By Christina Lépine — Features Editor

On Wednesday Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., all Bishop’s students could attend Grad School Day in the Gait. All day, tables were set up by many graduate schools, including Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Western University, University of Victoria (UVIC), Concordia University, University of New Brunswick (UNB), and MacMaster University’s Engineering program. A table was also set by Bishop’s University to offer more information to students who might be considering graduate studies.

Throughout the day, all the schools had a table, with most of them handing pamphlets and being available for questions. Each table had between one to three representatives to talk about the programs offered as well as handing out contact information for additional questions. Students could come by the Gait and stay for as long as they wanted according to the information they wanted to gather. 

Although this event looked like a promising opportunity for students to gather information on graduate studies, the majority of students encountered were disappointed by the organization of the forum. Nonetheless, many students were grateful for the universities that took to the road after the first major snowstorm of the winter. Most students who attended believed the event was not advertised enough, and therefore did not attract as big of an audience as it could have. 

Second-year economics student Jean-Philippe Jeske took a look at a few tables to get an overview of his career opportunities after graduating from Bishop’s. He mentioned, “I wanted to look what future was in store for me.” Although eager to gather further information about Canadian and American graduate schools, Jeske said: “Unfortunately, the information I was looking for was not there. However, I left with information that will help me nonetheless form my future.”

The main recurring comment shared by all students interviewed that day was that many are struggling to decide if they want to pursue graduate studies after completing an undergraduate degree. Indeed, students were not only looking to ask questions to different university representatives, but also to learn about the benefits of attending their university and choosing their program over others. Jeske mentioned, “It is really hard to find what you are looking for when you yourself do not know what you are looking for.” 

Fortunately, all university representatives outlined the programs as best as they could, giving an overview of graduate student life at their organization. Grad School Day was a noteworthy initiative to offer Bishop’s students the opportunity to discover more possibilities after completing their undergraduate degree. The spread of this information can only improve with more advertising prior to the forum to encourage increased student participation.