My name is Jeremy and I am a 4th year honors Life Science Student minoring in Psychology. I decided to apply for CityLAB because it was something that I had heard about throughout various classes I had taken at McMaster and always thought “wow, that is something that I would love to do, but there’s no way I am good enough to get into that”. Weeks later an email came across my inbox and I decided to shoot my shot and apply because the worst that could happen is they say no. To my welcomed surprise I was accepted into the program!
Before coming into CityLAB I really did not know what to expect and taking that first step into the CityLAB space came with so much unknown but so much potential for good. As the weeks have come to a close at CityLAB I have learned more and more that this was one of the best choices I have made during my university journey so far.
The program is like nothing else I have ever experienced in university and without a doubt there is nothing else like it around. CityLAB Semester in Residence has taught me so many things that I would never have had the opportunity to learn otherwise. The program has allowed me the opportunity to make real impact and real change within community and the individuals who reside there.
Beyond this, the program has given me a tight knit community that has grown to become like a big family. People that I care for and people that care for and support me whether it’s making jokes during our off-time in the group chat or it’s engaging in enlightening conversations during class. Each person at CityLAB is unique, coming from a range of different fields of studies, which has put me in touch with absolutely amazing people that I would not have otherwise met, but also acting to teach me a more holistic way of thinking.
Both the classes and instructors here at CityLAB encourage personal growth and learning while making emphasis upon self-care and taking time to reflect and really think about where we are at. For example, we have design sessions during the morning half-day of both Tuesday and Wednesday with the amazing Brian Baetz. Learning about the principles behind design was never something that I thought I would learn and learning about the principles of design from an engineer was even more mind blowing to me. Regardless of this, everything that I look at now is influenced by this and I consider “who designed this and why did they do it this way?”
As a whole CityLAB has been an amazing experience and the fact that we work to improve the community that we live in makes it all the more amazing to be a part of. To make a longstanding impact and be a part of something so much bigger than myself is truly an inspiring experience and should be something that everyone strives to be a part of.