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Brandon Bastaldo

FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 2012 New College

Inside the Classroom

  • Major: Cinema Studies
  • Major: English

Outside the Classroom

Further Education

  • Certificate in project management, University of Toronto

Career Accomplishments

  • Production lead, Loblaw Digital
  • eCommerce/digital product launches and project management: Dyson, Canopy Growth Corporation

Take your time to learn more about yourself.

Reach out, talk to professors, challenge other students and yourself to think and engage.

Use your classes to create your voice and your approach. Understand how to ask questions and get your ideas across in difficult situations.

Reach out to TAs, Professors, other students who you might find interesting and who can share some perspective.

Once you leave university, the ability for this to happen organically sometimes dramatically decreases. Approach the world with wonder.

Clare O’Brien

FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 2020 Trinity College

Inside the Classroom

Switched programs from:

Alongside the Classroom

Outside the Classroom

Further Education

Career Accomplishments

In the Media

“Relax, it’s okay if you don’t know what you’re going to do after graduation!”

Danielle Dewar

FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 2007 New College
Inside the Classroom

Switched programs from:

Outside the Classroom

  • Costume designer on a few plays at Victoria College
Career Accomplishments

  • Spent several years working in communications for non-profits, startups and the tech sector in Canada
  • Now work as a freelance writer and run my own digital media company, Brand Dew Media
  • Also do freelance DV screenwriting and just produced a pilot for a new web series that will hopefully be funded through Kickstarter called The Stickmans
In the Media

New College Impact

I was in the double cohort. Many students were randomly placed in my first year of school, myself included, so I had virtually no ties to New College. The majority of my courses and education happened via the Cinema Studies program offered out of Innis College and the English Literature program offered out of Victoria College.

“It’s easy to make up your mind regarding what you’re going to study long before you even attend university. I made my choices that way at first but stayed open to the idea of changing my mind halfway through. I changed minors several times and don’t regret it. I took more credits than I needed to in the end, but gained a lot of experience in the different subject matter I studied along the way as a result.“

Samii Folliott

FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 2015 Innis College
Inside the Classroom

Outside the Classroom

Career Description

  • Production coordinator and producer at a production house/agency (preparation, completion and wrap out of client projects)
  • Worked freelance in the TV production field upon graduation
In the Media

“There is no problem without a solution!”

Jim Shedden

Jim Shedden

FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 1986 Innis College
Inside the Classroom

Switched programs from: Specialist, Cinema Studies

Outside the Classroom

Further Education

  • M.A., Political Science, University of Toronto, 1990. Specialized in Political Theory.
Career Accomplishments

  • Coordinator, International Experimental Film Congress (1988/89)
    Film progammer/film curator, Art Gallery of Ontario, plus performing arts programmer and many other roles, 1989-1998.
  • Vice-President/Senior Creative Producer, Bruce Mau Design, 1998-2000 (ran the studio, developed business, produced the big “investment” projects for the studio, was managing editor of our own publications).
  • Curator and Publisher, Art Gallery of Ontario (2010-present): produce all exhibition catalogues, artists’ books, collection books. Curate film and visual culture-related exhibitions including Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters; Outsiders: American Film and Photography, 1950s-1980s; working on new exhibition centred around home movies.
In the Media

“I’m really glad I studied Hegel, Rousseau, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Camus, Marx, et al. However, I’m equally glad that I’ve done all the extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, and self-initiated projects that I have. I started making fanzines when I was 14, and I’m still in publishing today. I got very involved in my own film and music projects back in high school as well and they have led me to where I am today. Do the best you can on your course work, but keep in mind that for most of us life outside the classrooms is just as important .“

 

Nadia Belokopitov

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My Haida name is Yelth Yulth Satleegay (Raven Sky Woman). My Anishnawbe name is Cenebah Equay (Ribbon Woman). I am from the Haida Nation, Raven Clan, House of Yuuglaanas. My mother is Mona Weir and my Noni (grandmother) is Carrie Weir.

In my adopted Anishnawbe Nation, my mother is Margaret Lavallee, Bear Clan, Sakgeeng Nation, Manitoba.

FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 1997 Innis
Inside the Classroom

Further Education

Career Description

You should be proud of what you are accomplishing. Also, stop, take it all in because these are the best years of your life.

To First Nations students, I would offer advice on seeking as much support as possible from U of T and your family and friends. In particular, I received much needed support from Professor Charlie Keil at Innis College. Without Professor Keil’s support, I would not have made it through my degree at U of T.

Justine Laboni

Justine Iaboni

FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 2008 St. Michael’s College
Inside the Classroom

Switched programs from:

Outside the Classroom

Further Education

  • MA, Cinema Studies, 2008-09, University of Toronto
Career Description

  • Launched a blog in 2009 and grew it into one of the top fashion, travel, beauty and lifestyle blogs in Canada.
  • Attended fashion weeks in Toronto and NYC writing for fashion publications.
  • Invited on press trips around the world working with tourism boards, hotels, local organizations, airlines, and many other brands.
  • Lectured at U of T and Ryerson on many occasions about her career.
  • Featured in magazines such as Toronto Life and Fashion.
  • Helped to forge the influencer industry in Canada by working with brands such as Unilever, American Express, PANDORA, Cadillac Fairview, Coach, Bayer, Nordstrom, etc.,
  • Mentored new bloggers starting out in the industry at Blogging Conferences
  • Volunteered with Filling the Gap TO
  • In 2017, left the blogging world to pursue her true passion: music and the arts.
  • Released an album in 2017
  • Writes a weekly spiritual newsletter based on the teachings of Wayne Dyer, Gabrielle Bernstein and Marianne Williamson targeted at women who are looking for guidance in their lives, and trying to find ways to work past limiting beliefs.
“I would tell myself that I CAN DO IT. That I am enough. I would tell myself that the world isn’t against me and that I am valuable. I would tell myself that you can have your cake and eat it to; that the limiting beliefs we’ve been passed down through our parents, social constructs, media, are not objective truth. We can choose the life we want to live. The how doesn’t matter. Sometimes having blind faith is the greatest gift you can give yourself, and you don’t have to “do it” the way that the mainstream does. I have always been a deep, feeling person and neglected that part of myself during undergrad. I repressed my inner dreamer for fear of not fitting in and fear of failure. The world has taught me so much, outside of school. I wish I had someone to impart real world knowledge onto me when I was in University. I wish I had someone to tell me that everything is going to be OK, that I CAN DO IT, whatever I dream of, no matter how silly or unconventional – I can achieve it.”

 

John Debono Portrait

John Debono

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FacetDescription
Graduation YearHBA 2014
Inside the Classroom

Outside the Classroom

Further Education

Career Accomplishments

Allow yourself to make the most of the University experience and always make sure you can be proud of the work you are producing.

 

Kathe Rogers

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FacetDescription
Graduation Year

  • HBA 2002 Innis College
Inside the Classroom

Outside the Classroom

Further Education

Career Accomplishments

In the Media

“I would tell my undergraduate self to continue pursuing that which engages and excites her, to build her resume by volunteering and working part-time on projects that inspire her, and to invest time and energy in her relationships, because these friends will remain an important part of her life.”