2022 Award Recipients
This award was established in 2008 to recognize exceptional students who have a record of academic achievement, consistently demonstrate leadership, and make significant contributions to our community.
Mackenzie Vaandering
Master of Science, Kinesiology Sports Medicine
Mackenzie Vaandering is academically strong, a UCalgary community leader, a generous volunteer in the greater community, and a Dinos athlete, team captain and coach.
During her time at UCalgary, Vaandering competed as a student-athlete for the Dinos volleyball team for six years and was team captain in her final year. She provided leadership through athletics to her teammates on the court while also building strong relationships with Dinos Athletics and the Canada West Volleyball community. Additionally, she took an active role in recruiting younger players by sharing her own experiences during recruiting activities.
Vaandering’s role as a Dino extended into mentorship. As a Dino peer mentor, she was paired with 10 first-year athletes for the 2020-21 academic year. She connected with her mentees bi-weekly and developed study groups and seminars. She also assisted with interactive workshops designed to develop academic skills in Dinos student-athletes. With Families Together, a Catholic Family Services program that partners with the Dinos, she built positive relationships and mentored at-risk youth, and guided other mentors on building positive relationships with their mentees.
As vice-president of communications with the Kinesiology Graduate Students’ Association, she was their primary spokesperson. Her role also involved organizing events that contributed to the student experience.
As a participant in the Global Community Challenge YYC, she collaborated with an international team to develop an action plan for a community non-profit German language school to increase their online engagement and enrolment. She was also a graduate teaching assistant for an upper-level kinesiology course.
Vaandering was also a volunteer research assistant with the Alberta Children’s Hospital Paediatric Research team. In this role, she approached patients and their families for potential enrolment in research. Other volunteer roles held included an exercise leader with the Autism Aspergers Friendship Society, head coach of the Jr. Dinos Beach Program, and volunteer shopping companion with the Calgary Senior Resources Society.
Academically, Vaandering has four first-authored published research abstracts and presented her research six times while maintaining a 4.0 GPA during the course of her master’s degree.