Success Story: Fernanda Primo in her Own Words
The year of 2015 was full of great accomplishments for Business Management Diploma program student Fernanda Primo. Here she tells us about some of her proudest moments in her own words.
After receiving a $5,000 scholarship for my work at YM Inc., I returned to Humber College to continue my Business Management Diploma. The college experience gave me the confidence and skills to follow my dream of becoming an Auxiliary member with Peel Regional Police. The Auxiliary Service is a volunteer program where members assist police officers during patrols, special events, R.I.D.E. programs, and emergency callouts. Each recruit commits to a minimum of 12 hours a month for 2 years.
The strict application process took almost a year and included physical and written testing, interviews, and background and reference checks. At the end of 2015, I was accepted as an Auxiliary member with Peel Regional Police. Out of 770 people, I was one of the lucky 24 who were accepted!
It is an amazing group of people from all walks of life and backgrounds, and 8 are women. Another Humber College student from the Business Administration program, Harjot Bhullar, has also been accepted. Training started in the beginning of January, and will continue for 4 months. It has been incredibly exciting so far, from getting our uniforms and duty belt to all the great lectures I’ve had the opportunity to attend. Still to come: use of force training, traffic control and so much more. It is a very challenging process; it requires a lot of dedication and discipline. The expectations are high, both academically and physically. There are fitness tests throughout the training, quizzes every class, and final exams. But we cannot expect less if we want to be safe and prepared to assist our community in such important tasks. I’m working hard in order to graduate in April and then start getting hands on experience.
Sgt. Joy Edwards from Peel Regional Police is the Officer in Charge for the program, Auxiliary Staff Sgt. Brian Crowther is responsible for recruiting, and Auxiliary Staff Sgt. Laura Day and Auxiliary Staff Sgt Scott Patterson are in charge of training, and so many other personnel are contributing towards the success of the program. "I’m a strong believer of the saying 'individually we are one drop, but together we are an ocean.' Being part of the Peel Regional Police Auxiliary program will give me a greater chance of giving back to my community and have a positive impact on the lives of people I’ll meet while preparing me for my ultimate goal of becoming a Police Office
Rising to the Entrepreneurial Challenges at Longo Faculty of Business
The a-ha! moment: “This is how you do it. This is how you apply business skills in real life!”
And for Amelia Savoie, in year two of business management at Humber, Longo Faculty of Business, the insight came thanks to BizCafe, a software program that grades students on how well they create sustainable businesses.
“Using BizCafe was a great way to get an introduction into business,” Amelia enthuses.
As a member of ENACTUS, (a team of entrepreneurial-minded Humber Business Students), Amelia became the project manager for Café Wars, a student competition that uses the BizCafe simulation software to promote entrepreneurship while helping entrants hone their decision-making and team building skills.
“It is really hard to get everyone to agree all of the time. During this competition you learn how to state your case, how to compromise and how to make decisions for the betterment of the team.” Experiences, Amelia is quick to point out, that employers look for on resumes to support practical skills.
