 Welcome, everybody. Welcome to Carlton and to the Faculty of Public Affairs, also known as FPA. I'm saying welcome, even though we're doing this online. My name is Dr. Brenda O'Neill. I'm the Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs. And I'm going to just explain a little bit about what that means, because I know when I was an undergrad, I had no idea what the Dean of a faculty actually meant. And so the Faculty of Public Affairs has about a dozen units, summer schools, summer institutes, and summer departments. And in this particular case, I know the people that are joining us today are from communications and journalism. So that's a school. So there's a dozen of them, and I sort of oversee those. So that's what a dean does. It oversees those units. My colleagues and I, everybody at FPA, is thrilled that you're going to be joining us this year. Before we begin your session today, though I think an important thing to do is acknowledge where we are, where we're situated Carlton. So I want to take a moment just to acknowledge that Carlton University is situated on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Nation. I think some of you are coming or linking in from different places, but it's nevertheless important to acknowledge where Carlton is, its location, and that it's on traditional indigenous lands. And I always say it's important to do that with intention, because I think if we do this too often, we sort of forget about it's important, right? It becomes kind of a ritual, and I don't want it to be that. I want it to be with intention. I think that's an important point. So you're going to be absolutely crazy immersed in your programs over the next couple of years. You're going to be busy, and that's a good thing. But I also want to, the point I want to make is that I want you to know that you're also part of a bigger community, that there is a community here beyond your courses and your lectures. So one of the highlights, I think, of being a Carlton student is being part of that community and connecting to it. And I think our students or our staff, our students, our faculty, everybody has been working very hard, I think, over the past summer to try and figure out how to keep that sense of community alive, if you will, even though we're sort of coming back to face to face. It's still a kind of a bridge, if you will, term. So we've been trying to figure out how to maintain that sense of community and ensure that it's alive and well. So there's a lot of things that happen in FPA. You have events. You have lectures. And so one of the things I want to do is encourage you to take part in those, to think about yourself as part of that community. And here's a lesson that I learned, and I think it's a good one to take with you. You're always going to be busy, so there's always time to take in that lecture or that thing that you think I'm too busy to do. Make time to do it. You will always get your work done. So there's also, I think, in FPA, a ton of opportunities to you to be involved firsthand. As you know, there are FPA ambassadors who are on the call to date. That's something that you could do in the future. There's also opportunities for research. There's CUROP, which is the Carleton University Research Opportunity Program, and it actually pays you to do research as a student and connect in with a faculty member. Great opportunities. Part of what you have to do as a student is kind of read the emails that come out to you so that you know what's happening, but also connect into the community and link yourself in, because it is part, I think, of what makes for an undergraduate experience and what makes it excellent is that also the other stuff that happens outside of your courses. As you can tell, I'm super excited that you're gonna be joining us. I just wanted to make sure that you knew how happy we are, that you decided to come to Calgary and especially to FPA. And what I'm gonna do now is hand you over to Stephanie Bose, the FPA's event and ambassador assistant. So thanks very much, Stephanie. And I wish everybody a great year and best of luck. Thank you, Dino Neal. So as mentioned, hi, I'm Stephanie. So I'm the events assistant for FPA. And I want to thank you all for coming today. I'm pretty excited about these welcome sessions and for everybody to start their new adventure here at Carleton. So today we do have three units with us today. So communications, media production design and journalism. So we do have four ambassadors with us from each unit. So we've got Emma, she's from journalism. We have Ben from media production design. And then we have Corey and Andrea from communications. So they're here today to talk about a few things that they learned, a few tips and tricks, why they chose Carleton and a little bit about what they wish they knew going in and that would be in the same position you're in. So I hope you do learn a lot just to keep in, just to remind you, this session is recorded. So if you do want to stay anonymous, just keep your videos off and microphones off. If not, feel free to turn your microphone on at the end for the question and answer. You can also use the chat function as well for your questions. So I'm gonna let all the ambassadors speak and then we'll open the question and answer at the end. So I'm going to pass it off to Andrea. Hello everyone, hope you're all doing well. My name is Andrea and I am in or going into my third year of communications and media studies. And also I'm doing a double major in psych but that's not really a FPA kind of in that realm there. So just to focus on our comms and media today. So I would say one thing that I really love about the comms program is just how like community involved it is. I feel like there's a lot of classes that provide you with opportunities on how to be involved in the Carleton community as well as ways that your professors can help you kind of have those opportunities whether it be let's say helping out at our on-campus radio which is something in the communications and media realm and a little bit of journalism as well but helping in areas that could potentially lead to a future job opportunity let's say and anything of that sort. At first I actually entered Carleton as a political science major but then blindly switched in at the end of my first semester and first year I decided, okay, political science is not the right fit for me. So and then without ever having taken a comms course in my entire life, just figured, okay, let's try communications because I love public outreach, talking to people and then as well as the more like research and analytical aspect of like what really connects our society and our worlds. So I decided, okay, communications, let's just do it. And I showed up first day of winter semester in my first class and I absolutely loved it. And the reason for that being is there's so many ways that communication gets transformed into our everyday lives and vice versa where it's like, if you go out and see something like let's say see an advertisement or see a poster let's say you can look at it in a more analytical aspect of being like, okay, here's the outreach like tools that they use to engage their community and so on and so forth. A lot of more analytical aspect of things that we see in our everyday society. It's like, you know, in math when your teacher would be like, oh, you're gonna need to learn how to calculate this angle in your everyday life. Not so much that, more so. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. Oh. So. So. I don't know if you can hear me. I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I'm on a boat and most of my, why is not that? What Andrea just said is that she's on a boat and her internet connection is kind of rocky. Excuse the pun. Just while Andrea gets better internet back as she's frozen, and I don't know about you guys but I can understand much, I'm gonna pass it off to Corey until Andrea comes back. Awesome. So yeah, so I'm Corey. I'm also in the communication and media studies program and I'm also going into my third year. So I chose Carlton mostly because it was actually pretty close to where I'm from and the communications program is kind of niche. It's not at too many other schools. So I just like the location and I really like the program. There's so much flexibility with it. You can pretty much do whatever you want with the communications degree. Like, I have friends that want to go to law school. I have friends that want to be teachers. I have friends that want to do, you know, more of the marketing side, whereas I want to work in sports. So there's a lot that you can do with it. And I just really, really liked that. And kind of like Andrea, I fell in love with columns. The second I walked into my first columns class, the professor for first year communications is amazing. And I can't wait to take more of his classes. So I just really love the program and how it's so relevant to society and how it's so relevant to our generation, because I wouldn't want to be studying something that I'm not going to be able to use forever. So I really like that. And I think just one thing I would say going into first year, knowing is just really get involved. I am really involved on campus. I love doing things outside of the classroom. And I would say, if you have an interest, there's probably a club for it at Carlton. So just find it. And if there isn't a club for it, you could probably start it. So I would definitely recommend just trying to get involved in whatever you think you want to do. I am the president of the Ravensport Business Club because I want to work in sports. And that led to me getting a job doing the broadcast for the men's movement fastball team at Carlton. So there's just a lot that you can do on the Carlton campus. That's really good outside of the classroom as well. Yeah, I'll pass it off to Ben. Thank you, Corey. My name is Ben. I am going into my fourth year in the media production and design program for why I chose. I chose this program because looking at different universities in grade 12 back in high school, I knew I wanted to do something to do with film, journalism, writing, but I really couldn't decide. And at the university fair that they do in Toronto, I met the then head of my program who pitched me what the program was about. And immediately I knew it's what I wanted to do because it is such a broad, includes such a broad scope of topics in the media field. So when you start off in your first year, you're going to be taking courses in web design, programming, journalism, film production, graphic design, and some just general storytelling and writing courses. And it really gives you as much preparation as it can for any problems you might face in work positions in the media field. And it also gives you a bunch of experience using different technologies, different programs that are either extremely precedented in the industry, such as Photoshop Illustrator, Final Cut Pro, things like that. But you also learn about newer inventions and newer technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality technology. And yeah, just it gives that's what stood out to me is the amount of different things that you're able to learn. And as Corey said, my recommendation for anyone in first year, things I wish I had known is how many opportunities there are to get involved in things that you may not think you were able to get involved in. Um, for instance, I went into this program, mainly knowing that this is what I wanted to focus on, but I have a interest in criminology and psychology. So as a media student, I was able to become part of the Criminology Society at Carlton and become involved with that. And without having to enroll in other courses, able to learn about another topic that I enjoy. And yeah, that's the main thing that I wish I had known in first year, because I got into that in my third. And it's something I wish I had been able to spend more years apart of. I believe that's all I have to say. I'll pass it on to Emma. All right, hi guys, my name's Emma. I'm going into my third year of Carlton's journalism program. And with the journalism program, it was something that I had wanted to attend since I was in grade nine. So I chose my program like really, really early, but it was something that I was always passionate about because I liked staying like on top of the news. I love to write and I thought that the best way to combine that is to go into journalism. So that worked out pretty well. And I'm actually from Ottawa. So Carlton was probably the easiest option for me, but it also turned out to have the country's like top journalism program. So that was really convenient. And honestly, like after having gone through two years in this program, I can definitely say that that title is warranted. It is a fantastic program. It's very hands on, but not so much so that you're overwhelmed at first. So they really ease you into the industry because I don't know about you guys, but I didn't have a lot of experience with journalistic writing in high school. Like my school didn't have a newspaper. I didn't do yearbook. I was just kind of in the standard English classes. And so that transition really helped me feel like I wasn't the only one who hadn't practiced writing articles before. And so you kind of start off with a history of journalism. So you get to know where the industry started. And then you get to kind of discuss and look at where the industry is going since the journalism industry is constantly changing and evolving. And like even today, like the stuff that I'm probably learning right now, like you like people will learn different stuff years later. So it's just like it's a crazy time right now to be a journalist, but it's also the best time because there's just so much that's happening that it's just you get to stay on top of it and everything. And in the program, the professors are fantastic. So most, if not all, I think the professors have all worked as a journalist in like during their lifetime. And so there's been some really great professors that I've had that have been able to share their experiences with us during like in class where they'll give us tips or they'll say like, oh, I was there during this and this is what I did. And so we got to learn kind of like their life experiences and like hear from like a real journalist about like what it's like. And they're obviously on top of like where the industry is going. So they were kind of telling us about how it was and then how it's going to be. So it's like, it's a really, really cool thing. And like every like, yeah, every class that we learn a history, then you get to learn more hands on. So like the form of writing. So with journalism, we kind of the inverted pyramid technique was something I had never even heard of. And so we went over that a lot. And then in second year, you get into more of the writing stuff and all that. So it's it's a very nice transition that doesn't stress you out like at all. So it's really, really nice to be able to kind of get that practice before you're kind of thrown into the industry and things like that. For my first year, I had a lot of fun being on campus and everything. So I'm super excited to return to campus for classes this year. It was amazing making new friends. I'm from Ottawa. So I had some friends that went to Carleton, but through Carleton, through my classes, through my extracurriculars, I was able to make like a ton of friends, which was really, really fun. And you get to meet people from all different places and you have you get to meet people who have the same interests as you. So I did theater in high school. And so I joined the theater society at Carleton. I got to meet people through that, which was really fun. And yeah, definitely getting involved was probably the highlight of my first year because it helped me feel more comfortable on campus. And like I got to know like some older students the second year, third year students who were like giving me all these tips and tricks and like, okay, make sure you take this class. Like this professor is great. And so like getting to know like people like that was really helpful as well. Now, for something that I would recommend for first year that I wish I had known was talk to your professors and your TAs. I used to be so intimidated by my professors and my TAs because they'd be like, oh my gosh, they're going to think I'm silly for asking that question. Or I like I don't think that's a good question. But like pretty much if you have a question, I guarantee you other people have the same question. So reach out to your professors, reach out to your TAs, they're there to help you. Oftentimes, like TAs will go like above and beyond to help you. So I was having trouble with a paper once in a TA sat me down and like helped me like format my paper. It was really great. Cause I was just, it was kind of like the first time writing a university papers as nervous, but they're there to help you, which is like the main thing. So that's definitely what I would stress to you guys. And then looking at resources is really important. So there's a ton of resources on campus that can help you academically. And I took an intro class in my first year that I was struggling with, and I learned about these workshops that you can go to usually like once a month or so that will help you with the class. You can take like a practice midterm or practice final, and it helped me like get through the class, which was amazing. And so I'm really glad that I learned about that resource and things like that. So yeah, looking up what's there, reaching out to your professors. Also, don't buy your textbooks before the class starts. That's another thing that I always say, because I kind of went crazy and bought all my textbooks, and then it turns out I didn't need them or like you gave us a link for it online or something. So yeah, wait to get your textbooks until you have the first class. That would be my biggest thing. And yeah, so campus is like super fun. The journalism program is amazing. Everybody there is so knowledgeable and the professors are just so fantastic. So if you're going into journalism, you'll really enjoy it. But yeah. Thank you. That was great. Thank you, everybody. So I totally back everything everybody said. And one of the main questions that we received from these sessions is should I buy the textbook? So definitely take what Emma said to heart. I remember my first semester, I bought them all brand new, spent thousands of dollars, no joke. And then it turns out the profs for like, here's a free PDF or like my friend from like a year before said, Oh, I have the textbook, you can have it. And I was like, what? So definitely wait and save some money in there. Definitely, definitely a good thing. And it's a lot less stressful if you wait. I found that I was very stressed by trying to run around and buy textbooks. So that is definitely a plus. So I am going to be opening the Q&A now. So anybody who is in the session can feel free to unmute their mics and ask a question or type it in the chat. Just make sure that the chat is working. Yes, perfect. Okay, so I will start off while people are typing or thinking of questions. I will start off with our second most common question that is asked. And that is how do I contact my professor, go to office hours, etc. in an online environment? Send them an email if you don't know what their times are. Professors, most professors I have, that's how they want their office hours dealt with. But for the most part, all the classes I had in the span of the last year and a half had the office hours Zoom link posted in C Learn. But I believe we are switching to Brightspace or something now. So whatever the page is that your professor runs the class, they will most likely have their Zoom link on the page with the hours that they have available for you to join. And you are able to join and hopefully you get in before anybody else. That is the easiest way to do it. Thank you. So we do have a question in chat. And I will just read out the questions and then you guys can jump in and answer. So just a general question. I apologize for my pet bird. She's wanting to be in the call right now. So the first question from Sean is, are you guys involved in the mentorship program first years? So by this, I think Sean means either the first and family program or the bounce back program, any of those that are in the student experience office? I can go here because so I was a peer mentor last year for the first year connections program. So as FPA ambassadors, we're not directly associated with that. It's a whole separate program, but I will speak to the program and say that I totally recommend it. I had a mentor in my first year and her and I are still friends and I still talk to her and she's really awesome. And then being a mentor was one of the most rewarding experiences I ever had. Just I still talk to my mentee as well. So and sometimes you have multiple and so it's a really great program. And it was how I figured out how to declare my minors, how I found different clubs on campus, how I figured out different resources. Because to be a peer mentor, you have to like go through a whole bunch of training and figure out like learn about all the different resources on campus and who to contact and the best way to do it. So if you haven't signed up for the first year connections program, I totally recommend it. It's the best thing that I did in first year and it was a really fun thing to work at in my second year. Perfect. Thank you. To add to that for MPAD, I don't know if our program and classes themselves have peer mentors for the program specifically in those organizations. I still recommend anyone in MPAD to use them for other reasons. But if you are looking for a type of for a mentor to help with classes, the Media Production Design Society does run a mentorship program for just media production. And I don't believe the heads of that have announced when it's beginning and people can put their names in, but that should be Oh, that's awesome. Thank you, Ben. All right. So we do have another question in the chat from Audrey and I believe this is for Emma. So what does Journalism Society primarily do and how are they involved with the campus? Yeah, so I was actually on the Journalism Society. We call it JSOC and I was on it for first year. So I was a first year representative and then I was a second year representative. I haven't applied to be a third year representative yet, but I will. But yeah, the JSOC does events for journalism students. So as a year rep, you're kind of given a budget and you get to kind of plan events for people in your year basically. So it was a little bit harder second year because we were all online, but we were able to do like an online movie night. We did a PowerPoint night like we did it among us like game night. So they got to do like fun things like that that bring people out and everything. It's just kind of your main goal is to get people to interact with each other, kind of do fun things like that and everything. In first year, we were able to do like a JGala. So we had like a nice like fancy like a little dinner event and everything that was really nice. Hopefully we'll be able to bring that back sooner rather than later, but we'll have to see. But yeah, it's a really great way to know to learn and like get to know people in your program, which is like always nice because then you have friends in your classes and you're kind of in it together. It's also a great way to meet older people, older students in your program as well. So you kind of get to know them and like get some tips from them and everything, which is really nice. And it's a nice way to get involved because I was really involved in high school. And so I figured like that would kind of be a great thing for me to do as well. So if you like planning things, if you like interacting with your classmates, things like that, like definitely do JSOC. It's really, really fun. Everyone is super nice and we get to plan some really fun stuff. So yeah. Thank you, Emma. I actually still have a question for you from Sean. What JSOC events are happening this year? You might not know yet, but if you do know any. Yeah, I haven't been given the inside scoop yet. I don't know if we'll be doing any in-person ones quite yet. We might be waiting a bit. It just depends. They're very active on social media. So if you follow JSOC on Instagram or Facebook or anything, they're always posting about stuff on there. They sell merch. So I don't know if you notice I'm wearing some journals and merch. You can get it from them as well. We designed it ourselves and everything. So it's really, really great. So yeah. Don't know about the events yet, but there should be some really cool stuff. They're actually doing an initiative right now that they're doing like a giveaway thing for audio packages and TV packages for third-year students like myself who have to buy equipment for this year. And so they're doing like you can apply for to get like a free package of equipment, which I think is really, really great for some students and everything. So they do things like that. But again, yeah, I don't know the specifics yet. And being an events assistant with the University, I can let Sean know that online events are happening in the fall. You need absolute special permission for late fall in-person events. However, the winter is up in the air and it looks like we'll have some in-person events in the winter. So maybe if there's a winter gala, we can keep our fingers crossed. So that's the inside scoop I know from the University. So if there are JSOC events and share they'll be like another among us tonight. That would be so cool. All right. So there are no questions in the chat. But like I said, if anybody wants to jump in and put in the chat or unmute their mics, go for it. I think Paul Wilson, he's our Associate Dean for Students and Enrollment. I think he wants to see a few words. Oh, thanks, Stephanie. You must have wondered what this old gray-haired guy was doing, kind of lurking on the call here. So I'm Paul Wilson. I'm an Associate Dean. So I work for Dr. O'Neill. Somebody said it was kind of like being a vice principal. It's like, yeah, I guess that's true, whether that's good or not. I've just been doing it for like a month. So I'm here kind of learning too about what all the different programs are. And there's so many neat things happening at Carlson. So welcome. It's great that you are going to be here. And like everyone, I just encourage you to take advantage of everything that's going on, especially in the comms world, in the journalism world, you're in the nation's capital. There's so much interesting communication stuff that you can get involved with in Ottawa. So you won't have any lack of that, even in a digital world. But time management is an important thing. You have to make time for other things, but you got to make time for your studies too. Sometimes that can be a bit of a crunch and there are cycles throughout the semester. So I was just going to mention that there's something called the Center for Student Academic Support that Carlton runs. They've got workshops on time management. They've got workshops on academic discipline, plagiarism. Those are things that end up on my desk. We won't talk about those. But the bottom line is if you've got questions, as our students have said, ask your professors. They're there. It's part of their job to help. And most of them really like engaging with students. I mean, they're human beings. Occasionally you get some that maybe don't, but most of them do. So take advantage of your professors. We talked about books and the course outline. Maybe people can comment on the importance of the course outline, because different maybe from high school, the course outline and university is supposed to be a contract. So you'll get it in your first class and really pay attention to that. It'll have all the information about contacting your professor about what's expected. So that's a really key document. Anyway, welcome. Hope you have a great year. Thanks, Paul. So actually Paul brought up a great point. The course syllabus or outline is a very important contract that you'll receive usually like a day or week before the first class for the most part. I'm going to let our ambassadors talk a little bit about what it is, what it means, and what you can find in it. So if Emma wants to start. Yeah, so the syllabus is probably the most important document you'll get from your professor. Seriously, it's like it outlines the entire class like from start to finish. It'll have your office hours, contact information, your TAs, and generally it'll have all the due dates for all of the important assignments throughout the semester. And so that's kind of what I focus on when I look at my syllabus at first. And I usually like I have my trusty agenda here, and I'll take all the dates and write them in just so I have them there. So that when I'm flipping through, I'll be like, Oh, okay, so this is due in two weeks, I should probably start it this day. And so it's a great way like you can use it to stay organized and stay on top of things. Because I found in university probably the toughest part of the transition from high school to university was kind of that you're on your own and that you need to like self be self aware of when your deadlines are and when your things are due, your professor's not going to be like, Hey, this is due in one week, this is due in three days, this is due tomorrow, like, they're probably going to just be like, Okay, it's due that day, go and do it. So you just kind of have to stay on track of things and getting an agenda really helps with that. But yeah, your syllabus definitely I usually save mine on my computer, if I ever have any questions, there'll be a thing about like the grading process usually plagiarism, like guidelines as well, and rules and stuff. Other than that, yeah, if somebody else wants to jump in. I think it's also a really helpful tool to look at when you have questions, because a lot of the time professors, it's usually in the syllabus, like if you have a question, it's probably in the syllabus. So like, look there first, because as much as like, I think the FPA professors are all really amazing people, but they're also really busy people and they don't get back to you very quickly. Sometimes so when you have questions and stuff, probably 95% of the time it's already in the syllabus, unless it's like a specific question about an assignment or something. But if it's due dates, or anything grading processes, what the percentage of the assignment is, it's probably already in the syllabus. So just make sure you actually read it. And another thing that's really helpful is they usually put like what you're supposed to get out of the course in it. So what you're supposed to know by the end of it. And that's really helpful because if you go in knowing like, okay, I'm going to learn about this, this, this and this. And it's like, okay, so now I can be a little bit more prepared, you know, maybe I can read up on some of it before I when I go into readings and classes, I actually am aware of what I'm going to learn, you're not just kind of flying blind and think that you're just going to learn about communications like it might be specifically on culture or it might be on public relations or other stuff. So it's really nice to know exactly what you're going to learn from the class. Ben, did you have anything to add? Think I have anything to add? Yeah, they covered all of it. Perfect. So we do have another question in the chat from Sean. Paul has something to add, I think. Oh, go ahead, Paul. Just one of my favorite stories about what I think was that Emma or Corey was just talking about was a colleague of mine had a student come to him once who said, oh, professor, in your course outline, you say X, Y, Z, but my friend says A, B, C, which is it? It's like the answer, of course, is what the professor said in the course outline. But it's finding how people can convince themselves otherwise sometimes. So just an ad for the course outline. Yeah, always pay attention to the outline more than your friends. So Sean has a question. Said is self-advocacy important in these classes? So I think like, okay, so in terms of self-advocacy, like university is a lot different in terms of high school in the fact that you can, I'm not going to lie, I've challenged some grades while I've been in university because sometimes you know what you're entitled to. And sometimes it's like, well, your course outline said this and I did that. So why am I not getting the greater? Like another thing along with course outlines is rubrics. I don't think I ever looked at a rubric in high school because I was like, I don't, I just never did. But I like study those in university because there's so many ways that you can get like the easiest grades. Like I'm in a stats class right now and you get a grade for changing the document title. Like there's so many easy things. So if there's little things that you're missing out on points for that you did do, it's really, your professors are really nice about being like, oh no, I'll look over that. I'll see all and it's not just assignments. Like I've done it for exams. So yeah, self advocacy is really important because you're in university, you're treated more like an adult. You're, I find I have an easier time like unnecessarily standing up for myself, but just knowing what I deserve in terms of like grades and stuff. Sometimes if I see that there's a discrepancy there, a lot of professors are really nice about helping you out and reading it over. And even it's sometimes I'm like, what did I do wrong here? Because I don't want to do it wrong again. And I don't mind missing out on the points as long as I know I'm not going to do it again. So yeah, self advocacy is really important and professors are really approachable. And definitely if you're like, okay, there's clearly a discrepancy here, then say something. Professors want you to correct them. They want to do their best job at teaching you. So if there's things that aren't lining up, then going and talking to them is really, really helpful. Absolutely agree with that. You know, professors and TAs, they're people too. We all make mistakes sometimes and they're doing a lot. They're marking a lot. And I remember I went to a TA once said, oh, like I want to know what I did wrong here because I don't want to do it again. Like what Corey said, and they were like, oops, that's not wrong. So if you ever have a question, it's completely normal. Definitely voice your questions. You will never ever be ridiculed for asking a question. Yeah, like that kind of stuff happens a lot too, where you're like, oh, what did I do wrong? And they're like, actually, that was me. And because sometimes like TAs have like 75 papers to mark and they have two weeks to do them or 75 exams to mark. And sometimes your TA doesn't mark your exam and stuff like that. So just asking and being transparent with them is really, really helpful. And yeah, I'm just going to jump in. I like, that's another thing my office hours are so important because when I was in first year, I wrote a paper and I just wanted to kind of talk about the grade and kind of understand like what I could improve on. And so I visited my prof during office hours and we had like an hour long chat about a paper. And then we were just chatting by the end of it. And it was really nice. And it kind of like made me less intimidated about professors after that. So I was like, oh, they're just normal people. Like it's fine. So it's just like, it's a nice thing, like especially with self-advocacy, if you like really want to learn about like what you're doing or you want to stand up for your grade, profs are okay with that. You just kind of, you have to go for it. Yeah. Completely agree. Okay. So there are no more questions in the chat. I'll just wait a few seconds here in case anybody wants to put in a last question before we end the session. Well, that's happening. Is there anything of closing remarks or any extra tips or tricks that any of our ambassadors would still suggest? Something, I don't know how many MPAD people are in this. Something I forgot to mention. Sorry, I live on Bronson. There are constant alarms going down the street. But something I forgot to mention for something I wish I'd known going into first year is that with such a broad program, and I believe I'm not sure about comms, but I feel like from what I've heard, you guys have a lot of different classes that you're learning, is spend more time on your weaknesses. Going into first year, I did not have any background in programming. I did not have any background in graphic design. And I had a very, very difficult time getting through those courses. And what I wish I'd done and what I do now, especially with the programming courses, I've become more adept with the graphic design aspect of what we do in the Adobe stuff that we do, but with programming, as soon as I get a syllabus sent out by the professors for one of those courses, I immediately go to... There are many different programming sites you can use to teach yourself languages and the same thing with any other topic you might have an issue with. I just go and try and get a base understanding of what I need to know for that topic so that I still have time to work on the stuff that I'm better at, but also put a little extra time into the things I have much more difficulty in because there are so many different things that we're learning. That is all. Yeah, I definitely second that because there's like... Columns is a pretty broad program too, so focusing on what you don't really know much about can also help you find something that you're super interested in too. I will also say just kind of two things to know before you're going in or wish I guess what I wish I knew going in first year was meet people outside of your program too. I wasn't a resident student so I was almost 20 when I went in first year so I didn't really want to do residence so getting to know people outside of your program too is really fun and it helps you gain a lot of connections because you never know if that person you sap aside in first year psych it's going to end up being someone that is going to help you get a job later in life so just make connections everywhere that you can it's super super helpful and it's also just fun to hear about what other people are doing in other programs and what they like to do and all that kind of stuff and also I don't know if anyone in this call is in the co-op program but definitely apply to it if you're not I didn't go into first year in the co-op program but then I applied to it and I got into it and I'm on my first co-op placement right now and I really want to work in sports after school so I'm currently working at Carlton in the marketing department in the sports marketing department so and that came from a connection that I had to getting involved so going after co-op jobs and getting that experience is super super important too so if you're not in the co-op program I definitely recommend going into it or if you're in a program where it's like where you get practicum or something make sure you go for the job that you want because I have friends that are in jobs that they aren't really into and I've loved every second of my co-op term and I'm continuing to work for them during the school years so co-op gives you a lot of really great opportunities and a lot of really great connections I will jump in with the thing about journalism so if you're like me and you haven't written any like journalistic style like stories before that's Carlton has the charlatan which is the student run newspaper which is fantastic and so it's run by journalism students the students are the editors and yeah if you ever want to get practice you can sign up and get on their newsletter and they like they send out stories weekly and you can pick a story they'll send you sources they'll send you kind of what they want and they'll be able to help you as well if you need any extra guidance whether it's with Canadian press style writing techniques and things like that that you maybe haven't learned yet they'll be able to help you out and it's a great way to get some experience and to get some bylines under your belt because I mean like always going into the industry you want to be able to kind of show what you've done and so I've gotten like I've written a couple stories for the charlatan that have been published and they publish online just now but yeah it's a really fantastic way to gain experience and kind of meet again meet people in the program and yeah I get some experience thank you everybody those were great tips so Sean has mentioned in the chat as well how can I find out about this co-op so I can answer a little bit towards this as well and then I'll let Cori jump in too so in this case co-op programs are different based on what unit or program that you're in so for example communications co-op will be different than business co-op and so on so something that is extremely important if you were to remember anything from the session it would be to talk to your academic advisors so you should talk to your academic advisors I did once every semester but definitely once a year at the minimum they'll just keep you on track make sure that you're getting all the requirements to graduate which is the end goal so you definitely want to make sure you're going to make it and then they'll also be able to help you with co-op as there are requirements getting in you need a certain GPA which is a grade point average so you need certain grades to get in and you need to meet certain requirements for your standing and credits I'll let Cori go into the more fun aspects yeah so after you talk to your academic advisor if you're like not already entered in the co-op program as you go in you'll have to apply so you do that through the co-op office so that in person I think is located in the CTTC but I'm not 100% positive but it's really easy to just email them and reach out the application process is pretty easy too and as long as you like Stephanie said as long as you have the right grades and you meet the academic standing requirements it's not very hard to get into because they want people to have that experience of learning and I will say that the co-op job search isn't the most fun thing in the world because it's very lengthy and it's very kind of hard like it's hard sometimes like I went through like four or five interviews and I didn't get any of those jobs I got my job because of a club that I was in and they offered me at the job and they made it a co-op position so I will say that the co-op process is a hard process and trying to get a job isn't always the easiest thing I know a lot of people in their first co-op term didn't even get a placement so it is lucky sometimes it is pretty lucky when you get a placement but definitely it's so worth it when you do get the placement because you learn so much more and you apply things that you've learned inside the classroom to co-op so definitely if you want to apply it's talk to your academic advisor and then the co-op office is the way to go Definitely and you don't need perfect grades to get in as Corey mentioned they want people to get the experience so don't feel intimidated always apply you miss 100% of the shots you don't take so always apply always go for that club you know always ask those questions another thing about co-op if you have experience with high school co-op versus university is that 99% of the time university co-op is paid so that's an extra plus because I know high school co-op is not so you'll get a pay for that so that's good Ben did you have something to add? Oh no I was just hitting the button Can I ask if any of our ambassadors have experience with the federal government's F-Swep program because the co-op is a Carlton thing but the federal government also has a program for student experience which you might consider a co-op it has co-oppy kind of qualities sometimes and since you're in Ottawa that's something you could consider applying for especially if you speak French that's a major bonus anyway just that's another option to know if anybody's had experience with that I have a guy that I didn't get in yet I haven't gotten chosen yet but maybe someday it's a really good program though I've had friends that work through F-Swep and it's like you put your resume in and it's like computer generated it chooses your resume based on keywords so it is a tough one to get into but it's definitely worth it for the work experience for sure yeah I've known people actually my husband was in it and it was the most rewarding experience and a couple of our other ambassadors are in it so my fingers are crossed for you Emma good luck either any more questions moving forward speak now or forever hold your piece I am going to put my email in the chat for anybody who has extra questions I can either answer them or connect you to an ambassador that can answer them so I'll put my email in the chat now if you don't catch my email today in the chat the person that sent you the Zoom invite is me so you can just reply to that email that you got last night from me and I'd be happy to answer any questions so if that is all we are coming up on the time for the end as well so my closing remarks are just thank you for joining us thank you for joining Carlton it's a really exciting experience I was a student at Carlton now I work for Carlton Carlton is definitely in my heart and so I'm really happy that you're here and I know you're going to absolutely absolutely love this new adventure that you're about to embark on does anybody else have some final words I can just sorry I just want to say you guys I went to a different university first and dropped out and I came to Carlton and I love it so definitely made the right choice definitely FPA is the best so good choice everyone pardon me if I'm pronouncing this wrong but Ola says thank you guys so much I hope you all have a great day so thank you all for joining us thank you to my ambassadors I really appreciate you taking the time this morning and I hope you all have a lovely lunch