
Simon Gonsalves, fourth-year political science and history student at Wilfrid Laurier University, has spent his time throughout his post-secondary career undertaking a unique part-time job as a naval reservist with the Canadian Military.
Gonsalves works as a naval combat information operator and member of shipโs company at HMCS Star in Hamilton.
Gonsalves said that he decided to pursue a career as a naval reservist ensuing high school.
โRetail work wasnโt really for me, as a lot of other people were doing. My brother was [working with the military], he recommended it to me,โ Gonsalves said.
The unique experience, international travel, adaptable schedule and tuition assistance were a few of the aspects which induced Gonsalves to pursue the field.
โIt pays a good chunk of my tuition โฆ plus the schedule is super flexible, itโs usually only one Tuesday a month you have to attend thatโs mandatory, itโs very flexible,โ Gonsalves said.
Though flexible, the job does involve a larger time commitment for those who take advantage of the travel opportunities, such as shorter trips that take place on weekends.
โThe schedule is super flexible but if you want to make the most out of it, it does kind of get demanding โฆ so if you take a lot of the opportunities they offer you it is time consuming. Iโm there twice a week, it does eat into your time but itโs fairly worth-while,โ Gonsalves said.
โIf you make the most out of it, it gives you a lot of opportunities you might not get at an average student job. Iโd never really get these chances otherwise, thereโs some really cool opportunities and itโs really changed a lot of how I see things.โ
This past summer, Gonsalves also deployed to Busan, South Korea for the duration of a month as part of the Royal Canadian Navyโs Naval Security Team (NST).
โThat was the first time I’ve ever left North America before so that was interesting,โ Gonsalves said.
The NST works to protect and defend RCN ships and assets overseas by deploying small protection teams, usually these teams are made up of small groups of reservists.
โWe follow around some of the ships as part of the big navy, we protect them in a way or maintain them so no one runs into them,โ Gonsalves said.
โThat [experience] was awesome, I’ve never got to experience Asia before and being able to get around eight days of total time off to explore Busan โ it was unreal.โ
This coming spring, Gonsalves will be deploying to Croatia for a month as part of the NST as well.
Upon graduating from Laurier, Gonsalves intends on staying in Kitchener-Waterloo to complete a masterโs degree.
โIโm gonna stick with it for at least two more years, weโll see then onwards [where] life takes me,โ Gonsalves said.
โIf you make the most out of it, it gives you a lot of opportunities you might not get at an average student job. Iโd never really get these chances otherwise, thereโs some really cool opportunities and itโs really changed a lot of how I see things.โ
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