The other day I was sitting in on a training session with Romanda, and while talking about mentoring relationships a few points were brought up concerning various interactions, life in general and the values each of us holds. Values such as commitment, honesty, trust, respect, integrity (and many more) all concern individuals to this or that extent. For me, positive attitude is of high significance. This is probably genetic –it’s my personality – but also, it’s because of my experience learning how to exercise positive affirmations in life. [Continue]

In Meri's words: Mentoring Connections is giving many of us “newly arrived immigrants” the chance to use the talents that we possess. We all are pretty sure where we stand when we come to the Land of Opportunities, but we do not know in which direction we are moving or should be moving... [Continue]

As a dual Italian and Canadian citizen, and avid soccer fan, my strategy going into our Mentoring Connections World Cup Contest was simple: Pick Italy. Unfortunately, a little thing called reality got in the way... [Continue]

It’s unbelievable how two years can pass so quickly when you’re having fun. My first day as Laurie’s Mentoring Connections first hire doesn’t feel like it was two years ago, and the memories of each team member joining our team are still very fresh in my mind. Two years sounds like a long time when you have very passionate and excited coworkers who come to the office every single day with the same enthusiasm as their first day at work. [Continue]

Yesterday, we finally got together with some of our mentors and mentees to pick our players and teams for our 2010 World Cup Contest. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the awesome draft at the Irish Heather, organized by Jericho and Catherine. However, Romanda acted as a wonderful representative picking most of my first choice players. She was quite upset for not being fast enough to pick Kaká, though, which is very unfortunate, since she practiced the pronunciation all day yesterday! [Continue]

There are some memories that stand out when I look back on my first year in school in Canada. The people were nice, they understood what I was saying, the math was easy and California kickball was part of the school day. After a few weeks, I made the decision to stay. Canada was not so bad. [Continue]

I was a little late in finding out that May 2-8th was North American Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Week, which makes me think that many of you likely didn’t know either (unless you did, and then can claim you are smarter than me)! The fact that the week wasn’t highlighted to the extent that many other special days, weeks or months are (such as Breast Cancer Awareness Month) may be one of the reasons why so many of us go to work every day without knowing our rights regarding workplace safety. [Continue]

If you like the idea of volunteering as a way to build your resume, be strategic when searching for the right volunteer position. Try asking yourself a few questions before starting... [Continue]

About one month ago, I was speaking to my girlfriend’s aunt and uncle at her birthday party. They were asking me a couple of questions: “How old were you when you moved to Canada?” I was an impressionable eight-year-old who was coerced into going to Canada with the promise of Ninja Turtle toys. “Do you [Continue]

"As an FTN, you must be prepared to embrace the BC system, and to forgo some of what you are familiar with. One of the primary challenges is a lack of fluency in spoken English. This can cause a lot of miscommunication between professionals, clients and FTNs. While undergoing accreditation or training, try and get as much work experience as possible that allows you to practice and demonstrate your people and communication skills." [Continue]