On the final day of Camp Aurora, Nikolai Bola watched as 40 LGBTQ youth he’d just spent a week mentoring put on a talent show. The individual acts don’t stand out in his memory as much as the event’s atmosphere: supportive, encouraging and joyful.

It’s was a far cry from what was once a typical day spent toiling away on the highways, but Bola had a transformative year after leaving his road construction career and attending Red River College’s Business Administration program. Walking away from the steady income that had provided him with a house, two new cars and a comfortable life wasn’t an easy choice, but Bola — who recently won the College’s Rebel Generation Alumni Award — says the short-term sacrifices have been more than balanced by long-term gains.

“I knew I needed to go back to school for a while,” says Bola, who began his decade in road construction at age 19, without a high school diploma. “Eventually I decided there wasn’t ever going to be a ‘right time,’ so I had to cut my losses and try it out.”

Having originally registered for Civil Engineering Technology due to his work experience, Bola made a last-minute shift to Business Administration, where he could pursue “broader learning objectives that would open up many different jobs.” He’d realized Civil Engineering might send him right back to the highway he was trying to leave, whereas the Business programs could provide him new horizons to explore. Pushing his doubts down, he signed the forms.

Changing his career trajectory would add more financial uncertainty to his decision to head back to school, but Bola had a strategy: take as many courses as he could, as quickly as possible, to speed his re-entry to the workforce.

A passing conversation derailed his plans, though. Read More →

Thanks to everyone who entered the Something’s in the Water contest at Red River College.

All of the submissions were amazing and we look forward to running the contest again in 2018.

The winner of the prize package walked away with sweet treats provided by the College’s Professional Baking program, as well as other assorted gifts from Alumni and the Culinary program at Paterson GlobalFoods Institute.

Jordan and his wife Leslie are both graduates of the Medical Radiologic Technology (MRT) program at RRC, and first met in 2008. After a clinical rotation at St. Boniface Hospital, the two were officially a couple.

Immediately following the rotation, Leslie enrolled in RRC’s Magnetic Resonance Imaging program, and in 2011, Jordan accepted a position as an Educational Assistant in MRT. Jordan also completed his Certificate in Adult Education in 2016.

In 2014 they were married, and in 2016 they welcomed the best gift of all, a beautiful daughter.

In Jordan’s submission he revealed, “Without RRC, my life would truly have been different. Now with our new addition, it is whole. Thank you RRC.”

Becoming a doctor is a long and daunting process – especially when you don’t speak the same language as your future patients.

Dina Koreen knows the feeling. In 2013, she completed her studies to become a general practitioner in Alexandria, Egypt, but after years of maintaining a long-distance relationship with her husband, she opted to join him in Winnipeg, instead.

While her husband — who was also from Egypt, but moved to Canada for work in 2007 — had already established himself as an accountant, Koreen, who only spoke Arabic, had a long way to go before she could pick up her career again. After six months of basic English language training, she turned to Red River College.

“It was perfect,” Koreen says of the Language Training Centre’s Communication for Health Professions program. At five months, the program was shorter than Koreen expected – but also more intensive than she ever could have imagined.

“It was very hard,” she says. “I didn’t know it was going to be hard like this. It was nine-to-four every day from Monday to Friday, with three or four hours of homework at night.”

As many RRC grads can attest, that level of hard work often paves the way for opportunity. For Koreen, it led to a volunteering gig with CancerCare Manitoba. From there, she was able to obtain the experience she needed to complete the program in 2014 and pass her clinical assessment. When it came time to interview for her current job with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority in early 2015, she had both the language skills and the confidence she needed. Read More →

In 1967, Red River College was referred to as the Manitoba Institute of Technology.

Olafur Halldorsson graduated from the Business Administration program in 1967 and this year marks the 50^th anniversary of his graduation. Olafur will be visiting Winnipeg in June of 2017, and will be travelling all the way from Iceland, where he has been living and working for the past 45 years.  He is interested in reconnecting with classmates and instructors.

If you are interested in reconnecting with Olafur while he is in town, please email the RRC Alumni Office at alumni@rrc.ca and we will let you know how to reach him.

(RRC uses discretion with respect to blog posts; requests of this nature from alumni will only be posted on an exceptional basis.)

In our travels, we’ve learned there are a number of alumni out there who met at Red River College and then married or entered into long-term relationships/partnerships.

As part of a Valentine’s Day contest we’d like to know: Did you meet your significant other at RRC?

Tell us your story in 400 words or less, and you could win a prize package including dinner for two at Jane’s (RRC’s downtown restaurant), a selection of sweet treats from our Professional Baking students, and a few other surprises will be thrown in.

We’re looking for love stories, so the best submission (as determined by a committee of RRC staff) will really need to woo us. Submissions will be judged on creativity and content and the ability to show how your relationship evolved while pursuing post-secondary education at RRC.

Please send submissions to alumni@rrc.ca by Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 4pm (CST). Along with your story, please include the RRC program you graduated from, the year you graduated, and the best way to contact you (email or phone number). If your last name has changed since you were a student, please note that, as well.

Thanks and good luck!

No purchase necessary. This contest is open to alumni of Red River College, as defined by Red River College. Stories submitted must be true. The winner will be selected shortly after the close of the contest. Only the winning entrant will be notified. The winner will be subject to verification of alumni status. Maximum one entry per person. Late entries will not be accepted. Breach of any rules will result in disqualification. The decision of RRC’s judges on any contest matter shall be final. By entering the contest, contestants give Red River College the right to publish their entries and the name of the person who submitted it.

Red River College will publish the winning entry and the name of the contestant who submitted it. The definition of Alumni at RRC is: Individuals who have graduated with a certificate, diploma, post-graduate diploma or degree from a credited program at Red River College.

Note: Apprentice students who have graduated prior to 2013 are considered graduates of Apprenticeship Manitoba, not Red River College.

We need your help in shaping Manitoba’s future business leaders!

In the fourth semester of Red River College’s Business Administration program, students participate in the Entrepreneurship Practicum course where they develop business plans for a hypothetical venture. The course helps students integrate and apply the knowledge gained throughout their four semesters in the program.

We’re looking for external examiners to evaluate the business plans the students have developed.

The time commitment is approximately three hours – one hour for reading the written business plan and two hours to attend an oral presentation at Red River College’s Notre Dame Campus.

The key dates are from March 21 – 23. Oral presentations will be held from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. You can pick any date and time slot that fits your schedule. Judges will be provided an easy-to-complete grading form.

If you’re interested, please contact David Grusko, Entrepreneurship instructor, at dgrusko@rrc.ca or 204-632-2981.

Thank you for your support of the Entrepreneurship Practicum course in the Business Administration program at Red River College!

Elizabeth Glaseman, Alumni Engagement Manager at Red River College will depart the College on December 21, 2016. She has accepted a new position with Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, MB as the institution’s new Marketing Manager.

Since joining RRC in 2014, Elizabeth has implemented a variety of successful alumni programming at the College and built a great foundation for her successor. Her contributions have been essential to our alumni community, and we very much appreciate her dedication and efforts over the past three years.

On behalf of everyone at Red River College, we would like to thank Elizabeth and wish her the very best on her next adventure.

The alumni relations office remains open and continues to be of utmost importance to RRC. Should you have any questions or be in need of service, please contact alumni@rrc.ca. A team member will be happy to assist you in the interim until a new manager is in place.

We wish you a wonderful season, filled with warmth, laughter, and fond memories!

From all of us at RRC, happy holidays and all the best in 2017!

If you’re enrolled in a full-time program at Red River College and the dependent of an RRC graduate/apprentice, you are eligible to apply for the Rebel Generation Alumni Award. Two $1000 awards (one in the fall and one in the spring) are available each year.

All you have to do is provide two letters of reference, write a personal essay, and supply proof of your guardian’s graduation from RRC to be considered.

Deadline to apply is November 30, 2016. Click here for more information on eligibility and requirements.

Entertainment at next week’s Indigenous Alumni Reception will be provided by Peguis First Nation songwriter William Prince, who just took home the Western Canadian Music Award for Aboriginal Artist of the Year.

William’s mother, Anna Marie Prince, is a Red River College graduate (Dental Assisting, 2009). While completing her studies, Anna served as an organ donor for her husband Edward Prince, after he was hospitalized with a life-threatening kidney disease just before the program’s start date.

Click here to read a profile of Anna Maria from 2010 and click here to register for next week’s reception. The deadline to register is tomorrow, November 11, so don’t delay!