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Breanna Bolliger (Year 2)
breanna_bolliger@yahoo.com
@b.n.b.11
What did you wish you knew before going to your university? What made you choose this institution over all others? What are advantages and disadvantages of your institution or campus? List any advice for incoming first-year students about your university.
I chose McMaster’s Kinesiology Program for a variety of reasons. McMaster kinesiology is a one of a kind program, as it offers a unique course selection and opportunities within the kinesiology faculty that allows students to apply what they learn. PACE is one of the many opportunities that enables students to work one on one with patients in a rehabilitation setting.
The many advantages of attending McMaster University includes the friendly community environment, approximately 350 clubs to participate in, and a tremendous amount of research opportunities on campus.
If there is any disadvantage of going to McMaster University it would be the difficulty of finding additional housing options nearby. There are apartment style options farther away from the campus that requires at least a 10-15 minute bus ride.
Advice I would give to a first year student includes:
- Don’t be afraid to get involved. If there is a club that really interests you go for it!
- Ask a lot of questions whether this be to a TA or a professor, they are always there to help.
What did you wish you knew before choosing your specific program? What are the advantages and disadvantages of your program? List any advice for incoming first-year students about your program of study.
Specifically in terms of kinesiology, some minor mistakes I would want to correct would be making sure I create a more organized study plan and making sure I choose courses that do not place a heavier workload with my other Kinesiology courses.
Advantages of the kinesiology program
- All the first year courses are interesting and engaging.
- All of the Professors are always helpful and motivated in what they are teaching.
- The first year foundations course gives more insight to students about what they can do with the kinesiology degree after graduation.
Disadvantage
- Sometimes there are kinesiology courses that conflict with other elective courses.
Advice I would give to a first year kinesiology student:
- Take part in all the kinesiology activities that run throughout the year.
- Create Anatomy study groups.
- Don’t be afraid to talk to the kinesiology professors about any questions or concerns you may have.
What was your favourite university experience?
My best university experience was attending welcome week, getting to know people in my program and other students in the nursing faculty as we visited Tiffany Falls.
What was your least favourite university experience?
My worst University experience was writing some of my midterms at night because it is difficult to focus after a long day of classes.
What is the hardest part about your program and what were the steps that you took to overcome any difficulties?
The hardest part of the program that took some time to get used to was having the anatomy tests each Friday. This course runs during both semesters so I got used to planning and organizing an effective and efficient study schedule that helped me throughout the year.
Some of my study tips include:
- Writing my own personalized notes
- Using Q-cards
- Studying content in advance
If you were able to take electives, what was your favourite elective? If you were not able to take electives, what was your favourite course and why?
KINESIOL 1F03 - Human Nutrition and Health was my favourite kinesiology course as Dr. Trevor King made lessons engaging and fun for students. I really liked how he integrated small projects into the course to boost students' marks. For one of the projects we used the MyFitnessPal app to track our eating over the course of 2 days. This allowed me to understand how to improve my diet as I could see which nutrients were lacking in my diet.
Additional Comments
During my first year I lived off-campus. If any of you want to know what that was like in terms of timing, the HSR Bus service, what to do downtown Hamilton I am more than happy to help! Send me an email :)