Throughout his more than 15 years as an investment analyst and strategist, Adjunct Professor Nadeem Kassam, at the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, says he interviewed hundreds of new graduates eager to start their careers in capital markets.

Over time, he noticed a recurring pattern: students often arrived with strong theoretical knowledge, but struggled to present that knowledge in ways that clearly demonstrated their abilities to potential employers.

“They would have all this knowledge, but it wouldn’t be packaged yet in a way that showcased their abilities and skills to a potential employer,� says Kassam.

Earlier this year, Kassam – who teaches advanced portfolio management at York – partnered with York’s Finance Student Association to give a group of undergraduate students the chance to produce an industry grade report modelled on the kind of research produced by investment firms, as part of a new .

Under Kassam’s supervision, the project challenged students to analyze real world market data and synthesize and present their findings clearly and concisely under guidelines similar to those used in the industry. The goal, Kassam says, was to give students hands-on exposure applying classroom theory in ways that mirror real capital-markets work while helping them build tangible evidence of their competencies.

Those interested in participating were required to apply as they would for a job. Kassam reviewed applications from an employer’s perspective and provided individualized feedback – whether students were selected or not – to help them better understand how they might strengthen future applications. By the end of the process, he selected 14 students.

Among them was Abishek Daryanani, a fourth-year Bachelor of Commerce student specializing in finance. “I wanted to step outside of standard textbook coursework and gain practical, hands-on experience in macroeconomic analysis,� says Daryanani.

The same motivation drew Sidonia Sin Ying Wu, also a fourth-year Bachelor of Commerce student. “As someone pursuing a career in finance, I believe it’s not enough to simply know how to analyze data – you also need to know how to present that information clearly and explain the reasoning behind your interpretation to others,� Wu says. “The project’s combination of technical work and commentary writing was what really attracted me to this opportunity.�

Students began by learning to work with industry-standard tools such as the Bloomberg Terminal and Capital IQ, using real-world market data. With the S&P Capital IQ plug-in, they built live Excel dashboards that automatically updated as markets changed – a foundation they would rely on throughout the project.

From there, the focus shifted from working with data to turning analysis into insight that could be clearly communicated to others. Kassam asked students to apply the theories they had learned in class to the information in front of them, using those frameworks to understand what was happening in global markets, and why.

In practical terms, that meant answering questions investors ask every day: Why were stock markets moving the way they were? Why were bonds or commodities behaving differently? Which assets were acting as safe havens during periods of uncertainty, and how could those trends be explained using economic and financial theory?

“That foundational understanding of financial markets, reinforced with real-world application, was the main core,� Kassam says.

Students were then tasked with consolidating their assessment into a single report. Kassam imposed professional style constraints, requiring teams to work within fixed templates, page limits and formatting rules – boundaries designed to force prioritization and clarity.

“That process was much harder than I initially expected,� says Wu. “It wasn’t just about gathering data – it was about deciding what actually mattered and making it easy for readers to interpret.�

That process was exactly what Kassam had hoped students would experience. “That’s essentially the job that I’ve had to do for many years,� he says. “You’re given a lot of information. You have to take it away, figure it out, and then come back with a clear and concise report – often with just one slide and five bullet points.�

Collaboration was also central to the project. While students worked in small groups covering different areas of the markets, they were collectively responsible for contributing to a single, unified report – one Kassam expected to read as though it had been produced by a single analyst.

To achieve that cohesion, he took a hands-on role throughout the process, holding regular meetings where students presented findings, discussed market developments and received feedback to ensure consistency in analysis, tone and presentation.

The work culminated in the group’s inaugural report, released publicly in February. A second edition followed in March, with additional reports planned as part of the eight-month program. Students in future cohorts, he adds, will continue the series.

For students, seeing the work move from interpretation to a finished, public-facing report was a significant payoff. “It felt like all of our effort had turned into something tangible and professional that others could actually read and benefit from,� says Wu.

Daryanani agrees. “Seeing the final product come together and knowing that it mirrors the analytical rigor and formatting you would expect from a real strategy team is incredibly rewarding,� he says. “It’s something you just can’t get from a lecture hall.�

The project is also proving beneficial in other ways. Kassam says some students have used the reports in job applications as concrete examples of their skills.

“If you put this type of product in front of an interviewer, it shows the polish of a very clean, professional quality piece of work,� Kassam says. “It speaks volumes. It says, ‘I have experience. I work well in a team. I’m detail‑oriented – and here’s the proof.’�

Having hired hundreds of graduates over his career, Kassam says that kind of clarity helps remove uncertainty for employers evaluating early‑career candidates. “It’s about removing the guesswork for a potential employer,� he says.

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In the course, students are asked present industry‑ready marketing campaigns directly to industry representatives. When Rachel Saarony's turn was up, she noticed her hands trembling as she walked into the offices of Penguin Random House Canada (PRHC).

The fourth-year professional writing student was about to present a full-scale marketing plan to the country’s largest book publisher, completing the final assignment for PRWR 3004/4004 – an upper-year course designed to bring real-world publishing exposure into the classroom.

For Saarony, the moment felt significant. “I felt a lot of pressure to leave a strong impression in front of industry professionals,� she says. It was her first encounter with the publishing industry, and the stakes felt real.

That opportunity was exactly what Matthew Bucemi, director of ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ’s Book Publishing Specialization in the Writing Department, had in mind when he helped reshape the program in 2022. Among his efforts was the desire to create meaningful connections between academic learning and the industry realities students would face after graduation.

“My goal was for students to get a level of hands-on experience that a classroom can’t provide,� Bucemi says.

As part of that push, Bucemi drew on industry connections at Penguin Random House Canada and approached Polly Beel, director of marketing and publicity, to explore collaborations. The result was PRWR 3004/4004, a course grounded in a shared idea that students learn best when they are asked to meet professional standards and should have the opportunity to present their work beyond the classroom. “What does it feel like to really present something to senior staff at a publishing house?� says Bucemi.

First, however, it was Beel’s who would present. In January, she and members of PHRC's marketing team visited Bucemi’s class to introduce a project where students would develop original, comprehensive marketing plans for Spoiled Milk, a debut supernatural gothic horror novel scheduled for release.

While students were given broad creative freedom, Beel outlined the same expectations a marketing team like theirs would face, including deliverables, timelines and creative standards. “It reframed the project from a classroom exercise into something that felt professionally real,� says Saarony.

The class was divided into five teams, each responsible for a different piece: a preorder push, influencer outreach, paid digital advertising, organic social media content and an in-person reader event. Over the course of three months, students worked collaboratively to build a unified, multichannel strategy that blended digital marketing with immersive, experiential ideas.

The final campaign leaned heavily into the gothic atmosphere of Spoiled Milk. Elements were timed around culturally resonant moments, such as Friday the13th and Halloween, with the aim of extending the novel’s eerie tone beyond the page. One proposed initiative – dubbed a “Summer-ween� reader event – imagined bringing the book’s haunted boarding school setting into the real world.

Saarony served as one of two team leads on the influencer mailer project, which focused on creating a tactile, interactive experience for book-focused creators on TikTok and Instagram. She and her team designed a themed mailer inspired by the novel’s setting.

The package took the form of a vintage steamer trunk and included story-linked objects such as tarot cards, a custom bookmark and a painted compact mirror featuring a rotting apple. Interactive elements encouraged recipients to explore the contents over time, including hidden messages revealed with a UV Ouija planchette (also known as a spirit board pointer).

“Our goal was to give influencers something they could return to,� Saarony says, “objects they could explore, decode and interact with.�

Another student, Lauren Russell, co-led the digital ads team, which developed a cross-platform advertising strategy tailored to online book audiences. The team identified platforms such as Goodreads and Book Riot, and created a range of static and animated banner ads, alongside short-form video content for social media.

For Instagram, Russell took on an acting role, posing as a fictional student from the novel’s boarding school in a character-driven mock interview. The team also produced a TikTok-style video showcasing gothic horror recommendations, positioning Spoiled Milk within a broader reading community.

At the end of March, students visited Penguin Random House’s Toronto offices to deliver their pitch.

After months of preparation, Russell says the key was stepping into the room with confidence. “We kept reminding ourselves that we knew our work was strong,� she says. “Our job was to show it clearly and enthusiastically.�

For Saarony, the nerves subsided quickly. “Once we started, I went into autopilot,� she says. “I trusted the preparation, and it went better than I could have hoped.�

Following the pitch, PRHC staff provided detailed, industry-aligned feedback to each group. Students were encouraged to think critically about their creative choices, audience targeting and feasibility. One piece of feedback resonated strongly across the class. “We were told that the presentation we had put together was corporate level,� says Russell. “I felt like all our hard work culminated in that moment.�

With the project complete, students reflected on what they gained. For Saarony, the opportunity helped build confidence in her ability to contribute to large projects, and to lead them – which sparked a new interest. During a post-pitch conversation with PRHC’s managing editor, Saarony mentioned her curiosity about the legal side of publishing – an exchange that led to an offer for her to connect with the company’s legal team to learn more.

Russell similarly described the experience as a turning point, noting how it sharpened her leadership, communication and research skills while demystifying how much planning and coordination goes into launching a book.

For Bucemi, those outcomes reflect the program’s broader purpose. Giving students the chance to apply their skills in a real-world context helps them see how theory translates into practice, and how their interests might evolve once they engage directly with the industry. “Understanding what professional life looks like before you graduate makes a real difference,� he says.

At the same time, he was pleased when Beel noted that the students demonstrated a level of ambition and creativity that would get them a job at any company in the industry.

“The biggest thing for me is helping students get practical opportunities that will support them as they enter the job market,� he says. “My hope is that putting something like this on their resume will be a real X-factor when they're looking for a publishing job."

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An associate professor of math education at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ’s Faculty of Education, Osibodu focuses her research on how Black students experience math and how education systems can better support equity.

“I want Black learners who enter a mathematics classroom to be fully, completely themselves instead of feeling like they don’t belong,� says Osibodu, who is keenly aware of the persistent and unfounded stereotypes about Black learners’ abilities in math – and how those beliefs intersect with Canada’s colonial legacy and history of immigration.

Osibodu’s teaching experience across three continents has fuelled her interest in and passion for addressing challenges faced by Black students in Canada. Before joining York, she taught secondary school mathematics in South Africa and later taught mathematics and mathematics education courses in the U.S. and Canada. Her research has since documented a range of obstacles faced by Black students in Canadian classrooms.

“It’s impossible to look at course syllabi without realizing that it’s important for equity to be at the core of the teaching practice,� she says. “My ultimate goal is to create math education where Black learners are thriving.�

A key aspect of her work is understanding how Black students experience math, which, in Canada, requires knowledge of the population’s demography. As her colleague Carl James, the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ, has long emphasized, the Canadian Black community is diverse – including descendants who arrived via the Underground Railroad, families who immigrated from the Caribbean decades ago and more recent immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa – leading to a variety of educational experiences.

“It’s something I hope to explore,� Osibodu says. “In the United States, many scholars in mathematics education have studied the racialized experiences of Black learners and can trace these experiences through generations. In Canada, that isn’t the experience of most Africans, who are largely first-generation immigrants with a fairly young population.

African-born parents tend to be trusting of education systems, she notes. “I want to understand how these parents navigate the mathematics education of their children in the Canadian system. I want to collaborate with and support these parents with more tools to advocate for their children better.�

Osibodu is also examining how math education can address broader social and economic realities. Together with Alexandre Cavalcante at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, she has findings from their Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development Grant exploring critical financial literacy among Black youth. The work highlights the importance of teaching financial literacy in response to Ontario’s 2020 mathematics curriculum, which introduced financial literacy expectations.

The research emphasizes that financial literacy should be taught through a systemic lens (e.g. discussing barriers to financial systems) rather than focusing exclusively on personal responsibility (e.g. budgeting).

Osibodu’s scholarship often draws on decoloniality as a theoretical and analytical lens, particularly for work directly connected to sub-Saharan Africa. One of her examined the impact of coloniality through the widespread use of the British-developed Cambridge Assessment International Education curriculum throughout anglophone Africa.

Across her work, Osibodu returns to the same principle for math education worldwide.

“It is imperative for equity to be at the core of a mathematics education practice and to constantly challenge deficit narratives about who belongs and who doesn’t,� Osibodu says. “We need to be very intentional in pushing against those narratives.�

With files from Elaine Smith

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“New grads are not staying in nursing,â€� says Robbio, who teaches in the School of Nursing at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ. “It’s a lot of sacrifices they’re making, a lot of money they are spending, to not stay in nursing.â€�

High turnover and ongoing staffing pressures affect not only individual nurses but also the broader health care system, Robbio says. Her work focuses on addressing burnout and retention challenges that emerge early in nurses’ careers.

Many new graduates face a difficult shift as they enter professional practice where support can be limited and workplace pressures high. These challenges were further intensified during the COVID‑19 pandemic, which disrupted clinical placements and contributed to work fatigue among practising nurses.

That transition period prompted Robbio to focus on mentorship and social connection as ways to help students build confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging as they move into the workforce. However, through her doctoral work in 2018 – titled "E-Mentoring as a Socialization Strategy for New Graduate Nurse Role Transitions and Workplace Adjustment" – Robbio confirmed that traditional in‑person mentoring models can be difficult to sustain due to competing priorities, scheduling conflicts and heavy workloads.

In 2023, supported by a York Academic Innovation Fund grant, Robbio expanded her research by launching a pilot e‑mentoring initiative to explore a more flexible approach. The project examined whether virtual mentoring could offer an accessible, cost‑effective way to overcome common barriers to mentorship. It did so through an interdisciplinary research team consisting of co-principal investigator Mavoy Bertram, an associate professor from the School of Nursing; former Teaching Commons educational developer Lisa Endersby; statistician Hugh McCague from the Institute for Social Research; Helen Brennagh from Learning Technology Services; Stephanie Quail, director of the Open Scholarship Department at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ Libraries; and research assistant Doina Nugent.

The initiative explored how an e‑mentoring model within York's School of Nursing could provide psychosocial guidance, networking opportunities and career support for fourth‑year undergraduate collaborative BScN students.

Following positive responses from both mentors and mentees, Robbio received support through a ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ Faculty Association Teaching Fellowship and ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ Minor Research Grant to integrate the system directly into the curriculum of an undergraduate nursing leadership course she teaches.

The three‑month program – built on the 2023 research work and started in January 2025 – paired third‑year undergraduates (e‑mentees) with graduate nursing students who are also experienced registered nurses (e‑mentors). The mentors came from within the York community.

“We already have nurses at York who are working on their graduate degrees,� says Robbio. “We have a pool of people who want to give back to the profession while continuing their education.�

Mentors created detailed profiles that included clinical experience, years in practice and personal interests to help foster strong matches. Students were then able to indicate preferred mentors, with efforts made to accommodate those choices where possible.

Once matched, mentors and mentees connected by email, text or Zoom every two weeks. They discussed topics such as goal setting, conflict management, career pathways and work-life balance, supported by a series of online learning modules. Robbio emphasizes the tone of the relationship was central to the initiative’s success.

“It was not so much about preaching to your mentee, but really listening,� she says. “It felt more like a peer‑support relationship.�

At the end of the program, e‑mentees completed a reflective learning assignment to assess their development and experiences. Mentors and mentees were also invited to complete a post‑program satisfaction survey.

The findings were positive. A large majority (86 per cent) of e‑mentors said they would participate again, citing the experience as rewarding and meaningful. Many e‑mentees reported they valued the additional guidance and planned to stay in contact with their mentors. While designed to support undergraduate nursing students, mentors also gained from the experience.

“E‑mentoring was really a reciprocal relationship,� Robbio says, noting that mentors had opportunities to reflect on their own practice, strengthen leadership skills and reconnect with their professional purpose.

Ultimately, the initiative aims to support long‑term retention in the profession. By helping students build resilience, navigate challenges and develop coping strategies early in their careers, Robbio hopes it will make a lasting impact.

“Our goal is that whatever skills they’ve learned – whether it’s resilience, conflict resolution or managing work-life balance – this program will help them stay in nursing,� she says.

Robbio and her team plan to continue work on the initiative. In the fall, she hopes to expand the program to support internationally educated nurses, who may face additional pressures as they transition to working in Canada. She is also exploring ways to involve alumni as e-mentors and believes the model could eventually be adapted for use in other programs and disciplines.

With files from Ruth Robbio

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As cities around the world grapple with mounting waste crises, researchers at the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) are exploring a critical but often overlooked question: who does the work of managing waste and under what conditions?

At ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ, this question is shaping an emerging area of interdisciplinary research that connects environmental change with labour, inequality and shared global priorities.

Research efforts led by Shubhra Gururani, a political ecologist, associate professor of anthropology and director of YCAR, examine how waste is a technical or environmental problem, but also a deeply political one, structured by histories of colonialism, race, caste and gender.

Waste is increasing at an unprecedented rate, expected to grow by around 80 per cent by 2050, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. “The systems that manage that growth still often rely on precarious labour performed by socially marginalized groups, including migrants, women and caste-oppressed communities,â€� says Gururani, who explores how these dynamics are embedded in broader processes of urban change and development. "This raises urgent questions about whether shifts to more environmentally sustainable systems may reproduce, rather than resolve, entrenched inequalities.â€�

A key contributor is Harsha Anantharaman, a postdoctoral Asian studies fellow at YCAR who focuses on informal waste workers – those who make a living by collecting and recycling waste outside formal, regulated systems – in urban India.

Drawing on extensive ethnographic and archival research across four cities for an ongoing book project â€“ To Caste Away Waste: Racialized Labour and the Political Economy of Commodity Detritus in Urban India – Anantharaman studies how policies aimed at formalizing waste work often have contradictory effects. “As formalization policies reshape urban waste economies in India, the efforts to include marginalized groups can paradoxically deepen labour precarity and reproduce entrenched caste hierarchies,â€� he says.

His research shows that initiatives framed as inclusive, such as bringing waste pickers into formal waste management systems, can make working conditions more insecure. As municipal waste becomes increasingly controlled by governments and corporations as a private resource, informal workers are incorporated into systems that offer recognition without security. These processes reproduce caste-based hierarchies, reshaping labour relations. Anantharaman describes this as informal labour being absorbed into systems while caste-coded recognition continues.

By situating these dynamics within global political economic transformations in urban governance and political economy, his work highlights both the structural constraints faced by workers and the potential for more equitable alternatives. His findings suggest models such as the formal recognition and integration of waste pickers into municipal systems, cooperative-led recycling initiatives and policies that ensure fair wages, social protections and decision-making power for frontline workers.

Through these efforts, Gururani and Anantharaman’s work can contribute to a growing international conversation on the global politics of waste. It brings into focus how environmental governance, labour regimes and social hierarchies intersect in ways that challenge dominant narratives as municipalities and corporations transition to green and sustainable efforts.

“It is critical to remain cognizant of the ways in which such transitions often rely on the invisibilized labour of marginalized communities and reproduce existing inequalities even as they claim ecological progress,� says Anantharaman.

YCAR will continue this dialogue by hosting an international symposium in April titled . Organized by Gururani and Anantharaman, the two-day event will bring together scholars and practitioners working across regions, including South Asia, North Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.

While the symposium is a closed academic gathering, it will feature two public keynote lectures that are open to the wider community. These talks will extend YCAR’s ongoing engagement with questions of labour, inequality and environmental change, offering an opportunity for broader public dialogue on the stakes of global waste economies. The symposium also contributes to a forthcoming special issue of Environment and Planning D: Society and Space.

“Through initiatives like this, YCAR continues to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and public engagement around some of the most pressing challenges of our time, highlighting how questions of waste are inseparable from questions of justice,� says Gururani.

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The Mercator Fellowship is a competitive award that supports international research collaborations, allowing scholars to work with leading experts and research centres abroad. For Shivener, the fellowship connects him to an international project at the University of Konstanz: a Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) titled “Silence, Noise and Signal in Language.�

Funded by the German Research Foundation, the CRC brings together more than 25 academics across 17 multi-year projects to explore how silence and disruption impact communication in settings such as gaming, social media and institutional life.

The project is organized around three key concepts. “Noise� refers to anything that interferes with or complicates interactions – such as ambiguity, misunderstanding or conflicting cues. “Silence,� meanwhile, is not just the absence of communication, but can carry meaning depending on context. “Signal� refers to the message that emerges through – and is shaped by – these conditions.

Shivener’s path toward this international and interdisciplinary collaboration began in 2025, when he participated in the Ontario Baden-Württemberg Faculty Research Exchange – a program funded by the Ontario Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. While conducting a pilot study on virtual reality and social deduction gaming at Konstanz, he was invited to review the CRC proposal.

His involvement was requested due to his ongoing research into how people create and interpret meaning in technologically mediated environments through writing and conversation. He has examined this topic in studies about emotional writing practices, virtual reality and digital games and through books such as Living Digital Media and Digital Literacies for Human Connection.

The Konstanz researchers saw a conceptual fit and went a step further than their invitation to review the proposal; they asked him to join the project as a collaborator, if it was funded.

Shivener, who teaches in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, was intrigued. He had observed in interviews how absence of noise can create space for participants to reflect and respond. In virtual or in-person social deduction games, focused on reading and influencing others, he had also seen how players use noise to redirect blame or build trust.

Shivener was also enthusiastic about the chance to work across disciplines and across countries. “International collaboration is a chance to meld our theories and methods in ways that simply don’t happen when you’re working within a single institution or tradition,� he says.

Now that the CRC has been approved and funded, Shivener has been appointed as a fellow through to 2029. He will contribute to the sub-project “Ambiguous Signals: Exploring Noise and Silence in Gaming.�

“Silence and noise are powerful means of persuasion. They also function differently depending on the context,� explains Shivener. His work will focus on both analog and digital games as sites for exploring how those elements influence communication.

For example, in the video game Among Us, players take hidden roles on a spaceship. They try to identify who is sabotaging the crew while keeping their own role secret. In this kind of game, players use silence, misleading statements and other cues to influence others and interpret intentions, showing how noise and silence carry meaning and affect interactions. Synchronized video recordings and close observation of people playing will be used in the research inquiry to see how these elements emerge, are interpreted and influence the flow of play.

Insights from his work will feed into the broader goals of the CRC, and help researchers understand how silence, noise and signal operate in other social context – from online discussions and social media to workplace and institutional communication. In these settings, ambiguity and interpretation similarly affect human interaction.

Therein lies the impact Shivener hopes his work – and the CRC’s – may have over the next years on a broader level.

“The results of studying social deduction games, for example, have relevance to understanding how we speak and write to each other in times of political and interpersonal conflict,â€� he says. â€œI hope that we can call further attention to the problems and affordances of silence and noise across everyday situations.â€�

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This issue highlights how work-integrated learning is shaping student learning across ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ by connecting classroom knowledge with real-world practice.

The stories showcase students applying their skills through community-engaged projects, technology development, work-study roles and co-op pathways, while also exploring unexpected career directions. Together, these examples illustrate how hands-on learning supports personal growth, professional readiness and meaningful contributions beyond the University, reinforcing the value of learning by doing.

As Melanie Belore, executive director, experiential learning, notes: "Strengthening our work-integrated learning and co-op options is a strategic priority for York. These experiences give students the confidence, clarity and connections they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world." 

In this issue:

York students find career inspiration through unexpected co-op paths
Innovative work-integrated learning programs help ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ students develop skills, make connections and find meaning in the future – and discover new ways to apply their education in the workplace.

Student-developed app supports learners, earns recognition from Apple
A fourth-year student is improving access to quality education and breaking down barriers for students with limited resources.

¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ students drive community change through experiential learning
York students are putting their knowledge to work in meaningful ways, helping local organizations respond to complex social challenges.

Work/study roles prepare ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ students for co-op success
Paid, on-campus employment opportunities drive co-op and career readiness for York’s undergraduate students.

York's unique master’s program opens doors to biotechnology careers
¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ’s Master of Biotechnology Management program develops job-ready talent through hands‑on training, industry mentorship and paid internships, opening pathways to new careers.

York recognizes co-op and work-integrated learning students of the year
Meet two outstanding ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ students who have been recognized with the Work-Integrated Student of the Year and Co-op Student of the Year awards for their achievements shaping communities and driving meaningful change.

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This might sound like the stunt of a thrill seeker, but it was just another day at work for Sahai in his role as a ride engineering intern at Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan.

For the student, the unusual co-op work term offered an exciting way to apply and develop what he learned at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ.

“In school, we learn about mechanical design, forces, safety factors and how systems behave on paper, but seeing those ideas come to life on a full-scale roller coaster like Leviathan made everything click,� says Sahai, a fourth-year student at the .

During eight months as a paid co-op student working on the rides maintenance mechanical team, Sahai was responsible for upkeep of both the Leviathan and Vortex roller coasters as well as some smaller rides. His work involved checking the functionality of mechanical components such as bolts, panels, sensors and restraints, and making needed repairs. Sahai says a highlight was helping to redesign, fabricate and install safety components for the rides.

“Seeing something I worked on being used on a major roller coaster was a huge moment for me,� Sahai says. “It made the whole experience feel real and showed me that even as a student, my work could have a meaningful impact.�

The role helped him develop technical expertise and improve teamwork and administrative skills. Sahai says the experience translates well to in-class studies, where he is learning about designing, manufacturing and testing space equipment such as satellites, rovers and rockets.

More importantly, the co-op gave him confidence in his abilities.

“Working in the amusement ride industry showed me how much engineering goes into creating experiences that are both thrilling and completely safe,� Sahai says. “I hope to continue contributing ideas that make technology safer and more accessible for everyone.�

Fatimah Mufti is also taking a creative approach to work-integrated learning experiences.

A student in the Bachelor of Arts in Law & Society program, Mufti plans to be a lawyer – a decision influenced by her long-time interest in true-crime documentaries. But, when it came time to choose co-op work terms, she saw wisdom in exploring options outside of the law.

“I determined that I’m going to do something that I completely don’t expect myself to be doing to get out of my comfort zone,� says Mufti, a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).

Her first co-op in September of 2024 was an eight-month paid role as a research analyst at the Ministry of Infrastructure in the Ontario government, where she conducted risk assessments, technical research and data visualization for a variety of projects.

For her second work term that began last fall, Mufti pursued another position outside of the legal field and joined ventureLAB, a technology non-profit in Markham that helps hardware and software startups expand globally. The opportunity was supported by the Infuse Program, offered through LA&PS in collaboration with TECHNATION. The program provides funding for employers to hire co-op students from liberal arts disciples into tech-adjacent roles.

Working as a member of the external relations team, Mufti is involved in everything from presenting to business leaders on the organization’s services, to using Salesforce software to support customer engagement, to taking minutes at leadership meetings.

“This role helped me see myself as someone who can operate at the intersection of business and technology, which I never envisioned for myself,� Mufti says. “I am learning how to navigate fast-paced projects, analyze data and improve my public speaking skills. I’m also forming so many useful connections.�

Mufti says it has been illuminating to observe the intensity of the work environment at ventureLAB, which operates six programs that help 100 ventures annually with raising capital, retaining talent, commercializing products and acquiring customers. She says colleagues value her contributions and encourage her to share her ideas.

“My professional identity has evolved from thinking of myself mainly as a student to seeing myself as a contributor who can support decision-making,� Mufti says.

Mufti is preparing to apply to law school in Fall 2026 and hopes to study at . Her co-op experiences, she says, will serve her well on her career path.

“I’ve gained a lot of hands-on experience that has built my confidence and showed me the skills I need to succeed in a professional environment,� she says.

With files from Sharon Aschaiek

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Through four paid work/study jobs and 16 months of paid co-op, the international student from India developed vital skills and useful contacts for his future career.

Narechania recalls arriving at York feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement at the idea of entering university and the Canadian workforce. York's – paid, on-campus job opportunities for eligible undergraduates – offered him a way to build connections and skills and helped him prepare for work-integrated learning in future years of study.

Through the program, students gain work experience at one of York’s three campuses during full-time study, and can apply as early as first year. These opportunities offer a way to develop essential professional competencies with the support of a supervisor’s one-on-one coaching.

In his first year, Narechania worked at the Centre for Student Community & Leadership Development, which helps new students transition to university life. As a student engagement ambassador, he provided information about the University to students, guided student clubs on their operations and developed social media content to promote the centre’s offerings.

Each week, the centre’s team members met to discuss their plans and progress, and Narechania was given an opportunity to lead one such meeting.

“That was important, because it helped me build my abilities at communicating and presenting, as well as my social skills,� he says.

The positive experience led Narechania to subsequent work/study positions with York International, the Office of Sustainability and the Office of the University Registrar. In these roles, he applied his technical skills to help build data analytics dashboards, track service interactions and improve process workflows.

During his final work/study employment, his supervisor Tom Osborne, assistant director, academic scheduling at the Office of the University Registrar, encouraged him to think about the future. “Tom was my biggest cheerleader,� says Narechania. “He introduced me to people who might help me find a full-time role after graduation.�

Narechania leveraged his experiences and network to apply for his first co-op job, successfully earning a 12-month position as a business analyst with Hydro One.

“The skills I developed through my work/study roles supported me throughout the co-op application process,� Narechania says. “I was able to confidently share real examples during interviews.�

That confidence translated to on-the-job impact, where he helped lead an end-to-end legacy system upgrade project that impacted over 9,000 field staff users. Working closely with his project manager, Narechania was involved in the project from its initial planning stage to the project’s development, UAT (user acceptance testing) and its launch. Work-integrated learning, he says, prepared him for these real-world challenges.

Today, Narechania reflects on how much he has changed since his arrival at York four years ago. “My work experiences complemented each other. I feel skilled, more confident and more comfortable entering the job market.�

With his sights set on a career as a business analyst or tech consultant, he’s keen to use the technical expertise he acquired through experiential learning opportunities at York.

“The work/study roles gave me knowledge and confidence to be ready for employment,� Narechania says. “They were nurturing spaces to learn how to meet the expectations of employers.�

With files from Sharon Aschaiek

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Sadia Tasnim (data science) and Brianna Nguyen (digital technologies) have been named ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ’s Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning students of the year.

The Co-op Student of the Year award recognizes an outstanding student who has made a significant impact during a co-op work term in the 2025 calendar year. This year marks the inaugural launch of the award as an institution‑wide competition, and invited nominations from students across all programs.

The Work-Integrated Learning Student of the Year award recognizes an outstanding student who has made significant impact in an activity defined by (CEWIL) as work-integrated learning in the 2025 calendar year.

Both awards acknowledge students’ ongoing efforts to promote work-integrated learning within their campus, communities and industry.

Sadia Tasnim: Co-op Student of the Year

“For as long as I remember, I’ve noticed how numbers quietly dictate what the world pays attention to,� says Tasnim, a fourth-year data science student.

Long before entering York’s Data Science program in the Faculty of Science, she marvelled at the figures she saw in news headlines. She reflected not just on the response they generated, but on the hidden work behind them – who collected them, how they shaped decisions and how they drove outcomes.  

When she decided to pursue co-operative education as part of her undergraduate degree, instead of working at a large tech company, financial institution or consulting firm, Tasnim’s work term took her to an unexpected place: a local food bank.   

Working first in agency relations and then as a data administrator, she joined Food Banks Mississauga on a growing data team and found a space where her talents at interpreting and presenting data aligned with her desire for community impact.  

Among four student hires, she was one of two selected to co-lead the organization’s largest annual initiative: the Annual Visitor Survey. She led a team of 20 volunteers responsible for collecting data from food bank clients, assessing service satisfaction and gathering demographic information to help the organization better understand its community’s needs.  

One of her most significant contributions came as the result of an unexpected challenge, when she faced the sudden departure of a direct supervisor. Tasnim welcomed the opportunity to lead her team to the project’s completion on time. She helped compile and analyze the data to produce an exceptionally detailed report that her director described as “the first of its kind� for the organization.  

Tasnim also showed initiative by attending external workshops hosted by non-profits to understand how data can be communicated effectively. By the end of her co-op term, she had completed nine reports, including a comprehensive organizational analysis, and presented her findings at a board meeting.

The most rewarding part of her experience, she says, was knowing she had contributed to key food security insights that may guide future programs and resource allocation.

“From the moment I interviewed Sadia, what stood out most was that her values and integrity drive the work she does,� says Nicole Norris, director of programs and agency network, Food Banks Mississauga. “As a food bank, our organization has evolving data needs and seeks talented individuals to elevate our data approach. Her combination of technical expertise, leadership potential and commitment to the organization’s mission made her an asset to our team and left a lasting positive impact.� 

In addition to making a difference through her co-op role, Tasmin is an active leader in championing and contributing to WIL. She attended the 2025 CEWIL Canada Ontario Regional Conversation, where she helped surface challenges in the landscape of WIL with peers and leaders. She also represented York’s co-op program as an ambassador during the Ontario Universities Fair, where she shared her experiences with prospective York applicants.  

Tasnim also demonstrates leadership in her program as the founder of York’s Data Science Club.  In this role, she has established a membership of more than 120 students and secured sponsorships from local organizations to provide financial support for the club's growth. 

In recognition of her achievements and her work inspiring young women to pursue careers in technology, she has been nominated for CS-CAN-INFO-CAN's W. Powley Woman of Inspiration Award. 

Brianna Nguyen: Work-Integrated Learning Student of the Year

 Nguyen, a second-year digital technologies student at York’s Markham Campus and a Dev Degree intern at Shopify, has distinguished herself through initiative, persistence and a commitment to community impact. 

Her academic, professional and creative pursuits demonstrate her engagement and advocacy for WIL as a tool for empowerment, innovation and growth.  

In the fully work-integrated Digital Technologies program at Markham Campus, Nguyen dedicates 80 per cent of her time to working full-time at Shopify, and 20 per cent to completing her academic courses in intensive five-day blocks.  

“I chose digital technologies because it offers a work-integrated experience unlike any other program,� she says. “Through this immersive program, I was pushed to take initiative, apply my knowledge in real-world settings and step into meaningful roles.�

As a Dev Degree intern, she has spent the past several months contributing to technical projects within Shopify’s Activation team. Her work helps support new merchants as they onboard and begin to use the platform.  

Early in her internship, she helped build back-end functionality for Shopify’s new Retail Yearly subscription, gaining foundational experience in shipping production code.  With more experience, skill and confidence, Nguyen moved to more complex challenges involving AI. She proactively sought opportunities for “pair programming� with senior engineers, data scientists and product managers – a practice in which one developer writes code and another provides review and feedback. This initiative accelerated her learning, she says, and grow her relationship with different members of the organization.

Nguyen is proud to have contributed to development of Shopify’s AI-powered voice assistant, as well as a new tool that enables non-developers to quickly test prompts across AI models, reducing iteration time and improving workflows.

Nguyen's manager acknowledged her performance, noting she exceeded expectations in her role. Despite being a first-year intern, her performance was recognized as demonstrating capabilities equivalent to a full-time junior developer.

Beyond her technical skills, Nguyen has shown leadership by building inclusive spaces for peers. She has hosted Lightning Talks for Shopify staff and interns, presented openly about overcoming imposter syndrome, mentored new Dev Degree cohorts and served as a student executive for ElleHacks, Canada’s largest hackathon for women and non-binary students.

She also represented York and engaged in meaningful connection-building at the conference where she was sponsored by Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ.

Her achievements reflect her advocacy for inclusive innovation and her belief in the power of WIL to build confidence and community.

“Work-integrated learning has been an integral part of my university experience and a model that I have continued to promote,� she says.

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