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When Grant Flagler won the Faculty Leadership Award at the Dalhousie Impact Awards this year, he was both humbled and motivated. Flagler, about to graduate from the Bachelor of Management program with a major in leadership and organizations, has dedicated time and energy over the last four years to leadership, and plans to continue doing so.

Flagler visited Halifax from Toronto as a teenager and received a Dalhousie tour. “I felt at home at Dalhousie, which is a feeling that I didn’t experience at several of the other universities I visited,” he explains. He was drawn to the diversity of courses a degree in Management allows, and to the possibility of doing an internship.

 “As a Management student I have always believed that being heavily involved is very important to academic success. It teaches you to manage your time and prioritize,” says Flagler. He has been involved in various contexts. He coached a club volleyball team for four seasons, which, he says, “allowed me to work closely with athletes in the community, and to give back to the sport, which I had played for five years in elementary and high school.” He joined the Dalhousie Management Society in first year and more recently became Vice-President Finance, allowing him to exercise both leadership and financial skills. He also volunteered at the Faculty of Management’s Orientation week for three years, and supported the organization of the 7 Speaker Series.

Besides these activities, Flagler completed an internship, an experience he highly recommends to other Management students. “The internship provides students not only with valuable work experience, but also with job search tools that can be applied to future employment application processes,” he explains. “It opens doors to Management students that are certainly not opened by regular summer employment or part-time jobs.” After having such a positive experience with his own internship, Flagler decided to help others organize theirs. He took on a lead role in the Internship Program in his last two years. “I spent time planning an all-inclusive career workshop and assisted Management Career Services [MCS] with recruitment for the two most recent internship cohorts,” he explains. “I also was afforded the opportunity to conduct interviews for the internship program alongside MCS staff.” Flagler also promoted the internship program through MCS “Career Cafés” and helped first- and second-year students to be successful in their internships.

Upon graduation, Flagler plans to return to Ontario. He has applied for positions with the employer with which he did his internship, which will allow him to continue to hone his financial and leadership skills. He will not soon forget, though, all he has learned from and contributed to the Faculty of Management and Dalhousie. “I definitely will be returning for alumni events,” he says. “I am proud to call myself a graduate of Dalhousie University and I realize how lucky I have been to spend four years in such an amazing city.”