For women’s hockey forward Clare McKellar, life after graduation isn’t as scary as it is for some students. 

As a fifth-year economics student, McKellar has already seen her time at Queen’s extend beyond the ice. This past summer, she worked in the finance department for Hockey Canada. 

“[It] was an unbelievably welcoming organization to work for,” McKellar said of her time at Hockey Canada. “Everyone within the organization does their work with not only efficiency and dedication, but a passion for hockey in Canada.”

Having played hockey since she was six, working in this position combined McKellar’s love for hockey with her growing passion for a career in finance. 

As a student financial assistant within Hockey Canada, McKellar said she had a wide range of responsibilities.  She observed and helped prepare the organization for the 2018 Winter Olympics, as well as selling tickets for the World Junior Championships — held in Vancouver and Victoria — set for 2019. 

“I was fortunate to be able to work within different departments within Hockey Canada to get a feel of a wide variety of tasks,” she said, adding that diversifying her understanding of the financial field, in any capacity, is beneficial. 

This wasn’t her first attempt to mix her passions of athletics and business. 

McKellar got her foot in the door in the summer of 2015 when she was a financial assistant for the Queen’s Athletics Department. She said working for Queen’s was imperative to her understanding how to approach athletics with a financial eye.  

“I was able to get hands-on experience in an incredibly wide variety of tasks such as cash reconciliation, accounts receivable, accounts payable and [human resources],” she said.

Along with finance experience, McKellar feels her at-large experience at Queen’s has prepared her for life after school. 

“Working and being part of a successful team — time management, overcoming adversity, healthy life balance … [They] are all transferrable skills I have improved at while being a Queen’s student,” McKellar said, alluding to her time with the women’s hockey program as a student-athlete. 

But until she graduates in May, McKellar is enjoying what she loves most — playing hockey with the Gaels for her fifth and final season. 

“The best part of my overall Queen’s experience would be getting to play varsity hockey,” she said. Despite the balancing act between hockey and school being a challenge, she wouldn’t change anything about her time with the school and program. 

“I will never be able to fully give back as much as my sport has given me, and I feel very lucky to be playing hockey at Queen’s.” 

McKellar is looking to start her career as soon as possible after graduating this coming spring — and she wouldn’t mind returning to Hockey Canada. “I would love to get back in with Hockey Canada if it were possible … being able to extend my love for hockey into a career would be very lucky,” she said.