Vanessa Chris asked Farheen Rashid, York University’s career programs coordinator and leader of the professional etiquette program, about transforming the “student self” into a more polished and professional “working world self” for her April 12 Naked 905 column in the Toronto Star. You don’t have to transform into a different person to fit into the business world, Rashid said. “Always be yourself, but think about the image you want to project. Keep in mind that – whether you like it or not – people are watching you and making opinions of you,” she said. “It’s important not to lose yourself. If you don’t agree with altering your behaviour, don’t. As long as you’re respectful, polite and competent, you’ll fit in.”
Toronto writer among top African novelists
Yvonne Vera, one of Zimbabwe’s most important novelists, died of meningitis in a Toronto hospital on Thursday, reported The Globe and Mail April 12. She was 41. Born in Bulawayo (then part of southern Rhodesia) in 1964, she trained as a teacher and taught for two years before leaving the country in 1980, as it was celebrating its independence from British colonial rule. She settled in Toronto, where she studied at York University and earned a BA in 1990, an MA in 1991 and a PhD in 1995 in English literature. Meanwhile, she had begun publishing tough but lyrical novels and short stories that revolved around imperial, racial, sexual and gender oppression. Her novels Nehanda (1993) and Without a Name (1994) were short-listed for the Commonwealth Writers Prize Africa Region. Her novel Under the Tongue won the prestigious prize in 1997.
York volleyball player to represent Canada
Kevin Lewis will have a busy summer trying to balance a job with training for the worlds and attending Ontario Volleyball Association tournaments on the weekend, reported The Standard in St. Catharines-Niagara April 12. The chance to represent Canada at the beach volleyball under-21 world championships isn’t something the 20-year-old York fine arts student thought about when he started playing indoor volleyball in Grade 9. In his first year at York, he placed second at the Ontario University Athletics championships. This past year, he came off the bench for a squad that captured the Ontario university title and placed seventh at the nationals. Down the road, he’s thinking about the Olympics and the international beach volleyball circuit.
On air
- Ryerson Christie, a researcher with York’s Centre for International & Security Studies, appeared before the Senate Committee on National Security & Defence meeting to examine and report on the national security policy for Canada March 21. The meeting was televised April 8 on CPAC.
- Bernie Wolf, an economics professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, discussed Beijing’s anger at a move by the USA to set limits on textile imports from China, in an item aired nationally on CBC TV’s “Canada Now” and CBC Newsworld’s “CBC News” April 11.