You can’t accomplish anything alone, says Jordynne Ropat, which is why she has cherished the connections she made at the University of Windsor.

“I could never think of school as you come to class and then you go home,” says Ropat, who graduated Wednesday from the behaviour, cognition and neuroscience program. “I have just thrown myself into things I am passionate about. It’s so important to engage with your community.”

Those passions led her to help found a Mental Health Awareness group and the environmental activist club UWindsor Green, as well as participating in Students Orienting Students, Connecting for Success, and the Behaviour, Cognition and Neuroscience Student Association. After the BCNSA raised over $4,000 for the Miracle League of Amherstburg, she began volunteering with the children’s charity.

“I feel like getting involved is like an addiction almost—once you start, you can’t stop,” Ropat says.

Her extensive involvement in extracurricular activities, coupled with commitment to academic success, earned her the 2014 President’s Medal, awarded each year to a graduating student who has made significant contributions to campus and community activities while maintaining a superior academic record.

“It’s really wonderful to be getting this recognition,” says Ropat, whose grade point average of more than 90 percent earned the honour of graduating with great distinction, and the accompanying gold cord with her gown at convocation. “I have put a lot of work into my degree.”

Kinesiology grad tabbed as Class of 2014’s best

Shane Freeman, a kinesiology major, will receive the Governor General’s Silver Medal during Thursday’s 3 p.m. session of Convocation. The award recognizes graduates of an honours undergraduate program deemed to be the most outstanding in their field in relation to their graduating peers.

Freeman earned spot on both the dean’s and the president’s honour rolls during each semester of his eligibility, earning him this description from one his professors: “the most intelligent, compassionate, communicative, competent, and modest student I have met.”

His research prowess resulted in authorships of a refereed article in an international academic journal, three published conference abstracts and three conference presentations.

He has also been involved outside the classroom or lab, serving as a peer helper, a KinOne leader, captain of the Lancer baseball team and an all-Canadian first baseman.