Community-oriented Maja Lampa applies political science know-how to co-op position

In 2017, Maja Lampa made a long journey. She left Hong Kong, where she had been studying since 2015, and came to Simon Fraser University. Lampa chose to do her degree at SFU because she was looking for a sense of community. 

“It was all the little things that reassured me SFU could provide that sense of community,” she says. “Emails were personalized. I received phone calls to check in on how my application was going and if I had any questions. I was immediately welcomed into the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) community through the mentorship program.”

SFU’s community-oriented approach was so important to Lampa that she now volunteers as a FASS Welcome Day leader and peer mentor.

“I strive to help incoming and new students feel like they, too, are joining a community that will not only support them through their time here, but where they can build lasting friendships,” Lampa says.

In addition to volunteering, Lampa spends her time at SFU as a political science honours student and is on the President’s Honour Roll. She is strongly invested in what she is learning.

“The diversity of topics offered for study keeps me exploring new areas of political science and I feel very fortunate to have only fallen more in love with my degree as I have progressed through it.”

Through the co-op program, Lampa applied what she learned in her political science courses in her first placement as a community engagement intern for the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association in summer 2019. 

“This experience has challenged me to bring what I have been studying in classrooms for two years into the real world, and that challenge has allowed me to grow beyond what I had imagined possible in four months,” says Lampa.