smart | mentors


Young, active Charleswood resident eyes position at


City Hall Thirty-one-year-old Evan Duncan wants his community involvement to graduate to the next level


Young scientist helps spawn a love of science in youth


Michael Xu won a silver medal at national science fair and tours schools promoting science By Brenlee Coates


M


ichael Xu has become a kind of ambassador for science education, but he says it hasn’t always been this way.


“I wasn’t always a kid that was a dili-


gent person. I found it hard to detach myself from the Nintendo,” laughs Xu. It was after finding his niche in re-


search that he turned into the model student. “If you find something you’re passionate about, you follow with your effort,” he explains. Unl ike many of his high school


compatriots, Xu spent his summers working in the lab alongside research- ers at CancerCare Manitoba. It was a method used there that inspired his prize-winning experiment at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, earning him a $2,000 scholarship to pursue his post-secondary education, and the silver medal among 500 candidates. His experiment, which analyzes circulat- ing tumour cells in prostate cancer pa- tients, also won the inaugural prize for excellence from the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists (CSCC). Now in his first year at the University of Manitoba,


Michael Xu.


By Brenlee Coates Evan Duncan.


E


van Duncan’s specialty is youths – he’s been coaching various neighbourhood sports teams for 13 years, he works with youth in custody at the


Manitoba Youth Centre, and he’s barely cracked 30 him- self – but he’s running for city council in the aging ward of Charleswood-Tuxedo because he wants to extend his impact to the community at large. Instead of holding his 31 years against him, people


have been receptive to his youthful energy as he’s made his rounds in the area. “People are really happy to have someone young and


energetic” in the running, he says. “Tat’s what they’ve been saying, ‘We want someone like you in there.’” It’s not just Evan’s age that people are interested in;


his commitment to his community is also gaining him support. Despite having only a newborn baby with his wife,


Duncan has volunteered as a drop-in coordinator for local community centres, coached teams, and helped fund- raise for athletic programs for many years. “I’ve always thought that to make your community better, you have to be involved,” explains Duncan. He’s also worked as an educational assistant in the


neighbourhood – at Charleswood School and Oak Park High School – and as a juvenile counselor at the Mani- toba Youth Centre. His experience with youth in custody gave him a better sense of the big picture for the city, and informed his decision to run for council. “It’s really eye- opening, and it also gave me an opportunity… to have a vision for the city,” he says. As a councillor, Duncan feels his duty would be to be


accountable to his own constituents first and foremost, and to represent them properly, but he’s also eager to use a collaborative approach to work with city council to impact the city as a whole. “You have to be open-minded to the city, not just your


community,” he says. “Our community can do so much to help these other communities.” Duncan says his community involvement isn’t just


a campaign promise – it’s a deep-rooted lifestyle he’s committed to long ago. “I’ve always been involved in the community... it may as well be as the councillor,” he says. “I would definitely like to make the biggest impact on my community that I can.” Charleswood has been home for Duncan for his entire


31 years – he even bought his childhood home where he plans to raise his new daughter. Duncan says his mother made sacrifices so that he and his sibling could stay in the “safe and welcoming” community, and he hopes to help the area maintain that reputation. “I love the small-town mentality of Charleswood. Not


only are your neighbours your neighbours, but they’re also family at some point in time. It really makes it home. “Tere are lots of great things that make it such a desir-


able place to live. If I’m elected, I’m going to make sure those values stay intact.”


14 Smart Biz


Xu says he hasn’t decided if he wants to follow in his mother’s footsteps to become a doctor just yet, but he knows it’ll be something within the healthcare field. While careers in the field of medicine seem to run in the family, Xu attests that he didn’t have any genetic disposition to excel in science. “I don’t think it comes naturally to me,” says Xu. “I kind of came in learning how to run before you can walk... I think all kids kind of have an innate creativity in them, and I think research kind of brings that out in them.” Although he doesn’t think anything sets him apart


from other students, his appreciation for how he’s grown through his studies is quite mature for his age. “I’ve ben- efitted so much from this – all the skills I’ve developed,” says Xu, citing presentation skills and a strong work ethic as examples. “I’m very humbled… (But) the awards are really secondary to what I’ve learned.” One of the goals Xu hopes to pursue


in his career is to help “improve indi- vidualized treatment” in Canada. He says the same disease is treated the same way in most patients, even though their microbiology makes them unique. In the meantime, Xu continues to


champion science education to youth, hoping to spur similar enrichment in their lives. He’s volunteering for an upcoming provincial science fair at the university, and he assists in tours of schools through the Let’s Talk Science outreach program, where university and college students stage “fun experi- ments like exploding volcanoes" for young students. “That kind of thing turns into the inspiration for the cure for cancer,” proclaims Xu. He encour- ages students to get involved in their school science fairs, and can vouch for


how inspiring it is to get to see people’s experiments across the country. “Tere’s a lot of hardworking, inspirational people that


are there. Not just the MDs but the people that you’re competing against,” says Xu. He knew many of them were going on to really reputable programs in interna- tional universities; “you kind of take the cue to work hard and it motivates you to work harder with whatever you want to do in life,” says Xu. Tough already very accomplished for his age, he


looks forward to plenty of development over his years at the university: “I still have a lot to learn. I have so many more goals I want to accomplish.”


Manage your new job like a boss M


eet Taylor, a brand-new col- lege grad with a brand-new job at an engineering firm.


She wants to make a good impression so she asked to take on additional responsibilities, including writing a sector overview. Taylor spent the past four years writing essays, so she’s sure she can handle it. But there are prob- lems: Taylor is used to leaving things to the last minute and still getting good grades – but her boss wants a detailed work plan and regular check-in meet- ings. Her coworkers haven’t asked her out to lunch since her first day, and Tay- lor’s worried no one likes her. Barely a month into her new job, Taylor feels unhappy and lost. Could Taylor be you? Making the


transition from student life to the working world can be tricky. Te skills that were badges of honour – like pounding back Red Bulls till 4 a.m. to finish an assignment on time and still getting an A+ – don’t always earn you points in the workplace. So how do you make the transition


smoothly? And what do you do when the path gets rocky? Suzanne Petryshyn is a chartered


mediator, the CEO of Brain Jacks Inc. in Lethbridge, AB, and a mentor of Indigenous post-secondary students through the Rivers to Success: Mentor- ing Indigenous Youth program offered by Indspire, the largest private funder of Indigenous education. She thinks that new grads need to learn how to shift their thinking from “I” to “we” when they enter the workplace. Move from “I” to “we”


“Team engagement is important:


it’s not just about you getting a good mark; it’s about what we’re working on together,” says Petryshyn. Te irony is that you won’t neces-


sarily impress your boss by being a standalone star but rather by how you


www.smartbizwpg.com


position yourself within the company. “Even if you’re the only person in your department, remember that you are part of a larger team. Everything is interrelated,” she says. You might think, “But I don’t want to


answer phones for the rest of my life; I want to do something more senior.” Petryshyn agrees that having a larger vision for your career is important but advises new hires to make long-term mastery the goal. “I coach volleyball, and I tell the


kids: ‘Play your position, master that position, and be at the top of that posi- tion,’” says Petryshyn. “So at work, if your position is answering the phone, how can you be the best at that?” Get into the habit of being strategic


with all of your activities at work, even answering the phone. Don’t confuse productivity with progress


If you work best under pressure,


with a deadline looming and the Red Bull flowing, that’s a useful skill at a new job, right? Wrong. “Te manic state and procrastina-


tion are bad habits, even if they got you good grades at school,” says Pet- ryshyn. “Pay attention to your habits, because bad habits can hide in plain sight: you’re not producing your best work if you take five days to do a pro- ject that needed three months. “We confuse productivity with pro-


gress, and being productive doesn’t mean we’re progressing in our ca- reer.”


Be present and authentic One of the perks of going to school


is the chance to meet new people from all over your town, province or even other countries, and make friends. But starting a new job is not the same as starting a new class. While it’s not wise to equate cow-


orkers with friends or family, nobody wants to work with – or become – a robot with a resume. Petryshyn ad-


You may need to kick some old habits like procrastinating and cramming when you find work By Benita Aalto


vises young employees simply to be human, which she defines as “being present and authentic.” For example, instead of feeling


neglected by her coworkers, Taylor could have taken the initiative and asked them out for coffee or lunch, too. What she interpreted as a lack of interest could simply be busyness; not everyone has time to make the new kid feel settled. And by checking her assumptions


first, Petryshyn says, Taylor would not only be being present and authentic, but she would also be giving herself a tool that is useful in conflict resolu- tion, which is an important skill in the workplace. Petryshyn offers these tools for be-


ing professional when managing con- flict: “Unmask your assumption (i.e.: ‘Tey’re excluding me on purpose’), then probe it (‘Is this a consistent behaviour that they do, or is it an atti- tude I have about them?’); then check with the other person to see if your assessment is accurate and negotiate a positive outcome (‘I feel like I should be part of those meetings; what’s the best way for me to keep in the loop?’).” Remember: it’s not about the shoes


“Everyone says ‘Be professional’


but no one really explains what that is – and wearing the right suit or shoes isn’t it,” she says. Spend the first few weeks observ-


ing and listening to figure out the corporate culture to see how you fit into their matrix, and check in with your own gut feelings, too. Te bottom line? Your job wouldn’t


exist if the company didn’t need you, so work smart and shine. Are you an Indigenous post-second-


ary student in your last year of school? A professional mentor can help you get ready for your first job. Visit indspire. ca/rivers to learn how you can be matched to a mentor.


November 2014


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