University of Guelph-Humber

Every year at the University of Guelph-Humber, four students are elected to represent us on the University of Guelph Senate and work to improve the student experience at UofGH.

This year, you elected these four students to the Senate, with their one-year terms set to begin Sept. 1:

Dalton Beseau

Program: Justice Studies

Year (in 2017-18): Second

Hometown: Woodstock, Ont.

Summer plans: Beseau is weighing summer jobs, and even though he’s just finishing first year, he’s already itching to start work on a thesis paper. “I have a couple ideas. I just want to get started at least – a couple paragraphs, something.”

Hobbies: Sports, specifically curling. “Everybody says: ‘you curl? How? What’s that?’” he says with a laugh.  “When I go home, sometimes they have bonspiels on so I’ll go to the curling club and spend an afternoon there. I wouldn’t say I’m good, but I enjoy it.”

Favourite thing about UofGH: “The small class sizes. I know my professors on a first-name basis. I can go by their office and ask how they’re doing. Some of them are even willing to go for coffee. You don’t get that at other universities.”

Career goals: Beseau loves law and plans on pursuing a post-graduate degree, likely through University of Guelph-Humber’s partnership with the City Law School’s program at City University London. Someday, he’d like to teach.

Dilshan Jayasinghe

Program: Business

Year (in 2017-18): Third

Hometown: Mississauga, Ont.

Summer plans: He’s a Student Transition and Resource Team (START) Leader who hopes to spend some of his time off planning events for the UofGH community. He’s also taking a course in accounting and wants to volunteer around his community, perhaps even in a capacity relating to his field.

Hobbies: Jayasinghe is a huge movie enthusiast who loves to draw. In fact, he attended the Disney Animation Academy at the Walt Disney World in Florida and now loves to try his hand at animating characters from old or new Disney movies. “Disney has been my favourite movie company for a long time,” he says.

Favourite thing about UofGH: “It’s the fact that it’s a small-built community where you get to meet students from different years and different programs and become friends with them. During my short period of time here, I’ve made really close friends.”

Career goals: Jayasinghe is focused on accounting and wants to pursue his CPA designation after he’s graduated. He would love to someday work for one of the big accounting firms, but he also dreams of working in accounting for a company related to film, like the Toronto International Film Festival, Cineplex – or even Disney.

Ameerah McLean

Program: Psychology

Year (in 2017-18): Fourth

Hometown: Brampton, Ont., but McLean has also lived in Mississauga, Toronto and Scarborough.

Summer plans: McLean is taking a course on indigenous studies and looking for volunteer opportunities at a crisis line. “There is a crisis line that opened recently for Muslims. Obviously anyone can call, but it deals with Islamic issues as well as mental health issues. I’m really hoping to work with them this year.”

Hobbies: McLean loves to write and has a passion for poetry. She even penned an inspiring reflective piece about her time at the University of Guelph-Humber that compares the university’s four floors to the stages of life. “In life we start out on the first floor and our goal is happiness, the fourth floor, and there’s different ways we can get there,” she said. “I’m hoping it will help people.” She also loves to play video games, although she notes with a laugh: “It’s hard to afford them on a student budget these days.”

Favourite thing about UofGH: “The sense of community. You’re pretty much with the same people for four years. It gives you the chance to make really great connections. Your professors actually know who you are. I love that. And I love that we’re connected to Humber so we have all their events and resources too. It’s like we’re getting twice the awesome.”

Career goals: McLean is interested in so many areas of psychology, including counselling psychology and the psychology of gender. She’s considering going to grad school after UofGH, though she’s also mulling whether to jump straight into the work force. Either way, she has a clear goal. “I want to work at and later run my own wellness centre,” she said.

Priya Rajkumar

Program: Media Studies

Year (in 2017-18): Third

Hometown: Brampton, Ont.

Summer plans: For the second summer in a row, Rajkumar is considering taking an intensive French program that will boost her multi-lingual skills even farther. “I do speak French but not fluently,” she said. “I can get by, and I’d like to get better.”

Hobbies: Rajkumar likes watching TV and she’s also a foodie who gets out to different restaurants whenever she can. She’s open to anything, but she says she has a soft spot for Greek and Mexican food.

Favourite thing about UofGH: “I like that we’re able to know our professors. My friends at other schools say they’re forced to talk to TAs because they can’t talk to their professors. In general I also like the quieter atmosphere in the Guelph-Humber building.”

Career goals: Rajkumar has a strong business acumen in addition to being a media buff. She’s sharpened her web design and digital communication skills, and could see herself working in advertising. She could also see herself back in an academic environment at some point down the road. “Hopefully one day I’ll get to go into teaching,” she said. “That’s one of my passions in life.”

Learn more about Student Government at the University of Guelph-Humber.