Laurier student seeks unique opportunities as a Naval reservist

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Photo by Luke Sarazin

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 shipโ€™s company at HMCS Star in Hamilton.

Gonsalves said that he decided to pursue a career as a naval reservist ensuing high school.

โ€œRetail work wasnโ€™t 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.

โ€œIt pays a good chunk of my tuition โ€ฆ plus the schedule is super flexible, itโ€™s usually only one Tuesday a month you have to attend thatโ€™s mandatory, itโ€™s 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.

โ€œThe schedule is super flexible but if you want to make the most out of it, it does kind of get demanding โ€ฆ so if you take a lot of the opportunities they offer you it is time consuming. Iโ€™m there twice a week, it does eat into your time but itโ€™s fairly worth-while,โ€ Gonsalves said.

โ€œIf you make the most out of it, it gives you a lot of opportunities you might not get at an average student job. Iโ€™d never really get these chances otherwise, thereโ€™s some really cool opportunities and itโ€™s 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 Navyโ€™s Naval Security Team (NST).

โ€œThat 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.

โ€œWe 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.

โ€œThat [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 masterโ€™s degree.

โ€œIโ€™m gonna stick with it for at least two more years, weโ€™ll see then onwards [where] life takes me,โ€ Gonsalves said.

โ€œIf you make the most out of it, it gives you a lot of opportunities you might not get at an average student job. Iโ€™d never really get these chances otherwise, thereโ€™s some really cool opportunities and itโ€™s really changed a lot of how I see things.โ€


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