to attend as many bonus workshops as possible as some of them are really handy and will make the process of writing your research paper go more smoothly.

What would be your dream job when you graduate? Brand Marketing or something else in the marketing field.

Contact Alicia

What program are you in (major, minor, elective group, specialization)? Major in Political Science

What WSSR credit course(s) have you completed? INTE 298 - EWC1: Writing a Research Paper 101 (Fall 2018) & INTE 398 - WSSR: Introduction (Winter 2019)

What do you think was the most useful tool that you acquired in the INTE298 course? INTE298 taught me how to properly look for credible sources. I believe every new university student should take this course. I guarantee you will write with greater confidence for all your future courses which involve essays and research papers.  

Which was your favorite WSSR workshop? My favorite workshop would be Dr. Kiera Ladner’s Surviving Canada because she portrayed very well the various issues that Indigenous people continue to face every day.

What was your favorite part of your WSSR experience? The WSSR experience is unique. The workshops are not your typical lectures, they are not solely seminars and they are not filled with students from a single major.

The workshops have a mixture of teaching styles and students from various fields, which is different than the usual courses you will take at Concordia. For instance, the guest speaker holds a conversation with the entire class, which makes students more engaged.

Additionally, the students in the class come from different programs, which brings out different views and opinions, compared to having a whole class of political science students discussing a topic.

I continue taking WSSR courses for these reasons.

What would be a key piece of advice that you would give to future WSSR students? It may seem overwhelming at first, but do not quit. As I mentioned, the WSSR experience is unique and it is not your usual lecture style class. Be prepared to engage, attend workshops you are interested in and ask questions!

What would be your dream job when you graduate? My dream job is within the legal field.

Contact Dixita

What program are you in (major, minor, elective group, specialization)? I am pursuing a major in Communication and Cultural Studies and Minor in Women’s studies.

What WSSR credit course(s) have you completed? INTE 298 - EWC1: Writing a Research Paper 101 (Fall 2018), INTE 398 - WSSR: Introduction (Winter 2019) & WSDB 498 - WSSR: Advanced Seminar (Spring 2019)

What do you think was the most useful tool that you acquired in the INTE298 course? This course has served as a toolkit for me for writing all my academic papers, whether in conducting a systemic literature search or in organizing my discussion section. Most importantly INTE298 has empowered me to think and write more critically about a given topic.

Which was your favorite WSSR workshop? Ian Capstick’s workshop on the Inside an Election War Room: Hands-on lessons in rapid response remains my favourite workshop. Not only did the speaker captivate the class with his war room stories, but the workshop also enabled me to gain a better perspective on how political parties' war room strategies impact the way the Canadian democratic system operates.

What was your favorite part of your WSSR experience? The best part of my WSSR experience was having the opportunity to interact with distinguished speakers, as well as exchanging with classmates. It is also important that students have opportunities to learn from one another’s varied experiences and perspectives. I have found that the WSSR workshops function as learning communities built on shared inquiry and dialogue.

Finally, I have truly enjoyed the academic support that the WSSR team provides, from the complimentary coffee and/or tea to extending a deadline. WSSR have created a support system that has your best interest at heart and will give you the assistance you need to succeed.

What would be a key piece of advice that you would give to future WSSR students? I strongly suggest that you come prepared to the workshop (do the assigned readings) because it enables you to be more engaged with the material being presented and contributes to more interesting class discussions.

Also do not be afraid to ask questions and seek the speakers and students’ opinions on the topic.

Finally, I encourage future WSSR students to use the class office hours; the TA is a great resource and offers valuable guidance for your assignments.

What would be your dream job when you graduate? Instead of looking for my dream job, I have chosen to follow my passion and lead with purpose, and my dream job will find me.

Contact Isabelle

What program are you in (major, minor, elective group, specialization)? I am completing a Bachelor of Arts Specializing in Psychology.

What WSSR credit course(s) have you completed? INTE 298 - EWC1: Writing a Research Paper 101 (Spring 2019).

What do you think was the most useful tool that you acquired in the INTE298 course? The most useful tools that I acquired in the INTE298 course were learning how to write a sound research paper step by step. We went through the outline of the research paper in a way that allowed us to organize our ideas, as well as how to acquire academic literacy skills, critical thinking and the ability to develop arguments that are well developed and supported. These skills are all crucial to writing research papers which we will be doing throughout our academic career and I am beyond grateful for having taken this class.

What was your favorite part of your WSSR experience? My favorite part of my WSSR experience was the fact that we were a small class allowing for us to ask questions to the professor and complete group assignments to ensure that we are understanding the material that is being taught. The WSSR experience was a great one for me as it isn’t like a typical class consisting of solely lectures; WSSR classes consist of group assignments, guest lectures and program coordinators that are always there to answer questions!

What would be a key piece of advice that you would give to future WSSR students? A key piece of advice that I would give to future WSSR students would be to ask questions as soon as you have any because this class builds up on itself. To be able to complete all the parts of a research paper, we must understand what each section entails.

What would be your dream job when you graduate? When I graduate, my dream job would be to be a Child Psychologist.

Contact Sarah

What program are you in (major, minor, elective group, specialization)? Liberal Arts and Political Science - Double major.

What WSSR credit course(s) have you completed? POLI 480 - WSSR: Advanced Seminar (Winter 2019).

Which was your favorite WSSR workshop? I really enjoyed Janet Brown’s Public Opinion and Polling: Alberta’s changing political culture because it made me see statistics and polling in a different way that was much more interesting to me. It made me realize all the different things we can achieve with polling and different ways to approach political culture.

What was your favorite part of your WSSR experience? I loved being surprised at every workshop. I ended up loving even the workshops that I did not expect would be that interesting, simply because of the various ways the subjects were approached.

What would be a key piece of advice that you would give to future WSSR students? Engage in the discussions! You will get much more out of the workshops.

What would be your dream job when you graduate? I would love to do research that supports environmental and sustainability policies.

Contact Sophie

What program are you in (major, minor, elective group, specialization)? BA Honours in Political Science. Also a Minor in Law and Society and I took the Management Elective Group at JMSB.

What WSSR credit course(s) have you completed? POLI 480 - WSSR: Advanced Seminar (Fall 2018).

Which was your favorite WSSR workshop? I mostly took workshops led by former politicians or by members of the upper administration – MPs, Senators, partisan staffers at the PMO.

This was what I wanted to hear, this experience from the administration, and as such my favourite one was most probably Rachel Curran’s Policy Implementation from the ‘Centre’: What’s involved?. It was in my opinion the most comprehensive workshop that had strong repercussions on how I perceive the Canadian Government and institutions, especially the executive branch. Through this enlightening workshop I was better able to understand the way centralized governance is accountable in our parliamentary democracy.

What was your favorite part of your WSSR experience? The best part of the experience is really to have these mavericks giving you a very personal crash course on Canadian politics and government. From there you are able to tie all of these discussions that you had and have a broader picture on how Canadian institutions work. This is not just a theoretical approach like reading a Donald Savoie book, you literally hear people that worked in these institutions explain to you how these institutions work, from the very schedule of a day to the size and content of some of the country’s most important decision-making rooms.

There’s a feeling of awe in learning how real power is handled in our country that I adored.

What would be a key piece of advice that you would give to future WSSR students? Don’t hesitate to sit close to the speaker, to ask questions, to bring a laptop and take some very extensive notes. These workshops are so rich and dense in useful knowledge, you can’t remember everything that is being said and you WILL be able to use this content in another Public Policy or Political Science class.

Don’t forget that there are absolutely no stupid questions.

What would be your dream job when you graduate? I would like to do a Master's in Public Policy and Administration, and I ultimately want to head to the federal government’s bureaucracy – a central agency of the federal government, appropriations or an economics departments. I want to be able to take an elected government’s promises, no matter how vague or unexplained they may be, and find the proper institutions, appropriations and changes necessary to make them true and make them work for the many.