The student of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the Faculty of Environment, Emma Schuster with other five women have been recognized as 2021 University of Waterloo Co-op Students of the Year.
The award recognizes students for their outstanding contributions to their employers in 2021 and is organized by Waterloo’s Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE).
Schuster who is also the 2021 Co-op Student of the Year in the Faculty of Environment was recognized for her excellence when working remotely as the social media coordinator for Habitat for Humanity Ontario Gateway North (OGN), an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity Canada during her Winter 2021 work term.
“It was really fulfilling to work for a non-profit, and I didn’t realize how much it was going to affect me I until I started to do it,” Schuster said. “I started to realize everybody around me was very interested in making life easier for other people and making the world better for their communities.”
Schuster topnotch execution of her work provided extensive turnaround to the non-profit organization projects delivery. Working in a small team of six, she led Habitat for Humanity OGN social media campaigns that helped raise awareness and position the organization positively.
She made her mark in conducting research to assist develop a Territorial Acknowledgement for OGN which is being used presently in meetings and at public events. The organisation operational area stretches all over Northern Ontario and it has a high population of Indigenous people with many homes built on treaty land.
Honourable mention winner for the 2021 Co-op Student of the Year Award
In addition to Schuster’s recognition, Riley Jauniaux, a fourth-year student of Environment, Resources, Sustainability also received honourable mention for excelling in his eight-month Winter and Spring 2021 co-op terms as a lab assistant forthe Faculty of Environment. His sterling achievements in the role includes creation of virtual field trips and aligning them with learning outcomes and objectives, creation of a wildlife documentation project and online games for You@Waterloo Day, and assistance to close the gap that students experience as result of non-physical interaction with colleagues.