Don’t be surprised if you’ve seen Ameerah McLean around University of Guelph-Humber campus. After all, the fourth-year Psychology student works five different positions around UofGH, several of which are volunteer roles.
McLean will be taking on another new role in 2017-18 when she begins serving as a Student Senator. McLean, who grew up around Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga, just doesn’t like missing out on opportunities to get involved.
“University is four years – we only have a limited time to make the best of the situation,” she said. “Whenever there’s a new club or a new opportunity, I always go for it. I won’t always get it, but I always try.”
McLean found a passion for psychology during high-school, when she became interested in the mind and began wondering why people behave the way they do. Inspired in part by having family members who have lived experience with mental illness, McLean ultimately wanted to find a way to help people.
She plans on going into counselling psychology, though she notes that there are many areas of psychology that she finds interesting, including the psychology of gender. Though she’s just entering fourth year, McLean is already thinking about graduate school. Ultimately, she wants to run her own wellness centre.
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For McLean, UofGH has been such a good fit because of the “sense of community.”
“You’re with the same people through all four years, so it gives you the chance to make really great connections. And your professors actually know who you are – I love that.”
While it can be tough to juggle such a full schedule of extracurricular activities, McLean says her various campus endeavours have actually helped her studies.
“I think it benefited my schoolwork in that I know more about myself,” she said. “So when we have reflective pieces, I understand what I should be writing and what’s true with me.”
