Life as a Rotman Commerce Student
Finance & Economics Class of 2027
Rotman Commerce
Hello, we’re Natiela and Raghib, your Rotman Commerce Ambassadors! We’re excited to bring you our series “Life@RC” so that you can get to know us ahead of the Black Student Leadership Conference and learn more about student life at Rotman Commerce.
I’m a second year at Rotman, specializing in Finance and Economics. I’m a member of St. Michael’s College and am heavily involved in student life through clubs like the Rotman Commerce Finance Association and Black Rotman Commerce. I’m also a part of the Finance Accelerator Program, an intensive training program geared toward students who want to break into finance. Student life gives you the chance to have experiential learning outside of the classroom, meet and work with people from all sorts of different backgrounds, and make lasting friendships.
As a member of St. Michael’s College, I’m also a resident here so I live on campus. I think staying on campus comes with a lot of perks like being so close to all my classes and being able to live downtown where all the action is. Professionally, this means that I can be close to the finance firms that call Toronto home. I can book in-person coffee chats and go to networking events quite easily, which I think has been very helpful in shaping my career. But when it comes to fun, there is so much to do with friends like going to the many restaurants, museums, art galleries, and shopping malls. If you’re about hustle and bustle, then living on campus can be a great option.
Finance & Economics Class of 2027
Rotman Commerce
I’m Raghib, also a second-year student at Rotman, specializing in Finance and Economics. I’m a member of University College, however, I commute rather than living on residence/campus. My biggest experience in student life at Rotman has to be my experience as a competitor for the Rotman Commerce Competition Team. As a member, I’ve gotten to travel across Canada and the globe competing in case competitions against international universities. Just this last semester, I went to Norway and Copenhagen! Rotman’s clubs give you opportunities to not only have a great student life but also build crucial skills to help you succeed in your career.
I imagine many of you reading this may be planning to commute to school yourself, I’ve commuted to UofT since my first year and can confirm that you can still have a great student life experience! If you plan to take the TTC (or GO train to Union), you can get off at St. George Station and be only steps away from your classes. I would highly recommend not leaving campus right after your lectures, as the best experiences with friends happen outside of class. Find a group and eat at UofT’s beautiful dining halls, have study sessions in Robarts, and join clubs where you have a common ground to meet new people! If you’re still worried about initially making friends, look into the commuter services offered by your college. I made my first friend group at University College’s Commuter Centre.
As a Rotman Commerce student, a good amount of your schedule will be filled with classes and tutorials and getting some studying done in between classes. But our classes are so spread out in the week (depending on how you plan your schedule, which is one of the greatest things about being an RC student) that it gives you time to plan for extracurricular activities like networking events, stock pitches, case competitions, socials and so much more!
Your university experience is what you make of it, so it’s important to explore and check out all that’s available to you as an RC student and make the best possible experience for you. We hope that the Life@RC series does just that.
We are so happy that we got to introduce ourselves to you ahead of the Black Student Leadership Conference. We hope to see you there on March 12th and show you what Rotman Commerce is all about. Stay tuned for more articles like these! Next week we’ll talk more about the services and support available for POC at UofT and Rotman Commerce.
