Business

Andrew Snyder has won a twenty-thousand-dollar Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies. This is one of the highest honours I’ve received, Andrew says. It’s an amazing feeling to be counted among the other Acadia alumni who have won this award. In point of fact, in the 23 years that Sobey’s has offered this prestigious award, Acadia has won it 17 times. That’s less than the average size of an Acadia classroom, but more players than there are on a soccer team. This mixing up of athletics and academics is deliberate because Andrew epitomizes what is valued most in the scholar-athlete: Accomplishment in the classroom and success on the playing field. And whether he is leading a group in the class or structuring a rush on goal, Andrew makes the extra effort. He is co-captain of the Acadia soccer team and a Canadian Interuniversity All-Star defender. He is twice a Dean’s List scholar and has been an Academic All-Canadian for three years in a row. Last year, he won the President’s Award for Acadia Athletics; previous to that the Sobey Future Leaders Award. Kevin Dickie, Director of Athletics at Acadia, describes Andrew as arguably the top all-round male student-athlete on our campus. That’s no small praise, given that Acadia University produced 95 Academic All-Canadians this year, first overall in the country per capita. The company into which Andrew must be placed is selective by definition. But the company he seeks for himself is hardly exclusive.

In fact, so inclusive is Andrew that he has given himself to a list of noteworthy causes, including volunteering weekly at the Wolfville Nursing Home as a Men’s Club leader; woodworking, fishing, and crokinole are his specialties. Along with his appreciation of the elderly, he looks out for the young: He is a volunteer in the Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience (S.M.I.L.E.) program for children with special needs; cooking, swimming, and games playing are among his activities. He has volunteered with Relay for Life, and the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. He was team leader for the soccer team’s involvement in canvassing for the Foundation.

If you wonder how Andrew can do so much, he has a very insightful comment upon the creation of time management skills: By having so much on the go, you are forced to prioritize. You are forced to create a schedule of what takes place and when you are supposed to do it. Athletics, academics, and community service is a lot, but it is probably more advantageous than anything. If you want something done, in other words, ask a busy person who knows how to prioritize.

To fund his triumvirate of interests—academics, athletics, and community involvement—Andrew has worked at Lawtons Drugs’ front desk, the pharmacy counter, and in the corporate office as an accounting assistant. He has filled prescriptions and pill packages, portioned out methadone to those in recovery, and made cash deposits for the store. In addition, he has developed a Pharmacy Guide for New Employees. This is just the sort of practicality that we would expect from a man who knows dreams and goals are not bestowed but achieved.

Andrew has never asked for anything, Professor Pat Corkum says. He is very humble and puts others before himself, despite being so stellar a student. Another accounting professor, Professor Ian Feltmate, calls Andrew an exceptional individual. I have always found him to be very personable, respectful and mature. His academic performance in my class has been consistently excellent. Andrew acknowledges Professors Corkum and Feltmate as he looks back on his journey through the BBA program. They both put a lot of time in their class preparation and they care about how their students are doing, and that really makes a big difference.

As for the future, there is something Andrew wants to do before pursuing the Chartered Public Accountant designation. It would be nice to travel before being set into position with a career. Australia is the first place that has captured his imagination. But it won’t be the last. Especially when Andrew Snyder can move around the corporate arena as fluidly as he moves around a soccer field—by keeping his goals foremost in mind and devising a way to achieve them.