MEM INSIDER Volume 4 • July 2019
Professor Profiles Club Interviews Graduate Profiles Event Highlights
Written & edited by King’s MEM Students
CONTENTS 08 04. Editorial
05 Director Report
Professor Profiles 09. Dr. Joseph Turnbull 12. Prof. John Siambanopoulos 14. Dr. Peter Ibbott
20. International Student Essay
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16. Dr. Grigori Erenburg 18. Dr. Trevor Hunter
King’s Club Interviews 23. KEMS 24. King’s Capital Management 25. BMOS Club
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Graduate Profiles
MOS Internship Program
26. Yilun Lou 28. Nikita Williams
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30. Pengfei Huangfu
42. Student Profile: Julia Kulczyski 43. Announcements
Event Highlights 33. Homecoming 34. LinkedIn Workshop 36. King’s Career Fair 37. MEM Career Day 38. MEM Gala 39. Mock Exams 40. London Mayoral Debate
EDITORIAL
Dear Readers, Welcome to the fourth edition of the Management, Economics, and Mathematics (MEM) Insider magazine! This magazine presents all of the clubs, professors, and students within the School of MEM, while also providing examples of events, activities, and profiles of individuals within the MEM community; who help influence incoming and current MEM students.
We would like to extend our deepest thanks to the professors, administrative staff, alumni, and to the School of MEM, who have all helped make this edition of the MEM Insider possible. A special thanks to Dr. Grigori Erenburg, Chair of MEM, and Estelle Van Winckle for supporting and guiding us this year. We hope this edition resonates not only with alumni but also inspires incoming students to join the MEM community! Cordially, Danielle & Andrew
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RE P O RT
DI R ECTO R
Photo by Steve Grimes
Dr. Grigori Erenburg School of MEM Director & Associate Professor MEM Insider • July 2019
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D I R ECTOR
RE P ORT I am excited to report that our first academic year as the School of Management, Economics, and Mathematics (School of MEM) was an amazing success! We held the official launch of the School at the start of the year, during the fall 2018 Homecoming reception. Our alumnus and the President and CEO at the London Economic Development Corporation, Kapil Lakhotia, spoke about his experiences in leading business development in the city of London, and the many things his team was able to accomplish over the past few years. We had an amazing turnout with around 60 people attending. The School of MEM’s Homecoming reception is becoming a great tradition rooted in King’s’ strong spirit of community. Our rebranding into the School highlights the professional aspect of many of our programs. In collaboration with Western main campus and other affiliated colleges (Huron and Brescia), we continue to develop more flexible ways to include the internship into the academic program. Furthermore, at the School of MEM, we support our students beyond what is offered to all Western students. This year marks the first year when we ran the Career Readiness project. Under the project, we held almost two dozen different workshops on technical proficiency skills (Excel, LinkedIn, statistical packages, etc.) and communication skills (interviews, presentations, professional etiquette etc.). We had a series of guest
speakers from among our alumni, potential employers, and experts in various fields. Students who attended a certain minimum of Career Readiness events in this project by their third year at King’s qualify for a notation on their co-curricular activities record, and a certificate from Enrolment Services confirming completion of the series. This year’s Career Day (co-hosted by the School of MEM, King’s EconoMath Society, and “Life After King’s” project) deserves a separate mention. We had exceptional speakers, all graduates of our School, all extremely enthusiastic, bright and inspiring. In addition, we had 16 booths set up by prospective employers (TD, MNP, Libro, Deloitte, etc.) and graduate schools (Western, including Ivey Business School, Wilfrid Laurier University, Queens University, etc.). To a large degree, we owe the success of our event to our dedicated staff members, our Program Manager, Lydia Li, and our School Administrator, Estelle Van Winckle. We are also blessed with extremely engaged and enthusiastic students. Our students’ professional clubs, BMOS Association, King’s EconoMath Society, Accounting Club, and King’s Capital Management, are as vibrant as always. This year marks the creation of a new Entrepreneurship Club as well. Our faculty take an active part in this extra-curricular activity by advising and supervising clubs. These clubs and the relatively small size of our program allow almost each interested student to gain real decision-making experience and
Photo by Steve Grimes
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try themselves in leadership roles. An example: in January, our students’ investment club known as King’s Capital Management, reported on their first real money trade with a $10,000 fund sponsored by the King’s Alumni Association. The fund follows socially responsible investment policy. The report was made to the King’s Foundation Board, and the students were “grilled” hard by real professionals in the field. We are in constant search of new ideas on how to improve students’ preparedness for the real world. For example, currently the School is going through an internal discussion about the possibility of establishing an Advisory Board to the Director of the School. The Board’s membership would be drawn from the business community, government, management professionals, alumni, and the School’s executive leadership team. The Board would assist in the review of curriculum, program design, experiential learning, and student services aimed at professional skills development, career counseling and placement. Last year, the Director’s report stressed the importance of faculty for the success of the School as an academic unit. I am excited to announce that we are joined by two more faculty members! Our new Economics faculty, Dr. Vincent Geloso received his PhD degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, one of the world’s top Economics schools. He has an exceptionally strong research agenda. His research is in the area of economic history (application of economic theory and methods to historical events), development economics, population economics, and public economics. Over a short period of time from 2015, he has published 24 journal research articles, six book chapters, and one book. He has multiple distinctions and academic posts. Dr. Jeanette Eberhard is our new faculty member in Human Resource Management and Organizational Theory. She received her PhD degree from the Ivey Business School at Western. Her research on the exploitation of women has very important social impact and is a very satisfying fit with King’s’ mission and values. Her field work with the London Police Services Board brings connection with local community and deep understanding of some of the most critical social problems our society faces. Dr. Geloso and Dr. Eberhard are welcome additions to our faculty of great teachers and active researchers with experience and connections with the practitioners’ world.
entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, and operations management. This year’s Globalization Seminar series, an interdepartmental collaborative project between the EBM department and the department of Political Science, had a thematic focus on modern state of political economy theory. A panel discussion titled “Current Issues in Political Economy: Stakeholders, Influence, and the Use and Abuse of Information” hosted four scholars from DAN Department of Management & Organizational Studies at Western, Economics Department at Western, Ivey School of Business, and Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. Participants discussed how different economic agents and stakeholders interact in the policy environment, through a variety of channels including social media, CSR (corporate social responsibility), public demonstrations, ecolabeling, and other creative means. At the School of MEM and, more broadly, at King’s, we have an amazing team of students, staff and faculty. As we launch into the new 2019-2020 academic year, stay tuned for more exciting news and events! Sincerely,
Grigori
We maintain our interest in interdisciplinary and collaborative activities. During our King’s Annual International Management and Economics week, we had seven invited scholars and four School of MEM faculty members holding workshops for the students and presenting their own research in the areas of economics,
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Professor
Profiles 8
MEM Insider • July 2019
Photo by Steve Grimes
Dr. Joseph Turnbull “Math builds grit” “It is surreal to sit in the Cardinal Carter Library as a faculty member helping my students, instead of as a student doing my own homework!”
Interview by Andrew Medeiros
Why did you choose King’s? King’s University College fits perfectly with my focus on teaching and mentoring – it is easier to connect with students when teaching smaller classes.
Why should students come to King’s? What does King’s offer that Western’s main campus does not? King’s runs Western courses across years 1 to 4, as well as courses unique to King’s. The advantages are different depending on what year the student is in. In first year especially, the smaller classes make it easier to find your professor and get individual help if you have questions or want advice. The smaller size of our campus also helps you to quickly gain a sense of community – it is nice to come across a familiar face frequently in the halls and courtyards. For some students, I think that could make the transition from high school less daunting. In the upper years of university, again the smaller classes allow more individual investment in students, in terms of mentoring for careers and graduate programs. We don’t have graduate students in most of our departments, so some of our year 3 and 4 students can take on roles typically associated with graduate students – as teaching assistants and research assistants, for example. I mentor many students from year 1 through to year 4 and feel very invested in them. This is something Western is known for, and I think at King’s we build on that, given our small class sizes and mostly-undergraduate focus.
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As a professor, what do you hope your students’ big ‘takeaway’ will be? Specific to math, to be able to solve problems and use problem-solving strategies. Less content-wise, what I think I can help do is help my students appreciate what they are capable of if they put their minds to it. When a student looks at the work they did at the end of the term, if they were able to show it to their old selves, they would probably say that it would be impossible to do. After such big leaps, I hope they can face other difficulties and remember what they had been able to overcome with hard work and focus - and not give up. I think math builds grit.
What is your favourite part about teaching at King’s? The environment allows me to teach mathematics in a more approachable style. This is crucial – we don’t get many students interested in engineering or the physical sciences since we do not offer those programs. We do get some mathematically-inclined students pursuing programs across different disciplines like psychology and economics, but also we get many students who are hesitant or even fearful about mathematics. I know what these students are going through – coming out of high school, I hated mathematics. That changed in first-year university, thanks to some amazing professors. I try to do the same thing for my students. This transformation is my main calling: not to force students to like math, but to help them not see it like the bogeyman.
Were you a King’s Alumnus? I went to Western for my undergraduate degree: a BSc in Applied Mathematics. But I spent a lot of time on King’s campus in the first year, mainly the Wemple cafeteria and the library. My girlfriend was at Brescia and was taking several courses at King’s – including calculus with Dr. Meredith, who is my colleague now. It is surreal to sit in the Cardinal Carter Library as a faculty member helping my students, instead of as a student doing my own homework!
What is MEM? What do you see as the advantages that others do not have? This is the first year of the School of MEM, which is the rebranding of the Department of Economics, Business, and Mathematics. We also house programs in Finance. One of the advantages, from the student perspective, is that we have a set of courses and school activities that are developed in tandem both in applicability and interest level. For economics majors, this gives access to professionally oriented programming in addition to the rigorous academics that you expect to find. For those going into management, their competencies include customized mathematics and economics courses that bring a big advantage for graduate programs that are interdisciplinary, like a Masters in Financial Economics or related subjects, as well as business careers with a focus on data. While honing all of the core skills that are developed by all university graduates, we also make sure that our MEM courses are synergistic, and cover as many bases as we can. It is a unique arrangement, and we continue to find ways to take advantage of it for the benefit of our students. Great things are coming.
Photo by Steve Grimes
Any words of advice for new incoming students? The first year is scary, not because of the difficulty or social aspect, but because when you go from high school to university, you learn a lot about yourself in that first year. You learn how careful you must be with your time. Keep track of your time with scheduling techniques. When you look for places to add in study time, you need to identify the spots that add value to your life. Leisure and friends can add value. However, just browsing for nothing on the internet is a major waste of time. Playing video games can be another waste of time, which was a lesson I learned in my first-year – my first term at university was a disaster. You may not realize how much time you are wasting when no parent is over your shoulder badgering you. No one is watching over your shoulder now, and you know what they say about what comes with great freedom! Missing classes, going on your phone in class… there are lots of ways to make your life harder than it needs to be. Cramming may have worked in high school, but in university, it often ends in disaster. Set more gradual goals for learning, like “study section 2.4” rather than one big goal, like “study for the test.” Break your tasks down into manageable pieces that make it easier to hold yourself accountable. Nobody will do that part for you. But there is lots of help with the parts that come after. Take advantage of office hours, review sessions, drop-in help, and other resources that are provided.
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Prof. John Siambanopoulos “Education is an elevator” “After completing his MBA at Ivey in the 1990s, Professor Siambanopoulos started to discover his love of teaching. In 1997, he received a call from Dr. Camiletti (Chair of Economics, Business and Math at the time) to see if he could teach a section of Business 1220 at King’s. He taught the one section to cover a staffing crisis, received high acclaim from his students, and was told to apply for a position. This one in a billion chance is unlikely to occur today, he says, which humbles him. He is always eager to “meet the duty to make education an elevator, so as to give everyone the chance to excel in a class they saw as boring or impossible.”
Interview by Andrew Medeiros What are the advantages of studying at King’s rather than at main campus? When walking around the campus, you can say hi knowing that you will receive a greeting back. There is no feeling of holding your head down due to the lack of connection between faculty and the community as a whole, with King’s bringing warmth and a sense of a close community. This openness and the fact that professors know their students and their stories make it easier to help them in their academic drive. We can be there when students are in need. An example is a former student that had a brain injury, now in their final year at Ivey, who wonders if success would have been possible if they had gone to a different institution than King’s. The people at King’s, from the faculty to the assistance staff to the students, from the IT Department to Communications, and other support systems, all add up to make the King’s environment a unique teaching and learning experience. Not every organization can say that.
Any words of advice for students who will be admitted to King’s next year? When I talk at Frosh Week for BMOS, I always end up repeating the cliché that university is the greatest experience of your life. It is true that in these four years you will grow at a rate that you thought impossible. Sadly, this is something that many do not realize until their fourth year. To take myself as an example: university helped me break out of my shell by giving me a fresh start to become a brand new person. In the end, students should not constantly feel regret every weekend over how they are just wasting their time doing nothing when they have the opportunity with the university to explore so many things. People who dream of greatness, who then complain that they have nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon, need to reevaluate their priorities. They need to realize that they have people behind them to support them. From their friends and family to the faculty, we all want you to achieve your ambitions.
Do you think a King’s degree gives graduates a strong start in the real world? The connections formed between professors and students greatly assist students with their future endeavours, whether it be through advice for graduate studies or guidance in entering the careers they are interested in. But in the end, it is what you do with the degree that is the crucial thing. No matter what degree you have received and no matter what institution you studied at, if you do not push yourself afterwards to reach the next step, you will not be likely to reach it.
As a professor, what do you hope your students will learn from you? Well, of course, the first thing I want them to learn is the material—how it is applied both theoretically and in function. Beyond that, I want students to ask “So what?” in regards to what they are being taught. Facts are wonderful but implications are everything. Your clients, your boss, and the people you help want more than just plain data, they want to know what that data means.
What are the advantages of the new MEM Program? The MEM Program contains famous professors teaching the most important courses for those interested in the management and business field. It brings more strength with a brand and a history, rather than just being fractured and not united. More resources are available to those in the School of MEM, from the use of mock exams to the communication between professors to develop proper progression between courses. This has led to the formation of a strong accounting understanding, allowing for students to have support for them to do what they want in the field. Be it in personal accounting, corporate accounting, or fraud analysis, the School of MEM provides students with the confidence they dream of having coming out of university and entering into the workforce.
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Dr. Peter Ibbott “Just show up, and be prepared!” “The unique relationship between faculty and students allows those who put themselves out there to form strong mentorship bonds with a professor who gives them detailed advice concerning their postgraduate plans and career plans.”
Interview by Andrew Medeiros What is your favourite part about teaching at King’s? To be able to pass on the excitement of the subject to the students and others. When dealing with economics, you face the issue of students just seeing it as a boring number grind with no real interest, but that is far from the truth. I introduce them to how economics applies to their everyday lives in interesting ways, rather than just simply throwing questions at them, knowing it will only cause them to feel bitterness over the subject.
Is that why you chose King’s? King’s chose me. I was working at the University of Lethbridge when a very good friend of mine, Professor J.D. Han, called me to tell me about an opening. At first I said I wouldn’t apply, but afterwards, my wife convinced me to look into it. Luckily she did that, because I would have beat myself up if I had found out what I almost missed out on. This good fortune has allowed me to gain experiences of great value through my career from my time in Alberta, to my time as a consultant to private firms, to my current position with King’s.
Did you study at King’s? No. I am an alumnus of Queens and the University of Toronto, which many joke are part of “the preppy trifecta.”
What are the advantages of coming to King’s and what does King’s offer that main campus does not? The close relationships one is able to form at King’s University College are very hard to acquire at larger campuses. Such a sense of community allows professors to be more available to help their students, which I enjoy very much. It is no longer a horrifying thing to visit your professor when they not only know you by name but know what you are trying to achieve.
As a professor, what do you hope your students will learn from you?
Can you say something about the School of MEM and its program innovations? In MEM, we focus on the technical side of business and economic analysis. Our graduates have an advantage over other graduates because they are more numerate with analytical skills compared to other business and economic programs. We make them do a lot, so that in the end when they enter the professional world they can face most issues. If they do not understand the issues, they can use the foundations they learned to quickly figure out the proper solution.”
A degree from King’s, and the real world: will our graduates succeed? I have two answers to that question. One, the King’s degree helps them prepare for graduate schools and professional schools. As I mentioned before, the unique relationship between faculty and students allows those who put themselves out there to form strong mentorship bonds with a professor who gives them detailed advice concerning their postgraduate plans and career plans. Second, those for whom this is the only university experience they will have—those who don’t go on to postgraduate study—get as good an opportunity as they can get anywhere, due to the focus King’s has on undergraduate education. They go out prepared for the professional world.
How would you counsel incoming students? Well, Woody Allen said that 80% of success is just showing up. I would say it’s more like 85%. Just show up, and be prepared. Those two little things will set you up for success in your academic career. If you go in there with a poor attitude, be it for a course you do not like or something you find easy so you decide to slack off on it, it will come back to bite you later. Also, this is an opportunity to be free! No one will ever get this kind of thing ever again. Unless of course, you stay like me.
That the world is understandable but often surprisingly different than we often think.
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Photo by Steve Grimes
Dr. Grigori Erenburg “The journey, not the destination” “I want my students to learn about Finance in my classes of course, but I also want them to pick up the skills I am not specifically teaching in class, like time management and a strong work ethic.”
Interview by Danielle Sequeira Why did you choose King’s? I was previously a teacher in southern California, at a Liberal Arts College for Business and Economics. When interviewing for the job at King’s, I found it fit my experience of working in a small close-knit personal community. King’s just clicked for me.
What is special about King’s, from the students’ point of view? King’s students have the advantage of being able to access the resources on other campuses at Western. They learn in a close-knit community where they are able to interact personally with their professors and create life-changing bonds with their classmates.
And what is special about the new School of MEM? The overall idea of the School of MEM is to increase students’ career perspectives and prospects. We want to enhance professional development because that is a part of any professional program, and we attempt to assist students with getting jobs after graduation. An example is accounting: King’s works with the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountants) Canada to ensure that courses qualify for certification in CPA. In addition, we put the faculty from three disciplines—Management, Economics, and Mathematics—into one unit because all three bleed into each other through the curriculum, similarly to the way that the sciences do on main campus.
How do you think a degree from King’s launches graduates in the real world? I think that with a university degree you can become a universal person and develop more specific skills. University itself teaches you how to learn efficiently, not necessarily specific skills. Understanding how to quickly adapt and learn new things is an asset in jobs, and that is why students go to university. King’s gives you a personalized education with smaller class sizes, a closer relationship to professors, and access to opportunities that assist students with the transition into the real world.
What do you want your students to learn from you? As I mentioned before, learning efficiency, and how to adapt, is far more important than specific skills. I want my students to learn about Finance in my classes of course, but I also want them to pick up the skills I am not specifically teaching in class, like time management and a strong work ethic. It is the journey, not the destination.
What is your favourite part about teaching at King’s? At King’s, we have smaller classes, so rather than being one in a thousand, you are one in sixty. The small community makes it easier to get to know students better, which makes teaching that much easier and more enjoyable. When I can speak to students one-on-one, I find that I am more effective than when I am addressing hundreds of students.
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Photo by Steve Grimes
Dr. Trevor Hunter “University is an apprenticeship�
Interview by Danielle Sequeira Why did you choose King’s? I was previously a student at King’s, taking economics and coasting by. I received a serious wakeup call when a brilliant professor by the name of Marilyn Campbell humiliated me during a presentation. Of course, I was angry at first but the greatest lesson I learnt from her was that you cannot be anything but professional.
What is your favourite part about teaching at King’s? This is probably a phrase you have heard a lot, but the smaller community allows me to personally interact with my students and have a greater impact on them. This is not just in teaching them content but also to ensure they are prepared for the real world by teaching them lessons through my actions. The real world is not going to hold your hand and wait for you to learn. People need to be able to adapt, be efficient, manage their time and so much more. I believe university is an apprenticeship and since I work in a program that allows me to treat my students like adults I take advantage of that.
What is your advice for incoming students? Take advantage of opportunities provided by King’s that is geared towards MEM students. We try to provide as many speakers, networking events, and job events as we can to ensure our students are given resources to gain experience, or explore other options. So please take advantage of those.
As a professor, what do you hope your students will learn from you? I hope my students learn to always add value to whatever they do and whomever they do it for. But to always be professional as well. University is not about learning content; it’s about learning professionalism. So I treat students the way the real world will treat them to prepare them for the real world.
What are the advantages of MEM that other programs do not have? I specifically teach management and I believe that it is a universal degree that can be applied to plenty of careers. It arms students with the professionalism and skills that will branch out to other parts of their lives, and other jobs. The School of MEM specifically provides students with courses that teach them a diversity of thought, giving them a skillset to be good managers. Management is where creativity and leadership collide to assist students with persuading others to understand and believe a person’s ideas.
What are the advantages in coming to King’s and what does King’s offer that main campus cannot? As I said, King’s is a smaller community allowing students more time and interaction with their professor. This makes it easier to ask for and receive help from professors as there is a familiarity and greater chance of the professor recognizing a problem in the classroom. Western’s main campus is fantastic but personally I prefer smaller classes to learn, as I’m sure a lot of my students do as well. When main campus courses have hundreds of students in each class it becomes intimidating to approach a professor.
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International Student Essay
The advantages and disadvantages of participating in extracurricular activities for students By Tiantian Li Nowadays, more and more students are participating in extracurricular activities in their spare time. Students join some school clubs according to their interests, to do what they like to do in their spare time. Some parents let children have lessons in music or sports on weekends because they think these extracurricular activities are beneficial to their children. However, in some countries, like China, extracurricular activities are not very popular, since they are considered useless for children in most parents’ eyes. Many people hold the view that students who participate in extracurricular activities are not good at studies in school, and that the students who have extra lessons of music or sports on weekends regard music
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and sports as a tool for entering into universities. Therefore, they think it is a waste of time for high-achieving students to participate in extracurricular activities. Taking these opinions into account, we could say that extracurricular activities have advantages and disadvantages. As far as my participation in extracurricular activities is concerned, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Participating in extracurricular activities made my life more clear—it made my goals more clear and allowed me to know myself more clearly. Students’ participation in extracurricular activities associates with many positive outcomes. For education, Corey Blomfield and Bonnie Barber hold a view in their article that “participating in activities has been linked to greater school attachment and sense of belonging, better academic achievement, higher academic expectations, and less risky behaviours, such as alcohol and drug use.” Several studies show that there is a positive relationship between participation in extracurricular activity and academic achievement. Moreover, extracurricular activities participation can build peer groups for adolescents. According to researchers Feldman and Matjasko, “experts found that the participants of peer groups are organized by a higher proportion of students who planned to attend college and were also doing well in school (with the exception of sports participants).” Under the influence of peer groups, adolescents are more likely to study hard as well. More than the educational field, participating in extracurricular activities is also beneficial to students’ self-concept development. Participation in more than one activity also appears to provide benefits above and beyond those related to participation in one type of activity. What is more, the positive indicators associated with participation in structured extracurricular activities also extends to an adolescent’s sense of identity, as Larson points out. Activities are thought to provide adolescents with opportunities to ‘‘try on’’ different identities, with research showing that adolescents often describe themselves partly based on what they do, like being a “sporty” person, a “music” person, or a “brainy” person. All these researchers state that extracurricular activity participation can give adolescents a good opportunity to recognize themselves, which helps students to build a clear self-concept and makes them concentrate on self-development. However, participating in extracurricular activities may bring some trouble as well. Some students take advantage of the opportunities of extracurricular activities to socialize, as they only join for the purpose of receiving admiration from their peers and they do not prioritize their studies. Therefore, the first thing that they want to get is the attention of others. They would focus on socialization, not self-development.
What is more, though the peer groups can help students to study, peer groups are also one of the most variable things in extracurricular activities. If adolescents make some bad friends through these activities, they may have possibilities to do some rebellious things, resulting in negative outcomes. It is difficult for adolescents to resist some temptations, like wasting much time on socializing, alcohol, or drug use. Students who have strong self-control may not have the problem of wasting too much time on socialization, but they may run into trouble by spending too much time on extracurricular activities, and not having enough time to study the school curriculum. And this would be adverse to our expectations, which means participating in extracurricular activities makes the academic performance of some students worse. I participated in various extracurricular activities before I went to university, since my parents thought learning other skills besides the ones that can be learned from school would be beneficial to me, especially in the self-development part. I learned singing, dancing, playing piano and playing flute in the music field. In the sports field, I was a member of the school track and field team. English was on my study list much earlier than many students of my age; I also studied how to speak French. These skills helped me in the school curriculum—in subjects such as English. More importantly, they assisted me to build my own special interests, to know myself more clearly and to develop my own abilities. From extracurricular activities, I got an idea of my strengths and weaknesses, which can help me to set a suitable goal in the future. Through the participation of extracurricular activities these years, I found that my hobby is music and I am good at singing and dancing. I got huge benefits from them: the strong rhythm sensation from my music study helped
me to develop a stronger ability to create learning techniques for myself. Additionally, I figured out that I have some gifts in language learning. Both of these two strengths helped me with my study. For instance, I can memorize second or third language words faster and easier since I can find out some regular rules among them and recite them group by group, which is a learning technique that I created for myself and also it made my language study more efficient. On the contrary, I realized that I’m not a sporty person because I did not have much passion for sports during the period that I was in the school track and field team. So, I quit the school team and gave up thinking about any development of myself in the sports field. Therefore, my future career should be related to music or language, not sports. From these analyses, I made my plan in the future to be an English teacher, especially for the reading area. All these skills that I learned from my childhood provide me with a direction as I grow up. Thus, I set up my goal early and seldom feel lost about the future. These skills also make me special from others since music and language are art to varying degrees, and art is not very supported by parents to study in China, so most students in China admire the adolescents who are permitted to study art. Exactly the experience of learning music and language gives me confidence when I communicate relevant topics with others, and provides me benefits for my social networking. Students who have never or rarely participated in extracurricular activities often feel confused about their future, even themselves, and have no special topics that attract others very much to talk about. You may say that humor is the characteristic which can attract people very much. But sometimes being a funny person does mean that most people will not take you seriously. Take my friend John as
an example. John is my high school classmate, he is a funny person. But he often complains that he can only make people pay attention to him by telling jokes since his jokes can always make most of us laugh. He wants to attract people to admire him, but the fact is we mostly enjoy the funny things that he brings to us and seldom listen to him seriously. The reason behind it he thinks is that his topics are mostly about trivial affairs, which lack depth of thought. But he cannot find any charming and interesting deep topics to talk about since he has no strength except telling jokes and he has few hobbies. He blames his parents that they did not let him join in any extracurricular activity when he was young, which could help him explore his strengths and develop them. He is deeply distressed by it and feels confused about himself and his future. To sum up, participation in extracurricular activities has many advantages, although sometimes it may bring disadvantages. But from my own experience, I think the advantages that participation of extracurricular activities gave me, like clear selfrecognition and self-development, far outweigh its disadvantages. Overall, let students join in extracurricular activities benefit them for life.
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KING’S CLUB INTERVIEWS
Photo by Steve Grimes
KEM S
ACADEMICS, NETWORKING, AND ENRICHMENT
K I N G ’ S E C O N O M I C S - M AT H E M AT I C S S O C I E T Y
Eugenia He, Year 4, Specialization in Finance, is the President of the King’s Economics-Mathematics Society (KEMS).
Andrew Medeiros catches up with Eugenia for a conversation.
What does the KEMS club do? KEMS helps students, especially first year students, to be successful and productive.
How is this club involved with King’s business programs? We are working with the School of MEM, which used to be the EBM department. They inform us of certain events that we both assist in and bring forward to other clubs and students, so they can get involved. But I should add that KEMS membership is not limited to those in business or economics; we are open to helping anyone further themselves and their knowledge.
When was the club founded? The club was founded in September 2015 by a group of students: Ester Gerassime, Sulamita Romanchik, Loc Tran, Alonso Garcia, Ashley MacDonald, Issac Wang, and Joseph Kahenga. Ester was the first president of KEMS.
Why should people join? What are the benefits of being a part of this club? We do work under three categories: academics, networking, and enrichment. With the academic portion, we give support to first-year students in math and economics with mock exams and review sessions. KEMS networking involves creating events such as the MEM Gala, and the Career Fair to help students build up their networks to assist them in their future. Lastly, our focus on enrichment is seen through events that help students gain new skills, such as Excel workshops, interview help or resume building. One such enrichment program is the tax clinic that will be hosted by KEMS as a separate entity for the first time. It will help students who need assistance filing their taxes, such as those new to the country.
How and when did you get involved? My involvement started in my second year, when I needed help with my econometrics class. I asked for help with finding a tutor, and that is how I first encountered KEMS. Everything was for free, which made me curious about the club, its members, and its goals. Later, I met Ester and saw further how welcoming the club was, which got me interested to join. One fun thing is how KEMS celebrates each member’s birthday—it’s like one big family.
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What is the purpose of the club? Alonso: King’s Capital Management is Canada’s first ever socially responsible university investment club. We only invest in ETF’s that have a carbon-free emission mandate. We are working towards making a return of 1% in excess of alpha relative to the MSCI Social ETF 400 Index.
King’s Capital Management Where Capital Markets Careers Are Built
Is this club involved with MEM at King’s? Kyle: King’s Capital Management is involved with King’s by allowing students of all backgrounds to join the team, which provides experiential learning opportunities. In the future, one of the goals is to have the investment fund linked to a course offered at King’s, so students can have the full benefit of classroom material and real-world investing experience.
When was the club founded? Alonso: The club has been operational since 2017, but we were officially ratified under Student Council last year.
What are the benefits of being a part of this club? Kyle: King’s Capital Management is the first group on campus to offer students the opportunity to learn how to invest/ trade in real-time markets. We focus on many different forms of analysis where students are able to showcase their capabilities by executing global macro investment ideas. KCM promotes inclusiveness. If you are looking for an opportunity to learn how to invest, then KCM is the club to join at King’s. Alonso: We also have educational sessions once a month where students can get an introduction about investing and capital markets. For those students that commit to a capital markets career, we organize networking events in bank corporate offices in downtown
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Alonso Garcia Co-Presidents (Year 4) of King’s Capital Management speak to Andrew Medeiros about the unique initiatives and opportunities offered by this club.
Toronto once a year. This year, myself as well as our VP Events, Luke Hodge, have organized a networking event at Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets, where 25 students have been selected to gain premier access to networking and summer internship opportunities.
How did each of you get involved with this club? Alonso: As an open and proud member of the LGBT community, I initially faced a lot of discrimination when I wanted to join investment clubs at King’s. All I wanted to do was learn how to invest to help my family out financially. One guy at the previous investment club at King’s actually laughed at me and told me not to sign up when I showed interest in his club during clubs week. So I joined the Western Investment Club (WIC) an 800-member student-run club with over $125,000 worth of American and Canadian equities. I gained experience as a researcher with a mentor who now works as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in Toronto. My mentor has also been an inspiration for me to always follow my dreams. I call him my capital markets drag mother :). I also networked with investment and corporate bankers in Toronto and took inspiration from their career paths to pursue a path in capital markets. Kyle: Over the last couple of years, I’ve been part of Mustang Capital as an analyst and am now a team-lead for Mustang Capital. Mustang Capital (MCap) is a student-run investment fund that currently manages an internally raised fund of $45,000 (CAD). The fund is segmented into seven distinct verticals: Derivatives, Event-Driven, Macro Research, Momentum, Portfolio Management, Quantitative Trading, and Rates. Each vertical handles their own book, with analysts working in tandem with PM’s to source and structure trades. Alonso: One day I was organizing a networking event with my colleague, Kyle Keller, Co-President, and we did such a great job that the president of Alumni Affairs approached us with the opportunity to start this fund. The rest is history, and yes, I know that sounds cheesy!
Kyle Keller
BMOS Club A Means to Personal Development Marielle Santos, BMOS Club President (Year 4), speaks to Danielle Sequeira about the benefits of getting involved in the King’s community.
What is the purpose of the BMOS Club? The BMOS Club is meant to be a part of the School of MEM, and a means to personal development for students in the program. We try and provide opportunities for students to learn skills, not available to them in the classroom, that would be useful for job hunting, internships, and other things. Examples of this include resume workshops and student services events. The club provides benefits for King’s students to meet like-minded people who share the same or similar programs, giving students a way to better themselves outside of the classroom.
How did you first get involved in the BMOS Club? In my first and second year I wasn’t involved, and I didn’t really know how to get involved, or what groups to follow to find information. I was a little lost. My third year, however, is when things really took off. I was a King’s Tour Guide, Promotion Commissioner in the BMOS Club and was later promoted Associate Chief Communications Officer at the KUCSC. I was an HR Manager at the BMOS Association and Chair of Marketing and Public Relations for the King’s Undergraduate Research Conference. I became involved with as much as possible and that only continued in my fourth year. I continued to be a Tour Guide and the Chair of Marketing and Public Relations for the King’s Undergraduate Research Conference, but I was also voted to be the BMOS Association President and was given the chance to lead a group of remarkable people in a club we all believe in.
What is your favourite part about King’s? As a student I have always appreciated the duality of the degree allowing me to study at King’s, with a smaller community, but with the resources of main campus. I loved that King’s provided stellar opportunities where I could see my actions and events making a difference among my fellow students. King’s provides many opportunities for leadership positions while providing an engaging environment with professors and fellow students.
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GRADUATE PROFILE
“ ” If I must use one phrase to describe my past undergraduate life and the
Yilun Lou’s Proactive Adaptations in Three Countries Yilun Lou graduated in 2017 with a BMOS degree in Finance & Administration. If I must use one phrase to describe my past undergraduate life and the current post-graduate life, I would select the phrase, “proactively adapting.” During the first 18 years of my life, my parents’ choice and society’s preferences largely influenced my life. If life is a game, then I was more like an NPC (non-player character) rather than a player. The turning point of my life was the day I graduated from high school and the first mission I proactively chose to tackle is the two-plus-two program between King’s University College and Dongbei University in Finance and Economics. The Chinese university is located in Dalian (the north of China), while my hometown is in the south of China. King’s College is located in a foreign country—Canada—and the two-plus-two program means two different environments for me (e.g. Canada & China). Facing a totally unfamiliar environment, I felt like an outsider and observer. With regard to studies, it is interesting
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current post-graduate life, I would select the phrase, “proactively adapting.”
to compare the two nations’ education systems, from the class organization to the university operation. Those differences lead to the different characteristics of each nation’s graduate students. With regard to life, I had to learn everything from point zero, and notice the unwritten social norms and expected behaviours in Canada. The strange environment also forced me to think over the essential factors for my life. For instance, I felt that some part of my Chinese habits and traditions should be kept and insisted on, and some part of my past thoughts and actions should be replaced and developed. In the final year of my program, I started to be interested in the arts and cultural fields, despite my program in finance and administration, which has nothing to do with art. I think what I learned so far are a set of tools and ways to measure a good business. In other words, my bachelor program taught me how to do business. However, I think the more important question is to do what business? I believe art and culture can contribute to people’s happiness and change their lives. It is a worthwhile business venture to do. Now I am studying art and culture management in Milan, Italy, which is another very exciting and drastic educational transition.
Photo by Steve Grimes
ALUMNI
Reflections on Journey & Destination
School of MEM students share their experiences from King’s to graduate school
Written by Leo Aul, Communications Intern
Nikita Williams Master of Economics program, University of Toronto Nikita will be graduating from King’s this summer with an Honours Double Major in Economics and English. He greatly enjoyed being a tutor for math and economics this year at King’s. He also has a personal goal in learning programming techniques, and will be taking online courses in computer languages such as RRef and Python this summer, before starting his graduate program in August. Leo: Nikita, why did you choose King’s? Nikita: When I first joined King’s, I initially worked towards achieving an Honors Specialization in English and Literature. I enjoy writing and I was hoping to enhance my written communication skills. In my first year, I had plans to enrol in law school or pursue a career in journalism when I graduated. My plan changed at the end of my first year when I completed a course in calculus with Dr. Joseph Turnbull. I performed very well in the course and I enjoyed it very much. I decided to combine a major in English with a major in a quantitative discipline. I asked Dr. Turnbull for his advice on which discipline to choose. He advised me to combine an English degree with an Economics degree. I decided to give it a shot and I have enjoyed a mixture of both programs as a result. Leo: How has King’s University College helped you achieve your goal of attending graduate school?
Nikita: At King’s the Economics program is very flexible. With the help of an academic guidance counsellor, I was able to count a course in statistics at main campus as part of my Economics major module. I believe the degree flexibility played a significant role in my admission to the University of Toronto. I would like to thank Dr. Turnbull, Dr. Ibbott, Dr. Ghaziaskar, Dr. McFarlane, Dr. Feng and Ms. Lydia Li for helping me realize my goal of attending the Economics program in graduate school. All of these amazing individuals have provided me with invaluable advice on which courses I should take and what graduate programs I should pursue. For instance, Dr. Feng provided me with an opportunity to gain experience working as an Economics tutor this year. Dr. Turnbull presented me with an opportunity to work as a math teaching assistant in the second semester. Overall, these experiences have been contributing factors in preparing me for my master’s program in Economics.
University of Toronto, Department of Economics. Photo credits to ERA Architects: http://www.eraarch.ca/project/university-of-toronto-department-ofeconomics/
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Leo: What advice do you have for current King’s students pursuing graduate school?
Ideally, you should be completing the following during your undergraduate program to show on your application:
Nikita: I have a two-step process and a few tips on what to look for when making your decision.
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Advanced Macroeconomics course
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Advanced Microeconomics course
department.
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Statistics and Real Analysis course
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Multivariate Calculus course
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Complete a course that offers you the chance to write a thesis
Step 1: Approach every full-time professor in the
•
Do not hesitate to ask them for advice and information on graduate school. They will be very happy to assist you. Academic reference letters are one of the most important pieces of the admission process, so be sure to get to know your professors and help them get to know you.
Step 2: Research graduate programs in the United States and Canada even if you are in your first year. •
•
Pay attention to the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section as graduate schools tend to go into greater detail about the courses and activities they see in successful applicants. Review graduate forums. You will often see senior students presenting their academic profiles, which highlights their bachelor program and the graduate programs they applied to. You will learn which programs they were rejected from and which they were accepted to. This will give you a good perspective on what steps you should and should not take.
If you are looking to pursue graduate school in Economics, I would strongly suggest you pursue one of the following bachelor degree combinations: 1. Honors Specialization in Economics and a Minor in Mathematics
One aspect to keep in mind is the involvement in extracurricular activities. You should do your best to gain experience such as working as a research assistant, a teaching assistant or tutor in economics and mathematics, which are huge assets that can be added to your application. When deciding where to apply for graduate school, make sure to know the requirements: •
United States: The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) test is required
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Canada: GRE is not required
If you are applying to graduate schools in Canada, you should still take the GRE even though it is not required, because it is a great preparation tool for graduate studies. Also, keep in mind that as an international student applying to graduate schools in Canada for economics, it may be a challenge to get into the program. A recent trend in graduate studies for economics suggests that Canadian graduate schools are accepting fewer international students and more domestic students.
2. Honors Specialization in Economics and a Minor in Statistics 3. Double Major in Economics and Mathematics 4. Double Major in Economics and Statistics Out of the four combinations listed above, I recommend the Double Major in Economics and Statistics. Despite this program being challenging, it is easier to find the courses to complete a Statistics Major, which is attractive to graduate schools.
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Pengfei Huangfu MSc program in Business Analytics, Ivey Business School Pengfei will be graduating from King’s this summer with an Honors Double Major in Accounting and Finance. One fun fact about Pengfei is that in the 2017 academic year, he received the Top 10 Singer award in CTBU. He also relaxes by making some of his own music remixes. His favourite memory at King’s is the connections he made with professors and fellow students, especially when he started to build these connections during Orientation Week.
Leo: Why did you choose King’s to complete your degree?
your goal of attending graduate school?
Pengfei: Four years ago, I was admitted to Chongqing Technology and Business University (CTBU) in China. My parents found that my admission to CTBU offered me the opportunity to study in Canada, so I came to King’s to pursue my undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance.
Pengfei: The two-year overseas experience highly strengthened my application for Canadian universities. I want to mention several people and resources at King’s who really helped me on my application to Ivey Business School:
I thought this was a great chance for me to improve my international perspective and to get into a prestigious university for my graduate study in the future. Therefore, I took the entrance exam and got into the joint program at King’s. I enjoy a diversified study environment, which is what King’s offered. The students and professors are friendly which made my choice at King’s a great one. Leo: How has King’s University College helped you achieve
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Dr. Felipe Rodrigues helped me during the last three months by having several meetings with me to help improve my personal essay writing, develop my technical skills, and practice mock in-person interviews.
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Professor Danny Morrison, Dr. Xing Jiang, and Dr. Josephine Gemson assisted by writing high quality reference letters, which played a very important role in my application process.
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The Write Place also helped me proof-read my essays.
Ivey Business School at Western University. Photo from Ivey Business School LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/ivey-business-school/
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Leo: What advice do you have for current King’s students pursuing graduate school?
Develop a good personal statement because it will enhance your application.
Pengfei: When preparing for interviews with a Canadian Business School, be aware that they focus on behavioural questions. A few examples include:
Reach out and stay connected with graduate school program advisors.
Why did you apply to this school? Why did you choose this program? What are your short-term and long-term career goals?
Find relevant references to write a reference letter for you. Maintain a solid GPA and achieve a good Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score.
How do you handle team conflicts?
Take the time to do thorough research of each program you plan to apply to.
Describe a time when you once led a team.
A few aspects to look at include:
Describe your personal strengths and weaknesses.
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Program structure
How can you contribute to this program?
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Program reputation
Here are a few tips to help you during the interview and the application process:
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Student experience
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Job placement opportunities
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Quality of faculty and location
Be authentic and be yourself.
My motivation to apply for graduate school fostered my goal to increase my finance expertise and technical skills. Using this information, I plan to obtain my Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification. When pursuing graduate school, learn what motivates you and what goals you have for your future career path.
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2018-2019
Event Highlights HOMECOMING
LINKEDIN WORKSHP
CAREER FAIR
MEM CAREER DAY
MEM GALA
LONDON MAYORAL DEBATE
Event Highlights
A Different Homecoming Celebration:
Naming MEM By Andrew Medeiros When Western students think about Homecoming, football, late night parties, and a good time come to mind. Many students may not think of significant events that will shape King’s College for the future. On October 19th, 2018 the wellknown department of EBM (Economics, Business and Math) was renamed the School of Management, Economics, and Mathematics (MEM). The ceremony included a few words from Dr. Grigori Erenburg, the Director of MEM, and Dr. Sauro Camiletti, the VicePrincipal/Academic Dean. When asked about the renaming of the department, Dr. Erenburg commented, “The change highlights our objective to increase the career readiness of our students and to broaden their career prospects. This is [by] taking advantage of an amazing synergy between the faculty of Management, Economics and Mathematics.” For this momentous occasion, King’s University College invited guest speaker Kapil Lakhotia, a King’s alumnus who had completed an Honours degree in economics. Lakhotia spoke on his time at King’s as a student, tour guide, and employee of Enrolment Services. He then discussed his job with the London Economic Development Corporation. Lakhotia described how King’s taught him a strong work ethic, organization and management, multitasking and time management. As he mentions, “These were all skills I picked up along the way. I started to recognize how much I learnt through my time involved with the King’s community. It was a safe space for me; a second home. To this day it’s almost like I never left.” Upon graduating, Lakhotia returned to King’s to teach and is now Vice Chair of the King’s Board. Lakhotia now utilizes his economics degree to develop and maximize assets within communities that are currently being built, such as helping entrepreneurs stay afloat, and assisting London with marketing to foreign investors and competing globally. “King’s College continues to grow and our School [of MEM] grows with it.” Dr. Erenburg stated, as he started the year off with a very different kind of Homecoming.
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Event Highlights
LinkedIn Workshop: One Simple App Makes a Difference to Professional Networking
What happened? With the ever-evolving “internet of things” it is not surprising that there is now a focus on social media as a medium to expand one’s professional network. That is why a representative from Western Employment Resource Center came to King’s University College to offer students tips on how to build their networks through social media.
Who was there? Sawsan Alyasin represented Western Employment Resource Center as an assistant coordinator. Alongside Alyasin there were members of King’s Economic-Mathematics Society (KEMS) who hosted the event, and were there to help students understand the deep importance of the information being presented. They encouraged students to ask any questions they had.
Was there anything special that took place?
November 21, 2018 Hosted by KEMS Club By Andrew Medeiros
In addition to the speech given by Alyasin, there were free professional headshots available for those wanting photos for their networking profile. This allowed students to have a more refined and professional looking profile photo compared to the competition. Once the event was over, students were encouraged to add one another to their LinkedIn networks, because you never know if you might run into each other again in the professional world.
What was the purpose of the event? The event’s purpose was to assist students in establishing their online networks, but also encouraged them to strive for more understanding on how the professional world works. It brought to their attention the support mechanisms available to help them achieve their ambitions.
Where was it? The event took place in the Student Life Center. This strategically chosen location enabled those even outside of the business program to understand how important networking skills are to their careers.
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Alyasin’s speech concerning how students can build their networks through social media can be broken down into the following points: 1. Appropriate profile photos 2. Profile headline “slogan” 3. Summary statement: who you are, your value (assets, skills) and personal details (what makes you different?) 4. Elaborate on your experiences: challenge, action, result (what happened, what did you do, how did you respond) (i.e. CAR statement) 5. Add additional sections: may add sections of awards, volunteer experiences, test scores, interests, courses, publications, etc. 6. Build a strong network: people who advocate for you (quality over quantity) 7. Claim a unique LinkedIn URL: control what parts of your profile you want to make public, include your full name, make yourself easier to identify, etc. 8. Share your work: create a portfolio of your work (writing pieces, links to published info, etc.) 9. Use keywords and get recommended: include skills that apply to your job and ask connections for endorsements for your skills to support your claims 10. Check content: update your info, ensure it is well written, and build a personal brand These core foundations will greatly improve one’s professional image in one’s social media platform.
What did people who attended think of the event? They saw it as very helpful in understanding how one simple app may greatly affect one’s future. For example, how it may connect them to their future employers or help them form business partnerships with like-minded individuals.
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Event Highlights
Below is a breakdown of Alyasin’s presentation:
Event Highlights
King’s Career Fair: An “Awesome Experience” By Andrew Medeiros King’s University College is filled with a wide diversity of people going into different programs. However, most are uncertain about where to go or what to do with their degree post-university. That is why the newly formed School Of Management, Mathematics, and Economics (MEM) partnered with the Student Success Center at Western to bring representatives from a wide range of career pathways to the Student Life Center on 20 November, 2018. These twenty resource persons represented many jobs in the areas of finance or economics, with the presence of Canada’s major banks TD Bank and CIBC as an example. However, not all the careers exemplified were directly tied to MEM; there were also professionals from organizations and institutions that served the city or specific groups, such as the London District Catholic School Board, The City of London, ISM Security, Participation House Support Services, and WAYS Mental Health Support.
Some student reactions:
The truly striking feature of the event was not the range of companies present; it was the interactions that occurred between the representatives and the many students who dropped by. All-round discussions flowed, not only about programs that students were already interested in venturing into, but also about the many other options they did not know were available until that very moment. After all the discussions and the complimentary popcorn, students gained a valuable asset that many yearn for: a foot in the door for their career. All students that talked even briefly to the representatives were given not only sound advice but also contact info, bringing them closer to joining the firm of their dreams, and as a means to reach out if they had any future questions or issues.
“[It was] an event that allowed me to understand what type of employee they are looking for, what kind of jobs are available with my degree, and a quick summary of their operations.”
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Marielle Santos, Head of BMOS club: “I thought it was an awesome experience. Usually resources and fairs like this occur on the main campus, which can be intimidating for students at King’s because of the size alone, and the unfamiliarity of the space. However, having it at King’s made me more comfortable and made the event more accessible for me because of my class schedule. It was also great to have the opportunity to meet and network with company representatives. I made valuable connections and learned a lot about companies I didn’t even know existed. I also learned about the growing tech industry in London.” Emmy Nguyen, VP of King’s Economic Mathematics Society:
Event Highlights
MEM Career Day By Andrew Medeiros What happened? The newly organized School of Management, Economics, and Mathematics (School of MEM) gathered both alumni of King’s University College and various organizations to give students helpful information and tips on life after graduation. King’s alumni spoke on what they learned and gained at King’s, their insights on university life, career opportunities, career choices, steps for constructing competitive résumés, and the critical first month of work. Later, students circulated through the various booths set up by King’s and by corporate organizations, which were informative on issues related to students’ post-graduate lives, whether in the professional world or in the pursuit of graduate or professional studies.
Who was there? Those present at the MEM Career Day included: the faculty of the School of MEM, alumni from the previous EBM (Economics, Business, and Mathematics) program (i.e. Brianne Newman, Simran Sandhu, Lisa Shales, and James Pursell). Various institutions, such as Western Social Science, Western Science, Laurier University, Propel Entrepreneurship, King’s International, TD Bank, Odette School of Business, Deloitte, Western Education, Ivey School of Business, Queen’s University, King’s Career Services, King’s School of MEM, MNP and Libro Credit Union, also sent their representatives.
Where was it? The Student Life Centre (SLC) on King’s campus.
What did the attendees think of the event? The event was seen by those attending as an opportunity to gain valuable information, to make networking connections, and to get one step ahead of the competition. Many students met personally with the speakers after the talks to gain one-on-one insight about what they wanted to pursue in their future career paths.
What was the purpose of the event? The purpose behind the event was to showcase the School of MEM’s alumni and other organizations, both academic and private, that relate to the fields offered in the School of MEM. The speakers discussed their development in university during their upper years, how they started in their firms, and where they are now. They also offered advice for those that want to follow similar paths. For example, after Mr. Pursell’s speech, he discussed his experiences with students who, like him, were interested in starting a clothing brand.
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Event Highlights
MEM Gala By Danielle Sequeira Dinner and Speeches: On Friday, January 18th, 2019 at the Lamplighter Inn, King’s Eco-Math Society (KEMS) celebrated ‘A Night in Paris’ for the 3rd annual Management, Economics, and Mathematics Gala (MEM Gala). Sunday Ajak starting the event off with an inspiring motivational speech that was charged with emotion. Empowered by the speech, and in a reflective mood, the guests gathered at the buffet offered by the Lamplighter Inn. Throughout the Gala, the MC’s, Marielle Santos and Sunday Ajak, lit up the room with their energetic and cordial management of the evening.
School of MEM Announcement: While the guests enjoyed the delicious buffet, the Director of the School of MEM, Dr. Grigori Erenburg was called up to say a few words. Dr. Erenburg spoke on the changes that the School of MEM had undergone during the previous year. “The change highlights our objective to increase the career readiness of our students and to broaden their career prospects,” he noted. “This is while taking advantage of an amazing synergy between the faculty of Management, Economics, and Mathematics. King’s College continues to grow and our [new] School grows with it.” Marielle followed that lovely speech with an interactive and fun trivia game while dessert was served to the guests.
Awards ceremony: Finally, awards were given to the various professors and members of the community who had assisted KEMS throughout the year. In addition, a few fun awards were included to reward professors for their incredible work with KEMS’ students. For example, Dr. Peter Ibbott was the recipient of the Dad Jokes’ Award, and Dr. Felipe Rodrigues was the recipient of the Operations of Everything Award. The night ended with a stellar performance by DJ Joze as guests were invited to enjoy the rest of the night on the dance floor.
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Event Highlights
Mock Exams By Danielle Sequeira On Thursday, December 6th, 2018, the King’s Economics and Math Society (KEMS) held a mock exam for the courses ECON1020 and MATH 1229. Offering assistance to students in these courses resulted in a fantastic turn-out, as students left the mock exams with higher confidence and better understanding. A first year female exchange student commented, “I never realized how supportive the King’s community was until this. As an exchange student it’s been hard to fit in. But this made me feel like I’m apart of something bigger than myself.” Ultimately, the mock exams were a complete success this year!
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Event Highlights
London Mayoral Debate By Andrew Medeiros What happened? This year, the KUCSC again facilitated the mayoral debate, drawing Londoners from all reaches of the city, from students at King’s and other affiliates, to London residents who may have never visited the King’s campus prior. The event allowed the candidates to introduce themselves and their policies, and afterwards face the many questions that Londoners presented on certain issues within the London context. The questions and themes included the bus rapid transit debate, how London could be better developed to facilitate growth, and how to curb sexual assault.
Who was there? Ten out of the fourteen candidates were present at the debate. Those present were Vahide Bahramporian, Paul Cheng, Ed Holder, Dan Lenhart, Nina McCutcheon, David Millie, Carlos Murray, Sean O’Connell, Paul Paolatto, and Tanya Park.
Was there anything special that took place? The candidates met in the Student Life Center to conduct one-on-one talks after the debate over snacks and refreshments.
Where did the mayoral debate take place? In the Kenny Theatre, in the Student Life Centre at King’s University College.
What did the attendees think of the event? Only a few days after the event, the mayoral debate received good praise from not only local news sources but also from CBC news. One complaint, however, was the low student turnout, for which the October exam period should be blamed.
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What was the purpose of the event? The mayoral debate being held at King’s symbolically showed how the university is greatly expanding not only its size but also its influence on London’s political stage. With the growing number of Canadians and international students attending King’s, the school has now become the largest Catholic university in all of Canada (after the recent purchase of the neighbouring Diocese land). The mayoral debate taking place on a university campus also enabled students to further involve themselves in the political world surrounding them and see with clarity how politics works and what it brings to citizens.
MOS I nte rn sh ip Pro gram : S oft S k i l ls an d E x po sure to C o r po rate Culture By Ben Partridge, Year 4 BMOS
I acquired an internship position at Brose Canada in London Ontario and worked from May 2018 to December 2018. I am currently working toward my Honors Specialization in Finance and plan to Graduate in June 2019. My position title at Brose Canada was “Financial Controlling Analyst” with a term focus on the creation of a Material Cost accounting program and an assisting role in the creation of a five-year budget plan. The Internship experience was the most influential part of my undergraduate program because it taught me skills that are hard to acquire in a classroom. The King’s faculty was helpful in my search for a job as they assisted in editing my resume and connecting me with King’s Alumni currently employed at Brose to talk about the company culture. I found out about the company and their intern position when Brose came to King’s to talk about what they look for from their interns and how they conduct their interview process. I was impressed and interested in working for them and applied in hopes of a position! This experience taught me soft skills: writing professional emails to colleagues and suppliers, booking meetings in Outlook, and appropriate attire in the business environment. I was able to learn first-hand what I enjoy and dislike in the business environment, and the impact that corporate culture has on employees and the daily operations of a business. I have seen a positive impact on my studies on my return from Brose with an increased work ethic and focus in class. Lastly, I was able to have a great work-life balance while in my internship. I increased my network connections and I still keep in contact with some colleagues of mine even though I have finished working with them.
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STU DEN T PROF ILE
My Experience in the Kwansei Gakuin University By Julia Kulczyski
This past summer, leading into my fourth year of the Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies (BMOS), I was accepted to the Kwansei Gakuin University’s Cross Cultural College (CCC) internship in Osaka, Japan. This position was a short-term project oriented course that gave me an opportunity to apply the skills and tools I’ve learnt during my degree. I was placed with EIJI Division, a traditional Japanese textile company, where our goal was to design website and social media content relevant to the launch of the brand into the North American market. My expectations were exceeded almost instantly as the project allowed me to develop new skills in social media marketing, analytics, and cross-cultural negotiation. Having studied marketing and global commerce over the past few years, I was excited to transfer those skills in to a real-world application. We were welcomed into the company and given free rein to complete our task, giving us the perfect combination of personal autonomy and support from our supervisor. It was incredibly interesting to learn about Japanese business culture and marketing trends, but the challenge became to develop a brand image where EIJI could position itself between the Japanese and North American market. Our team was able to complete the English website content, additional social media material, as well as a detailed social media calendar for the following six-month period, all within a very short time period. This experience became such a pivotal turning point in my career path as I am now very interested in pursuing international and public relations. The diversity in projects available for students in the CCC provides a very unique and exceptional opportunity for students looking to test their knowledge. The only regret I have is applying for the internship portion of the program only, instead of taking the seminar credit in addition. I am so grateful to this experience for giving me confidence in my own abilities, and would strongly advise students who are looking for a unique internship to consider this credit.
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Announcements Welcome to our new Full-Time Faculty, Dr. Vincent Geloso (Econ.) and Dr. Jeanette Eberhard (MOS) who both will join the School on July 1, 2019. Dr. Vincent Geloso holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science, one of the world top Economics schools, and is currently teaching at Bates College, one of the top U.S. private liberal arts colleges. He has an outstanding publication record, specializing in economic history (application of economic theory and methods to historical events), development economics, population economics, and public economics. Dr. Jeannette Eberhard is an experienced teacher. She has already taught at King’s as a part-time instructor. She has taught multiple courses in the areas of organizational behavior, human resource management, and general business. She proved to be an effective motivator and has received amazing reviews from the students who have taken her courses. Through her connections with the practitioner’s world, she has been able to bring high-profile guest speakers to the King’s classroom.
The creation of the School of Management, Economics, and Mathematics necessitated the creation of two new administrative roles. The successful incumbents are, Lydia Li - Program Manager, and Estelle Van Winckle - School Administrator. Congratulations on your new positions within the program!
Dr. Josephine Gemson and MEM students, Mark Creighton and Sriram Radhakrishnan had their research, “Do Investor Origins Affect Private Equity Investment Syndicates? A Case from India” accepted for publication in the Journal of Private Equity. Congratulations to all! And we look forward to more research and collaboration between students and faculty at King’s.
In November 2018, Dr. Sauro Camiletti, Interim Principal and Academic Dean, Marilyn Mason, Vice Principal, Enrolment Services and Strategic Partnerships, Dr. Sergio Janczak, Professor of MEM, and Lydia Li, School of MEM Program Manager visited our partner school, Chongqing Technology and Business University (CTBU) in China. This marked the 10th anniversary of the 2+2 program that exists between King’s and CTBU. Here is to many more years of partnership to come.
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Felipe F. Rodrigues has successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled, “Three essays on intensive care unit capacity planning” at Ivey Business school (Western University). His work focuses on combining different methodologies such as Discrete Simulation, Machine Learning and Accelerated Failure Time Parametric Survival Models in unique ways to predict patient flow, and most importantly, provide short and long term capacity recommendations to ICU’s and Step-down units in large scale hospitals. Congratulations!
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Credits Copy-Editor: Matthew Trenholm (and the Write Place) Co-Editors: Andrew Medeiros and Danielle Sequeira Project Management: Estelle Van Winckle Layout and Design: Paula Rayo Design Edits: Shirley Wong
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