My Lifelong Learning Journey

Hi Everyone! My name is Telma Jorjani and I am a Grade 10 student attending Alexander Mackenzie High School. Today, I had the pleasure to attend the Illuminate x North York Regional Conference. Here is my blog which strives to highlight what I learned about collaboration, executive thinking, and finance and entrepreneurship!

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality" - Warren Bennis

From the morning activity, I really enjoyed Dan’s presentation and when we got the chance to put his teachings to the test. We got to break down the steps to confidently and efficiently introduce yourself which comes in handy at any professional environment such as an interview, or meeting.

Some eye opening facts I took away from the first workshop include how ineffective the current education system is. Also, I got to dive into the details of what steps are needed to take to fix the issue. We came up with the following three solutions:

• Focus on equitable learning

• The value of understanding vs memorization

• Self direction and real life application

Based on these solutions, we could make personal connections and use effective evidence to support our ideas. As well, relate and make the corresponding adjustments for the online education environment that we are all faced with. Overall, I think the case study was a great choice for who we are, as well as our current situation with COVID-19.

After hearing from our second speaker Priya, it helped me realize what I can do now to prepare for my future. For example, the importance of understanding and expanding network, talking to people with experience of your wanted occupation beforehand, and going to events such as the Illuminate x North York Regional Conference to gain more experiences. Not to mention, he gave useful tips to use in day to day life such as set short term goals rather than long term ones, and to always keep an open mindset.

Overall, I am very thankful for the opportunity I was given and strongly believe that it was an effective and beneficial conference. I felt very comfortable and welcomed throughout the time and I recommend to any future business pursuers to attend! If I could share one piece of advice about leadership after NHLC, it would have to be to always listen and trust in your team to provide the best results. If I was alone it would be impossible to complete the tasks given but with an amazing team we made it happen.