Curtis

Germaine

Honours Bachelor of Science in Forestry
Colborne, ON

I remember in my grade 12 year how hard it was to decide what University to attend since every university I visited had something I liked. However, I chose Lakehead University because when I visited the campus, I fell in love with the atmosphere and environment that Lakehead offered. The Lakehead campus is full of trees and has a river that flows right near residence, but best of all it even has a lake! Because I came from a small country town, the Lakehead campus made me feel as if I was home. 

Lakehead is a smaller university and because of that you are not a number. The professors will recognize you and know you by name. I especially love that about Lakehead. Because of the smaller class sizes, you are able to get to know the professors more and I find that makes you a lot more comfortable approaching them when you need help. I was having a hard time one week and one of my professors noticed, and she came  up to me and asked how I was doing, and she helped to make a plan to get me back on track. In this moment, I noticed that the professors here care about how you are doing, and they want to help you succeed. This professor had a huge impact on me as a student since she reminded me that things get overwhelming at times, but there is always help if I need it.

Lakehead University has opened up many doors and opportunities for me. One opportunity was being able to go on exchange to the University of Helsinki in Finland. Doing an exchange was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It gave me the opportunity to learn about other cultures and to meet people from all over the world. I was also able learn about a new schooling system and make professional connections with professors in my field of study. Another bonus of doing an exchange was that I had the opportunity to do some traveling. I visited St. Petersburg, Russia, saw the Northern lights in Northern Finland (Lapland), explored the city of Stockholm in Sweden, and even got a job in the Arctic Ocean in Norway. These were things I might have never done if I didn't do an exchange, plus I got to experience all these adventures with friends that I met from all over the world, which made it even that much better. If you have the chance to do an exchange, I would highly recommend it. You learn a lot and will make memories that will last you a life time.

Now that I have had all these opportunities, my time at Lakehead is getting close to its end, which saddens me, but I do feel that Lakehead has prepared me for what's next. Because of my program, I have been getting summer jobs in my field and been able to apply what I was taught to work. I feel that when my time does come to graduate I will be ready to start my career in forestry and I couldn't be happier about it. Thanks to Lakehead University, I have been able to achieve all the things that I wanted to.