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HeadlinesContinuing Education Offers Two Writing Courses this Fall Trent Gets Ready to Shine at Shinerama Five Trent Profs in Running for TVO's Best Lecturer Competition Continuing Education's New Fall Line-Up Trent Professor Awarded Ireland Canada University Foundation Scholarship Trent to Host 2008 International Association for Great Lakes Research Conference Enter the Second Annual Trent Literary Short Fiction Writing Contest Trent Prof Elected to Royal Society of Canada's Academy of Arts and Humanities Trent Prof Delivers Keynote Address at International Conference Maclean's Graduate Survey Issue -- Q & A Document Consultant's Report on Facilities Renewal Submitted Trent University Celebrated Largest Graduating Class at Convocation Ceremonies June 1 and June 2 Exceptional Residence Experiences on One of the Most Breathtaking Campuses in Canada Features |
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Not an Ending but Rather a New Beginning |
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IDS Grad Selected as Gzowski Intern at CBC Radio For most of Christopher Rompré's final year at Trent, he has been inspired by a quote from the poet William Blake: "He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars: general Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer…" According to Mr. Rompré this quote has provided a centralizing focus to his time at Trent in that it points to the need for attention to the "real", rather than the abstract and general. "The most important thing I have gained here is to critically understand the world around me, to find value of particulars in general theory – to learn of the people and the stories that really matter," he said. Hearing the stories and gaining "real world" experience is one of the reasons why Mr. Rompré became interested in pursuing a degree in International Development Studies. And his experiences travelling throughout South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand after high school led him select the program and to join Trent's Year in Ghana study abroad program through which he spent his third year of university studying, working, and living in Ghana. While working with the Rural Media Network in the capital city of Tamale, Mr. Rompré developed an interest in journalism as well as documentary film-making. He pursued this interest throughout his time in Ghana, producing his first documentary film entitled The Bone Setter Project, which profiles a local traditional healer. The film was screened at the Institute for African Studies in Ghana and is now used by NGOs in Tamale to highlight the value of traditional healing. Upon returning to Trent for his final year, Mr. Rompré continued to pursue his interests in film-making by producing a documentary on the Seasoned Spoon, an independently-run organic and fair-trade café at Trent. It was this interest and experience in film-making that led Mr. Rompré to apply for one of four Peter Gzowski summer internships at CBC Radio. As an intern, he will work with various radio shows across the country, gaining first-hand experience in radio programming. Once the internship concludes at the end of August, Mr. Rompré is hoping to pursue a career with the CBC. The Achievement of a Dream Lai Jeet Yeo came to Trent University to pursue a life-long dream of becoming a nurse – a dream that was not possible in his home country of Malaysia, where men were not accepted as nursing students. His dream came true on June 2 as Mr. Yeo crossed the podium at Trent and received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. "As long as you have a dream, and work on it, you can get it," Mr. Yeo said. His drive to become a nurse comes from Mr. Yeo's strong desire to "help people everyday, helping them get what they need", something that he was not able to do in his former profession as an engineer. So, after six years of working with computers, Mr. Yeo made the life-changing choice to come to Trent and make his dream a reality. From day one of the program, Mr. Yeo has been determined, dedicated and hard working, especially in the face of some barriers that he has come up against as an international student seeking an Ontario nursing license. In spite of the challenges, Mr. Yeo has excelled – completing the four year program and all clinical placements in three years and maintaining an 85 per cent average. Looking back, Mr. Yeo credits his fellow students, his professors, and the Trent Nursing program staff with much of his success, "I know every professor, I can easily reach them all…the support is why I did so well." Now, at the age of 31, Mr. Yeo is able to look back and enjoy the rewards of his hard work and dedication. In July, he will begin work as a full-time nurse at Kingston General Hospital. Work Together, Graduate Together For over eight years, Pauline Mills and Bruce Emmerton have been working in the Athletics Department together and sharing their stories of taking various part-time courses. Then a couple of years ago, while comparing credits, they made a pact to complete their degrees and graduate at the same time. On June 2, that pact was realized as Ms. Mills received her B.A. in Native Studies and Mr. Emmerton received his B.A. in Geography. Ms. Mills has been an employee of Trent for over 40 years, since the age of 17 when she joined the mailroom print shop. From there, she moved on to work in the Finance department, first as an Accounts Payable Clerk, then the Secretary to the Director, and finally the Executive Secretary to the VP of Administration and Finance. Since 1998, she has been working as the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Athletics. In 1993 she took her first part-time class, after becoming interested while taking notes for hearing impaired students. At the time, she wasn't thinking of completing a B.A. but, as the years went by and the courses accumulated, she realized the goal was attainable. "It's never too late. Just sign up for one course at a time," Ms. Mills said when asked what advice she has for other people considering part-time studies. Mr. Emmerton's career at Trent started in 1994 as the Aquatics Supervisor; in 1997 he made the move to Camp Director, where he remains today. With a three-year diploma from Fleming College under his belt, Mr. Emmerton made the decision to pursue his B.A. in 1997 as a means of moving on in his career; he chose geography because, "at this point in my life, I want to take something I really enjoy." Asked to describe his experience taking courses at Trent, Mr. Emmerton replies, "I have enjoyed the journey, not just trying to get to the destination." Looking to the future, both Ms. Mills and Mr. Emmerton intend to continue taking courses. In keeping with her desire to "keep my brain stimulated," Ms. Mills is looking into taking some Spanish courses to assist in any future travelling, while Mr. Emmerton hopes to pursue his honours degree and eventually attend teacher's college. Ph.D. Opens New Doors for Native Studies Graduate The pursuit of a Doctorate degree in Native Studies was born out of Nicole Bell's desire to create a school for Aboriginal children where they could learn and develop the skills they need for the modern world while maintaining a core foundation in cultural history and tradition. During the completion of her degree, Ms. Bell not only realized her dream but, in addition, developed a new goal to pursue a career in teaching at the university level. After completing her undergraduate degree in Native Studies at Trent, getting married, giving birth to her first son, she pursued a Bachelor of Education degree at Queen's University. From there, she completed a Master of Education at Queen's before returning to Trent in 1999 to undertake her doctorate. During this time, she also adopted two children and birthed two more. In 2002, her goal of opening a culture-based school for Aboriginal children was realized when, as part of her Ph.D. project, and thanks to outside funding, she opened the Anishnaabe Bimaadiziwin Cultural Healing and Learning Program in Burleigh Falls. "I was living out my dream," she said, proudly explaining how, from 2002-2005, 53 students came through the doors of the school. Since 2005, when the funding for the school ran out, Ms. Bell has been working hard to keep an after-school youth program still running. It is her hope that the work will lead to the creation "better educational spaces for Aboriginal people." In the meantime, Ms. Bell is pursuing her second goal of teaching at the university level. After completing a full-time faculty position with the Department of Indigenous Studies in the 2005-2006 academic year, she will move on to a full-time faculty position with the School of Education in the fall. Through this position, she will be designing and teaching a new Indigenous Studies course outlining how to incorporate Indigenous Studies into the high school curriculum. Posted June 20, 2006
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