ACSSU's First Annual Career Night
A report by Alhan Oraha; ACSSU of Canada Public Relations
Making career decisions can be the most difficult choice high school students face today. The options are boundless and there is a great deal of information available making it all the more confusing. This decision-making stage is even more challenging for most of our students who are first-generation Canadians and whose parents are not familiar with the Canadian education system. Inspired by the need of our Assyrian students, the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Student Union (ACSSU) of Canada decided to organize Career Night 2006. This unique and first of its kind event brought together Assyrian professionals with Assyrian students to help them with career-related questions. The best advice comes from those who have travelled the long road standing before these students and ACSSU wanted to take this approach as much as possible.
ACSSU Career Night 2006 was held on November 26, 2006 at Samiramis Banquet Hall (Assyrian Society of Canada, Mississauga). The night started out with a short welcoming speech by ACSSU of Canada’s president Alda Benjamen who thanked our professionals for taking the time to give back to their community. This was followed by a another short speech by Ashorina Shamoun, ACSSU of Canada’s Vice President, who stressed that no student should be stopped from pursuing education due to financial difficulties. She went on to invite all high school students to explore the opportunities available through volunteering in ACSSU’s events.
One of the main issues postsecondary students should be familiar with is financial aid. ACSSU of Canada invited Mr. David Sidebottom, Manager of Financial Aid Services at the University of Toronto to shed light on the options available to students. Mr. Sidebottom gave an informative speech about OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program), scholarships, Work-Study programs, grants/bursaries, loans, and financial planning. He advised students to explore all the financial options available by consulting their institution’s financial aid office.
Eighteen Assyrian professionals participated in ACSSU Career Night 2006. We were overwhelmed by the positive response and cooperation of all participants and very proud to see their willingness to mentor high school student in our community. Our professionals shared with us ACSSU’s vision in investing in our community’s most essential resource: our future generation. They were asked to fill out a short survey outlining highlights about their careers along with their contact information. These surveys will be available shortly on our website for students’ reference. Professionals in attendance were as follows (in random order):
1) George Warda (Dentistry)
2) David Younan (Law)
3) Fadi Benjamen (Aerospace Engineering; MBA)
4) Sankho Sada (TOEFL)
5) Isaic Shlemon (Accounting)
6) May Philip (Dental Hygiene)
7) Ashoor Sada (Business and Communication)
8) Nenos Demarchie (Chiropractic)
9) Mathew Gharibo (Economics)
10) Ann Petros (Pharmacy)
11) Alda Benjamen (Teaching; Near and Middle Eastern Studies)
12) Alhan Oraha (Pharmacology)
13) Ashorina Shamoun (Civil Engineering)
14) Renya Benjamen (Chemical Engineering)
15) Ninara Sada (Information Technology)
16) Mariam Georgis (Political Sciences)
17) Sargon David (Social Work/Social Services & Long-Term Care/Home Care; Gerontology)
18) Lema Yousif (Chemistry)
Students were given the opportunity to talk to our professionals one on one in an informal environment and some professionals were very creative in bringing interactive displays including boards, brochures, and textbooks for demonstration. We were glad to see high numbers of high school students in attendance, which were transported by bus from three separate locations within the Greater Toronto Area. It reinforced the need to constantly have such events in our community. The successful turnout is also a promising sign of the elevated interest in pursuing careers based on college/university education in our community.
All attending high school students’ names were entered in a draw for a free Rogers Cellular mobile phone, generously provided by Mr. Nabil Hanna. Congratulations to the lucky winner.
ACSSU of Canada would like to thank the Assyrian Society of Canada for its continual support and for offering the hall as a home for our events. In addition, special thanks goes to all who helped us post and distribute our flyer and get the word out there to interested students to benefit from such event. Thanks to all who worked so hard and believed in our students!