Congratulations to Ben Harris on receiving a "Certificate of Achievement" from the OCR (Ontario Collegiate Recreation) for his involvement with recreation at Centennial. 

Ben began his placement in Fall 2019 as an Athletics liaison for the drop in basketball program. Ben wanted to learn more and asked for greater responsibilities which he was granted and became a tournament official, marketing lead and the basketball convener in the Winter 2020 semester. 

In the Winter 2021 semester, Ben was brought back as a full-time placement student within the Athletics and Recreation department. As an exceptional placement student, Ben had significant involvement in the campus recreation programming as he assisted with the planning, execution and promotions of our events and services. 

Ben's great ideas for virtual programming led Centennial College to start the "Feel Good Fridays" program. Feel Good Fridays offered a space for students to come out on a Friday, unwind, relax and have some fun before heading into the weekend. In this space, students would enjoy casual conversations and play recreational games, such as Kahoot, Bingo, Jeopardy, Pictionary, etc. This safe space became a community for students to develop friendships, creating a sense of belonging. 

Another key event that Ben was involved in was our Cricket Watch Party. This event allowed students from across Centennial to come out on a Saturday morning and learn about and discuss the game, while cheering on 2 popular teams (England and India). When the idea for the event came up, Ben took the lead with the planning. He quickly realized that it would be great to collaborate with other departments to get as many students involved and was able to liaise with the International and Marketing departments to increase participation. Ben hosted meetings and displayed his strong leadership qualities while planning this event. His confidence and maturity grew immensely and we could see that he wanted to enrich the student experience through sport and recreation, which he certainly did! 

Ben's passion for recreation was apparent and you could see that he wanted to make a difference in our student's lives. He would willingly take on extra tasks outside of his regular duties and did it positively and with a smile. He maintained a welcoming and professional virtual environment for the department. 

Some other tasks that Ben assisted with included; graphic design, handling social media accounts and even jumping into our mascot suit to create innovative and fun videos. All of these tasks promoted and increased student participation which in turn enhanced the recreational programming at Centennial College making the Winter 2021 a huge success. 

Ben is a motivated and positive student that built up the recreational community at Centennial College. He displayed integrity and passion daily, had a strong work ethic and created a fun and enjoyable environment for all. 

A true student leader! Congratulations Ben.