Ignite sign at the conference (Credit/Logan Libiec XFM news)
Fanshawe College’s Career Services hosted their annual Ignite conference on Nov. 8.
The conference this year was centered around themes of leadership and resilience featuring workshops, speakers, and even a pizza lunch.
The event was free to attend for both current students and Fanshawe alumni and promised, “to be a transformative experience filled with inspiration and learning.”
Darlene O’Neill is the manager of employment and student entrepreneurial services at Fanshawe. O’Neill says the conference is about, “filling the non-tangible toolbox items that we supply at career services.”
This year’s speakers were Marcy Gallant, an advocate and the founder of The Art of Alopecia, and Tyler Smith a survivor of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash and mental health advocate.
When asked what he wanted people to take away from his time speaking at the conference, Smith said, “I want people to remember that you’re allowed to have those conversations, you’re allowed to use your people, you’re allowed to gain perspective.”
During his talk Smith spoke about his own journey with grief and dealing with his mental health after that tragic day in 2018. “Ultimately what I hope for out of this is just people can feel that sense of you know what, my stuff matters too.” Smith said.
Former Humboldt Bronco Tyler Smith
(Credit/Logan Libiec XFM News)
The workshops featured at the conference were focused on building leadership through community and authentic leadership.
The conference has been running for more than 10 years and has led to numerous unique opportunities for students and alumni. “We’ve had Tariq Hadhad from Peace by Chocolate, we’ve had Sam Demma, we’ve had some super cool people, we even had Justin Trudeau’s ex-wife, Sophie send a message, we’ve had Bob Rae from the United Nations.” O’Neill said about some of the opportunities that have been available through Ignite.
The event is aimed at preparing students and alumni with whatever career path they go down and is hosted by Career Services every year.
