Written by Ammar Bookwala
Hi Everyone! My name is Ammar Bookwala and I am a recent graduate of the Kinesiology Program at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ. Currently, I’m an aspiring medical student at the University of Ottawa who should be starting first year in the fall!
As a proud AHSsie and Warrior, I learned early in my program about the importance of getting involved and doing what you can to give back to the university community. At first it was quite intimidating as I wasn’t sure what the right fit was for me. However, I realized that if I didn’t try, I would never know what I liked. So I entered the second semester of first year with the goal of participating in at least one new activity every term. I started with getting involved in AHSUM (Applied Health Sciences Undergraduate Members), which is the faculty’s student governing body. Before I knew it, I was involved in more activities than I could count! I feel that this helped me pursue a range of diverse interests, whether it was training students through Campus Rec or mentoring students through the AHS weCONNECTu program.
Two experiences that I really enjoyed getting involved with were donning at Village 1 and giving campus tours as a student ambassador. Giving campus tours gave me the opportunity to meet with prospective first-year students and tell them about the university that I love! Donning gave me the chance to mentor incoming and upper-year students and help them make the transition to life at university, while having a little bit of fun along the way.
Being a student at the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ taught me the importance of doing what I could by giving back to the community and following my interests and passions. There are over 100 different student clubs and societies at À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ and if you don’t find one of interest, you can create your own! While many of us come to university with the goal of getting a job or pursuing a career, it is important to enjoy the experience as you go through it because it will be over before you can blink! Thanks to the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ, I enter the next chapter of my life with confidence knowing that I have the tools and skills to succeed!