To my family, friends and colleagues,
Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - filled with the best of everything!
As this year comes to a close, I can’t help but notice how fast it went by! It seems to me as if it were only a few months ago that I was writing a similar Christmas greeting - and yet it has been exactly 12 months! 2007 has been a great year! I’ve been in contact with many of you much less than I would have liked - life has been busy. I’ll try and provide you all with a quick re-cap of my year below:
In May I completed my 2nd year at Ryerson University in Toronto (I’m taking a Bachelor of Commerce, specializing in Information Technology). As soon as exams were done, I started a four month co-op term (kind of like an internship), working for CIBC (one of Canada’s top five banks) in their Telecom Services department. I was a part of their Real Time Communications project – which involved the migration of the Bank’s voice networks to a Voice-over -IP infrastructure.
When my term at CIBC came to a close, I took a quick breather – in Jamaica! After a week of fun and sun – I returned home and began my second co-op term, this time with ExxonMobil (the biggest of the six oil ’supermajors’ – and world’s largest company by revenue, to those Canadian folks that aren’t familiar, they own Esso/Imperial Oil), in their Voice Services - Controls department. As a member of Controls, I was part of an international team responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate controls of the company’s voice networks, assets and related management processes. I had an amazing time with Exxon, learning so much in the process!
Well, having finished my term with Exxon this past week, I now have a few weeks holiday, before going back to school in January. I hope you all had a great year as well!
Take care and keep in touch!
Warmest Regards,
Marcus
