Young and living with dementia

by Christine Bezruki, Marketing & Communications, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences

If you think dementia only afflicts the elderly, just ask Mary Beth Wighton. At the age of 45, Wighton was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia, a rare form of dementia with no treatment or cure.

“I’d known for years there was something seriously wrong with me and that it was not depression. I just didn’t know what it was,” said Wighton, pictured above, at right, with her partner Dawn (left) and daughter Brianna.

Surprisingly, accepting the formal diagnosis wasn’t Wighton’s greatest challenge. “Being so young with a diagnosis of dementia baffled people. My young age presented a challenge to most community programs, as I was not ‘old’ enough to take part in them.”

After being turned away from several community programs, Wighton found support at Waterloo’s Murray Alzheimer Research Education Program (MAREP) in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. MAREP works directly with those living with dementia and their care partners to help them develop practical and relevant resources and tools to enhance quality of life.

“We have learned so much from our partners with dementia about how to better support persons and families experiencing Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias,” said Sherry Dupuis, Director of MAREP. “And through their involvement in our projects, they gain a sense of purpose, meaning and empowerment in a world that still excludes persons with dementia because of the stigma and misunderstanding that continues to exist.”

Today Wighton dedicates her time to fighting that stigma by educating the community about dementia and myths surrounding the disease.

On Monday, January 21, Wighton will speak as part of MAREP’s living well with dementia public lecture and exhibition. Also scheduled to speak are Dr. Peter J. Whitehouse, a professor of neurology at Case Western Reserve University and Ann Marie Wilson, a partner in care and spokesperson for those living with dementia. To register for the event call 519-888-4567 Ext 36880 or email jluh@uwaterloo.ca.

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Canada's largest job fair to mark 20 years

by Karina Graf, Co-operative Education and Career Action (CECA)

On Wednesday, February 6, thousands of students and alumni will connect with employers at the annual Partnerships for Employment (P4E) Job Fair. Waterloo alumnus Raju Patel remembers his first encounter with the firm he’s worked at for 14 years.

“I was about to leave the fair and hop on the bus when I stumbled upon SapientNitro’s small booth,” he says. “After getting to know more about the company and how they acted like no other agency I'd talked to, I started to get excited." After an initial interview on campus and a second interview in Boston, Raju’s conversation at the fair paid off, “a few days later I got a call with an offer,” he explains. “That was the day that changed my life.”

Current students and alumni can follow in Raju’s footsteps and connect with employers at this year’s Job Fair. It’s the largest fair of its kind in the country, with more than 160 organizations recruiting for a variety of positions, including full-time, co-op, summer, and part-time work opportunities. To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the fairs, the upcoming job fair will also feature three LinkedIn sessions on the topic of “Leveraging LinkedIn to network and job search… Learn how to use it like a pro”, delivered by Steve Watt, Marketing Manager for LinkedIn.

Since 1994, P4E – a collaboration between the University of Waterloo, University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University  and Conestoga College – has provided a unique opportunity for students and alumni to connect with employers at two annual fairs. In addition to the Job Fair, P4E hosts a Career Fair each September which features employers that promote full-time career opportunities for graduating students and alumni. (Above right: students and employers discuss opportunities at last year’s Job Fair .)

The partnership between the four institutions fosters a unique environment for sharing information and creating a large attendance of students—an appealing environment for employers as they can fulfill their recruitment needs in one day, reaching up to 4,000 students.

Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) has attended the fairs regularly for the past five years. “Our experience has always been a positive one,” said Tanya Murawsky of WRPS. “It’s a way for our police service to reach out to a large and diverse group.”

Job Fair 2013 is being held at RIM Park in Waterloo on February 6. It’s open to students and alumni of the four partnered institutions. Bus transportation to and from the fair is available every half hour throughout the day in front of Hagey Hall. For more information, visit partners4employment.ca.

Last week’s poll results: 47 per cent of you guessed correctly: after viewing Orbis’ vendor presentation, staff and students are most excited about the email notifications and user interface of the new system. Congratulations to last week’s draw winner Nicole Joron from the Federation of Students (FEDS).

This week’s question: How many students and alumni typically attend the Job Fair? Take a guess and enter to win a CECA mug.

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Socials, sessions, sales and sundries

The VeloCity Social gets underway tonight from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Billed as "an event to give students interested in being involved in a star-up project the chance to meet and network," the event is a casual, relaxed social night that will include that most essential ingredient to start-up success - free pizza. Students from all faculties and programs are welcome.

Many high school students and their parents will be on campus this evening for the annual Grade 10 Family Night event, which will help students learn what they can do now to prepare for applying to Ontario's universities. The event gets underway at 6:30 p.m. in the Theatre of the Arts and will also appear as a live webcast.

An information session for the Beyond Borders international service-learning experience will be held Thursday, January 17, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Sweeney Hall White Room at St. Jerome's University. Beyond Borders is "designed to help students develop leadership skills for a changing global society, become aware of an concerned about social justice, and gain valuable experience volunteering with development organizations at home and abroad." More information about the program and how to apply is available online.

Later this week, an information session for the 2013 summer study in China program, hosted by the Confucius Institute, will be held Friday, January 18 at 2:30 p.m. in room 1303.

The annual Renison book sale will be held Monday, January 21 to Friday, January 25. Donations of books are appreciated and can be dropped off at the Lusi Wong Library.  If you are available to volunteer to staff the book sale on Monday, please contact Lois Clifford.

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