Career Snapshot - Abygail Berg - Arts Leadership Cohort

Career Snapshot - Abygail Berg - Arts Leadership Cohort 

We caught up with Abygail Berg, a second year Industrial Design student and also the Arts Leadership Cohort leader for the 2015/2016. 

During University did you have a particular career path in mind? If so, how did this career path change throughout your degree?

Coming to the U of A I was quite certain of the career path I desired to have. I wanted to finish my industrial design degree and work in the field for a few years, then continue on and obtain my masters in architecture. Although I still aspire to follow this path, my experiences with getting involved in the residence community on campus and the greater community of Edmonton have opened new interests for me as well. 

In my first year I lived on the Arts/ Leadership Cohort, a floor in Lister Centre intended for (although it is open to anybody who wants to be involved) Faculty of Arts students who desire to be leaders in their community through volunteer work.  Living on the ALC reminded me both of how much I love community service, and how rewarding it is to live in a community of awesome students with similar interest.  Since I had such a great experience with the ALC I applied to be the Arts/ Leadership Cohort leader for my second year, and received the position!

This past year has been an amazing experience of getting to know many talented students who are part of the ALC, both from Lister and those who volunteer with us from outside of residence. We have been fundraising for the Boyle McCauley Health center, helping out at Hope Mission, exploring poverty in Edmonton through the help of The Mustard Seed’s Social Issues Walk, and we are also working on some mental wellness programing to finish up the year.

I never intended to work for Residence Services coming into U of A, but now that I have, it sparked a whole other set of interests for me.  Residence and community involvement has been an important part of my first two years at U of A. It has given me the opportunity to be involved with campus culture, while also being involved in the larger community of Edmonton. I encourage anybody who has the chance to be involved in some of the programs here on campus like the ALC, Engage Edmonton, or any number of other awesome student groups to do so! You never know where it may take you. I am looking forward to continuing to work with Residence Services for the next year, and hopefully continuing to work with them in the future to ensure that incoming students have just as great and if not better experiences than I did!