Travis (Senior Marketing Coordinator)
When we first arrived in Edinburgh, we were admittedly a little awestruck. The city is incredible, and just stunning to look at. It may be even possible, dare I say, the Scottish are as nice as Canadians! We couldn’t have felt more at home if we tried.
Although we didn’t have much time in the city, as we had to continue on our journey, we made out as best we could! It was really important for us to meet with some members of the University of Edinburgh. We’ve worked with the University in the past, but we are really keen to continue building a working relationship on campus. For that reason, we met with Ross and Simon in the Careers and Alumni Office. Meeting them was great! Instead of sharing emails over time, we met face to face and we’re able to discuss how great University of Edinburgh students are. When were in the area next, we will definitely be meeting with them, hopefully planning some events in conjunction with their office.
After our meeting, we met with Liam Gordon—our amazing Regional Rep in the area. It is kind of an understatement, but it’s an incredible pleasure working with Liam. He’s helped us so much as the “boots on the ground” in Edinburgh. With his help, we toured the University and spoke to some students about the program. If you’re interested in continuing to work with NYQUEST after the summer, definitely reach out to Liam. He’s made videos, put up posters, reached out to societies, and helped us out at our overseas events. Not to mention, if you haven’t checked out the two new NYQUEST videos, he was a huge part of their creation. So happy to continue working together!
Moving to our event, we had such a great time. The turnout was amazing—a strong mix of new faces and old participants (from last year and years past). It was great meeting everyone, and we’d love to hang out at Revolution again.
We left Edinburgh too soon! We want to go back.
Lauren (Placement Co-Director)
On Thursday, Travis and I did a day trip out to Dundee. Our first stop was the University of Dundee Career’s Centre. Here we met up with Kirstin Bannon, who was extremely welcoming and helpful. We loved talking to her about the University of Dundee student population and look forward to working with her in the future! She even gave us some suggestions of where to eat in Edinburgh – including an awesome spot called Panda and Sons. The front of the restaurant looks like a barber shop, and you need to go through a secret door that looks like a bookcase to enter the real restaurant. We sure don’t have anywhere like that in Toronto – thanks for the local knowledge Kirstin!
We held our lunchtime event at The Tinsmith near the University of Dundee campus, which was an awesome venue! We had a great turnout of both alumni and new prospective participants. It looks like Dundee will be a city with quite a few Regional Reps in the area – including Jessica, Caitlin, and Charlotte! These ladies have worked at camps in a few different areas of Canada, including Quebec, Alberta, and our Family Camp in Ontario. They are going to be super helpful on-the-ground resources for those of you who have questions about working at camp in Canada.
After our event, we walked over to Abertay University and met with Anna Young at the Careers Centre over there. Once again, we were blown away by how friendly and helpful she was! Although it’s a small university, we could tell the students there have tons of spirit and ambition. It’s really interesting to experience the unique atmospheres and vibes that each different university has.
After our quick stop in Dundee, we caught the train back to Edinburgh for our final night in the U.K.! We can’t believe how quickly this week has flown by!
Now, we’re off to Dublin! You can read the next UK & Ireland Travel Log entry here! If you missed our last entries, you can read about our London and Manchester adventures!