The top honour

Karen Huang, Public Health and Safety (BASc), ‘22, will receive the Toronto Metropolitan University Gold Medal at the Faculty of Community Services convocation ceremony on June 22.

The Gold Medal is the university’s highest award, given to students with outstanding academic achievement and involvement with the university, their profession and the community.

So what does it feel like to receive the university’s top honour? We asked Karen to share some of her insights.

What does receiving the Gold Medal mean to you?

To start off, it was an honour to be nominated by faculty members in the School of Occupational and Public Health. When I first started as an undergraduate student, I was eager to be involved in the program and around the university. My main goal was to help students in our program and learn more ways to be involved in the community. I was fortunate enough to work with great student leaders and supportive faculty members who motivated me to step into leadership roles and accomplish my goals.

As I reflect on this award, I would have never thought that I could accomplish this much five years ago. But I am grateful and appreciative to be recognized for my involvement in my academic career and community involvement at TMU.

What advice would you give students entering their first year?

It takes time to adjust to university, so it is perfectly normal to take time to find what works for you. It is also okay to not know what you want to do yet; odds are a lot of people are in the same boat. Find your interests in your program and what the university has to offer outside of classes. I was pretty shy in my first year and did not step out of my comfort zone until the beginning of second year. After I started joining student groups and intramurals, I started enjoying my time a lot more.

Take time to talk to your professors and peers. You have a lot of the same classes with a core group of students, so do not wait until the last minute to get to know people (especially for group projects). I know we are a commuter school but stay behind after class some days and explore Toronto! You might find your new favourite food/study spot or live out your best life in Toronto.

Do you have any favourite classes/teachers, and what made them stand out?

That is a really difficult question because I have come to like most of my classes and feel like all the professors bring something different to the table. One of my favourite professors has to be Dr. Richard Meldrum since he was my research professor and taught me ENH433, Food Hygiene: Safe Food Handling. He provided useful knowledge that I use in the field today, great guest speakers, and field trips. I am thankful that he wanted to see my research project through despite limitations with the pandemic.

Dr. Eric Liberda, Dr. Ian Young, and Dr. Melissa Moos have been great professors during my undergraduate degree. They have taught core classes such as Risk Assessment, Water Quality, and Biostatistics which have easily become some of my favourite classes. They all have their own way of engaging students and making the topic applicable to the field.

How did the university support you during your time here?

I have to give the biggest shout out to Darlene Bileckyj, our Administrative Coordinator. She has been such a big support to the course union and to me as a student over the past five years. She helps advertise our events to all students, brainstorm creative ideas for student events, and help us with budgeting/funding purposes. She takes time to plan department events and job fairs, and to keep students informed about job postings. Although she has a lot on her plate, she always has her door open to help students whether it’s for class schedules, adding/dropping classes, or even just giving advice.

Receiving the Kevin Mackle Award, the John/Jack Park Memorial Award, and Nancy C. Sprott Award has financially supported me during my undergraduate studies. As well, being able to work as a Work Study Student and Co-op Peer Advisor helped me develop professionally. Intramurals helped me de-stress and get back into sports that I love to play.

What has been your proudest accomplishment?

My proudest accomplishment academically was finishing my research project at the end of the year. There were a couple of limitations with my research study at first, but I was happy with the results. But I would say seeing the next students step up into new leadership roles in the course union has made me very proud as well. I fulfilled my role as the President of the Public Health and Safety Course Union for three years. Many final year students know that the final push to finish university is the hardest, but seeing everything wrap up in my last year with my co-op terms, research project, and my time on the course union has made me very content with my university experience.

What are your future plans?

I am currently completing my practicum at a health unit and hope to get certified as a Public Health Inspector (PHI). It has been a really great experience so far and I am learning new things every day. I hope to continue my education in a Master’s program sometime in the far future and I am excited to see the public health field continue to grow after the pandemic.