Caitie Cochrane is a Professional Writing student with an unbounded love of the written word. When she’s not lounging with a good book and cup of tea, you can find her managing her successful book-based blog and Instagram account, connecting with and interviewing authors, or even writing novels of her own. With a diploma in HR from St. Lawrence and a background in customer service, communicating with and helping others are some of Caitie’s strong-suits off the page. Fun fact: Even Caitie’s favourite tea is book-inspired: “No Mourners, No Funerals”, is a vanillawaffle flavoured tea based off of elements from the book Six of Crows.
Cristiano “Chris” De Matos is a writer and former visual effects artist. Born in Portugal, he was the kid always reading comic books, encyclopedias and stargazing. After graduating and working in IT, his creative side drove him to pursue filmmaking and VFX. Following years of freelancing, he crossed the pond and joined animation and postproduction studios to work on Marvel films. With this goal achieved, he decided to replace pixels with words and explore his constant passion, writing. His drive to succeed and multidisciplinary experience inspired him to build a career where he can apply logic and creativity. On his spare time, you can find him immersed in reading, writing, video games, D&D and blasting electronic music or Metal.
Floria Yang is a perfectionist, a problem solver and a writer who believes in writing with purpose. She grew up reading classics, writing fictions and editing for school newspaper club. Aside from being trilingual in English, Chinese and Japanese, and earning a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Guelph, she is also passionate about fighting for women’s equal rights, horseback riding, and Japanese pop music. Now, she is doing professional writing at Centennial College hoping to put creativity into action through her written work. Her all-time favourite icons include Audrey Hepburn, Jane Austen, and Higashino Keigo. “I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”
François Zucco is an aspiring professional writer based in Toronto. Having always been creative, and with a background in audiovisuals acquired as part of a TV Broadcast diploma, François is experienced in several media like video, photography, and scriptwriting. Passionate and focused on developing his storytelling skills, he has written two books so far. Believing that writing is the core of every creative process, Centennial’s degree was the best fit for his goal of improving his professional writing abilities in order to further build his career. In the meantime, he whiles away his free time also creating stop-motion animations and playing bass guitar.
Gabriel Holt is a lifelong learner and storyteller. They have worked as a research assistant, library assistant, peer tutor, and student equity group coordinator. Before they decided to pursue a career in professional writing, Gabriel graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in African Studies, then studied nursing and social work. These disciplines nurtured their enthusiasm for social justice activism, community engagement, and harm reduction. Gabriel hopes to use their writing to promote learning and positive social change. Their other loves include Renaissance music, bad movies, and their pet lizard, Beatrice.
Jean Boampong is a writer and facilitator based in Toronto. Besides having a BA in Criminal Justice and a Certificate in Professional Writing, she has a background in organizing and social justice; In 2012, she founded the “Racialized and Aboriginal (renamed Indigenous) Women’s Symposium”, which has since become an annual event at Ryerson University. Jean incorporates this spirit into her approach as the facilitator of the award-winning Village Bloggurls program. She’s written articles for numerous publications such as the Torontoist and Rookie Mag, and she’s currently the Features Editor for Shameless Magazine. After realizing two years ago that her outreach strategizing, grant writing and training experience qualified as professional communications, Jean is now looking to explore that world, specifically instructional design and project management. When she’s not working, she’s planning her next big vacation (Italy!).
Jessica Czarnecki is a professional writing student with a love of travel who leaves no step of her journeys undocumented. Her desire to tackle issues of social justice, both locally and globally, was fueled by her studies in Sociology while completing her Honours B.A. at Western University. Exploring parts of the world solo and a professional background in hospitality have afforded Jessica opportunities to connect with all kinds of people and negotiate a variety of situations while giving her new and dynamic material to write about. Jessica hopes to combine her passions by inspiring social change through her writing, whether storytelling or policy-making, and preferably do so while sipping mojitos on the beach.
Joshua Hwang is outwardly light-hearted and casual, but do not be fooled, he takes his work seriously. As a medical writer, he caters to diverse audiences, from doctors to pharmaceutical representatives to patients. To thrive he must synthesize complex material to produce clear and accessible content. He aims to say the most with the fewest words, which transfers to his love of comedy writing. He authored 3 academic publications covering neuroscience, cardiology, and medical pedagogy during his undergraduate and graduate schooling. He has completed projects for pharmaceutical companies, medical education companies, and online publications. His subject matter expertise extends to pain management, chronic gastrointestinal issues, psychiatry and mental health. Despite these accolades, Joshua remains supportive and always approachable.
Kamil Qaseem is a York University graduate with a bachelor’s in Health Studies. While there, he combined his love of playing guitar and his need to find like-minded individuals to co-found York University Musicians Society (YUMS). Starting with fewer than 10 people, the club has gone on to include over 500 registered members. Kamil has always been a writer at heart. As an introvert, he spends a lot of time thinking and expressing himself through ink and pixels. He hopes to put his buzzing mind to use as a copywriter and is currently working on a book about his struggle with social anxiety, the lessons he has learned, and the friends he’s made.
Kate Melnyk is a versatile communicator, with a history of expression using varied media. Her formal education is in photography, business, technology, and interactive multimedia. The sum of Kate’s experience results in a pretty lengthy tale of [!!Warning!! Deep breath required if reading aloud!!] photography, teaching, programming, designing presentations, animation, digital video and audio, producing websites, business analysis, content re-engineering, information architecture, and project management. She has crafted a bevy of written and visual documentation for web and application development, her principal focus always to enhance user experience. Now, seeking reinvention as a professional writer, Kate again embraces written language, her first love, her spark. As a restless and curious person, a traveller and explorer by nature, she hopes it takes her places.
Lubna Sarigat has comfortably adapted to new and varied situations and encounters her whole life, whether chasing chickens on the family farm or working in journalism. With a diploma in publishing and experience in journalism, she brings this jack-of-all-trades adaptability to her writing with a wide skill set that makes no sacrifices of effectiveness for its diversity. Lubna’s favourite subjects to write about are wildlife conservation, love, life, and mental health issues. Among the things drawing her to professional writing, how it can be done from anywhere is perfect for her love of travel.
Margarita Arbelaez is a communications professional with a BA in Communications from Universidad del Valle in Colombia and an MA in Corporate Communications from Baruch College in the United States. With 11+ years of experience coordinating and writing a broad span of corporate communications for internal and external audiences, she has consistently upheld a disciplined and structured approach to writing and delivery of corporate messages. Now, she is studying again to enhance her skill and diversity as a corporate communicator. She hopes to have some spare time to explore her recently rediscovered love of classic literature. Margarita is a big fan of the NY Yankees and can’t wait for them to play in Toronto.
May Lam is an introverted bookworm who has an in-depth passion for writing. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Food and a minor in Psychology. Out of every book that she︎ has read, her favourite is Jane Eyre. A very interesting fact about her is that she is the anonymous writer of a personal Facebook blog. In the blog, she writes about the little moments in her life and the impact it has or will have on her future. She lives her life based on a quote that says, “If you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn,” to encourage her in her daily endeavours and to inspire her to step out of her comfort zone.
Neha Jayaram is a professional writing student with a love for the written word. She can be found feeding her book addiction at Chapters, or the BMV (when she needs a less expensive fix). She has a very diverse educational background and has attained a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Mumbai and an additional degree in Hospitality and Tourism. A love for marketing and a desire for adventure made her leave the heat of Mumbai, India, to move to Toronto last winter. She graduated from Centennial’s Marketing program before beginning the Professional Writing program. Despite always wanting to write, it was moving to Toronto that convinced her to pursue it seriously as a career. Neha’s favourite subjects to write about our travel, food, prevention of violence in relationships and mental health issues. She wants to bring this diverse background to her writing and make a difference in the world. As part of her 10-year plan, she wants to live by the sea in a house filled with adopted dogs.
Nicholas Acre is a tireless proponent of the power of communication, believing that the delivery of a message is every bit as important as the message itself. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree specialized in History from Wilfrid Laurier University and a marketing degree from Durham College. Nick’s path through education (and some work writing for video game development and corporate communications) has led him to pursue a career in his original passion of writing, with the help of Centennial’s Professional Writing program. In his idea of a perfect world, he would write about his favourite topics: video games, political science, cute dogs, and the 19th century – all while enjoying a limitless supply of tea.
Ochee Juma is a part-introvert and part-extrovert communicator, who loves to learn. She had an interest in her current career field which led her to bag a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication and a Graduate Certificate in Public Relations. She is still trying to figure out where her passions lie but the ever-changing environment of social media interests her greatly. If you don’t find her reading away, you’ll mostly find her daydreaming about a tasty Nigerian meal to make next and worrying about the number of calories it contains. Did you know that she has a poetry blog which she runs successfully and hopes to one day join the ranks of successful poets in using their written works to provoke change?
Pooja Miglani is a self-described “practical dreamer.” She moved to Toronto from Delhi, braving the Canadian winters in 2017. While studying English Literature at the university, she fell in love with the transformative power of good writing. She merged her passion for English Literature with her interest in critical fashion, in her thesis on nineteenth-century women’s fashion as a form of protest. She has completed internships for a national newspaper in Delhi, multiple digital magazines, and Today’s Parent. She hopes to continue her focus on fashion and lifestyle in the Professional Writing Program. If time travel is invented in her lifetime, you will find her sipping fine wine and discussing politics with intractable Victorian ladies.
Sara Francis is a content creator inspired by her combined educational background in English and Kinesiology. Her emphasis on a healthy, holistic lifestyle has been influenced by her work with the Mentorship Project initiative at Western University—a branch of the Smart Healthy Campus program, which aims to provide first-year undergraduate students with a fourth-year mentor to improve their mental health through social connection and physical activity. She hopes to inspire others to become their own primary advocate by sharing her personal experiences and insight on a variety of topics including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. When she’s not writing down ideas in her surplus of journals, Sara can be found working her way up a rock-climbing wall or researching discount international flights.
Sherryn Vykunthanathan is an inveterate student and comes to the Professional Writing Program with an extremely diverse array of interests, ranging from social justice to video games. After completing her Bachelor’s at the University of Toronto, her creative mind was silenced in her professional life while she worked as a buyer, and flourished solely on her personal blog. With a vested interest in digital media and the way ideas are communicated through the internet, Sherryn now hopes to turn her passion for words into a sustainable career. When Sherryn is not putting pen to paper, she can be found talking about skin care, following the budding esports scene in North America, or playing with her dog, Ares.
Teru Ikeda is currently a hoops writer for On Point Basketball and has written game recaps and numerous features of professional players. Finding the academic writing stifling during his time in university, Teru later discovered his interest in content marketing and sports journalism while working full-time. After three years at the Court of Appeal for Ontario, he quit his day job to pursue his true passion of writing and hopes to work in the Toronto Raptors’ front office. Outside of fervently following the local basketball scene, he can be found listening to hip-hop or eating at his favourite Japanese restaurant, GyuGyuya, where the beef is amazing!
Vic Nodalo is an aspiring science communications professional who appreciates the power of a good story. In his undergrad, he developed a fondness for Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a tool used to run spatial analyses. He’s worked on projects in a variety of disciplines from landscape ecology (evaluating the health of coastal wetlands) to migration studies (tracing the movements of ethnic enclaves in Ontario). Among the many steps involved in his work, sharing his results had always been the one he favoured best. On weekends Vic likes to go on bike rides. He has pedalled the 180 km between Scarborough and Niagara Falls. It took a very, very long time.