[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Borrelli_Jonathan.jpg” caption=”Political science student Jonathan Borrelli will give the valedictory address at the convocation ceremony for the Faculty of Sciences today. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Borrelli. “]Just days after returning from a six-week backpacking trip through Europe, political science student Jonathan Borrelli will give the valedictory address to the Faculty of Social Sciences Class of 2008 today. He will also receive the President's Award for Excellence in Student Leadership.

“It's a great privilege and honour to be named valedictorian,” says Borrelli. “I'm humbled that I have been given this opportunity. But at the same time, it's exciting to know that I've been given the opportunity to speak to all my peers one last time, and address the entire McMaster community.”

Borrelli said he will use his valedictory address to instill in his fellow graduates a sense of pride in their new degrees because the skills they learned can be applied to a variety of career paths.

“A Social Sciences degree is really about inquiry, about asking tough questions and finding their answers,” says Borrelli. “It's about communication and argumentation. Most of all, our degrees are about critical thinking and about uncovering new, original perspectives. These are all skills that can be used in any career and any life experience.”

One of Borrelli's favourite experiences at McMaster has been working with the Office of Experiential Education

“That was the place that made my degree not just a degree, but an experience,” he says. “I discovered new skills I didn't know I had, built up my resume, job shadowed a labour union president, worked part-time on campus, and even worked for the City of Hamilton as part of a fourth-year course.”

He also credits his student leadership experience for having a positive influence on his life at McMaster. His long list of extracurricular activities include serving as a Welcome Week representative, president of the McMaster Social Sciences Society, vice-president administration of the McMaster Political Science Students Association, floor representative at Hedden Hall and head delegate for the Canadian International Model UN.

“Dr. Henry Jacek, Dr. Peter Graefe and Ajay Sharma engaged my classmates and I in areas of political science that I am sure I will draw upon in the years to come,” says Borrelli.

He plans to study law at the University of Windsor in the fall.