Brescia is a school built by and for women leaders, and each year Brescia spends an evening celebrating the outstanding leadership in the Brescia community. This year’s Student Leadership Recognition Event honored both the student leaders of the past and present, as it also celebrated Brescia’s centennial. The seventh annual SLRE was a great way to round out a year of student leadership at Brescia.
To celebrate the centennial, SLRE was filled with photos of Brescia’s leaders- both from this year, and from across Brescia’s first century of education. A photobooth invited attendees to add their own memories to those represented across the room. At each table, attendees played a game to place photos in chronological order, with a prize for the winning team. Also at each table was a Brescia keychain for each attendee to commemorate the evening. After starting with an address from the Principal, Dr. Susan Mumm, the keynote speaker Senator Rosemary Moodie offered a speech which reminded the audience that the leadership which starts at Brescia will thrive out in the world.
After a delicious dinner, finished with cake to celebrate Brescia’s 100 years, the awards portion of the evening began. Each award winner was announced and presented with their award by a Brescia alumnae, again as a nod to Brescia’s long history of women leaders. The BUCSC awards began: the Sport Nutrition Athlete Project (SNAP) won Club of the Year after its very first year of operation, the Brescia Orientation Leaders, or sophs, won the Commitment to Engagement award, and governance officer Hirra Majid won Council Member of the Year. Following that, the Student Life Centre delivered its awards of Mentor and Mentee of the Year to Bob Moulson and Grace Wu, respectively, the Campus Collaboration Award to the NOW experiential group, and finally the Outstanding Contribution to Campus Life award went to Esmé Panarello.
A particularly uplifting moment came after the awards were handed out and the event was winding down, as awardees were congratulated on their accomplishments- by friends, nominators, other awardees, or even simply other attendees. The friendly and encouraging atmosphere was a testament to the empowering environment Brescia always strives to be. After 100 years of leadership, Brescia took time at this year’s SLRE to celebrate the present and future of women leaders.
“Ever since high school, I was a very shy kid. Throughout my four years, I learned to grow and tried to come out of the shell slightly as I had moved from India to Canada and experienced bullying due to language barriers at the time. However, it was not until second year of university at Brescia that I had the confidence and dedication to apply for BUCSC and decided to put myself out there. I learned to express my leadership skills due to fellow council members and sophs and family around me being so positive and connected. This opportunity helped me grow as a person, expanded my knowledge of how a council works and allowed me to make friends which I would not have had I not joined. Currently, it is my second year on the BUCSC and I have learned to express my thoughts and gain more confidence than ever before and I have learned that no one can stop you from achieving whatever you want to achieve. Every single step of the way that I have stepped outside of my comfort zone I have learned that trying your best at something is more than enough even if you fail at it. I believe that we should take advantage of the opportunities we get as they can opens many doors for you in terms of growing as a person, learning leadership skills and perhaps with jobs in the future.”
“I was born in Guyana and grew up in Jamaica, then came here directly from Jamaica. I have learned so much from the environment, from the experiences, from the students themselves, and I have certainly grown a lot. When I first started here, I used to say that the fashions have changed, but the feelings have not, but now the fashions have even come back so we just have to stick with the feelings. I’m the International Program Coordinator, so I work with the International students prior to their arrival to Canada and then throughout their time here with us at Brescia helping them with settling in and overcoming their new challenges. I plan programs for them and that all being said, I firmly believe as does Brescia that the best way for anyone to really transition and feel settled in a new place is if the people who already are there help with that, hence why all of our International programs are open to everyone, not just our International and incoming students. We encourage all students to participate and nothing is exclusive here, which builds a stronger community. I think diversity is one of our strongest values that one can have but is also one of the most challenging because it demands for people to work on it consistently but at the end of the day, it’s well worth working at.”
“My whole life I’ve been a perfectionist and always had everything planned out. I’ve worked hard and not let anything get in the way of my goals. Although this may sound great in theory, it has lead me to be extremely hard on myself, especially faced with ‘failure’. I’ve learned through my time at university that we can’t always have everything planned out. We don’t always get to be in control of what’s coming next. It’s also important to not compare your journey to anyone else’s because everyone is on their own path. Overall, I’ve learned to just trust in the process and have faith in what life has planned for you.”
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