{"id":99144,"date":"2025-02-10T13:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T18:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=99144"},"modified":"2025-02-10T16:56:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T21:56:56","slug":"co-op-experience-helps-grad-find-calling-in-life-changing-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/02\/co-op-experience-helps-grad-find-calling-in-life-changing-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-op experience helps grad find calling in life-changing work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brock Psychology grad Lulu Antonucci\u2019s (BA \u201924) journey from a co-op student to full-time employment counsellor has been driven by her passion to help others rewrite their futures.<\/p>\n

Antonucci says she discovered \u201cher calling\u201d to work with people affected by the justice system through her co-op and volunteer experiences with the John Howard Society of Niagara, a non-profit organization focused on reducing the social, economic and personal costs of crime through justice, prevention, employment and education initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis organization doesn\u2019t just offer support, it offers a chance to change lives,\u201d said Antonucci, who now runs the organization\u2019s Workpath program, helping marginalized individuals overcome barriers, secure meaningful employment and regain their sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to help marginalized individuals, and working with the John Howard Society gave me the opportunity to not only witness but also facilitate change in people\u2019s lives,\u201d she said. \u201cThrough my role, I\u2019ve been able to guide justice-involved individuals through the often-challenging process of re-entering the workforce. It\u2019s fulfilling to know that I\u2019m helping them build a new future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonucci completed three works terms as a Student Bail Court Worker before officially joining the team in September. She credits those Brock Co-op, Career and Experiential Education<\/a> (CCEE) opportunities with helping her gain relevant work experience.<\/p>\n

“This opportunity to help justice-involved individuals find employment is incredibly rewarding. The experience I gained through Brock\u2019s co-op program was pivotal in shaping my career path, and I\u2019m grateful for the guidance and connections that allowed me to turn my passion into a professional opportunity,” she says.<\/p>\n

Antonucci\u2019s cites skills such as problem-solving, adaptability and confidence as key takeaways from her co-op experiences.<\/p>\n

Brock\u2019s CCEE unit, which matches students with relevant work placements, provides a variety of resources to support career development.<\/p>\n

Alesia Dane, Associate Director, Co-op and Workplace Partnerships, emphasizes how important these opportunities are in shaping student success.<\/p>\n

\u201cCo-op is more than just about gaining work experience \u2014 it\u2019s about discovering passions, building confidence and shaping the future,\u201d Dane says. \u201cStudents like Lulu leverage the skills they develop while working with our team and the connections they build \u2014 such as within the John Howard Society \u2014 to secure meaningful full-time employment. Co-op opportunities help students explore career options, gain valuable experience and graduate ready to make an impact.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brock Psychology grad Lulu Antonucci\u2019s (BA \u201924) journey from a co-op student to full-time employment counsellor has been driven by her passion to help others rewrite their futures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":99145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9794,7484,13793,1,38],"tags":[5050,120,4811,522,14209,29],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99144"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99214,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99144\/revisions\/99214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}