The Commerce Week’s “Commerce on the Quad” 2024
Welcome, readers!
It’s been less than a month since the last edition was released, and yet it feels like all the time and not nearly enough time has passed! Soon, it’ll be time to enter a new academic era.
In this month’s blog we’re focusing on the back-to-school agenda. I had the pleasure of interviewing the current The Commerce Week (TCW) Co-Chairs and the last year’s representatives of the First Year Committee.
Here’s to another cheerful read! I present to you the August Scoop: The First Week Comeback
The First Year Experience
What better way to prepare for school than hear about the Asper first year experience from the students who know it best?
]
Simreen Shahi, 2024-2025 First Year Representative
Meet Simreen Shahi and Xavier Lavergne, the former First Year Representatives of the Commerce Students’ Association (CSA).
Now entering her second year and considering a double major in Marketing and Accounting, Simreen Shahi was one of two First Year Representatives of the Asper First Year Committee (FYC). You might also recognize her as the CSA’s Graduation and Alumni Co-Chair, UMMA’s Director of Marketing, and TCW’s Director of Corporate Relations.
Xavier Lavergne is also entering his second year, majoring in Actuarial Mathematics, after a fulfilling year as one of two First Year Representatives. As the current CSA Vice President Academics, he supports and leads the Academics Portfolio team of Graduation & Alumni Coordinators, Case Competition Coordinators, and Student Development Coordinators.
The First Year Representatives are elected by fellow first year students. With assistance from their First Year Committee, they organize one social and various charity and fundraising events. They act as the liaison between New-to-Asper students and the CSA.
Xavier Lavergne, 2024-2025 First Year Representative
Before their first days of Asper, both Simreen and Xavier had basic knowledge of Asper, but they still had questions. What is the CSA, STAGs, and how were they different? What opportunities did they have as Asper students?
The First Year Committee, Representatives, and campaigns were even more unknown—at least until orientation day for Simreen and the first few weeks of classes for Xavier. They both decided to try out campaigning and were elected.
In a way, becoming the First Year Representatives gave them a head-start when it came to learning all things Asper. That means CSA, STAGs, courses, majors, experiential learning opportunities, and resources. But of course, that wasn’t all.
When it comes to learning about your resources and opportunities as a student, “You need to know where to look,” Xavier says, whether that’s networking, searching websites, or something else.
For starters, here’s an extremely helpful link to the CSA’s First Year Resources, including information about the CSA, FYC, majors, getting involved, FAQs, and more. Xavier and the Student Development Coordinators are also working on an updated Asper Survival School Guide, so look out for that too!
No matter which year you’re in, how much experience you think you have, how many people you know, it’s never too late to get involved. Growth is a unique journey for everyone, and you get to decide what the other side of it looks like for you.
What are Simreen and Xavier’s strategies for studying?
It’s all about experimentation. It takes time to see what works for you and doesn’t, and it’s different for everyone. For example, you could take lecture notes written in your own words, revise notes after each class, or do both. Read your textbook, but skip over the parts that aren’t necessarily important. Flashcards may be great for some people, but it won’t necessarily work for others.
If you’re practicing questions for math or statistics, see Grant’s Tutoring books.
Above all, it’s important to eat healthy, get good sleep, drink water, and stay active.
If there’s three things Xavier and Simreen would advise Asper students, it would be to ask questions when you’re unsure, get to know at least one person in every class, and get involved.
“When you’re new to Asper it can be really overwhelming because there’s so much going on, but just ask. Stop by the CSA office. Ask anyone if you have questions. Just ask.” – Simreen Shahi
Getting involved may seem daunting especially if it’s your first time, but it never hurts to try. Sign up for something if you can imagine yourself enjoying it, but don’t go overboard with commitments! In the case of running for an elected position, such as the First Year Representative, the idea of going up to strangers and asking them to vote for you may seem impossible… but a little bit of support and confidence can go a long way!
And as always, find a balance. You may find yourself so focused on a thing that you start to let go of the other things in your life. Your work may start eating up your personal time, and you may feel stuck between your responsibilities and expectations. And that’s completely normal. Find the power in yourself to get up, find a balance, and keep trying.
The Asper first year experience isn’t a one-glove-fits-all experience, but if you’d like to start your school year strong, keep a sharp eye and open mind! Follow the @aspercsa Instagram, @asperfyc Instagram, and subscribe to the CSA newsletter for updates.
The First Week Spotlight: The Commerce Week
If there’s one way to start the year strong, it’s definitely with The Commerce Week!
From September 2 to 5, The Commerce Week (TCW) is Asper’s orientation week, designed to welcome students, encourage them to get involved, and teach about what Asper has to offer. Throughout the week there will be external and internal booths, a food truck market, fun activities, beverage gardens, and a social event!
Meet the TCW Co-Chairs, Chavi Saini and Ainsley Bosak.
Ainsley Bosak (left) & Chavi Saini (right), 2025-2026 TCW Co-Chairs
Chavi Saini is entering her third year of Asper, initially considering criminology or business in her first year of university. Now she has either Marketing or Finance in mind, but above all Chavi has set her sights on law school. Her experience as a TCW Co-Chair has been great so far, as she always wanted to get involved in Asper.
Meanwhile, Ainsley Bosak is entering her second year of Asper, interested in majoring in Accounting and Strategy and Global Management. In her first year, Ainsley was part of the First Year Committee as an Event Co-Chair. As someone who loves events planning, the role of TCW Co-Chair has allowed her to continue with that passion.
Together they organize Asper’s biggest back-to-school event, along with their committee of eight.
Coming back stronger than ever for its 10th year anniversary, TCW is embracing a full rebrand and exciting changes.
For the longest time TCW did not have the unique logo it currently has. At first, the logo was only text added onto the CSA logo. Other CSA committees had their own recognizable, unique logos, such as Shinerama or 5Days. Chavi and Ainsley wanted something to differentiate TCW—something where people could look at the logo and instantly recognize it as “The Commerce Week”.
And that’s what they have this year. The rebranded TCW logo has three versions, and the main consists of a harmonious and lively palette of coral pink, sunshine yellow, and white. Along is a sun motif and fresh vibes!
There will also be a change to Commerce on the Quad (COTQ), the exciting social and highlight of the week. COTQ will be returning on campus on the Quad, after a year off-campus! The social will take place between 8:00 pm and 12:00 am. Needless to say, COTQ will be back bigger and better than ever.
Both Chavi and Ainsley agree that the experience organizing TCW has been super fun. Being on the CSA itself has been great, but working so closely with others has been the best part. Whether it’s with their own co-chair, committee members, Vice President Student Life Katelyn, or administration.
Organizing events takes a lot of hard work, but outdoor events are on another level. There is a ton of behind-the-scenes work, which Chavi and Ainsley had to find out the hard way. Basically, there’s a ton of permits—outdoor, loud noise, fire department. If it sounds like it needs a permit, then it probably does!
“Sometimes things get stressful with permits, people don’t respond. You just have to push your way through and everything works out in the end.” – Chavi Saini, 2025-2026 TCW Co-Chair
Of course, all their hard work is dedicated to making The Commerce Week as safe, fun, and exciting as it can be!
The event schedule is packed with fun events all week and all on-campus.
September 2: Orientation Day for New-to-Asper students, including pinning ceremony, icebreakers, and STAG booths.
September 3: Boothing Day, featuring external and internal organization booths on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the Drake Centre.
September 4: Food Truck Market outside the Buhler building, with games, activities, and music. Vendors include: MARO Matcha, Blank Slush, Beaver Tails, TheJar, Clothing Bakery, Anziety, and Azzure Collection.
September 5: Commerce on the Quad. There will be beverage gardens in the afternoon and the COTQ social at night.
If there’s one thing that Chavi and Ainsley would want students to take away from their experience at TCW Week, it would be this: to not be afraid and take advantage of the many events happening in Asper. Everyone’s here to help each other out. You’re part of the best community university has to offer.
“University is what you make it to be.” – Ainsley Bosak, 2025-2026 TCW Co-Chair
TCW is currently looking for volunteers to help out on event day! Click here to sign up. As a volunteer you’ll get to meet new people, build new friendships, create lasting memories, and score amazing prizes.
Tickets to COTQ will also be available soon, so keep an eye out for that on TCW’s Instagram account, @tcwasper.
CSA Summer Recap
Let’s recap the CSA’s summer events!
First of all, congratulations to the UofM Shinerama committee for achieving 99.17% of its fundraising goal of $5,500! Shinerama is Canada’s largest post-secondary fundraiser in support of Cystic Fibrosis Canada. Over the summer they’ve hosted many fundraising events, such as:
- 21st Annual Walk to Make Cystic Fibrosis History
- Flatlanders Beer Festival
- Bomber’s Bike Valet (x2)
- Trivia Night
- Shinerama Can Collection
- Car Wash Fundraiser
- Pickleball Tournament
And there will be more Shinerama events to come once school begins!
Secondly, the 22nd Annual Corporate Golf Tournament was a huge success! They had a full house of students and corporate representatives from ten different companies, everyone had a great time networking throughout the day while playing golf and eating dinner, and the weather was perfect. There were prizes such as a signed Winnipeg Jets poster, scuba diving gift cards, and Blue Bombers game tickets.
Lastly are the Summer Case 101 Workshops, in collaboration with the Asper Case Experience by Students (ACES). These workshops aid students in their case competition journey, great for beginners and seasoned competitors alike. The four total summer workshops were successful, but don’t worry, there will be more in the Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 term!
With that, we conclude the August Scoop!
Thank you to my lovely interviewees Ainsley Bosak, Chavi Saini, Simreen Shahi, and Xavier Lavergne! And thanks to my wonderful readers for staying until the end.
In the meantime, I’ll be on vacation! See you all when school starts!
Pookie Out!