1. Please introduce yourself.

My name is Jisoo Kang, and I’m in my final year of Chemical Engineering at the University of Calgary. I completed my 16-month internship at TransCanada Pipelines, supporting the Corrosion Prevention Projects and Engineering team. I have been involved with AKCSE since my second year and have previously held the vice president position before stepping up to be president for my 4th year.

 

2. What are the factors that made you stay in/commit to AKCSE?

I first joined AKCSE as a way to expand my networks and get involved in more extra-curricular activities. However, the AKCSE executive team that I was a part of became like a family to me, and we had so much fun planning and executing different events every semester. Later on, as I became a higher position in the executive team, new executive members came in, and told me that they had applied to be a part of the team because AKCSE had changed their university life in such a positive way, both in the academic and social settings. Realizing the impact that AKCSE has on various students made me realize how important this organization is for giving students the opportunity to develop both academically and socially. This made me commit to AKCSE more, and each year, I have had so much fun with all the events that our chapter brings to its members.

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3. What is the most memorable event you hosted in your group, and why?

The most memorable event for me was our first event, the fall semester Meet and Greet. The whole team was super excited because it was our first event of the new academic term, and we had planned very fun games together and worked hard to get the venue and catering. It was my first time doing a presentation as the new president, so I was very nervous which makes it even more unforgettable. We had expected around 60 participants to show up, but we ended up having over 130 students come to the event, and I can still remember the executives running around trying to order more food and find more chairs. It was a hectic night, and despite the unexpected number of participants, the team handled the situation very professionally and we had a successful event and a great membership drive/member turnout.

 

4. What is the primary goal of your chapter that you think is the most important?

I believe that the primary goal of my chapter is to become a community in which student members can rely on us to support them both academically and socially. For example, if a student was struggling with a certain course, I would want them to be comfortable enough to come to AKCSE and ask for academic support and find resources like previous class materials and notes, from our academic night sessions. If students were feeling like they wanted to network professionally, I would want them to actively seek out AKCSE networking events, knowing that we can provide them with the opportunity. If a student wanted to meet new friends or network with peers, I would want them to come out to an AKCSE social event, relax and relieve stress by having fun with other peer members and meeting new friends. I believe that having this community set-up is important for university students as they go through a lot of life challenges, academic struggles, and big changes throughout their university life. Working to plan and execute events and provide members with the resources they need to be successful would aid in making AKCSE the community that university students want to be a part of, and can contribute to as well in the future.

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5. If you were given opportunity to be the president one more year, would you do it again?

If I wasn’t graduating this year, I might’ve considered doing it one more year. I think most of the times, people believe that they can do a better job if they are given one more chance, and I think it would be very fun and rewarding to lead such a great group of executives in this organization. On the other hand, I would also like to pass on the baton to a new president so that they could also learn and grow from the experience, and lead the group in a new and better way than I could have done.

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6. What is the best part of your undergraduate life?

The best part of my undergraduate life is getting to enjoy the entire experience with my friends and peers. Whether that’s struggling through tough classes together by working on a difficult question together for hours, or pulling an all-nighter at school to finish a group project, or planning and executing fun events with the clubs and societies that I am involved with, it’s the people that I interact with that make it the best experience.

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7. What advice would you give to first-year students?

Go and join the various clubs or societies that you are interested in. Step up to be a leader in the organization that you choose to be a part of. This is where I personally met a lot of my very close friends while learning important soft skills and created so many great university memories.

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8.How do you balance school and extracurricular activities (such as AKCSE involvement)?

By working hard, being organized, and dedicating my time to the things I like doing, I have stayed on top of both school and extra-curricular activities. Sometimes, it does get very hectic, busy, and stressful, but knowing that the big rewards come as I put more of my time and effort into what I am dedicated towards, it has worked out well so far. I think being organized and knowing what tasks need to be done at what time is a basic skill to have, but also being able to rely on your executive team to get other tasks done, and sometimes sacrificing sleep…