I first attended the BASS Banquet in 2012. Going into it I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was sure that the conversations were going to be overly corporate and stiff. Having gone in with this expectation I barely said two words, I was just too nervous and didn’t know what to say. I think I was a little too worried about trying to impress everyone.
Going into the 2013 BASS Banquet, it was an entirely different experience. I chose to set no expectations and just make sure I enjoyed myself. First and foremost, I was excited to be able to tell some of the industry professionals about being a Beedie Ambassador and what that meant to me. I’m proud to have the opportunity to represent a school I have come to appreciate so much, and this program will allow me to do so.
My Banquet experience this year was far different from that of last year. I felt no need to try and impress anyone, but rather I wanted to just chat. I wanted to learn about the experiences of these corporate powerhouses and be able to walk away with advice from them. I was able to do just that! Honestly, I was also surprised at the amount of laughter amongst my conversations with some of the corporate representatives.
At my first table, it was a pleasant surprise to find out that one particular representative had a career path similar to what I dreamed of when I was a young child. It made it that much easier to be myself! After the table rotation was announced I shook hands, exchanged business cards and made my way to the next table. I quickly found out that the representatives at the next table were well aware of SFU’s JDC West 2013 successes. I reached out, and shook their hands only to hear “you haven’t even arrived at the table yet, and you are already famous.” I couldn’t help but smile. Once again, that just really put me at ease and helped guide the conversation naturally. Not only that, it was really nice to learn that these corporate reps really pay attention to what is happening within the Beedie Community.
One piece of advice that really resonated with me surrounded the idea of opportunity. I believe that too often we begin to pigeon-hole ourselves believing that one career is exactly right for us, and that’s where we need to go. Instead, we should look towards opportunity, we never know what might come our way and certainly something unexpected and even better may arise.
For the students who will attend the BASS Banquet in the future, I have a few pieces of advice. Don’t stress about how you’re going to get yourself a job. Just be yourself and don’t worry about trying to impress everyone. If you’re great, and since you’re a Beedie student surely you are, they will naturally enjoy talking with you.
You never know, maybe you’ll end up talking about how you wanted to be the Canadian Calvin Klein when you were 6 years old, like I did.