Author: mrualumni (Page 1 of 2)

Dear Mount Royal alumni,

From here in Calgary, we celebrate International Women’s Day with all of you around the globe.

Reflecting on this year’s IWD theme, #PressForProgress, and with the successes of the Pyeongchang Olympics fresh in my mind, I thought it was the perfect time to share stories of alumnae who are blazing a trail in the field of sports. We hope you enjoy the stories of Jacquie Hertlein, Grace Dafoe, Marianna Raguz and Corinne Ethier.

We’re proud of all our alumni who are changing our world for the better every day. How do you wish to #PressforProgress this annual International Women’s Day? Share your ideas!

Sincerely,

Eleanor Finger
Director, Alumni Relations

Grace Dafoe, Health and Physical Education, Physical Literacy, ’15)

“Sport and recreation gives me the confidence to pursue my dreams and goals outside of sport and motivates me to open more doors for females within sport – at a coach and athlete level,”

Did you know girls drop out of sports at six times the rate of boys in their early teens?

Grace Dafoe, MRU alumna, physical literacy advocate, and 2022 Olympic hopeful in Skeleton, is part of a movement of inspirational female role models that intends to put a stop to this mass exodus of girls from sport.

Dafoe participates in events several times each year to mentor girls as part of Fast and Female, a non-profit organization that has a mission of keeping girls healthy, happy and active in sports through their teens. As an early specialized athlete in figure skating, Dafoe understands first-hand the pressures girls experience while participating in sports.

While she competed as a figure skater throughout her childhood and teenage years, Dafoe made the difficult decision to focus solely on her education during her first year studying Physical Literacy at Mount Royal University.  Between hours of skating on-ice and conditioning off-ice every day, learning choreography, maintaining an athlete’s diet and dealing with the pressure of being a competitive athlete (all while trying to maintain good grades and a semblance of a social life), it’s no wonder that at the age of 18, she’d had enough.

It wasn’t long after she quit figure skating that she was invited to try skeleton for the first time, a sport that instantly appealed to her. Dafoe is now one of the top female competitors across Canada in the sport, making her a pretty remarkable role model for young girls facing challenges as they participate in sport.

“Sport and recreation gives me the confidence to pursue my dreams and goals outside of sport and motivates me to open more doors for females within sport – at a coach and athlete level,” said Dafoe.

Given the many projects she has on the go at any given time, it’s clear that she has the confidence to pursue anything she sets her mind to. As she goes forward in her career and her sport, there is no doubt this Mount Royal alumna will continue to #PressforProgress, empowering women at all levels.

Julie Macdonald
March 2018

Marianna Raguz, General Studies, ’96

I needed to get healthy for my life. That was when I started believing that you need to be fit for you and live life the way you see yourself.

No stranger to hard work and perseverance, Marianna Raguz is well aware of what it has taken to achieve everything she wanted in life. Being a first generation Canadian, Raguz understands that sometimes it takes great sacrifice to see results. Since her time as a student, she has set her goals and stopped at nothing until they were accomplished – no scholarship, no other support, just her.

As a Mount Royal student, she worked midnight shifts at the post office to pay her tuition, while maintaining her grades and doing what she loved most – playing basketball. Her hard work paid off when she tried out for the Croatian National Team in 1999. From there she played across Europe for 11 years and was recognized as the best defender in Europe.

At the peak of her career, Raguz found herself at an impossible crossroads when she incurred a severe back injury. Her choices were grim: choose between surgery with an eight-month rehabilitation period, or forgo the surgery and run the risk of the injury reoccurring.

Terrified by the reality of months of rehabilitation in a Croatian facility, Raguz knew what she had to do.

“Screw sports,” she said, “I needed to get healthy for my life. That was when I started believing that you need to be fit for you and live life the way you see yourself.”

This was the turning point in her career. Raguz moved to Israel to complete her rehabilitation in the comfort of a warmer climate and with access to her old team’s facilities. Soon enough she was ready to get back in the game and went on to play successfully for another six years.

Despite her many achievements, Raguz looks back at her time playing college ball at Mount Royal as some of the best years of her life. As someone who had always looked up to Karla Karch (current Director of Cougar Athletics who herself represented Canada in basketball at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics), it was a natural move for Raguz to come back to Mount Royal to coach the women’s basketball team.

Raguz continues to #PressforProgress as she strives to understand her players, their needs, and the spark that drives each one – using her experience to propel them to achieve. Surprised at how much she has learned and is still learning from her team, she is more motivated than ever to be the role model of female leadership they deserve.

Maggie Agbojo
March 2018

Corinne Ethier, Applied Business, Sport and Recreation, ’08

“Sport builds community by bringing people together.”

That’s why Corinne Ethier, current Manager of Event Volunteers at Hockey Canada, has channeled her passion for sport and athleticism into a career of bringing people together at every level in a traditionally male-dominated industry – building the success of athletes from the grassroots player to the high-performance professional.

Ethier’s niche role and relentless work ethic has allowed her to embrace opportunities to plan and deliver national and international championship sporting events, as well as advise Olympians, Paralympians and national team athletes on career, education, transition from sport, and the development of a national workforce plan.

Through her firsthand experience from her own concussion history, Ethier was also able to create specific programming for a large number of athletes experiencing concussions. At the Canadian Sport Institute, she built support groups and provided athletes with the structure they had been so accustomed to while training.

Continuously moving forward, Ethier recently joined MRU’s Harry G. Schaefer Mentorship Program and began mentoring another fearless alumna, Grace Dafoe, as she begins training for her athletic career.

Ethier continues to #PressforProgress by modeling success in the world of sports management to young women following in her footsteps.

Justine Farago
March 2018

I’m a first generation of the soccer girls so we didn’t have any mentors, and that’s why I give back and to the community. Sport is just a piece of it, but building good character and good people is more important.

Despite a prestigious athletic scholarship awaiting her in Florida, Jacquie Hertlein couldn’t turn down the opportunity to become one of the first members of Cougar Athletics’ alumni when she was invited to play striker for the inaugural Mount Royal College Women’s Soccer team in 1994. Mount Royal’s small class sizes and niche criminology program complemented the excitement of joining the team by providing a promising career beyond the athletic experience – all in her hometown.

“When I look back to my journey as a Cougar, there were a lot of interesting dynamics within this new, competitive women’s team led by a male coaching staff. The coach was learning, we were learning and I think I gained a ton of personal growth on how to manage people, manage myself and make sure I was leading by example. I was the first to get to practice and the last to leave,”  says Hertlein.

Mount Royal was the right path for her academically, athletically and personally. At the time, student athleticism was highly recognized in local media and Hertlein fondly remembers participating in interviews that documented her success as team captain, tournament All-Star and highest goal-scorer throughout her Mount Royal career.

The challenges and rewards of Hertlein’s experience as a student athlete helped develop her ambitious skill-set that led her to achieve many levels of athletic success and serve an 18-year career as a local police officer and sergeant. Hertlein has paved pathways to help young women navigate male-dominated industries and continues to do so; for example, Hertlein is the current coach of Alberta’s U13 Girls South provincial soccer team, coach of the SAIT Women’s Soccer team, a member of the Development in Women’s Soccer Committee and is the first woman on the Technical Committee of the Alberta Soccer Association.

Ultimately, what is it about Jacquie that motivates her to operate at this level? Her drive to give back and be a positive mentor for young women.

“Being that role model for younger girls that I didn’t have. I’m a first generation of the soccer alumni, so we didn’t have any mentors and that is why I give back to Mount Royal and to the community. Sport is just a piece of it, but building good character and good people is more important.”

Justine Farago
March 2018

Networking Online

Now that your image is on point you can start networking online. It is important to first clarify your top objective for social networking. This will guide your activities and help you to grow and refine your network. Determine what it is you are after: for example, a local job, relocation, or visibility in a professional community. Once you have determined your goal you can begin to look at your existing network. Stay in contact regularly with your current connections and ask them for referrals and prospects to meet your objectives. In determining your objective you can begin to narrow down where your focus should be by asking yourself these questions:

• Which websites, groups, subscriptions, publications and feeds do the people I want to connect with use?
• How much time will I set aside to network?
• What tasks can I reasonably undertake during that time?
  • Scheduling 10 to 30 minutes a day is enough to connect meaningfully online and stay up to date on industry trends, business news or people you follow

Online networking follows the same best practices as traditional networking, but there is more opportunity to meet others outside of your network. Best online practice guidelines include:

• Try once; if they do not accept move on.
  • People use online networks for different reasons at different stages of their careers; not all group members, colleagues, clients or professionals you try to connect with will accept.
• Your reputation is based on your activity; be sure to make meaningful contributions.
  • Comment positively on professional posts, tweets, or in chats.
  • Write a reference or testimonial for someone who has helped you grow professionally.
  • Connect at least one person monthly with an opportunity, article or someone else in your network.
  •  Initiate discussions with people who inspire you.
  • Build a network of professionals inside and outside of your industry.
• If you are employed, find out about your company’s policies regarding use of Internet, online networking, and electronic devices, as these vary. For some, staying in touch with colleagues and clients electronically is encouraged. For others, strict policies regulate what is acceptable.

Check List

Answering “yes” to the below checklist will keep your social media professional and up to date.

• I have searched versions of my name and online aliases, including images on multiple platforms (such as YouTube, Flickr, etc.) comparing what I find to my desired professional image, noting changes needed.
• My personal information – including address, age, family members’ names, and schedule – is not easily found online, safeguarding my home and privacy.
• Each social network site, blog, photo sharing or Twitter feed (even non-professional sites) conveys an image I would be comfortable for a prospective employer to see, including:
  • pictures
  • profile
  • comments, tweets and posts
  • group membership/people followed

Digital dirt

• I have a professional email account – ideally a professional version of my name – and I use the same professional image across all platforms so visitors start to recognize me.
•  I have ensured my privacy settings are appropriate.
• I have untagged inaccurate or unprofessional content and images and have contacted others who have posted unprofessional content or pictures requested they remove or untag me.
•  I have prepared what I will say about content I cannot delete, if asked about it.

Building a solid foundation

•  I have done a keyword search for the work I am interested in pursuing and I have a plan for incorporating these keywords into my profiles.
• I have articulated the experiences and achievements that are relevant to my career direction – including work and volunteer projects and related extracurricular and community activities using keywords and descriptors found in my keyword search – to clearly explain what I can contribute.
• I have established a consistent profile across all websites, ensuring content on one does not contradict content on another
• I continue to check job boards on which I have posted my resume, have deleted or updated outdated profiles and am comfortable with the privacy policy of each site.
• I have made a list of past classmates, friends, acquaintances, volunteer/work colleagues and instructors and invited them to connect with me on a professional networking site.
• I have evaluated my current network and identified individuals I can honestly and genuinely recommend.
• I have identified my ideal audiences and have a targeted list of related companies, industries and individuals I would like to follow.

 Growing a network

• I invite contacts whose business cards I have collected at professional activities and in-person networking events to connect with me on LinkedIn, always maintaining a professional format.
• When attempting to connect with people I do not know, I ask for introductions from a mutual connection, identify some common ground and clarify my intention for connecting.
• I have evaluated my current circle of contacts and have noted gaps I would benefit from filling, such as recent graduates who specialize in my field or work in the companies or industries with which I would like to connect.
• I have identified communities relevant to my studies and professional interests, reviewed user guidelines for each and noted etiquette and tone before contributing positive, professional comments and questions.
• Knowing that networking is a reciprocal relationship, I share with my contacts, including professional achievements, upcoming professional events.

Keeping vigilant

• I have set up an alert to be notified when something about me, my name or those with similar names appear.
• I understand that privacy settings may change unexpectedly so routinely check my privacy settings on all social media and other online accounts.
• I recognize that no information on the Internet can be private and I only post that which I would be comfortable being seen by prospective employers, clients, campus administrators and colleagues.
• Online and offline, I always interact with my professional reputation in mind.

For further information, read the full tip sheet available on the Mount Royal University Career Services website.

Content for this blog was adapted by Arla Ewing, Career Services Work Experience Coordinator, from source document: “Online Professional Presence – Focus Tip Sheet”, written by Elaine Balych, Career Education Coordinator, Mount Royal University Career Services. 

Mount Royal Career Services offers services to graduates of Mount Royal University credit certificates, diplomas, bachelor degrees and applied degrees.