Using environmental knowledge in unexpected places | Co-operative Education

Changing lanes to arrive in her dream program, Octavia Andrushko shares her experiences changing majors and working outside the Faculty of Environment.

Octavia Andrushko (she/her), a third-year Geography and Environmental Management student, was sure to take advantage of her university journey. Through exploring three different majors and working two different co-op jobs, she has discovered a lot about herself and where she wants to go in the future. Octavia shares how she uses her classroom knowledge in her co-op jobs, how to be open to learning new things and what she wishes she knew before starting co-op.

Octavia's co-op journey

Work term one: For her first work term, Octavia worked for the Department of Music at Conrad Grebel University College as a music department assistant and conference co-ordinator. She assisted with day-to-day tasks and planning events including the Concerto & Aria Competition.

Work term two: Following that experience, Octavia worked for Co-operative and Experiential Education at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ as a communications co-ordinator. Her tasks included creating social media posts to advertise CareerHub and various workshops that the Centre for Career Development hosts.

Q&A with Octavia

Have your roles aligned with your expectations going into co-op?

“Yes and no. I thought that I would be able to get a co-op more in my field of study. After the first round of co-op, I found that to be unfeasible because most jobs would require me to drive pretty far or relocate within/out of province.”

“I don't have a car and I didn't really want to sublet. I was trying to look for jobs in ��ݮ��Ƶ. So far my co-ops have aligned more with what I thought in high school and less of what I thought in my first year. I wanted to do more social media stuff in high school and that's what I've gotten.”

Octavia Andrushko posing with classmates on a bike ride

How has your work contributed to environmental sustainability and awareness?

“I think that my work now contributes a little bit because we're doing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) project. I’m doing my project based off the course that I'm taking. I want to propose a cycling initiative for the community to be more engaged with ��ݮ��Ƶ and the community. It also encompasses SDG 3, good health and well-being, and SDG 11, sustainable communities and cities.”

How do you see future co-op positions contributing to sustainability and environmental awareness?

“I’m really interested in the Sustainability Office. I’d really like to work there and contribute to the projects they’re doing. I'm sure that they're doing a lot of work. I know they run a tree planting event and that would be good to help with. They also do awareness about sustainability on campus, the Sustainable Development Goals and all that.”

How has your work made a tangible difference?

“The first thing that comes to mind is that I did a work-study at the Arts Undergraduate Office where I got to help plan some of their main events last summer. I had the opportunity to plan the midterm stress buster event where I chose to do a terrarium building event. My goal was to try and include interdisciplinary studies because I think that’s really important.”

“I was trying to get Arts students to learn a little bit about the environment. My terrarium from that event is still alive actually. It’s a snake plant and it's good for air filtration. If you get them really big then it’s like a little home air purifier. They’re really easy to take care of.”

“We provided all the materials to make them and I made the printouts and materials for it. That felt like it made a bit of a difference, if only because then people had a plant and learned a little bit about what that plant does.”

Octavia Andrushko posing with cardboard cutout of Keanu Reeves

Is there anything that you wish you would have known before you started co-op?

“So much. I didn't really have a good idea of how co-op worked when I came here. I just knew that ��ݮ��Ƶ was really good for co-op, so I should come here. I wish that I knew more about the services that were offered and how the co-op process works. What kind of jobs you could get and that you can look outside of your program and faculty.”

“I came to ��ݮ��Ƶ originally for the English program and I thought I was restricted to find only English jobs. But we can work anywhere, do any job, which I really like.”

“I only recently learned that you can swap out a co-op term for a study term, which I also wish I knew more about.”

What’s it like doing co-op jobs that aren’t directly related to your major?

“It’s a lot different. I'm trying to find different ways to implement what I'm learning in my schoolwork in what I'm doing. It's a little bit hard to do that, but it's a good experience.”

“It's all transferable, right? If I ever have to plan anything in the future, such as an environment workshop or if one of my courses has the option for a mixed media final assignment, I could do a marketing campaign and use some of those work skills for that.”

It’s fun to be able to do something else and also broaden my horizons a little bit to see what else I can do in the future. It’s also a good opportunity to meet people outside of my faculty.

Octavia Andrushko

“This is a good chance to meet other people, get different working experiences and see what you like. Your courses will tell you what a job in your actual program would be like anyway.”

What inspired the switch from English to Geography and Environmental Management?

“I have a friend who is an Environment, Resources and Sustainability (ERS) student, which I was also in for a year. He was talking about his courses and I found it really interesting. I was originally going to apply to ��ݮ��Ƶ for Geography, but I was unnecessarily worried in high school that I wouldn’t get in. So, I instead applied for English and then changed majors to ERS and then Geography.”

“I like English, I just wasn’t super into the course offerings. I’m sure if I stayed in it then I would have found more courses I was interested in. But I was drawn to Environment courses. I took an environmental policy course and it was one of my favourite courses that I’ve taken.”

“I would like to go into some kind of environmental policy law field because I plan to go to law school after my undergrad.”

“I would say that I’m more into human geography than physical geography. I’m currently taking an urban planning cycling class about how bike paths are made and things like that. These courses are what have kept me in Geography.”

What’s next for you?

“Hopefully law school. I’ve been wanting to do that since high school. I don’t think I’ll stay in ��ݮ��Ƶ and I don’t know if I’ll go back home to Toronto. I’m not quite sure where I’ll land, but I’ve been eyeing the University of Ottawa and their law program because it’s not too far. I don’t really like moving that much, so I want to stay in the same area.”

“Hopefully I’ll work at a nice law firm doing policy work.”

“I’d also like to get a cat. My roommate is allergic to cats, so I’ll have to move out to get a cat. Maybe it will be a graduation gift to myself.”