As a native Montrealer, every time my family drove by McGill campuses I was regaled with family stories of my grandfather's time in medical school, how my parents met at the student union building, and reminders of which buildings housed which newsworthy events and areas of study. Growing up, my goal was always to pursue my undergrad degree at McGill, although my desired profession was still uncertain.
The shared experience Education students can all relate to is the challenging climb up McTavish (or Peel) to our home base, in sunshine, rain, sleet, or snow.”
In 1996, still waffling between career paths, I was accepted into McGill’s Bachelor of Education program and was excited, yet terrified. Both my parents were lifelong teachers and I had several relatives who taught elementary, high school, and university as well as one who became a principal, so it seemed like teaching was in my genetic make-up. My many years of working as a camp counsellor and babysitter reaffirmed that teaching was a solid path to explore.
Walking around the historic downtown campus, up and down the hill to the Education Building, with selected courses in Arts, Leacock, Stuart Bio, Music, Bronfman, Adams, and others filled me with pride knowing I was walking on the same paths as McGill’s great minds and mentors. The shared experience Education students can all relate to is the challenging climb up McTavish (or Peel) to our home base, in sunshine, rain, sleet, or snow. In my case, I even did it during the 1998 Ice Storm, climbing over fallen trees to get to class at the start of the winter semester!
Off-campus, I enjoyed being “Ms. Shuster” to elementary students at Hampstead, F.A.C.E., Carlyle, and Akiva schools during my field experiences. It brought the learned theory to life. When I graduated in 2000, I felt scholastically prepared to be a schoolteacher, but emotionally I did not want to stop being a student. My McGill experience led me to develop my love of mentorship and craft my personal philosophy: “you are never finished learning”.
With additional study and natural instincts, I carved my path as a marketing professional in the non-profit sector, writing pedagogical materials and press releases for Geordie Productions, handbooks, brochures, and fundraising tools for Na’amat Canada, blogging for BroadwayWorld.com, and growing my career through other unique marketing and event-management opportunities.
Fast forward nearly 20 years since my June 2000 graduation, I returned to McGill Education in April 2019, but this time as the Faculty’s Marketing Communications Officer. To be accepted in this managerial role felt even better than my acceptance as an undergrad and I couldn’t resist but to play the “Welcome Back, Kotter” TV theme, beaming, as I commuted back up that familiar hill on my first day.
When people ask me if I ever ended up teaching, the answer is “yes”, but not always in a classroom. Aside from a few marketing guest lectures at Vanier College and John Molson School of Business, the teaching and mentoring I do is in my daily work, showing students and colleagues how to improve their branding, publicity efforts, writing, and digital engagement. Today, I am a better marketer because of my lessons in psychology, communications, interpersonal relations, organization, and media literacy – all transferable skills that I learned at the Faculty of Education.
My BEd, which hangs proudly on my office wall at 3700 McTavish, has also made me a better parent to my nine-year-old. She has visited “mommy’s work” a few times and has taken interest in what I do as well as reveling in the bustling yet inviting McGill atmosphere. Referencing the University’s new campaign, my husband (Ben Urovitch, BEng’97) and I joke that our daughter was “Made by McGillians” and we truly hope that her academic journey will also lead her to our alma matter.