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Socrates Apallas
Wexford Collegiate Institute
Co-op placement at Prudential Real Estate Plus |
The path to post secondary is not an easy one, especially if you don’t pick the right career path. Joining the Co-op program was the smartest thing I could have done. However, I’m finding that it’s put me in a difficult mindset. Working on the post secondary research assignment made me re-evaluate my career goals as well as my path. I feel as if everything is catching up to me, and it’s almost overwhelming. I think deep down I feel as if I’m moving too fast, that maybe I’m not ready to grow up, and these past few weeks have forced me to think about it. Planning for the future has never been a real problem for me, possibly because I was still in high school, still in my element without any real worries or troubles. High school for me has been all about having fun, with no real worries, because I have always managed to get my credits, even with leaving school at the end of each day, and not giving school another thought until the next morning. Now that I’m not in that environment anymore, I realize that the real world isn’t like high school. Even though there was no initial shock when I first started my placement at Prudential Real Estate Plus, it now seems at half way through, that I am in shock and suddenly planning for my future seems more intimidating than when I was in school every day. I want to be successful in life, but it’s hard to set goals like when you see unsuccessful adults—people who once too had the same goals I’m setting for myself, and who never reached theirs. I can only hope I make some smart career choices in my life.
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Kashif Iqbal
Wexford Collegiate Institute
Co-op placement at St Michael's Hospital-Eye Photography Clinic and Nephrology Clinic |
In my last few years in high school, I didn’t care about responsibility, neither did I have any interest in learning, but time changes everything. Since the beginning of this semester in Co-op, I have started taking responsibility, and now I am eager to learn anything new that will further my career. At my placement, I have several tasks that need to be done, and it’s my responsibility to get them done. If I don’t do my part of the job, everyone will fall behind. For example, we get transplant patients in the nephrology clinic on Mondays and Thursdays. The files of all the patients that are expected on those days need to be pulled, prepared for the doctors, and given the forms for OHIP billing. This takes me about two hours, but ensures that all the others on the team can complete their jobs. So I have taken my responsibilities seriously, and gained a lot of knowledge and experience in doing so. Being around adults changes everything.
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