Jacquelyn Wickham: A Career Peer's Success Story

My only regret in becoming a Career Peer Educator is the fact that I did not join sooner than my last year at SFU. I know that statement may sound unbelievably trite, but it is true. The experience I gained was important and rewarding. I was a student who really did little to become a part of the Simon Fraser community before becoming a Career Peer. I had lived on campus during my first year and after feeling like I had spent far too much time surrounded by concrete, I really minimized my time on campus. At that point I had really no connection to a place that I would eventually spend four years of my life. For me joining the Peer Programs was about feeling like I was positively contributing to SFU’s campus and feeling like I had a connection after I graduated. I’ll be honest it was somewhat difficult to motivate myself to apply to the program having been so inactive at SFU, but it is something I just needed to get over.

Being a part of the program really opened up my eyes to the University. As a Business student I did not get the opportunity often to interact with students from different faculties, being a Career Peer allowed that to happen. As a Peer Educator, I have become much more knowledgeable about different services and opportunities at the University. Every peer member is free to pursue whichever avenues they find the most rewarding. I have also been forced to reflect on my experiences and make goals to strengthen competencies such as communication and organization and planning. My time reflecting has been extremely useful in this time of transition from student to non-student and full –time career oriented person. As you can see I am quite unsure of what to call myself now since I have seen myself as a student for so long.

For the future I know that I have learned concrete skills as well as a further desire to volunteer within my community. I have been able to gain transferable skills that I will bring to any position I pursue. As a Career Peer I feel more confident about my post-graduation job hunt. The clients I have helped have also helped me as well. Seeing other perspectives and ideas for things like resumes and cover letters has provided me with more insight. It is not very common that one is able to review and discuss many resumes and cover letters; finding new ways of looking at jobs and tasks that pull out the transferable skills. I hope that students continue to take advantage of this program because it allows for the self exploration and reflection that one does not often gain through the traditional University setting, but is an important component of finding the right career path after graduation.