On March 15th, 2025, the Dalhousie Computer Science Society (CSS) held the 28th annual Snowball Awards at the Westin Nova Scotian, where students, professors, and staff at Dalhousie University gathered to celebrate students’ accomplishments.
From event preparation to winning awards, Snowball was a major highlight for ShiftKey’s team. Ambassadors Maggie Brown, Tobi Onibudo, Vansh Sood, Nishevitha Venkatesh, and ShiftKey Industry Engagement Coordinator, Kewoba Carter, were all celebrated for their achievements that night.
These Ambassadors and Staff used their skills, experience, and creativity in multiple ways to make Snowball a huge success and a night that everyone in the faculty will remember.
ShiftKey Ambassadors Help Event Preparation
For Onibudo, Brown and the CSS team, Snowball was a chance to see the results of multiple months of hard work.
The team and Student Engagement Coordinator Liam Houlahan started planning for the event in Summer 2024. Onibudo oversaw the hosting team, which included creating the event itinerary and preparing hosts. “My focus was making sure things ran smoothly from a programming and flow standpoint, and that the energy throughout the night was consistent,” he describes.
Brown was one of the only organizers not on the CSS board. She worked hard to plan the awards ceremony to give students a memorable evening. “We met up a few times, but mostly everyone worked on their lines individually. My portion was mostly giving out awards, so last year’s script was an awesome template,” she explains.
To keep the audience engaged throughout the night, Brown also decided to make a Jeopardy segment, which was a huge success.
“A big thanks to the Westin’s sound guy who plugged in my laptop and started playing the Jeopardy music on cue,” she says. “I’m very happy people enjoyed it.”
ShiftKey Staff on Winning Awards
On the award-winner side, Snowball’s outcome was full of connections and surprises.
Both Venkatesh and Brown received the Leacross Foundation WeAreAllCS Scholarship Award; an award that recognizes the brightest female-identifying students in the faculty.
To apply, they applied for the award by writing multiple essays about the importance of women in technology, their experiences, and their future goals. “It was a great opportunity to pause and really think about the path I’m on,” Venkatesh explains.
“Writing that application was a beautiful way to finish my semester, reflecting on the power of being a woman in computer science, and how it has helped me become someone I never could have imagined in just a few years,” Brown agrees.
Their hard work paid off, but finding out was a complete surprise.
“When I found out I had received the award, I was genuinely surprised and grateful. It felt validating to see my efforts recognized, especially in a space I care so much about,” Venkatesh says. “It gave me a boost of confidence to keep working toward my goals.”
Brown was in a middle of an online meeting for the Women in Excellence Gala and “immediately started freaking out and crying,” before excusing herself and telling her mom and best friend.
“I was honestly just in shock of how lucky I have been this year to have been given so many opportunities to pursue excellence and to help others find their passion, It truly felt so crazy to me,” she recounts.
Carter, meanwhile, won the Best Staff Award for the second time in a row. It was a moment to celebrate and support the students she has advised and helped during the past year.
When she received the award from two of the students she advised, she was overjoyed and humbled seeing how students have grown throughout the year.
“I sort of see it as a very small token that, I was able to help at least one of them. I don’t want students to ever meet with me or go to one of my workshops or programs or any of the events I coordinate and not find it meaningful or useful in some way. And so in receiving this award, I was just so happy that whoever voted me for the award, I hope I helped in some way,” she says.
Celebrating Together
Everyone could feel the sense of community and ShiftKey’s impact throughout the room as Ambassadors worked hard to accomplish an exciting night.
Sood and former ShiftKey Senior Student Ambassador, Sahil Chawla, gave the keynote speeches. It was Sood’s first keynote speech and he worked with Chawla to make it perfect, although he was nervous.
“I was a bit anxious because it was my first time I was speaking in front of professors, [but] it felt good after speaking, a relief,” he recounts.
For him and the other ShiftKey Ambassadors, the night was a fairytale to remember and something they will take with them for the rest of their lives.
“Watching students, alumni, profs and guests interact showed how strong our CS community is. That moment made all the planning and late nights feel worth it,” says Onibudo.
“The whole experience reminded me how important it is to surround yourself with people who believe in you and to seek out communities that lift you up,” Ventakesh says.
“I felt like Cinderella. The whole night was full of unforgettable moments, but [receiving my award] topped it all,” Brown agrees. “After being a first year at last Snowball, not knowing anyone, and watching in awe as so much hard work and excellence paid off, walking on stage and receiving such a highly honoured award announced by friends in a room full of friends was one of the best moments of my life.”
Moving Forward
By helping students build their events and workshops, ShiftKey supports students’ leadership and confidence, and having their achievements recognized is a cause for celebration.
“Any way we can support and help them is meaningful, so in the work that ShiftKey does in terms of helping students upskill and introduce them to things that they may not necessarily be getting in the classroom,” Carter says. “[We give] students these leadership opportunities that they can develop into more holistic people.”
For Ambassadors like Brown, ShiftKey has already made a lifelong impact on their growth, inspiring others, and never saying no to new opportunities that they will take with them after graduating.
“Snowball was sort of the cherry on top of a year of learning that I can do anything I try. I knew this before, but since working at ShiftKey I have learned and grown more than ever in my life,” she reminisces. “The realization that my increasing passion is inspirational to others is something I still could not wrap my head around, but I fully realized at Snowball by receiving my award.”
