UTSB Part 1: The Beginning of the Road

During the December Exam Period of 2011 one of the best things that has ever happened to me….happened to me. I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post from The University of Toronto Sports & Business Association. To be honest (and don’t take this the wrong way), considering that I had been involved on campus heavily for the previous three years, I was sure it wasn't a big deal since I hadn't really heard about it. Turns out, the association had just been created and had just received its club status at U of T.  Two Rotman Commerce students, Avish Sood and Natan Levi had attended several Sports Industry Conferences and realized that there was a market at U of T for something similar. They planned the first ever Sports Industry Conference at U of T for March of 2012 and were having contests on social media to raise awareness.

I immediately was interested in attending the conference. It just so happened that, around this time, I was getting anxious that I didn't have a plan for after my graduation. Granted, I had one and a half years of school left before I was released to the real world but that empty feeling of not really knowing was nagging me every day. I was also becoming more and more certain that this term on SMCSU would be my last and that I wouldn't pursue another position/Presidency/VP for my fifth year – I wanted to focus on this “figuring out my life” thing.  Enter the University of Toronto Sports and Business Association. Best. Thing. Ever.

What started as an innocent email – I remember asking how I could reserve my ticket for the conference – spiraled into one of the best chapters of my life so far. I ended the email offering help marketing the event across campus with the network of student groups/leaders I had met through SMCSU as well as the resources available to me as Double Blue Commissioner. I didn't expect much from that, other than an email back with info on how to buy the ticket. I received an immediate response asking if I was free to meet up and discuss potentially joining the executive team as Marketing Coordinator.

More about UTSB at http://www.sportsandbusiness.ca

I was pretty pumped to be on board with a new movement at U of T. Avish and Natan had a plan but were aware that the interest for their conference reached way further than just Rotman Commerce students. Rotman is fairly secluded from the rest of the University and I thought I could definitely help out with promotions and just general tasks when needed. My experience on SMCSU definitely opened an opportunity for me that otherwise would have probably never been available.  I am not a Marketing major, nor do I claim to be an expert in all that comes with marketing analysis. But I had grassroots experience connecting with students (aka talking to people) for three years through SMCSU and as a Frosh Leader. I knew the basics of promoting (and selling out) events at U of T. This experience would pay off moving forward with UTSB.

I was introduced to the other executives and given the run down on the sponsors and speakers planned for the conference. They had organized a pretty heavy line-up for the inaugural conference with sponsorship from the Toronto Blue Jays and speakers including Bob Nicholson (former Argonauts President), Ian Clarke (MLSE CFO), and panels including executives from the NBA, UFC and other sports entities. The main thing was to ensure that enough hands were on deck to help out with the execution of the event and to also spread word across campus.

So I started second semester as a member on the UTSB council and as a Commissioner on SMCSU. I was in an exciting place and was looking forward to diving into the world of sports business to see if I could make my own mark. I had always aspired to work in sports. Even back in grade 2 (yes I remember this) my teacher Ms. Kernohan would give everyone a nickname – mine was ‘Ref’ because every morning at our daily class story time or whatever it was, I would give everyone a recap of all the sports scores from the night before. People used to joke and say she called me ref because I probably wasn't good enough at actually playing the sport. So true. But I’m really good at volleyball and tennis so take that, people. Anyway, if you know me, you know I’m a huge sports fan so this was huge for me.

TRUE STORY: I actually once answered [stupidly] a job interview question about what my ideal job was by saying that I wanted to be the GM of the Leafs. Safe to say I didn’t get the job but that dream still stands.  I just hope the Leafs win the Cup before then so that the sports fans in this city become a little less dramatic about every move made by the GM. Anyway, that’s a story for another day and the chance at this dream probably won’t come to fruition for a few decades but hopefully it even has a remote chance of coming true.

Back to UTSB. Leading up to the conference, I still didn't have any idea what to expect from a sports industry conference. To be honest, I pictured hundreds of kids with resumes trying to hand them to speakers in pure chaos. I was invited by Natan to attend the Queen’s Sports Industry Conference (QSIC) in Kingston for a weekend with him and another UTSB executive. Having not spent more than a few hours getting to know them over the previous few weeks, I was curious to see how a weekend with two people …… in Kingston of all places ….. might turn out. Well if anybody knows Natan like I now know him, you know that it’s really hard to have a boring time with him.  We had an amazing time at the conference and used the experience to promote our upcoming event to students who would be interested. We also almost won the conference case competition run by the CFL as they looked for ways to enhance attendance at Toronto Argo’s games. Most importantly, I was exposed to what this sports industry (and the business world, for that matter) was all about. The whole conference is about networking – networking with students, people from the industry and sponsors. I really think networking is one of the toughest things to learn – it’s a fine line between awkward elevator conversations to genuine and engaging conversation. It looks harder than you think: some people approach a certain executive with a resume in hand or immediately asking if they’re hiring. And its definitely something that I’m still working on.

Anyhow, the experience was awesome. Natan and I have become best friends in a very short time. (definitely the closest Persian-Jewish friendship that I’ve ever heard of! Maybe we can change the world) And it all began in Kingston, weirdly enough….Don’t think many people can say that.

*Also: I only chirp Kingston because my car broke down there once after I visited John A. MacDonald’s grave-site with James and Deryn a few years ago. Otherwise it’s a beautiful area for Kingston Penitentiary*

An interview that Natan and I had about the 1st
Sports Industry Conference (February 2012)

The two of us had amazing chemistry when networking at QSIC. Natan and I both realized that being able to connect with a person and get along with them was way more important than schmoozing them or showing them how much we knew about the company they worked at. Even when speaking to other students, we were able to convince at least 40 students to attend the U of T event just by chatting with them over the weekend. I was in a new found comfort zone and was enjoying every minute of what I was doing; QSIC was a sign of good things to come.

After Kingston, we went back to work at finalizing particulars for the U of T event.  In March, the 1^st ever Sports Industry Conference was held at U of T. The conference was an absolute success with a sell-out of 150 students and over a dozen sports industry executives.

I have a funny little story about the first ever conference and this might serve as a lesson for some people who are just getting involved with an organization/group.  I was determined to help out wherever possible and even offered to take the not so desirable jobs that needed to be filled during event day. I ended up manning the Raffle Table (we had some sick prizes). Sounds fine and dandy right? Except that the table was upstairs and away from the actual goings-on of the conference.  And considering the value of some of the prizes, it couldn’t be left unattended. It looked as if I was going to miss majority of the actual speakers – remember I had intended to sign up just to attend the conference in order to gain insight. I took the spot graciously and it would help me in the future, as you are about to find out. I didn’t whine, complain or make a fuss. Funny enough, another person who didn’ t whine, complain or make a fuss was Malcolm Mo. Malcolm had to work coat check for the conference which meant he was seated in the dark, right behind a door – missing the whole conference (except I think he could at least hear some of it, unlike me). Malcolm is now the President of UTSB for 2013-14. I guess what I’m saying is – think big picture and show your worth. Most of the time it takes sacrifices to get rewarded. 

The Inaugural University of Toronto Sports and Business Association Council (2011-2012)

Towards the end the school year, things were looking up. I was determined to take on a bigger role at UTSB for the upcoming year. My time at SMCSU was winding down and I was ready for the jump. UTSB introduced a new executive format consisting of President and Vice-President who would choose  the other executive positions after they were elected. Natan, who was the VP of Corporate Relations for the first year, approached me and asked if I would be interested in running for election as Vice-President. Natan was running unopposed as President so I was pretty happy that he asked me to run with him. In hindsight, Natan asking me was probably the best decision of his life. I attended the voting meeting and gave a speech to the outgoing executives on why I was qualified as VP. Safe to say, my experiences from SMCSU took up the majority of my speech and definitely gave me the advantage over the other candidates. I had so many ideas for expanding UTSB and building off the momentum of the first year

I was voted as the Vice-President for UTSB for the 2012-2013 year – I had finally created a mini-blueprint. I was confident that I now had an idea of what the next year of my life would consist of. I had done well in classes in my 4^th year. I planned to devote the summer to planning UTSB’s upcoming year with Natan and to study for the LSAT while preparing my law school applications.

The next year was a ride and it was by far the most enjoyable of my university career.

Up Next: UTSB Part 2 - My experience as VP of the University of Toronto Sports and Business Association (while writing the LSAT/applying to schools/and taking a full course load to graduate!)

The 2012-2013 UTSB Council.... Stay Tuned. 

Year 4.

In the Spring of 2011, as the second semester of my third year was winding down, I realized that I was awfully close to graduation with not much planned after that. The advice we all get always goes like this: “You’ll figure it out.” But nobody says when or how you figure it out. I knew ever since the end of my first semester (if you recall, I bombed Chemistry) that I would not complete my degree in the traditional four years. I was also comforted knowing that almost all of my friends who had a high level of commitment to student government or other extra-curricular’s had also taken an extra year or semester and went on to do great things after graduation. So I definitely wasn’t concerned about when I was graduating but rather what I was doing afterwards.

At this point, my term as Double Blue Officer was coming to an end. I had lived downtown for the year and so I had been extremely involved given my proximity to school had changed from 50km to about 400 metres. Yet, my grades were nothing to write home about. And I still had no idea what I was going to do after I graduated. So, given that SMCSU was one of my only outlets for developing myself throughout University, I thought it was only natural to run for re-election and attempt to finally take the reigns as Double Blue Commissioner.

Safe to say, I was re-elected and chosen as the DB Commissioner. My plan for the year was simple. Increase attendance at our events. Maximize charitable donations for our yearly charity event through sponsorship. Ensure our formal was affordable yet glamorous. And maintain the same level of excitement for SMC events, which had been at an all-time high in the past two years.

NOTE: St. Mike’s is notorious as the ‘party college’ at U of T. For anybody who has doubted U of T’s ability to have a social atmosphere like that of Western or Guelph, you have NOT attended a SMC event!

The best part about my third year on SMCSU was that, because of my heavy involvement over the previous two years, I had created many great friendships that made our work on council enjoyable.  My third time on SMCSU was by far my favourite year. The people who made up this council worked tirelessly. Most of the time SMCSU members don’t get the credit that they deserve. But these people that I’m about to discuss definitely helped me develop as a leader and as a person, so they have the utmost amount of respect and credit in my mind. And there IS a reason that I’m going in depth about these people besides the fact that they’ve become great friends. Each and every one of them have faced challenges and overcame them, all the while becoming awesome people. And each of us used one common outlet for this development – involvement at our University.

The council was led by two of the most passionate people at the school as President and Vice-President, Kyle Farren and Frank Fisico. From my experience, I knew that the Pres/VP make or break the council. Both Kyle and Frank had a commitment to SMCSU like no other tandem, and they finished with one of the most successful years.

Frank in front of our life-size poster; Also Frank doesn't
look like this anymore

Frank Fisico is a gem. I tell people this all the time, and I should probably stop because I’ve repeated it so much, but Frank has been to every one of my birthday parties since the beginning of University. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but considering that I didn’t really know him well until after the first two birthday parties, it tells you a lot about the type of person he is. He started as Frank the Tank when he ran for his first SMCSU campaign and because of this he was (and still is) really popular.  He’s also incredibly committed to anything and everything he does. He was a great Commuter Life officer in his first year on SMCSU and an even better Vice President. Nothing demonstrates Frank’s commitment  more then his new fitness lifestyle. Frank shed a crazy amount of weight and has literally become a new person ….. and the HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!

Where to start with Kyle Farren? Kyle has received his fair share of slack from around campus and much of it is warranted. Kyle and I have talked about this a lot over the years so I don’t feel bad being candid here. When I met Kyle, he was extremely cocky, borderline rude, and very much so an intimidating figure (or at least he tried to be). But I like to observe people because we ALL have more to us than we give off and I realized that there was more to him than the hard skinned person that everybody saw.

In SMCSU meetings during my first year, Kyle was meticulous in his note taking. He was careful to note everything - all the way down to the exact start and end of the meeting and all the important notes in between. To someone like me, who definitely did not take meetings as seriously in my first year, this was weird. Regardless, what I saw from Kyle that majority of the people who know him never really got to see was somebody who was extremely passionate about something – that something being SMCSU.

Kyle is the ultimate success story. I don’t think he ever got his “first-choice” for commission on SMCSU. Sometimes he didn’t get his second or third choice either. After you are elected by the student body onto SMCSU, all the elected members democratically vote for who gets what position. Now put yourself in Kyle’s shoes: Imagine planning for a year how you wanted to run the Social Commission in the next year; running a campaign to get elected onto SMCSU, getting voted in by hundreds of students, sitting in a meeting  but not being voted into either Social Commissioner or Social Officer position. Some people would (and have) quit because they would be ‘stuck’ with a commission that they had no interest in. Kyle? He took the challenge straight on.

After three years of never really gaining the respect of his colleagues, Kyle finally got his first choice when he was elected as President of SMCSU. This is where he developed from a prick to a leader. Not many people know this but Kyle attended the most meetings that a SMCSU President has ever attended. He was involved with the St. Michael’s College Council, he had nearly bi-weekly meetings with College administration and the Dean of Students, and he chaired the cross-campus St George Roundtable. He did it all and took notes in the whole process.

I made the mistake of joining him on one of these meetings. At one point, I agreed with the Principal of SMC that the number of student seats at the College Council executive meetings should be reduced by a minimal number (I cant really remember how many but Kyle probably has it written down somewhere) Within a second, Kyle, who was sitting beside, gave me a massive kick to the leg under the table. He's a scrawny guy, super skinny, but he used to play Varsity Soccer - safe to say it bruised. Later he told me that he never wants to be responsible for students losing a voice until he had the time to ensure the decision was sensible. Safe to say I never said a word at one of those meetings again.

Me and Kyle - when I opened the ridiculous
SMCSU Secret Santa Gift he gave me. 

I don’t want this to turn into a Kyle Farren love-in.  Afterall, he did ‘accidentally’ kiss my girlfriend..... and has since offered to 'take my place' in the relationship while I'm away at Windsor. I'll leave it at that. We have also been in dozens of arguments, too. Good times. But he is one of my best friends now and I think he deserves the credit that nobody ever wanted to give him. This past May, Kyle and Frank asked me to facilitate with them at the bi-annual SMCSU leadership retreat and I finally figured out why Kyle was so meticulous in his note keeping.  This retreat was one of the most insightful in SMCSU’s history. Kyle had kept a copy of nearly every SMCSU agenda (and notes) from every meeting he attended. He incorporated all these facts and insights into the leadership activities at the retreat. He had one final send off and, if anything, he proved that he has definitely been changed by SMCSU. If you’re reading this 10 years from now in your office as a diplomat, Kyle, you owe me a flight on your private jet.

This is the leadership that I had to work under as  Double Blue Commissioner. Safe to say they were very supportive and we all worked very well together. The Finance Commissioner for that year (who essentially rounds out the Big 3 of SMSCU in addition to the President and Vice-President) was Fran Turco. Full disclosure: Fran and I didn’t get along when I met her in first year. I can’t quite remember how I met her to be honest but I know that we just didn’t mesh and its funny now to look back. At some point we became close, and again I can’t really pinpoint it. Maybe it was the carpooling from Markham to Toronto? Maybe it was the Leafs preseason games? Daniel Morad and her cousin? Regardless, I can’t really remember what moment we went from not getting along to being very good friends.

Campaign Poster - 2011

Fran is a next level workhorse. She was the first member in SMCSU history to hold a position and also be a don on residence. It was never allowed before, but somehow she pulled it off. We ran a campaign together in our first ever SMCSU election (if you recall my previous blog post). We were general Councillors together. She took over charge of Commuter Life in her second year on SMCSU when I was in DB. We both reached our desired positions in our third year. And, even though we were probably asked a hundred times by various people to run as a President/VP combo, the both of us decided to pursue other things while we still were in University. At the end of the day, we accomplished everything and more on SMCSU - and we didnt see the need to run for Pres/VP just because we could. To this day, neither of us regret that decision as it has allowed us to really figure out our other passions but safe to say that if our heart was in it, we definitely would have ran for President and VP together!

**I know Fran is refreshing this blog daily to see what I have to say, but because of the chronology of events in my life (also because Kyle took up so much damn space), this will be the second time I say that there will be more on her later**

Anyway, imagine that this was who I reported to: Fran, Kyle and Frank. Three people who I was extremely comfortable with but would motivate me to do well. My year as Double Blue Commissioner was by far my most enjoyable year on SMCSU. Much of the success of the Double Blue Commission has to be attributed to these three beauties (or 'absolute beauts' - did I do that right?) that I've mentioned. For the most part, they were with me every step of the way; be it to book venues, get sponsorship, or to be there early to set up. As a result, the Double Blue Commission experienced its highest revenues and shattered attendance records. We raised 7,000$ for the Remix Project, up from $4500 the year before – just by tuning inefficiencies in the way we ran the event. Our Formal was a success and Sold Out two weeks beforehand. SMCSU led the largest cross-campus Winterfest Social Event in U of T History. The list goes on. All thanks to the council and my friends at the top.

Given the success we had, and three long years of climbing the ladder to get the position I desired, I felt that I wanted something more. Something that would act as an outlet for what I wanted to do when I graduated. Something that would help me in the future. You see, I had the best academic year of MY LIFE in my fourth year. And not because I got smarter or anything like that. I think the reason is because I was in my comfort zone: I had a great network of friends, a supportive girlfriend (who still hadn't kissed Kyle Farren ;), and I was heavily involved with SMCSU in a position that I LOVED. I knew that if I continued to challenge myself, and remain involved, the good marks would continue – now if only I knew that 3 years EARLIER! 


Oh well. YOLO.

I could probably make this whole blog about Drake Lyrics.
But I won't.

Why get involved?

           Get used to the abbreviation “EC”, especially if you are applying to law school or another similar professional program. EC’s, or Extra-Curricular Activities, go a long way. Almost every admissions committee and potential employer takes extra-curricular involvement into consideration when making a decision. And the fact that many candidates are aware of the focus on EC’s results in a tendency for students to sign up for a wide-range of student groups/clubs/volunteer organizations/etc. This is where the reliance on ECs becomes problematic. Like I suggested in my previous blog post, some - not all but definitely a noticeable portion - of those who get involved are only doing it to boost their applications and resumes.

After four hard-working years of involvement in all types of EC’s at the University of Toronto, I can confidently say that the number of students who get involved because they have a true desire or passion to make a difference is much smaller than the number who do it to better their chances at getting a job or going to grad school. Now don’t get me wrong, I too hope that the network that I’ve built throughout my extra-curricular involvement at U of T will benefit me in my career. If it wasn’t for this involvement, I may not have even realized what type of career I wanted and might STILL be trying to complete a Science degree that I never wanted. But the underlying motivations for my involvement were to interact with my fellow undergraduates at U of T, to enhance my University experience, and to challenge myself.

 The University of Toronto is notorious for being a commuter-school. Walking down St. George and seeing students’ marching to/from class and to/from the subway makes this abundantly clear. At first glance, it seems impossible to get involved and make a difference on this campus. However, the fact that most undergrads are split into colleges (mine being St. Michael’s) makes it a little easier to get involved. Example:
           
            U of T # of Undergraduate Students – 65,612
            U of T # of Undergraduate Students (Downtown Campus) – 42, 650
            St. Michaels College (SMC) Undergraduates – 5,500 (unofficial estimate)

After having the opportunity to DJ at a few events towards the end of my first year, I knew that getting involved at SMC would not be too difficult considering how easy going everybody was. When we received an email from the Registrar’s office in early 2009 requesting volunteer “Frosh Leaders” for SMC Orientation Week 2009, I pounced on the opportunity. Again, like any EC, some people sign up as Frosh Leaders just to be able to mention it as an accomplishment. However, one thing is for sure about SMC Frosh Leaders, almost all of us signed up because we wanted to introduce the new first years to University in a way that would make them excited about studying at U of T and to debunk their preconceptions that U of T lacks any social environment.
           
SMC Frosh Week is an experience of its own. It consists of nearly 1,000 students and leaders yelling, chanting and occupying campus for a week. There are academic orientations for students to find mentors in their respective programs. There are also tons of social events and an annual charity fundraiser. All in all, it is a great prelude to University. After Frosh Week, I had finally felt some sort of allegiance to SMC. I began to connect with other frosh leaders and ‘froshies’. I also noticed that a lot of the outgoing and noticeable individuals all had one thing in common – they were members of the St. Michael’s College Students Union (SMCSU).

For somebody like me, who has always felt the desire to be a leader but never actually taken the lead in large settings, being elected onto SMCSU seemed like a challenge I wanted to confront. After Frosh Week, I set my sights on getting elected onto the student union. Luckily for me, the fact that I look Iranian led to a quick and awkward conversation with an intimidating 4^th year student by the name of James Finlay. James (who is half-Iranian himself) gravitated towards me for some reason or another (most likely the Iranian thing) and took me under his wing. Given what we went through and how James voluntarily took me on board, we’ve remained very close, and he is the Older (half-Iranian) Brother that I’ve never had.
           
          

Our campaign poster from October, 2009.

  
James was running for election on SMCSU as well and, given that he had previous experience on SMCSU, he had the expertise that would benefit me in campaigning. So the two of us teamed up with Fran Turco (another friend met through Orientation Week – more on her in another post) and Kavinda (the only person I knew at U of T before actually starting school) and combined to try and get elected onto the council as “general councillors”. After a nerve-racking election period, the four of us were elected. Safe to say, the four of us are still great friends      
            

What is SMCSU?
It is a student-run organization that operates off of student levy. Each SMC student pays 28$ a year to fund SMCSU. In return SMCSU holds tons of events including BBQ’s, Holiday Events with Free Food, Social Events, Sports Tournaments, Intramurals, Leadership Symposiums, Career Networking Events and Academic Workshops and also, SMCSU funds the dozens of clubs at SMC. There are different “Commissions” on SMCSU with a Commissioner and Officer in charge. These Commissions include Education & Government, Double Blue, Athletics, Religious and Community Affairs, Commuter Life, etc.  In addition, SMCSU executive members are normally involved in inter-college relationships at U of T which help coordinate events with the other college student unions. SMCSU members essentially become a big family, working together to enhance student life at SMC.

Deryn and I - 2010??

As a General Councillor, my position was to help out when needed at the various events which included working shifts, set-up, etc. Safe to say, responsibilities were at a minimum with this position because all of the event planning had been done over the summer and in early fall. However, we were able to identify a commission on the council where we had interest and we could shadow the Commissioner and Officer. Given that I was DJing across campus, I wanted to learn more about the social events commission, nicknamed “Double Blue”.   The Commissioner (Deryn Robson) allowed me to sit in on meetings with him, help him book venues and learn about the financial side of things. Deryn was hugely popular at SMC and very successful on SMCSU, so to have him help me out was very beneficial. ** I just attended his wedding last week, safe to say we’re great friends still – do you notice a theme?!**
          
Additionally, in my position as General Councillor I was able to network across campus with hundreds of other students and many student leaders. By the end of my second year of University (and my first year on SMCSU), I was confident that I wanted to take on a leadership role. I ran for re-election on SMCSU in the Spring of 2009 and ultimately became the Double Blue Officer for the upcoming academic year. My Commissioner was Haleigh King, the previous year’s Officer. Haleigh had a crazy amount of experience organizing the best Year-End Formal in St. Mike’s History at the Liberty Grand in the previous year. Naturally, I was excited to learn from her. In addition, she is almost insanely organized. I’ll never be on her level but I definitely had to sharpen my organization skills if I didn’t want to feel like I was dragging the commission down.

Me and Haleigh at Dave Bolland's Stanley Cup Party (Sept 3 2010)

Working with Haleigh for the 2009-2010 School Year was awesome because I never actually felt like she was my “Commissioner” but rather, that we were working as a team. We actually met awkwardly on one of those Accepted Facebook groups in the summer before starting University. Having never actually met me in person, she randomly decided to join me at a Coke Zero sponsored tailgate party before the Toronto Maple Leafs first Pre-Season. We both intended on going down to the Air Canada Centre and maybe getting some autographs with the faint hope that we would win tickets to the game. After I competed in a Coke-Zero drinking competition, where I chugged three in a minute, we won tickets to the game. Safe to say we’ve been friends ever since.

Haleigh and I split responsibilities and had a great time, all the while breaking attendance records and revenue records at our events. More revenue led to more money for SMCSU to spend on other events. It was at this point that I decided to take the reins and run for re-election in my third year – this time as Double Blue Commissioner.

I only became involved with SMCSU because I had a passion to get involved. I wanted to meet people, I wanted to make an impact – and I think I did. But, what my first two years on SMCSU taught me was that, the doors that open to you by getting involved are more useful than the doors that will open for you by getting an A on a Political Theory Essay.  Again, marks are very important, but do not discredit the impact that getting involved will have on you. Some of my best friendships were made through my involvement at SMC. And each and every one of these people that I have mentioned is destined to be very successful in their lives because they developed crucial skills by getting involved.

Many people do it differently. For me it was student government. For you it might be volunteering abroad or doing research for a professor, or being a don. The possibilities are endless. But get involved because you WANT to – not because you HAVE to.

NEXT UP: My next blog post will talk about that time which was one of the most crucial years of my life – my fourth year when I was Double Blue Commissioner. 

How do you get into law school?

I can’t count how many times I combed through Google search results looking for the answer to the question that makes up the title of this blog post. Each law school is different. But what they all share in common is that a candidates cGPA and LSAT score reign superior to any other stat. Don’t let ‘the internet’ fool you. There are indeed success stories of candidates with poor undergraduate GPA’s or disappointing LSAT scores but I would estimate that the vast majority (>95%) of those admitted into Law School have maintained a minimum of a B+ average (in most cases higher) and performed reasonably well on the LSAT (75^th-80^th percentile).

Somebody like myself, who didn’t consider a career in law until late in their undergraduate studies (my third year), is likely at a disadvantage stats-wise. Thus, when you hop onto your friendly search engine looking for which criteria law schools consider, you immediately gravitate towards those which you think you personally excel in. I did very well on the LSAT but, if you’ve learned anything from my first blog post, my GPA was hardly anything to write home about. And although I experienced the most academic success of my life in the following two years of my undergrad (yes, I took a fifth year), my first year and a half as a Life Science student was just too damaging to recover from numerically. So when I was trying to fit myself into the Law School admissions criteria, I definitely banked on the fact that many schools take a holistic approach and take into account a student’s non-academic involvement aka what you did when you weren’t studying or in class. For somebody with decent grades and a decent LSAT, they normally notice that they are lacking in these non-academic categories such as “extra-curricular involvement” and “volunteering”. This leads to an influx of resume-stacking in their third and fourth years.

 I am so proud that I was immensely involved on and off campus at the University of Toronto. And I can say, undoubtedly, that I was only involved because I enjoyed it – not because it would help me get into law school and not because [INSERT LAW SCHOOL HERE] would like to see that I had a position as [INSERT POSITION HERE]. I was involved because it’s in my blood. My personality traits essentially require that I’m interacting with people and making a difference. And if it wasn’t for this involvement, I think I would have been extremely dissatisfied with my undergraduate experience. Instead, I leave the University of Toronto prouder than I have ever been of my accomplishments.

The point that I am getting to is that I think that it was my genuine involvement with student government and extra-curricular activities that helped me get into law school. I ensured that I only got involved in things that I had a true passion to be involved with. And I was sure to infuse my accomplishments at the University of Toronto into my Personal Statement for Law Schools. In building a statement that demonstrated how I truly made a difference, I think I got the point across that I wasn’t involved for the name but for a distinct interest in bettering the university experience of not only myself, but hundreds of others at U of T.

The one constant, that I CANNOT REITERATE ENOUGH, is pursuing what you are passionate about. In my first year of University, in fact on my first day of Frosh Week, I knew I wanted to be a DJ. I was extremely interested in music and would love staying up late to listen to Live-To-Air Mixes on the Radio. But other than messing around on Virtual DJ on my Computer, I had no true experience as a DJ. But, I knew that University was a whole new world – a clean slate – and that I might be able to pursue this passion.

My DJ Name + Logo (courtesty of Jamziz)

On Day 1 of Frosh I asked my Frosh Leaders about who was in charge of the social events at St Mikes (my college at U of T). After meeting the two social coordinators (who are now good friends of mine, Justin & Francesca) and asking if they were looking for DJ’s, I felt confident that they might give me a shot because Justin asked for me to reach out to him with a Demo after Frosh Week. The best part of this story is that Justin didn’t actually respond to my message right away – in fact I didn’t hear from him until 4 months later, but in the meantime I had let my frosh leaders and all my new friends know that I aspired to be a DJ. Eventually, in December of my first year, one of my Frosh Leaders who also happened to be the President of a Student Group at the University offered me a paid gig at the traditional end-of-exams party. I was

extremely nervous but also extremely ecstatic.

I still remember that night at BLVD Room on Peter Street for COLD RUSH 2008. I DJ’d for nearly 600 people, including both Justin and Francesca who were in attendance. As a follow-up to that performance, Francesca reached out to me to spin at the University’s “Welcome Back” Pub Night in January 2009. After another solid performance I truly felt that I had impressed some of my fellow classmates and even my Chemistry TA (who failed me the semester before but was partying to my music!). And with that said, Justin finally answered my message that I had sent him back in September and asked me to DJ the University’s first “70’s-80’s-90’s Wayback” event called Blast from the Past. By the end of my first year I had DJ’d 6 Social Events and verbally agreed to DJ every event at St. Michael’s College for the following school year! I continued throughout my undergrad as a DJ for almost every college at U of T and had the pleasure of DJ-ing over 75 events at the University.  

January 9th, 2009 - DJing for SMC's Frost Nite at Cabana

For a long time I tried to avoid intertwining my experience as a DJ with my academic/career pursuits. I thought that maybe the stigma of clubs/alcohol/partying would overshadow the actual accomplishments and success I attained as a DJ. But after a very enlightening conversation with one of my legal mentors, I feel confident now to embrace this experience. And after writing up this recap and remembering these stories I realize now just how enjoyable and important these experiences were to my life.

Becoming a DJ opened up doors for me to pursue involvement with student government which eventually opened up the doors for me to find my passion which is to work as a lawyer within the Sports Industry. Safe to say, to answer the question of how to get into law school, one of the first steps is to follow your passions because they open up more doors than you can ever imagine!


UP NEXT: My next blog post will walk you all thru my time on the St. Michael’s College Students Union (SMCSU) and then I’ll go through the successes of the University of Toronto Sports and Business Association.