When cheerful and outgoing Juanita Fraser decided to switch careers to pursue information technology (IT), her friends were thrown a bit off guard.

“They were surprised, because IT is typically more introverted, you know ­– they put their heads down,” she says.

Fraser is anything but introverted. (Though it’s actually a common misconception that all IT staff prefer a quiet work environment.) She had spent a number of years as an elementary school teacher before realizing she was in the wrong career.

“One day I realized I didn’t have job satisfaction … it’s hard to realize that I spent six, seven, eight years of my life teaching, [and now I wanted] to want to make a career change,” she says. “I was lost. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

A natural logician and problem solver, Fraser took a few aptitude tests to discover her options. The tests pointed her towards business analyst.

“It was funny because I was thinking back in Grade 9 or 10 you do [the aptitude tests], and I think business analyst came up, but no one knew what it meant so I never pursued it.”

She started researching programs, and when Red River College came up as the top result, she enrolled in the Computer Analyst program (now called Business Information Technology).

“I already had a degree and I spent four years doing that,” she says. “I didn’t want to take a Computer Science degree, so that was perfect.” Read More →

At 46, Barb Szpak decided it was time for a career change.

“I felt that things were getting too mundane, too monotonous. You need something just to challenge you, to keep your brain active and keep you wondering what’s out there.”

After spending 21 years working as a baker/cake decorator for the same company, deciding to give it all up wasn’t as difficult as you might think, especially since Szpak knew she’d be heading to Red River College.

“RRC was the only place that I wanted to attend, as I have always had great experiences in the past. I had been taking evening courses over many years, to challenge myself and keep my brain active.

“I decided to take some Accounting courses just to challenge myself because I hate math. So why not take the hardest thing, right?” she says with a laugh.

After deciding to head back to school full time, deciding what to take proved an easy choice.

“I went… looking through stuff and thought ‘[RRC’s] Administrative Assistant program has a bunch of different [courses] in there that I could use.’ And it was a shorter course so I knew that financially I wouldn’t be out of work for that long.”

She excitedly enrolled, but nonetheless started to doubt herself.

“I was nervous about making that change. I was nervous about my ability. Can I do it at my age? When you’re going into a classroom with a bunch of 20-year-olds – there might have been one 30-year-old in the whole class – and then me, the first day at orientation I was looking around the class thinking, ‘What did I get myself into?’”

But she soon formed great relationships with her classmates.

“They were wonderful. And they started looking to me for answers. It felt good that they were asking me for my opinion, asking me for help, even though I was learning just like they were. I became a mom figure for a few of them, I think,” she says with a laugh. Read More →

Learning the language is part of every profession, with every new job featuring its own distinct jargon that takes time to absorb and acquire.

That process presents an even bigger challenge when English isn’t your first language.

To obtain job-specific vocabulary, as well as boost their English proficiency in general, recent immigrants Lei Wang and Balwinder Kaur Loomba, from China and India respectively, both studied at Red River College’s Language Training Centre (LTC) in the English for Health Care Aides (now called Communication for Health Professions) program. Both women moved on to RRC’s Health Care Aide program, graduating in January.

In February, both Wang and Loomba found positions as health care aides at St. Boniface Hospital.

“I remember Mona (Abu-Ghoush, an LTC instructor) gave us lots of articles about the healthcare field,” says Wang (shown above, at right) of the English for Health Care Aides program.

“She gave us different vocabulary. She wants us to get familiar with the sound. A lot of healthcare language comes from Latin, and she found lots of difficult words for us. I like that. When I take my Health Care Aide program, it does help. When I see the thick book, I didn’t get scared.”

In addition to the standard textbook/whiteboard teaching method, English for Health Care Aides also includes guest speakers, workshops, field trips and volunteer work experience. Wang says that hands-on approach to learning English was beneficial.

“We did lots of presentations to better communicate,” says Wang, who came to Canada in 2011. “We have the knowledge, but it’s quite scary to talk to people and communicate with each other. Every week we had presentations and all those presentations were related to health. It’s quite useful.” Read More →

The creation of art is not enough for Danika Bock. What inspires her is crafting pieces that serve a greater purpose.

“Realizing I could create something that was not only fun to make, but also looked good and was useful was the ultimate accomplishment,” she says.

This love of attractive yet practical things led her to take the Graphic Design program at Red River College.

“Studying graphic design was a great way to explore this integration of usefulness, beauty and communication,” says the 2011 grad.

And although it may not be the most outwardly linear connection, this same pragmatism led her to open a stationery and gift shop.

Twenty-seven year old Bock, along with her printmaker husband Drex Serduletz, opened Tiny Feast in the Exchange District in October 2013. The store features high-end paper products and office supplies, housewares and art prints, amongst other things.

“My husband and I have always been drawn to well-made, thoughtfully-designed products. As creatives and homebodies, we think that products one uses on a daily basis should be both a pleasure to use and nice to look at.”

Hence the store’s name – Tiny Feast – which is a phrase the couple coined years ago. To them, it refers to items that “feel celebratory, lavish, almost extravagant – yet are intrinsically simple and useful, and therefore justifiably attainable on a personal, everyday level.”  Read More →

By Stacy Cardigan Smith (Creative Communications, 2006)

Fancy gadgets are integrated into every part of our lives, but how much do you know about how they function?

“It’s really fascinating – we’ve got all these things around us that are electronic and we really don’t know how they work,” says John Chihonik, who decided to study Electronic Engineering Technology at Red River College for just that reason.

“Coming to College and taking an electronics program, you really get to understand these things.”

Today Chihonik, 32, works for Lewis Instruments, a Winnipeg-based surveying and engineering equipment supplier. Part of his job involves learning, integrating and marketing innovative products like 3D laser scanners, GPS reference station networks and even autonomous drones.

“Any kind of new product that we take on, I’ll spearhead learning how to use it and how we’re going to sell it to our customers,” he explains.

Although he didn’t study these specific devices prior to graduating from RRC in 2004, understanding new technologies comes easily for Chihonik.

“The technical background I got from taking an electronics course [at RRC] allows me to understand these things and work with them a little easier then some of the other guys. It’s not that the course material itself is specifically dealing with laser scanners, but having a technical background definitely helps whenever you’re trying to learn a new technology.” Read More →

Congratulations to the most recent recipients of Red River College’s Lieutenant-Governor’s Medals for Proficiency, awarded as part of our 2014 Spring Convocation ceremonies on June 3 and 4.

Each year, a maximum of four Lt-.Gov.’s Medals are awarded to RRC students who best combine good character, academic and technical achievement, and involvement in College and/or community activities. This year’s winners are:

Richard Grenier (Business Administration, 2014)

A graduate of RRC’s two-year Business Administration program, with a major in Banking and Financial Services, Richard Grenier joined the College community after serving with the Canadian Armed Forces for seven years.

Currently employed as a financial advisor with London Life, Richard is the 2014 winner of the College’s Academic Achievement Financial Services Award and its Outstanding Mentorship Award, as well as the Assiniboia Chamber of Commerce Award for community involvement.

While attending RRC, Richard served as a student member of the Business Administration Board, and also as a student mentor and tutor for fellow Business Administration students, a class representative for the Red River College Students’ Association, and a volunteer with the Red River College Food Bank.

He’s equally active in the community, where he’s served as a volunteer for the Canadian Air Force Run, Habitat for Humanity, Francofonds Inc., and the Winnipeg Cheer Board, and as a fundraiser for the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.

Jorge Laba (Construction Management, 2014)


A graduate of RRC’s four-year Construction Management degree program, Jorge Laba has been heavily involved in both his industry and the College community over the years.

Currently employed as a Site Superintendent with Bockstael Construction, Jorge is the 2013 winner of the ACI Manitoba Chapter Red River College Scholarship, a 2011 winner of the College’s Paul Charette Award, and a four-time winner of the Winnipeg Construction Association Award from 2010 to 2013.

While attending RRC, Jorge served as a tutor for civil engineering and trades students, and as a student ambassador for Open House events, class representative for the Red River College Students’ Association, and Construction Management representative for the college at the Rotary Career Symposium.

Outside of classes, he’s been designated a Canada Green Building Council LEED Green Associate, and a member of the Project Management Institute, the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, the Certified Technicians and Technologists Association of Manitoba, the Chartered Institute of Building, and the ACI Manitoba Chapter.

Jorge served as a member of the board of directors for RRC’s Day Care program, and is currently a board director for the Manitoba Brain Injury Association.

Kevin Versteeg was halfway to obtaining a degree in Criminal Justice when he realized his true calling was right in his own backyard.

In 2000, Versteeg started working at Schriemer’s Home & Garden as a general labourer, working his way up to the position of nursery manager by 2005. Hoping to become a police officer, Versteeg started at the University of Winnipeg, completing two years of study before realizing he was already in his preferred career.

In 2007, while still working at Schriemer’s, Versteeg started his own landscape construction business, Classic Landscapes, and he hasn’t looked back.

“I really enjoy the transformation,” says Versteeg, 26, of landscape construction, which includes everything from full yard design to building decks and pergolas to installing putting greens.

“It’s very rewarding, being able to start with something that’s maybe not pleasing to the eye or [not] that functional and turning it into something that’s attractive, functional and something that the customer will really enjoy.”

Looking to expand his knowledge in the field, Versteeg began Red River College’s Greenspace Management program in 2008, graduating with honours in 2011. He says the program provided him valuable information, and not only in areas directly related to his business. Read More →

Profile by Sherry Kaniuga (Creative Communications, 1998)

Moments that make you realize “it’s all worth it” can happen anywhere, any time. For Sandy Kauenhofen, one of those moments hit while she was hundreds of feet in the air.

She was strapped in a tiny four-seater airplane soaring above the Pembina Valley at the time, as part of an excursion for people with disabilities living in a community home she worked at in Carman, Manitoba. When she first came up with the idea to take people flying instead of to somewhere on solid ground like the zoo, not everyone was on board.

“The families said, ‘Are you kidding? What if they don’t like it?’” Kauenhofen remembers. Her response?  “Well, then we’ll land!”

The risk was worth the reward. Sandy recalls one woman who was clearly apprehensive about taking to the skies.

“When she first got onto the plane, she was looking at us like, ‘What the heck is this?!’ She had a really puzzled look that turned into a bit of a scowl as we taxied down the runway,” Kauenhofen says. “But as soon as the plane lifted off the ground, the grin on her face got so big and so wide, I had tears in my eyes. You could tell by the look in her eyes that she just loved it and was so excited. It was the most exquisitely amazing experience.”

Now a coordinator at Epic Opportunities – a non-profit organization in Winnipeg that offers holistic, person-centred supports to empower people with an intellectual disability to live, learn, work and enjoy life in the community – Sandy works more behind the scenes, overseeing the staff teams by providing leadership and support as well as supporting individuals living in their homes. But although she is less hands-on, she says she is grateful every day to work with amazing people, a passion first ignited in her when she volunteered with St. Amant Centre’s school program while in high school. Read More →

Imagine: you’ve escaped domestic violence and are trying to heal, but starting the process is tough since you don’t know who you are.

It’s a situation counsellor Allison Spak sees every day, and one she’s helping to rectify as a cultural therapy coordinator.

“[I’m] helping women move along in their journey to live healthier lives,” says Spak, who graduated from Red River College’s Applied Counselling program in April, and now works at Wahbung Abinoonjiiag Inc., a domestic violence centre for children and families. The North End facility provides opportunities for holistic healing using culturally appropriate teachings.

“It’s working with Aboriginal women that have lost their culture, [who don’t know] who they are,” Spak explains. “Dealing with the effects of colonization, if you don’t know who you are culturally, these women are kind of lost. So it’s getting them back to their roots, to knowing who they are, to help them on their healing journey. These women want to know who they are.”

In order to help women rediscover their roots, Wahbung uses the traditional knowledge of Aboriginal ancestors, including the Medicine Wheel and the Seven Sacred Teachings.

“There’s the cultural side that the women learn from – giving back to their culture and learning who they are. And then there’s the therapy side, where we give them the tools [to deal with] what’s happened in their lives.” Read More →

Chris Lee used to think he’d never want to be in sales. But when he was offered a job marketing building envelope systems, Lee took a risk – and now he’s all wrapped up in his work.

Lee has spent the past seven years as Western Territory Manager for Henry Company Canada, which supplies air and vapour barrier, roofing and waterproofing products for residential and commercial buildings, such as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights opening this fall in Winnipeg. The sales and marketing job came to him unexpectedly.

“It was kind of a fluke,” says Lee, whose aversion to sales was based on the pushy, quota-driven world he witnessed while working in an auto dealership’s service department several years ago.

“I was working for a golf course in Winnipeg and my brother was living in Toronto. A guy he played hockey with told him he needed to hire someone out west. It was fall and the golf course was getting ready to close, so my brother called me up. I had no background in the building industry whatsoever, but I researched the company and their products, and discovered that they were well-known and respected within the industry.”

He took the job, that hockey buddy became his boss, and Lee hasn’t looked back. He now handles sales and marketing for Henry Company Canada’s residential construction side, covering a vast territory from Thunder Bay, Ont., all the way west to Vancouver Island. During the busy spring and summer building season, he spends about half his time on the road, selling building envelope systems to stores including Home Hardware, TruServ Canada and McMunn & Yates. Read More →