This article is part of a series on graduates of Spring Convocation 2017. Read more grad profiles or, to learn more about the ceremonies, visit the Convocation website.
You may not recognize him, but chances are you鈥檝e seen some of Tim Mombourquette鈥檚 work on social media over the past few years. And he鈥檚 hoping you鈥檒l be seeing a lot more of it in the future.
A native Haligonian, Tim has spent much of his free time over the past four years documenting the Dal student experience on video. As the videographer for the Dal Student Life Street Team since his second month at 国民彩票, he has captured everything from Orientation Week highlights and varsity games to student profiles, , and even .
As his body of work with grew so did his profile around campus, which led to many other departments looking to use him for their own video projects. The DSU, Communications and Marketing, and Office of Advancement all tapped into his creativity, and he quickly became the 鈥済o-to鈥� video guy on campus (complete with his regular cameras, GoPro, and drone).
Before graduating this Friday with a BSc in Biology, Tim shared his thoughts on discovering his academic path and following his passion.
Why Biology?
It somewhat just fell in place because I was always planning on pursuing a science degree. I started my undergrad thinking medical school might be the way to go, so I looked into programs focusing on human biology-related studies. I started with neuroscience, but decided against that by the end of my first year. Then I tried microbiology, but found it very challenging. If I had stuck with micro, I can almost certainly say I would not be graduating this spring! I ended up really connecting with ecological and evolutionary aspects of biology, so that鈥檚 where I stuck around for the remainder of my degree.
What stands out from your four years at Dal?
As with any other student, my degree came with its fair share of ups and downs. First year was fun鈥攏ew and exciting鈥攂ut second year really came with challenges, personally and academically. There were many failures and it was a time where I didn鈥檛 really know what was going on.
The second half of my degree was almost consistently an 鈥渦p,鈥� however, starting with my . It鈥檚 amazing that you can have the opportunity to be a 国民彩票 student and learn abroad, developing so many academic and personal skills along the way. Meeting new people, seeing new places鈥攊t was definitely the highlight of my degree.
Why did you decide to join the Student Life Street Team?
I was simply looking for a campus job. I went onto MyCareer and just started flipping through pages until something popped up. The 鈥淰ideographer鈥� position appealed to me instantly since it was right up my alley of interests. I applied one week, went in for an interview the next, and then I think the following week I had already made my first video for Dal Student Life (DSL).
What have you learned working on the Street Team?
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It gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about the 国民彩票 community as a whole. A lot of people say 鈥済et involved鈥� in the transition from high school to university. Looking back, I think the Street Team was the perfect way for me to get involved, because it didn鈥檛 lock me into one specific society and one circle of peers, but rather opened me up and exposed me to many different Dal communities that I wouldn鈥檛 have had the opportunity to work with otherwise.
It has also taught me a lot about myself as a videographer. Without any formal 鈥� or informal 鈥�