Theme: Ctrl Alt Del

Change does not happen inside the comfort zone. As humans, we tend to stick to well-established routines, developing various optimization strategies in order to complete a single task more efficiently and refusing to take risks unless it is overwhelming advantageous to do so. However, this fixed mindset holds us back, and hinders our personal growth as well as our abilities to push society forward. Therefore, we need to Ctrl Alt Del and RESET our current models of thinking.

The idea of Ctrl Alt Del is meant to highlight individuals who have dared to be risk takers, who have dared to be innovative and push the boundaries of what they previously thought was impossible, and who have never ceased to hinder their curiosity.

As we progress through life year-by-year, we build up a clogged archive of programs running in the background. Some of these processes are not necessarily beneficial to your main operating system and may slow down your way of thinking, doing and ultimately the way in which you see and relate to life. It is time for a period of innovation within ourselves and how we relate to our environment, community and fellow human beings not only in Canada, but beyond in our global communities.

By terminating unnecessary tabs and clutter within their lives, these individuals have made the bold decision to reset their lives, and push their risky, but innovative ideas forward.

cSpace King Edward
1721 29 Ave SW
Room 310 - Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners
Calgary, Alberta, T2T 6T7
Canada

Arzina Jaffer

Arzina Jaffer is an undergraduate student researcher at the University of Calgary and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where she is currently implementing bioinformatic techniques and using sequencing technologies to understand mechanisms underlying disease conditions. As a young scientist, Arzina aspires to collaborate across frontiers to tackle issues of injustice at the nexus of knowledge, innovation, and genomic pursuits. Arzina’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences nationally. She is currently completing her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Calgary as a Chancellor’s Scholar with the hope to one day meaningfully aid global efforts to leverage the promise of genomic medicine while mitigating barriers to its translation.

Hailey Lu

Hailey Lu has studied Civil and Energy/Environmental engineering at the University of Calgary. She has journeyed to 3 developing countries, and at the age of 17, founded her own social enterprise, JAMBO, to fund school supplies in rural Kenya. Hailey is actively involved in various clubs and organizations, and is a tireless advocate for issues regarding sustainability and education. Her willingness to take risks has led to meaningful action, such as starting an inclusive running club, and bringing impactful events to engineering students. Hailey is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and community service scholar who can believes that time and energy are limited resources to be prioritized and cherished. She can be found in her natural habitat backpacking through the mountains, pouring over design drawings, or spending time with her friends and family.

Jennifer Bohn

Jen is a registered nurse (University of Calgary, 2020) and an aspiring social entrepreneur. Jen has gravitated towards entrepreneurship because of the freedom and choice it offers in identifying complicated problems and developing creative solutions. Jen personally defines a social entrepreneur as someone who creates an enterprise that aims to positivity affect social change. Jen enjoys pursing social entrepreneurship as it allows her to feel more connected to her work and be motivated by larger social injustices. Jen has worked in a number of teams to address overlooked health disparities within the Canadian healthcare system, with a focus on race.

Julianna Svishchuk

Alongside pursuing a career in the medical sciences, Julianna Svishchuk strives to show that the arts and the sciences should exist alongside one another in science-driven educational and professional environments. Julianna feels that expanding the artistic mind serves as a unique advantage for scientific thinking, and believes that students aiming to succeed in the sciences should be exposed to the importance of both fields, and their interconnection. Julianna passionately seeks inspiration through the means of music, dance, painting, writing and photography, with no doubt that these avocations serve more as an asset, rather than a detriment, to the progress of her academic career.

Munib Ali

"Swords can win territories but not hearts; forces can bend heads but not minds". As a philosophy that he champions to this day, Munib is unwavering in his desire to allow the power of the pen and dialogue to reach the corners of the earth. Belonging to the Ahmadi Muslim faith, a heavily persecuted minority group, Munib has grown through members of his family being murdered in cold blood for their beliefs and dares to ask a question to himself, and indeed the rest of his generation: What does it mean to be human? His attempt to unravel this answer has led him to work closely with Humanity First, The Pathway to Peace - an international campaign where he serves as an official Ambassador - and The Common Denominator, which he founded in 2019. Munib completed a B.Sc. (Hons) in Kinesiology and is a Medical Student. Munib has developed a strong portfolio of research with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and the Human Performance Laboratory to further accentuate his desire to understand and fulfill what it really means to be human.

Richard Lee-Thai

Passionate about combatting loneliness and the importance of quality connections in everyday life, Richard Lee-Thai founded Excuses to Connect, a business focused on building connections through one-on-one coaching, podcasting, public speaking, and merchandise. As a Connection Coach, he supports individuals and organizations with building their social confidence and fostering communities where everyone feels like they belong. Graduating with a BA from the University of Lethbridge, he was also the Founder of Humans of ULeth, a photojournalism project where his team interviews people on campus and shares their diverse stories online. Wherever he goes, he firmly believes that collaboration, compassion, and connection can solve even the world's most challenging problems.

Shaaden Salem

Heliotropism - the directional growth of a plant in response to sunlight. It's no surprise, then, that Shaaden prefers the heliotropic sunflower. A graduate geomatics engineer (University of Calgary, 2022), longboarder, and outdoors enthusiast she may be, but none of these titles completely capture her passion to continually seek meaning and personal growth as she opens up to the world around her. Her commitment to connect with and understand the people around her allows her to share her own ideas in a universal manner. What she has found valuable in her life might just be the light needed for someone else to grow as well.

Thabo Chinake

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Thabo Chinake is a gender equity advocate and graduate from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. Thabo is passionate about gender issues and has volunteered with numerous organizations including Calgary Pride parade and Students Against Domestic Abuse Association (SADAA). As a hip-hop and spoken word artist under the stage name KTheChosen, Thabo uses his platform to talk about social issues and promote introspective conversations within different communities.