Students of UBC Sauder’s Bachelor + Master of Management (B+MM) program have successfully created a new opportunity to share and celebrate ideas through their inaugural year-end event, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Talks.
This year’s theme was ‘Passion to Profession’ and featured five student speakers who shared how they turned their passions into career opportunities. The five presenters’ topics ranged from yoga practice and urban design in Vancouver to the establishment of a global publishing platform for youth. More than 100 students attended the dinner event on April 4 to hear the presentations and network with peers, staff, faculty and local business leaders.
“We’re empowering students and getting them re-energized about their passions,” said Angela Sunario, president of the B+MM Student Association. “Passion is not just some intangible buzzword; your peers have found and leveraged theirs, and they’re here to help you do the same.”
P2P Talks is the culmination of the B+MM Student Association’s year-long P2P Discussions, a platform for B+MM students to share ideas, network and get to know their peers. Sunario spearheaded the inaugural event with P2P Coordinator Tom Satterthwaite, with support from the Hari B. Varshney Business Careers Centre (BCC) and the Robert H. Lee Graduate School.
“It was really three of us that came together to create this event – our student association, the Robert H. Lee Graduate School and the BCC,” said Sunario. “It’s a humbling and gratifying feeling to have seen our idea grow into an established event, after all of our efforts.”
‘Passion to Profession’ is a theme inspired by the B+MM itself. The program enables students to pursue undergraduate subjects they’re most passionate about while adding a postgraduate business qualification from one of the world’s most prestigious business schools.
“P2P Talks is a great example of why I enrolled in the B+MM program to begin with,” said Dalia Yasin, a psychology student currently in the B+MM program. She hopes to turn her ideas about human behavior into impactful solutions through social enterprise.
“I was incredibly inspired, hearing what these student leaders from varying backgrounds have accomplished,” she said. “I left thinking about what I could accomplish by the same time next year.”
UBC Sauder’s B+MM program allows students to study accounting, finance, marketing and strategic management in a streamlined six-month curriculum. Students receive real-world experience that equips them to operate in the business world as well as personalized professional development advice throughout the program.
