Finding Your Future: Careers Morning
Careers Morning is a great opportunity for students to learn about different fields of work, postsecondary options, and what it takes to thrive in the working world.
One of the biggest decisions our students will make during their time at Greenwood is where they want their future to lead. In high school, they are beginning to consider their many options for possible work and life destinations.
On Tuesday, February 5 we welcomed Greenwood parents and alumni in a variety of fields to talk to Grade 9-12 students about their career accomplishments and advice on how they got there. They talked about the skills needed in different occupations, the importance of networking and how hard work really does pay off.
Every speaker left the students with valuable insight into what life could be like after Greenwood. There were many notable quotes from different speakers that we would like to share.
Brittany Wong ‘09 works in sports management and began her career as an intern for the NHL. She said she wanted to give them every reason to keep her and that she worked as hard as she could and it paid off. She is now the manager of Learn to Play Initiative, which is her favourite position so far, and she feels “very lucky to bring the game to the next generation of players.”
Ian Sandler works in veterinary medicine and expressed how important compassion and emotional strength are. He talked about the challenges of being in veterinary school and told the students “anything you do in life that is worth doing well will be challenging.”
Nick de Pencier, a filmmaker and co-founder of Mercury Films Inc with his wife Jennifer Baichwal, expressed “if you think you want to work in film, you can follow that dream.” He talked about the importance of building a network of contacts because in today’s world anyone can make a film, but you need to figure out how to get it seen.
Geoff Roberts ‘13, a commercial real estate representative, placed importance on being involved in as many things as you can at Greenwood and in postsecondary. “You can figure out what you don’t want to do and what you love to do,” he said.
Rebecca Tannenbaum, Director of Sales at Venture Chem, showed how passionate she is about her field and believes “you can sell anything if you’re passionate about it.” Sales is something you do every day as an entrepreneur and Rebecca told students that if you love what you do you will excel at your job.
Matthew Barry, a teacher at Montcrest School, was asked by a student: “How did you get involved in outdoor education?” Matthew replied, “I started by working as a floater in camp which meant I was working wherever and whenever I was needed. I knew I liked it there but I wanted something more. So I talked to the camp director and asked him if there was anything he could do or anyone he could talk to. I kept asking him and I continued getting various jobs at many different camps. I knew I was learning different skills from every job I did. I had no timeline. I knew the direction I was going so I did whatever I could to get there.”
Gord Miller, well-known for his position on TSN and NBC as a hockey commentator, told students two things he has learned from being around athletes; they take care of themselves really well, and it takes a lot of mental preparation to be in a sports career. His biggest piece of advice he left students with was: “Don’t let one mistake trip you up. Learn from it, then park it and move on. Don’t let one bad day become a bad week, then a bad month, then a bad year.”
There were many other speakers who gave valuable advice and we would like to highlight each of these individuals below.
Jennifer Baichwal, Co-Founder, Mercury Films Inc.
Caroline Bell-Ritchie, Managing Director and Vice President, Global Private Banking Relationship Management and International Wealth Structuring Scotiabank
Stephan Dalkie ‘09, Sr. Manager, Strategic Projects and Analytics, Loblaw Companies Ltd
Christina Campbell ‘11, Teacher, Toronto District School Board
Christina Campbell ‘11, Teacher, Toronto District School Board
Martha Fell, Founder, Jaxx & Marbles
Patrick Harris ‘10, Senior Associate, Office Leasing Cushman & Wakefield
Allie Hawkey ‘09, Commercial Account Manager, RBC
Mark Hoogeveen, Director, Debt Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets
Hope Kearns ‘10, Registered Nurse, The Hospital for Sick Children
Eliot Kolers, Partner, Stikeman Elliott
Jessie Lewis ‘09, Corporate Associate, Bennett Jones
Saul Lewis ‘11, Account Executive, Paradigm Public Relations
Megan Marrelli ‘09, Associate News Reporter, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj
John Miles ‘08, Sales Director, Appian Corporation
Gerry Ranking ‘08, Director, Marketing and Business Development Newport Sports Management
Isabella Romano ‘12, Founder, Ohme
Jill Rosenzweig ‘13, Junior Designer, Puncture Design
Heather Rotz ‘13, Medical Student, Western University
Keely Sandala ‘13, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator, Hugo Boss
Taresa Stefurak, Neurologist, Michael Garron Hospital
Thank you to every alumnus and parent for inspiring our students to work hard and follow their passions.
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