Kristin Clarke is a second year Bachelor of Commerce student who won a gold medal at the 2018 World Junior Curling Championships this March. Kristin chose the Dalhousie Commerce program because of the valuable experience that the co-op work terms provide. She has been incredibly successful in finding a balance between her studies and her athletics.

When asked about how she manages to balance her courses and curling Kristin said, “The main thing is to make sure I plan out when I am going to complete assignments prior to competitions and communicate any potential conflicts with my professors as soon as I’m aware of them.”

Kristin is currently undergoing the challenge of balancing her first work term at Collins Barrow with her curling. Kristin describes Collins Barrow as being. “phenomenal in accommodating my schedule. They recognized what a big opportunity it was for me to compete on the national and world stage this year, and have been extremely supportive of me, even during their busy season. I even came back home from the World Championship to an amazing homemade cake! I genuinely can’t thank the team at CB enough for their support.”

Kristin believes that curling will help her along her career path.  A gold medal at the 2018 World Junior Curling Championships is an obvious resume booster however, Kristin also mentions the connections she has made through curling. “It continues to surprise me how many people I meet in the business world that have some form of connection to curling, so I am hopeful that one day these valuable connections will steer me towards a rewarding career.”

In the future Kristin will continue to balance her curling and studies mentioning that her career goals include pursuing graduate work in public administration and working with public policy and performance audits. In terms of her future in curling, Kristin has her sights set on someday representing Canada at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts where the top women’s curlers in the world represent their countries and compete annually.