BComm student-athlete Andrew Boucher applies hard-won hockey lessons to business and shares some student tips for success.
A lot of people tell Andrew Boucher “You must be really good at hockey.”
Objectively, he is: he played in two high-scoring seasons for the Waywayseecapo Wolverines in the MJHL, and then he got recruited to UM. This year will be his third with the Bisons.
And if you need any more proof, he’s missing his right front tooth. Yes, it came from a puck.
But the truth is, Andrew constantly feels like an imposter.
Jumping from the MJHL to U SPORTS, he went from being at the top of his field, to feeling like he was back at the bottom again.
“You get to [U SPORTS] and you’re like, ‘OK, I’m not as good as I thought I was compared to some of these guys,’” says Boucher. “That definitely exploits your weaknesses big time off the start.”
The key to Andrew’s success, though, is that he has always been punching above his weight.
Growing up in Morden, MB, Andrew’s hero wasn’t Sydney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin, it was his older brother, Keane.
Keane would always include Andrew in hockey games: “He and his friends were always better than me because I was younger. So then I wanted to be just as good as them.” Andrew says.
As an Asper student majoring in accounting and finance, he commonly feels that same imposter syndrome.
“I know some of the Asper students are really, really smart and I’m sitting there in class while they’re talking and I’m just like, ‘Do I even belong here?’ Like they seem way above me.” Says Boucher.
Despite his initial doubts, he quickly uncovered a friendly community of fellow students. He could easily ask questions whenever he hit a block.
He also found out that “it goes both ways.” Everyone has different pockets of knowledge, and often, he could help the same people who had helped him with something else. Sometimes, you need to take assists from your supporting cast to get the goal.
Asper has also expanded his leadership skills; during his time playing hockey, he was captain of the Waywayseecapo Wolverines in his final MJHL year.
Group projects, where he learns how to delegate work and brings a team together to finish a paper in a professional setting has taught him “to become better at connecting with people I may not have talked to before.”
Learning and experience go hand-in-hand, and while at Asper, Andrew’s has adapted countless skills from the world of hockey to the world of business.
For example, knowing that as hard as you try, “you’re always gonna mess up. It’s bound to happen. The best players mess up all the time too.”
Bouncing back by taking accountability and making it up to your teammates “not only shows your true character but gives you an opportunity to learn and fix it in the future.”
And, of course, being on time: “In sports, if you’re not 15 minutes early, you’re late.”
What I do is I just sit by the same person a couple times and then as soon as a professor asks something, compare answers with your classmate.
Everyone is doing a lot of different majors, so just talk to your classmates and ask them what they like about it. Why are they gonna pick that major? You might find that the reason they like it makes it more interesting.
And maybe try a few classes out and figure out when you’re most engaged. No one likes doing homework, but if you can find a class where you don’t mind doing the homework, I’d say that’s maybe an avenue you should try.
Join a student group at Asper or the university. I have a lot of friends who have joined clubs, and three years down the line, those are some of their best friends. And enjoy sports games. It’s free. You can invite people out and you can have something to talk about without having to make conversation the whole time. It’s something easy to do.
Once again, free, which is crazy.
The Asper School of Business is bursting with student opportunities to develop your potential, have fun outside of the classroom, network with new connections and discover new interests and connections.
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