Finding a home on the East Coast

Grad profile: Kirby Hayes, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

- May 21, 2013

Kirby Hayes. (Nick Pearce photo)
Kirby Hayes. (Nick Pearce photo)

Every spring and fall, we profile just a few of our amazing graduates in our convocation handout. We proudly feature these stories here on Dal News. Congrats to all our new graduates!

Kirby Hayes describes herself as focused and determined: qualities that led her to Dalhousie from her hometown of Mississauga, Ont., despite not knowing a single person on the East Coast. “I wanted to experience something new and exciting,” she recalls.

Hayes’ transition into Dalhousie and the Halifax community was seamless. She found ways to get involved: as a residence assistant, executive member of the Dalhousie Undergraduate Political Science Society and participant and team captain of intramural dodge ball and indoor women’s soccer

This spring, she is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in Law and Society, an area that has intrigued Hayes since she first started learning about government in elementary school and ran for prime minister of her class.

After graduation, Hayes will remain at Dalhousie, as a student at the Schulich School of Law. “There are just so many opportunities that this school has to offer that I didn’t get a chance to do in my undergrad. I’m excited to get involved in new things during my time in law,” she says, enthusiastically.

As for her biggest accomplishment, Hayes confides, “Being accepted to law school, because I feel like so many things led up to that moment. After four years of studying my butt off, it felt really nice getting that letter. It just made me realize that following what you want to do and being focused in that area really does pay off, and you’ll get where you want to go.”

Even after she completes her law degree, Hayes hopes to stay on the East Coast, which she now considers her home. “Within the first few weeks of being at Dal, I fell in love with Halifax, and I could really see myself settling down here. I can’t imagine working in some big firm in Toronto, thinking about the farmer’s market I’m missing every Saturday morning.”

See also: Send your best wishes to the Class of 2013


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