The EWO Co-op Student of the Year Award recognizes Ontario Co-op students who have showcased exceptional job achievement, extra-curricular involvement, academic achievement and a strong contribution to Co-operative Education.
Our Committee is pleased to announce the winners along with two honourable mentions for the College and University Awards for 2014:
College Winner: Ali Zaheer – Sheridan College
Ali Zaheer is a student in Sheridan’s Business Administration – Finance Co-op program. During his Co-op work term with Sheridan’s Financial Aid department he was recognized by students and his supervisor for his exceptional service to students and for increasing department efficiency through his development of new processes.
Ali is also the President and Co-Founder of the Sheridan Finance Associate (SFA) which strives to ensure career success for students within Sheridan’s Pilon School of Business. In this role, Ali organized on and off-campus events and networked with industry professionals for the benefit of his fellow students. One of the events Ali organized resulted in 16 of his colleagues securing employment with TD Canada Trust.
Ali is a great role model for students and has demonstrated remarkable initiative, leadership and a passion for helping others throughout his time at Sheridan.
University Winner: Skye Wattie
Skye Wattie is an Arts & Business Psychology co-op student at the University of Waterloo. He is currently completing his last year, working on an honours thesis in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Skye spent four work terms with RL Solutions first as an implementation Coordinator, and in his last term, as an Implementation Specialist. Skye was given a full-time work portfolio which demanded multiple software implementation projects, liaising with Healthcare practitioners from around the world and ensuring client self-sufficiency in software application. Skye is a member of the cross country team at UWaterloo, and a Don at an off-campus residence. He also volunteered for a number of organizations in Ontario, and participated in running marathons for various causes and bicycled across Canada to meet people with augmentative and alternative communication to share their stories.
Each of these students will receive a plaque and cheque for $750. Congratulations to the winners of these prestigious awards!
Our Committee felt strongly about two additional nominations, and would like to give Honourable Mentions to: Joa͂o Ricardo D’Errico Chávez from Sheridan College and Ankita Gupta from the University of Toronto Scarborough for their achievements.
We wish to thank all of the nominees and their supporting employers and institutions for their participation.