About Us

 Our History

    If you've ever taken an undergraduate course in the Arts and Social Sciences field, then you probably know the feeling of committing 15+ hours writing out a creative essay or some research paper. You strive to explore in-depth a specific research question or grapple with existing topics in academia, and at the end you're left with a paper that you feel offers a unique and interesting perspective on the topic. It can be very anticlimactic when, after working so hard to develop the ideas in your paper, you simply receive your mark. Many students consider publishing their undergraduate works in academic journals, but are deterred when faced with the amount of work required to turn an undergraduate essay into a published article, which can often take just as long as writing the paper in the first place. Few undergraduate works are ever published, and the vast majority are never read again. 

     Anyone who's taken an Arts or Social Science degree can probably also relate to the experience of asking to see example works from peers who have previously done well in a course or classmates who have done well on previous assignments. We use these works to inspire ourselves and to help us see if our own works compare favorably to the ones that have received high marks in the past. Furthermore, anyone in any undergraduate program of study can relate to feeling unsure about what is expected of them, especially in the early years. Our research is done using academic papers that are primarily written by students in graduate or postgraduate programs, not other at-level essays. Without comparing with our peers, it can be difficult to recognize what is expected of our works. 

    Student Spotlight exists as an attempt to solve both of these issues. Founded in 2022 out of Ottawa, Ontario as a means of highlighting the tremendous ideas that many undergraduate students produce throughout their studies, we believe these works can still offer tremendous value beyond just netting a good grade. Our platform strives to help students and former students showcase their best works and ideas from their undergraduate programs, while allowing current students to inspire themselves from a free collection of high-quality, at-level assignments curated by our platform.  Student Spotlight is NOT an essay bank - we require submissions to be of academic quality and do not publish submissions written for an ongoing course.  All our authors maintain ownership of their works, and plagiarism of these works remains an illegal form of copying.

 If you or anyone you know is interested in gaining some exposure for your undergraduate works, check out our Publish a Paper page.

    If you have any questions, please visit our Contact Us page to get in touch. Our team will be happy to assist you!

Our Mission

    At Student Spotlight, we believe strongly in the academic value of undergraduate perspectives on social issues.  We strive to provide a spotlight for the achievements of undergraduate students, to provide a platform for highly achieving students to showcase their best works and to help guide the next generation of Social Science and Arts students in their academic careers.

Who We Are

   Our platform was initially launched and founded by Michael Johnson, a member of the 2022 graduating class of the University of Ottawa's Honors Bachelors of Social Science in Political Science program and a member of the University of Amsterdam's Master of International Development Studies program class of 2024.

    Our contributors include both current and former students from several of Canada's top academic institutions.  To date, our library includes submissions from students at the University of Toronto, Queens University, the University of Ottawa and many more.  We have received submissions from students in all walks of life, including several graduate students and various published authors. The project has been promoted by several reputable universities, student associations and clubs including the University of Amsterdam's Maecenas Study Association, the University of Lethbridge Association of Political Science Students, the University of Toronto Criminology & Sociolegal Studies Students’ Association, the University of Toronto Political Science Students' Association and the University of Alberta Undergraduate Psychology Association.

If you'd like to join our team, get in touch through our Contact Us page now!