The program, which offers courses in human and social development, including psychology, sociology, and social work, is also flexible. It helped that Renison’s campus offers a tight, intimate community just across the pedestrian bridge from the main Waterloo campus – while students earn an impressive University of Waterloo degree. The professors for SDS are warm and work really diligently to build an inclusive environment.” “All of my questions were answered promptly, and any direction I wanted to take my degree, I was offered those avenues and opportunities. “They never invalidated my experiences,” she says of her SDS professors. Struggling with her mental health at the time, she says she felt supported and understood. It’s also offered as a major through the Honours Arts and Honours Arts and Business programs.Īurra, who is now doing her Masters in social justice and community engagement at another local university, says she knew she had found something special the moment she entered the SDS community. SDS is a direct-entry program through Renison so students can apply to the program through the Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC). In fact, it’s easy to jump in from day one. Not every student finds SDS at Renison in such a roundabout way. “I would say – and this is not to be dramatic – I came across SDS and it really changed my life.” “Before I found SDS I felt very isolated,” she says now.
Aurra wanted to change the world, but no one else seemed to be speaking her exact language. She says she remembers feeling different than her classmates and professors – like a hexagonal peg in a round hole. Aurra wanted a holistic, interdisciplinary program that connected life’s dots.
What she was learning just seemed too specific and detached from other disciplines. But whether she was taking genetics at another university or business classes at Waterloo, she felt a disconnect with the course material and other students. Just ask Aurra, a recent graduate of the Social Development Studies (SDS) program offered through Renison University College, a mini campus within the University of Waterloo.īefore she stumbled onto SDS through a thought-provoking political ideologies course, Aurra had already changed majors three times. Sometimes it takes a few false starts before finding a program that feels like home. Safe, inclusive and inspiring, Renison’s Social Development Studies program could just help you change the world