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Experience Guide

Make the most out of your university career by taking advantage of all that Laurier has to offer you. Volunteer work, campus clubs, leadership programs, studying abroad, work experience – there are so many ways you can extend your classroom experience into the real world.

Year-to-Year Experience Guides

The following is a year-to-year outline of the kinds of experiential learning activities that work well with your program.

Be Inspired: Maximize Your Academic Opportunities

First Yearbrain

Middle Years

Final Year

Be Involved: Explore Work, Volunteer and Leadership Experience

First Yearspeech bubbles

Middle Years

  • Volunteer at a local school, or look for opportunities with local museums, libraries, or the Waterloo Historical Society.
  • Be a part of the Library Council or Student Advisory Group or a student representative on the department council.
  • Volunteer to be an O-Week Icebreaker and welcome incoming first years.
  • Learn to write articles, draw illustrations or take photographs with Laurier’s weekly newspaper, The Cord.
  • Participate in Sandbox workshops and attend the Entrepreneur Speaker series.

Final Year

  • Apply for an executive/coordinator position with a student club or committee.
  • Attend the Career and Job Fairs to network with employers.
  • Look into the LaunchPad program for the opportunity to launch an innovative new venture.
  • Share your Laurier experience with prospective students at open house events.

Be Engaged: Broaden Your Perspective

First Yearhead

  • Learn about and get involved with diversity, equity and inclusion centres of activity and engagement.
  • Visit Laurier International to learn about international options available to you.
  • Complete the Intercultural Certificate with Laurier International.
  • Engage in training on consent, bystander intervention and disclosure related to sexual violence.

Middle Years

  • Consider enrolling in a language course.
  • Gather for Soup Tuesday at the Indigenous Student Centre.
  • Register for a travel course to places like Russia, France, China or Poland.
  • Consider the Alternative Reading Week trip with Habitat for Humanity.
  • Attend the Library Culture Series.
  • Study abroad for an academic term.
  • Attend workshops, events or discussion groups to learn about diversity, equity and inclusion.

Final Year

Be Inspired: Maximize Your Academic Opportunities

First Yearbrain

Middle Years

Final Year

Be Involved: Explore Work, Volunteer and Leadership Experience

First Yearspeech bubbles

Middle Years

Final Year

  • Learn about Research Assistantship opportunities in Ancient Studies or History.
  • Look into the LaunchPad program for the opportunity to  launch an innovative new venture.
  • Apply for an executive/coordinator position with a student club or committee.
  • Attend the Career and Job Fairs to network with employers.
  • Share your Laurier experience with prospective students at open house events.

Be Engaged: Broaden Your Perspective

First Yearhead

  • Learn about and get involved with diversity, equity and inclusion centres of activity and engagement.
  • Visit Laurier International to learn about international options available to you.
  • Complete the Intercultural Certificate with Laurier International.
  • Engage in training on consent, bystander intervention and disclosure related to sexual violence.

Middle Years

  • Consider enrolling in a language course.
  • Consider the Alternative Reading Week trip with Habitat for Humanity.
  • Attend the Library Culture Series.
  • Attend workshops, events or discussion groups to learn about diversity, equity and inclusion.
  • Gather for Soup Tuesday at the Indigenous Student Centre.
  • Look into travel course options offered in the spring term in places such as Russia, France or China.

Final Year

Your graduate degree at Laurier will take you in many different directions and prepare you to be a leader in both your field and community. Your Laurier experience includes many opportunities to engage both in and outside the classroom.

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies provides academic leadership, administrative support and program advice to all graduate students. There are also scholarships and financial awards, fellowships and other teaching and research assistantship positions that you can access during your time at Laurier.

Graduate students gain knowledge about professional skill development through Laurier’s ASPIRE program. This program provides a framework for you to design an extracurricular learning plan for navigating your professional journey and entry to the workplace. There are also teaching certificates, career development workshops and other skill development opportunities.

The Graduate Students’ Association provides many services and supports with a focus on wellness. They provide various opportunities to be involved and contribute to the Laurier community.

The Laurier graduate school experience is more than research and scholarship – it’s about becoming an engaged citizen and applying your advanced knowledge to real-world problems.

Checklists

Completing the checklists below will also help ensure your academic, professional, and personal success during your time at Laurier – and beyond.

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Experience Checklistnotepad

Career Opportunitieshandshake

When you're ready to start thinking about your life after graduation, you should check out the career and postgraduate options for people with degrees in History or Ancient Studies.