Graduating from university is a significant achievement. Culminating years of dedication and hard work, convocation is a time for celebration — looking back with pride and looking forward with hope.
This milestone is even more meaningful for Waterloo’s undergraduate valedictorians, who, for their social and academic contributions, have been chosen by their peers to represent them at their respective graduation ceremonies. Read about Kyle's Waterloo journey below.
Faculty of Arts Valedictorian
Extra-curriculars played a big part in Rowe’s time at Waterloo, and if he could offer one piece of advice to younger students, it would be to engage in student life as much as possible.
"Get involved in as many clubs and societies as you can. You meet people you wouldn’t otherwise meet in your courses and you get to work on projects that you’re actually interested in.”
He is especially proud of his role as an executive on the Waterloo-partnered hackathon StarterHacks, where he played a pivotal role in helping host one of the first large tech events in Ontario to have more than half of those in attendance identifying as female. He also takes pride in the ways he’s helped foster an entrepreneurial spirit and excitement through the Waterloo Entrepreneurship Society (EntSoc); countless employer-student connections were made because of Rowe’s support and leadership.
Rowe is especially grateful to his professors for their mentorship and feels very lucky to have worked with them for the past four years: “I challenge anyone to find professors who care more about their students than those in Stratford.”
Rowe currently works in brand management and digital marketing and has future plans to complete a master’s degree in Europe. With dreams to start his own marketing agency, Rowe has set his sights on big things.
Join the Faculty of Arts Convocation on Saturday, June 19, at 1 p.m.
This article was written by Victoria Lumax and originally published in Waterloo Stories. It has been adapted for the Stratford School.