Alumni

In 2014, Abner graduated from University of Toronto at Scarborough in the program of CTEP also known as Concurrent Teacher and Education Program. He received two degrees: Honours Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in French specialists and another in Bachelor of Education." I was fortunate to be part of a great cohort of students in the French department who used to demonstrate their knowledge and skills through various group discussions. I also worked in the French department as a French monitor for a couple of years." "My experience at the French department was amazing, unforgettable, and rewarding. I had great opportunities to meet some of the best French professors in Canada. They were courteous, supportive, and reliable to meet all the students’ needs in the department. They also assisted me to choose the program that would fit my career ambition. One of the reasons that I enjoyed the French courses at UTSC was the class sizes. They were small enough for the professors to give the students the attention they needed to succeed." Abner is currently employed as a teacher in a French immersion school by York Region District School Board. "The knowledge and experiences that I obtained at the University have helped me to compete in this ever-changing world."

Academically, Shan earned an Honors Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto at Scarborough, where he majored in both Economics for Management Studies and Mental Health Studies, as well as a minor in French."I first became interested in law when I learned about the complex interaction between the various subfields of common law in high school and participated in a mock criminal law trial, as well as a mock International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. My desire to pursue a professional legal career solidified during the 2014 Ontario General Election campaign where I learned about the importance of efficient and effective advocacy."Shan considers his greatest accomplishments is having his policy regarding a national strategy to prevent, treat, and reduce the harmful effects of drug addiction formally adopted by the Ontario Young Liberals in a competitive process, where the policy passed at the local, regional, and finally, provincial stage."

" UTSC offers a very supportive and close-knit community, which provides the resources and environment to learn about who you are and to develop your identity. The Centre for French and Linguistics is the epitome of this, because you learn about the importance of language and culture and the critical role they play in one’s phenomenology or worldview.  The CFL also offers small class sizes at the outset of your undergraduate career, and the faculty and peers are some of the most devoted and caring people I have ever met. I still connect with faculty at the CFL and some of my best friends today are those who happened to sit next to me in French class one day." 

Ed-Esther moved from Montreal to Oshawa when she was seventeen to pursue her education. She considers that as her greatest accomplishment because since then, she has managed to accomplish various feats in her personal, educational and professional life. Ed-Esther earned a Ministerial Diploma from World Harvest Bible College and an Honours Bachelors of Arts from the University of Toronto. Following that, she obtained a Bachelors of Education from OISE. Ed-Esther is currently working on completing her Masters of Education at OISE (Aug 2016). During high school, she realized how fun and rewarding it was to help out other students with grasping concepts of the French language and decided to pursue a career in teaching. "The trajectory I took at and from UTSC greatly helped me to be where (and who) I am today. In terms of career path, I feel that having studied in the French Department at UTSC opened my eyes to the Francophone Culture in ways I had not been aware as a high school student. The French Specialist as well as Drama Major enabled me to prepare for my BEd and gave me the connections I needed. An example of this is that in the FREB11 course, I had to find a few high schools to do observations of how French was taught at the Core, Extended and Mother Tongue levels. During my observations at a local Francophone school, I was able to interview and be hired as a pre-accredited supply teacher. Here I gained five years of experience with students all across Toronto and Durham regions from K – Gr. 12. This experience (as well as my BEd and some key other things) helped me to land a full-time position at an incredible IB school in Toronto." Ed-Esther is really interested in Bilingual Education as well as the education of African-Canadian youth.

Born in Montreal, Connie attended Francophone schools until grade 10. She finished her high school in the French Immersion program in Toronto. Following that, she graduated from University of Toronto, with an H.Ba in the Education of Teachers in French. After that, she completed her M.A. at UofT in French Literature. Later on, she continued her studies at OISE/UT and obtained a Bachelor of Education degree. "I started tutoring my mom friend’s son at a very young age. That was my first teaching experience. I tutored French at many tutoring schools during my undergraduate years, and with all of that I became interested in teaching French. I enjoy working with my students and getting to know them. I enjoy seeing progress in their learning and hearing that they like French. I enjoy hearing from my previous students and knowing that they are still learning French in high school." "Many professors at UTSC are not only expert in their field of teaching but they are also very caring. They are available for extra help and they make sure students understand the course content. Prof. Beauquis and Prof. McCrindle are examples of those excellent instructors. They gave clear lessons and expectations and they are also very caring.As a teacher right now, I try to deliver interesting lessons with clear expectations and encourage my students in pursuing their objectives." Connie stresses that learning a language is not always easy. " Seek help, practice it whenever you can. There is a lot of support at UTSC."

Melissa has an Honors Bachelors of Science degree with a double major in Linguistics and Psychology from the University of Toronto and is currently completing her Masters of Health Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto as well. "During my first year, I vividly remember sitting in my LINA01 Introduction to Linguistics course fascinated about how complex communication was. It was intriguing to learn about the importance of communication in our everyday lives as social beings- as it impacts our identity and social relationships. At the end of my first year, I approached my Linguistics Professor (Monica Irmia) and my TA (Trelani Milburn) to discuss about career options and they suggested Speech-Language Pathologist. I researched opportunities, started volunteering, working with Professors and everything started to fall in place." Melissa considers her greatest accomplishments are her acceptance to the Speech-Language Pathology Masters program, achieving a full-year scholarship for my first year in the SLP program, inspiring undergrads to pursue Linguistics-related careers as a TA at UTSC, and helping patients reach their communicative potential during my international placement at Mbingo Hospital and Integrated School for the Deaf in Cameroon. "I’d like to emphasize that the Centre for French and Linguistics program and the Professors have greatly prepared me for the Speech-Language Pathology program. My strong academic speech science foundation has definitely set me apart from most of my classmates in my current program. As an SLP graduate student, I’m able to apply my theoretical knowledge that I’ve learned at UTSC into clinical practice. I enjoy the fact that I’m able to make a real-world difference to the patients I see during my clinical internships. "

Darshani received her Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, Scarborough (UTSC) in 2016, specializing in Psycholinguistics. She will be starting her Master of Health Science degree at the University of Toronto, Department of Speech-Language Pathology in the Fall of 2017. “Going into my first year at UTSC, I knew I wanted to take introductory courses in both linguistics and psychology, as I wanted to know whether a career in speech-language pathology was one I wanted to pursue. I was hesitant at first to take linguistics, as it was a subject I had never heard of before. However, after taking introductory courses, I immediately developed a passion for it. I can honestly say linguistics is a subject I would recommend to future students, as it allowed me to experience a more in depth study of language and opened my eyes to the importance of language in general. Shortly after starting my undergraduate studies, I began volunteering with different populations and taking part in research with Professor Rena Helms-Park and Professor Yoonjung Kang, in the Centre for French & Linguistics. I would not have had the opportunity to work with such distinguished individuals had I not taken that first linguistics course. I am currently pursuing graduate studies and hope to accomplish my goal of becoming a speech-language pathologist in the near future.

Overall, my time at UTSC allowed me to discover my passion, and if it were not for the wonderful faculty in the Linguistics department, that allowed me to grow as a student and as an individual, I would not be where I am today. UTSC will always be near and dear to my heart, as will the teachings of my professors as I venture into graduate school. If there were any advice I could give, it would be to try new courses in first year. You never know what you may like or where it may take you. Who knows, you might find your passion right here in the Linguistics department!"