Gelina Sanico

There are several reasons why I would recommend Explorations to prospective students, the first and most important one being that it gives students in the program a smoother transition into university life. With a friendlier class setting and professors who have been teaching in the program for so long, it's easy to get to get to know your classmates and even your instructors, which is admittedly very rare in many classroom situations. It's also worth mentioning that all of the Explorations professors were approachable and kind! The subjects that are studied in Explorations are also creative and stimulating. For example, in Explorations 120 and 160 with Sasha Colby, a large portion of our marks were based on creative projects, which is really quite refreshing for university. Everything about this program is engaging and welcoming, and I'm sure many other students will come to understand this if they choose to be a part of it!

Explorations (and SFU in general) has helped sharpen my interests. In particular, I discovered a deeper interest in the Arts, where I am hoping to pursue something English or Communications related. And because of places like SFU's reputable Co-op program, I know that I will always have a potential outlet to try my hand at whatever I can. Besides that, there are so many volunteer and activity opportunities that allow me to be a better student and meet new people (workshops, open club activities, movie nights, etc). With friends who I have met through Explorations, we've formed a Casual Swimming Club (because we could all use the exercise in our busy academic lives), and have always made time throughout the semester to study together, whether we shared a class or not! I've even brainstormed with fellow Exploration classmates to form a Harry Potter Quidditch club!

SFU, and Explorations in extension, has done very much to open doors for my university life, and gave me every confidence to be the multi-tasking, fully-operatioinal student that I've always wanted to be when I was in high school. With all this being said, I really can't imagine a better first year than the one that I had as an Explorations student at Simon Fraser University.

Gelina Sanico, Explorations 2010/2011
BA Candidate