People profiles

Experiences while travelling can have a profound impact on an older person’s well-being. Jibin Yu brings a new perspective and looks to expand our understanding of how tourism, well-being, and aging are connected.

From dissecting cadavers, getting involved in research, and working with varsity athletes - there are so many ways to get involved in the Kinesiology community and have fun at the same time! 

What I like best about my program is that I’m able to apply my learning from the classroom into my everyday life, and that I will be prepared for any health-related career I choose.

Janette Smith is the Commissioner of Public Works at the Region of Peel.  She began her leadership role in Public Works in January 2017 after a twenty-seven year career in Health Services.  Within Health Services, Janette held a number of progressive leadership positions including:  Commissioner of Health Services, Director of Long Term Care, and Director of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention.

The thing I like most about my program is the sense of community. I like how open everyone is to helping each other and asking each other questions.

I like that Health Studies allows me to explore various fields of health care through my classes. Coming into university I knew I wanted to pursue a health care profession but I was never set on a specific field. To have the opportunity to customize my degree depending on the specialization I choose is perfect for me!

I enjoy that my program has allowed me to study recreation in the broad sense and take courses in tourism, sports business, and therapeutic. 

Andrew Robertson continues to work with new and innovative technologies to improve the lives of stroke patients. His training in the Aging, Health and Well-being doctoral program prepared him to continue with his research as a doctoral fellow.

I enjoy how small my program is. There are only about 75 people in Recreation and Sports Business in my year so I get to know a lot of the people in my classes and it makes it easy to talk to people in class or even outside of class.

I love that I have the opportunity to learn about health from a holistic perspective and apply my knowledge both inside and outside the classroom. The program and professors foster an incredible community where anyone will feel welcome and excited to learn!

As a recent Master of Public Health (’16) graduate and a Law student at the University of Calgary, Christina dedicates her time and energy to growing FullSoul Canada, a social enterprise she co-founded to equip hospitals in developing countries with medical delivery kits.

Norma Jutan's in-depth experience working with big health data in her Aging, Health and Well-being doctorate made her a perfect candidate to continue working with these numbers as a Methodologist after her studies.

John (BA '76) has had a very diverse career in both private and public sectors that include Ministries of Correctional Services, Health and Natural Resources. He is still active in promoting parks issues within CPRA and as a Board member of the Leisure Information Network. John is also a Board member of the Niagara Sports Commission where he is busy with a bid for the Canada Summer Games for Niagara. 

Ashley Flanagan brings gender identity and aging to the forefront in her dissertation research by challenging the way we currently think about and understand successful aging.

I choose Waterloo Therapeutic Recreation because I knew I wanted to help people coming into university but I didn’t know exactly in what capacity. Coming into first year in general Recreation and Leisure studies allowed me to try a little bit of each Recreation program and choose what I liked best: Therapeutic Recreation!

I like that my program provides me with enough electives to pursue a minor or double major in Psychology!

I like that my program allows me to understand health care from a different perspective, at a population level. I also like that my program offers room through electives to explore other areas of interest. 

I like the versatility of my program and the opportunities it presented to gain experience in different health science domains. I especially love the focus on upstream elements through investigation of the social determinants of health.

I like how supportive the entire Faculty of Health is. The Public Health advisors are especially accessible and truly want the best for everyone in our program. They often go above and beyond to watch us succeed and know us personally. You really get a chance to get to know each person and you honestly build a little community on campus! There is so much to love about the Public Health program here at Waterloo. From the caring support system to the engaging, thought-provoking subject matter which draws on skills from different disciplines – you can't go wrong!

It's the perfect program to learn about the human body.

What I like best about my program are the students and faculty.

I like the opportunity we have to learn about health holistically by integrating knowledge from both science and health courses. Each course you take whether it be science, social science or health builds on to each other and allows you to view health from a different lens. I also enjoy the upstream approach we take when looking at the social determinants of health and public health intervention.

I love how welcoming and inclusive the professors and student body are. Everyone is always smiling and ready to lend a hand!

I love that my program allows us to take various electives throughout the years! These electives have allowed me to take many different courses that interest me.

My favourite part about Therapeutic Recreation is all of the hands-on experience we get throughout our degree! Many of our courses include experiential learning components and we have a practicum and internship. 

My program is really social! This was really nice because coming into university can be overwhelming but being able to make friends easily was nice. As a student who is registered with AccessAbility I have had great experiences working with my profs to make things more accessible for me. I have been able to explore so many other courses as well, and am currently looking into a biology minor.

I like that my program covers the broad systemic factors that cause disparities in health like poverty, climate change, and more.

I chose the recreation and sport business program because it allows me to combine my two passions together: business and sports! This program provides me with the knowledge I need to not only excel in a business career but also provides me with the real-world experience needed to pursue a career in the sports industry. 

I like that my program allows me to combine my passion for sports and interest in business and bring them together for interesting learning opportunities. Other universities don't provide a program similar to this one and I like that class sizes are small so we can develop a strong sense of community with other students. I have a passion for sports but I also enjoy the business areas of sports and this program allows me to study both. 

I really like how the program offers many electives that allow me to explore other subjects such as history, psychology, and sociology.

I love that my program offers a wide variety of courses not only in core sciences and kinesiology courses but also math, psychology and sociology in first and second year and then gives us the freedom to adapt a minor or two with our free electives in upper year.

I enjoy that the Health Studies program includes applied sciences as well as social sciences which I believe are equally important. Health Studies also allows for flexibility so that I can take electives that fit my personal and academic interests. This program has helped me to discover newfound interests in healthcare.

In addition to the close tight-knit community, what I love most about the program is that it is very hands-on, which has helped me both gain perspective and further develop my skills.

Not only do we study the physiology of diseases, we also examine determinants of health at the population level. Public Health is a great program for exploring different tracks in the field of health care. The program is intensive and allows me to draw on knowledge and skills from a variety of disciplines such as public policy, health science, epidemiology, behavioural sciences, etc. to critically assess a broad spectrum of public health issues. Lastly, the Co-op option provides the opportunity to gain practical work experience during which you can figure out what types of careers you are interested in within health care.

My favourite part about my program is the community. It is a decently small program so I am able to make meaningful connections with my classmates. Everyone is always willing to help out, friendly and approachable.

I love that my program has a variety of labs that give you a hands-on learning experience. It makes it easier to apply the content you learn in class to real-life situations.

I like the variety of health courses the Health Studies program requires, which allows me to see health through a multidisciplinary approach.

I like that my program provides its students plenty of opportunities to explore various health-related topics. I find that I'm never uninterested in any of the material we cover in each of our courses, which allows me to truly enjoy what I learn.

What I like best about my program is that everyone is a community that not only works together to improve our collective knowledge of the business side of sports, but also that we all share a passion for sports. 

I love the versatility of this program and how it really lets you go down the path you want to take. The first two years give you a solid understanding of the various Kinesiology topics that are out there, and then from there you can really specialize in a topic, if you desire to do so!

What I like best about my program is the extensive support and care that professors provide students with. They will go above and beyond to support you with whatever it may be. This really helps develop a sense of community and create such a strong and positive faculty environment.

I love that my program explores the intersectionality in health. I believe that it is important to learn about different identities and circumstances that affect one's health. Also, beyond the biomedical lens of health, I love that Health Studies explores other aspects of health such as mental health, access to healthcare and resources, health-related technologies and much more!

The thing I like the most about my program is how great a balance it has between the natural sciences and public health subjects. There is also a great amount of flexibility within the program which allowed me to go on a study abroad!

My program has taught me to think about different factors such as biology, environment, and socioeconomics in discussions about health. This holistic approach when it comes to the health of individuals and communities is what I like best about the Public Health program.