Dave Howlett

MGT hosts welcome reception for second-year students

Sarah Jane Silva

Three years ago it started off as just a welcome lunch, but it quickly flourished into something more.

Officially welcomed by the Department of Management and the Institute for Management & Innovation, second-year commerce and management students attended a reception held in their honour at the Instructional Building at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

The aim of the reception was to not only provide a warm welcome to students and to introduce supporting staff and faculty members, but also to help cultivate student growth.

The evening offered these students a chance to see the Department and the Institute as a whole, and to learn what it has to offer.

“It’s a big deal that you’re with us now in your second year and that you’ve chosen us,” said Heather Hines, director of undergraduate programs and student services, who initiated and produced the yearly event.

“You’ve chosen to spend the next few years of your life here learning, growing and hopefully moving on to really successful careers. We want to celebrate that and we want to give you that time to acknowledge this accomplishment.”

I truly believe your destiny in life is simple; it’s determined by who you associate with. - Dave Howlett

There to offer some insightful words of encouragement were Louis Florence, director of undergraduate programs, Mihkel Tombak, chair of the Department of Management, and Pierre Desrochers, interim director of the Institute for Management & Innovation.

Also in attendance was Amrita Daniere, vice-principal, academic and Dean at UTM.

As well, student groups Undergraduate Commerce Society (UCS) and Student Management Association (SMA) each presented their mentorship programs and talked about the many great opportunities available to second-year students.

Keynote speaker and author Dave Howlett capped off the evening with the following heartfelt advice: “I truly believe your destiny in life is simple; it’s determined by who you associate with,” he said.

“You need to put yourself in the company of heroes and sometimes those are students in years higher than yours, sometimes that’s a professor that you’ve made a connection with, sometimes that’s one of the faculty and one of the staff.”