Summer holiday memories

It’s September and thousands of students are back on campus after four months of summer break. How wonderful to have four whole months of holidays. However, as Natalie St. Denis discovered, summer break is not all about rest and relaxation.

Fourth year B. Commerce Nathan Normandin worked in investment banking at the Bank of Montreal during his holidays. “Last March the firm went through a recruiting process to hire students for the summer and I got the job,” says Normandin. The result of his performance over the summer has landed him with a job offer for when he graduates next year.

Jennifer Armstrong, third year student in sociology, worked at a golf course. “The hours were great – from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. – so I could do whatever I wanted for the rest of the day.” She had a good time at work given that the majority of her coworkers were also U of C students and she golfed for free.

PhD candidate Robert Laird spent his summer at Dinosaur Provincial Park. But he wasn’t looking at dinosaur bones; he was looking at mutualism between ants and sunflowers. “I’m looking at how interactions between ants and sunflowers benefit both parties. For instance, ants forage for floral nectar in great quantities, which keeps other potential harmful herbivores off the plants.”

Sabrina Sessarego, going into her second year of biological sciences, went to Vera Cruz, Mexico for a month. But it wasn’t your typical tourist tour. She went to spend some time with her father who works there. “I lived among the locals for the month, just hanging out with friends of the family.” For the rest of the summer, she worked at a Superstore in Calgary and hit the books, taking a required course for her major.

Tanya Hautala, a fourth-year kinesiology student stayed on campus working at the sports camp. She plans to be a personal trainer and started this summer by providing strength and conditioning training to junior high and high school students. “Before jumping into my career, I hope to travel to Australia and Brazil after I graduate.”