“The opportunities afforded to a student leader in Ontario are many, but few know how to truly make an impact, and use those empowering roles to their maximum potential; I know I didn’t. At least, I didn’t until I met with seasoned leaders from the CSA who, with their talented staff, helped educate me on just how far-reaching my role could become. They empowered me to see myself as not just a student leader, but as a leader. Whether advocating on behalf of Sheridan students, or advocating on behalf of the students of Ontario, I learned to see myself as someone equipped with knowledge, methods, and an approach that would allow me to be seen as an equal regardless of the forum I engaged in.

It was that empowerment and insight that allowed me to continue to demonstrate I was a professional wherever I went. Unless you’ve been a student leader in a room full of “adults” who all have “careers”, and who are all half-listening because they “have to”, it is difficult to describe just how soft your voice can be despite how important the words you carry with you are. If it were not for the CSA I would have never found the ability to turn up the volume on my voice. I would have never learned how to make people listen (and to truly be heard) when the odds are stacked against me. At different times in my life it was that I was too young, or didn’t have the right credentials, or didn’t have the right skin colour. The CSA helped me build the confidence to speak up, and speak out. They helped me develop a passion for nurturing talent, growth, and development in others around me wherever the opportunity presented itself. They helped me, whose highest level of education is a college diploma, work for one of the most sought out fortune 500 consultancies in the world.